Discipline when you are practicing the guitar is very important. Learning to play the guitar is one of the most rewarding things I have ever done in my life but it was also one of the hardest. The reason that I became proficient with my instrument is simple. I practiced, and I practiced a lot; every day in my bedroom from the age of 16 (I’m 25 now). I spent most of my time practicing the fundamentals: running up and down scales, changing chords and trying to improve my repertoire of songs.
Sometimes it was easy to make time to practice because I was in a good mood and I really wanted to play. At those times I could spend hours just listening to how cool it sounded when I changed from the chord D to the chord G. But on other days it was my discipline and desire to play and improve that made me practice and develop as a player.
There are two main factors when it comes to discipline in practice: practicing regularly and practicing well. Both of these are important to address.
Practicing regularly is the most obvious and easy to do. Basically you should play the guitar every day. These don’t need to be mammoth, three hour long sessions. 30 minutes will generally be fine if you are focused during that time. Doing regular, small amounts of practice is far better than going all out for hours once a week. I know that in a busy life it can be hard to make the time to practice but honestly 30 minutes a day is achievable for anyone. There is no set time that is best to practice but I prefer to do it in the evening simply because I find playing the guitar is a relaxing way to wind down after a stressful day.
Practicing badly is a more common and difficult to address problem. This is something that affects even the most experienced player. This problem has several causes and solutions.
- Playing the same thing over and over every time you play. I am a firm believer that you should play something perfectly before you move on. BUT, once you know how to play something you need to move on and keep challenging yourself.
- The opposite is also a problem: moving on too quickly. You should practice so that you play a piece well before you go on to the next thing. Playing perfectly and accurately is an excellent habit for any musicians to have.
- Not focusing on developing all parts of your musicianship when you are practicing. I like to split my playing into parts. For example I might spend 5 minutes practicing new scales or chords, 10 minutes working on writing new music for myself and maybe 15 minutes learning a new song or part of a song.
- Playing things too fast when you first try and learn them. This can cause you to become disillusioned with your playing when you are trying to learn a new song. Most guitarists, including myself try playing a song at a slow speed before trying it a fast pace.
Practicing properly and regularly is the best way to become good at anything including playing the guitar. This requires discipline. Not only discipline to practice regularly, but also discipline to stay focused and on track when you are practicing. If you stay disciplined with your playing you will develop in to an excellent player.
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michael
http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/master-acoustic-guitar-with-these-beginner-acoustic-guitar-lessons-1259425.html
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Questions from a beginner guitar player?
Heres some insight to my situation. Last year I decided I wanted to learn to play the guitar. So, I went out and purchased a six string acoustic. I messed around on it up until the ending of this summer. Still unable to play a whole song, but clearly developing my skill enough to recognize that I would stay with it. So, I decided to take lessons and I am currently about to attempt my 9th week. I learn the book "guitar method book 1" which is the second addition by Hal Leonard. Anyway here are some of my questions:
1. When I begin to play from the book and I must play notes like D E or F on the fourh string and up I begin to become frustrated because I cant locate (without looking) other notes which were previously much easier to play to me. I feel like im hitting a wall where I cant retain anymore, and the break throughs have become very small lately. If I keep hitting it will I eventually overcome this problem?
2. When does one consider themselves a guitarist? While learning to play, or when others percieve you as having mastered the instrument?
Just to clarify how I worded number 2. When I talk about being a guitarist when other people percieve you to have mastered the instrument what I mean is that when you become good enough that people know you arent a beginner. I know it is impossible to truly master a skill.
1. Just practice and practice. In the beginning, you should try to practice almost every day for at least 20 or so minutes so you could get used to it.
2. I think you perceive yourself as a guitarist whenever you want to and you are really invested in it whether a hobby or not. Everyone is still learning how to play even if they are masters of the instrument. I am definitely no master of the instrument, but people I know perceive me as talented because they don’t know how to play the guitar themselves. If I played in front of a guitar master, they would laugh at me.
So it all depends.
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to answer your second question first, noone masters the guitar, i dont care how good you are.
Not to disappoint you, but its true.
And to tell you the truth (and answer your first question) i picked up an acoustic for the first time about 6 years ago, tried to learn notes and then put it down in about 2 months.
came back to it about a year later and decided to try it differently, just learning the songs i like and talking about the guitar with friends that i liked, followed my idols (such as Tony Iommi, Zakk Wylde and Dimebag (R.I.P.))
much better experience and now i can happily say that i am a guitarist
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