NEW Tutorial: Mastering the Art of Practice

Hey all,

Just a heads-up about a new tutorial here on Guitar Tricks called:
MASTERING the ART of PRACTICE: How to LEARN Guitar

The new Mastering the Art of Practice tutorial lays out a 10-point strategy for growing your guitar skills and mastering any song or piece you want to learn to play.

It is just like a map (MAP, get it?), providing you with a sense of direction as you figure out exactly what, and how, to practice your guitar.

Apply this MAP to your practice sessions, and the system enables you to devise a strategy for seeing your guitar learning in a new light, for seeing connections and clues for creating a roadmap to take you from being an absolute newbie, to playing a piece with mastery.

It is not just about WHAT notes and moves you need to learn, but very specifically, HOW to go about learning them.

Mastering the Art of Practice is designed to apply to every skill level and style of guitar. Whether you are just starting out, or are a very experienced player, the MAP principles will enable you to learn better, and faster.

Many people believe that practicing the guitar is a simple matter of repetition. They think, "if I play it over and over and over, eventually I'll get good at it, right?"

Not necessarily. What if you are playing it wrong? Keep playing it wrong over and over and over, and you know what you get really good at? Playing it wrong.

In this tutorial, we re-think the goal of practicing, and frame it like this:



First, we focus on the nuts and bolts of learning HOW to do the skill or the move you are working on. And then, we focus on learning how to do it even better. Learning how to do it with a little more finesse, a little better tone, a little more control.

And as you discover, little by little, all those little tweaks and adjustments that result in better and better sound, you intentionally ABSORB these LEARNINGS, and make them part of your technique, your habit, the way you play.

Only then does the wisdom of repetition begin to make sense. You repeat (and practice) the refinement, the bettered result, so it becomes your habit, and so your playing skills go up.

This is when practice results in progress. Learn something new. Refine it, make it better. Then, absorb that refined technique and make it your habit.

In this tutorial, we look at 10 key principles of Mastering the Art of Practice. You can apply these principles in the context of practicing a specific song or piece, and you can also apply these same principles to practicing scales, skills, and drills. Appropriate for all skill levels and styles.

Here's a sneak preview:



This link will take you to this new tutorial.

Have fun! And let me know your thoughts...
Best wishes, Lisa

Thanks Lisa!
Seems like practicing seems to be a tough thing for me. I just want to play!
Right now I'm working on sitting, waiting, wishing by jack Johnson....LOVING the gs mini by the way. As far as I'm concerned it's a perfect fit and plays sweet and as smooth as buttuh! :0)

A great lesson, Lisa! Thank you.

A lesson like this will help on how to set up a practice routine that will work for you. Something that doesn't always comes up during my live lessons with my own teachers. They provide the lesson, information and how you do it is entirely up to you.

So yes, if you practice in the wrong way - it will take a week before it's noticed. If, however, you learn how to practice proper I'm convinced the time you need to study on songs will be a lot less.

Originally Posted by: FranR[u]A great lesson, Lisa! Thank you.

A lesson like this will help on how to set up a practice routine that will work for like in guitar classes. Something that doesn't always comes up during my live lessons with my own teachers. They provide the lesson, information and how you do it is entirely up to you.

So yes, if you practice in the wrong way - it will take a week before it's noticed. If, however, you learn how to practice proper I'm convinced the time you need to study on songs will be a lot less.[/U]

True. But even though you practice the wrong way, if you practice more and practice harder, you soon would get it right. Practice would really make you good in playing.

This is awesome! Exactly what new guitar players need to grow fruitfully :)