5 Ways to Instantly Get More Out of Your Guitar Practice and Lessons

Plan Your Practice

It is important to differentiate between “playing” and “practicing” guitar, or anything for that matter. In order to make the most out of your practice, it is imperative that you have a practice plan. Getting caught up in playing your favorite new riff or song is easy to do, but not the best way to use your practice time. This isn’t to say that “playing” guitar can’t be part of your practice time, just not the whole thing.

If you have 30 minutes to practice, break it down into sections, perhaps 5 minutes of scales practice, 10 minutes to learn a couple new chords and 15 minutes to go over what you may have learned in a previous lesson. Go into your practice session knowing what you’re going to practice and stick to that. Then you can playing all your favorite songs utilizing the skills you just practiced!

Use a Metronome

One of the best ways to improve your speed and accuracy is to use a metronome. By setting a metronome at a slow, steady speed, you can play along and make sure you aren’t accidentally speeding up or slowing down. This is particularly useful when practicing picking patterns and scales. Metronomes can be found as free apps for your smart phone. There are even a few free websites available that provide you with a simple, adjustable metronome.

And this leads me to the next tip

Slow Down

There is a saying: “Slow is smooth; smooth is fast”. When you take the time to play something very slow, smooth and deliberately, you make much fewer mistakes. It gives you time to build your muscle memory, anticipate the next notes and move your fingers deliberately. The smoother you can do this, the easier it will be to increase speed.

Practice Perfection

When practicing your assignments, scales, songs, etc., play at a speed that you can play the song perfectly. For example, if you’re practicing a scale, play slow enough so that you never place a finger in the wrong place. Making mistakes, no matter how small, can build muscle memory in the wrong places and you’re much more likely to make those same mistakes again and again. You may end up playing painfully slow the first few times but when you gradually increase speed, you are much more likely to maintain your accuracy.

The same goes for learning new chords. Remove your fingers from the fretboard and slowly place your fingers all at the same time on the fretboard in the correct position. Do not allow your fingers to go on the wrong fret or string. Now remove your fingers and repeat. Perfect practice makes perfection.

Practice In Smaller Chunks

Playing guitar is a ton of fun and that’s probably why you’re interested in learning more. It may seem counter intuitive, but it makes more sense to practice more often (every day) for shorter periods of time than to have longer practice sessions and only practice 2 or 3 times a week. You will gain much more ground by always keeping your material fresh in your mind and muscles when practicing for shorter, more frequent periods of time. You also won’t need to spend as much time re-learning stuff you learned in prior practice sessions.

Where I Can I Find High Quality Guitar Lessons?

Jeremiah has a passion for playing the guitar, focusing primarily on blues, rock and classical techniques. With so many guitar lessons available out there, it can be very difficult to find one that works for you. Jamorama comes highly recommended and has worked very well for this author. You can find out more about them at http://www.howtojamonguitar.net