The Keys To Awesome Practice Sessions On Guitar
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The key to successful practice sessions on guitar is to have a checklist!
As simple as that sounds it works… I’ve become a BIG fan of checklists ever since I turned up at a gig without a guitar lead… yep a $20 dollar guitar lead almost brought my gig (and career to an end); the frustrating part of it was I knew where the lead was (at home) the problem being I wasn’t.
Lesson learned, actually it DID happen again but I’m too embarrassed to mention it (Oops! I did), the second time the offending piece of equipment was a spare string.
Anyway back to the story, lesson(s) learned I finally decided to pin an equipment checklist on a notice board next to the back door which meant every time I left the house for a gig I could confirm I had everything.
Simple as… then why did it take two almost fatal incidents to get around to doing something that easy?
Answer: because it easy NOT to do!
IMPORTANT: When something is easy to do it’s also easy NOT to do; that’s why most people don’t do it.
It’s exactly the same with practice…
Situation 1: I had thousands of dollars invested in amplification and thousands of dollars invested in guitars but I was brought low by a $20 guitar lead because I could not connect the guitar to the amp.
Situation 2: Over to practice sessions… hundreds of hours of practice time and hundreds of dollars invested in lessons, guitars and educational products brought low by lack of motivation due to previous unsuccessful practice attempts.
When you get right down to it you can’t beat self motivation, you can survive anything if you are internally motivated; and the best way to become self motivated it to always walk away from a practice session feeling good, feeling like you can do something or can do something better than you could before.
The trick is to get organized BEFORE the practice session.
Keep a checklist:
1. Clear expectations of what you want to achieve in the practice session.
2. Guitar (tuned)
3. Guitar stand
4. Music stand
5. Computer (Internet connected)
6. Metronome
7. Timer (watch)
8. Study materials
9. Amplifier
10. Good lighting (full spectrum lighting)
I encourage you to make up your own list, include everything no matter how basic it may seem, because it’s the little things that bring everything undone.
Just think about how great it would be, to walk into a practice session, with clear expectations of what you want to do, and have all your gear ready to go.
Sounds like a blueprint for an awesome practice session.
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