Learn Guitar Through Short Consistent Practice

Getting consistent with your practicing is the key to getting really good on your instrument. It seems everybody wants to learn guitar but nobody wants to practice. It's a lot like working out at the gym. Everybody wants to be fit but nobody wants to get on the treadmill or elliptical machine. The key at the gym and with your instrument is becoming consistent. It's much better to do a little every day than to play for hours one day and not even touch your axe for a week or two.

My new thing at the gym is to go every day but to do different things when I get there. It works the same with practicing. Write yourself a schedule so you can remember what you're committing to do. You always want to practice scales; it's a bit like taking your vitamins. Then, you might do exercises from a good method book on Monday and on Tuesday do some picking and strumming exercises. Maybe Monday you'll play major scales and play minor scales on Tuesday, dominant scales on Wednesday, blues scales on Thursday, and diminished scales on Friday. Whatever you do, keep it the same for a while and get into a rhythm of playing everyday. Change up your schedule after you've established it.

When you get ready to practice, you have to watch out for a common problem that comes up without warning and makes the beginner guitar student stay stuck for a long time. There is a big difference between practicing and entertaining yourself. If your keeping your time to a minimum, even if you're not, you need to get in the habit of playing the hardest things first. Remember your goal is to really learn guitar, not just keep playing what you already know and thus entertaining yourself. The point is to get better and that often means slowing down the trouble spots and playing them again and again until they are smooth.

If you'll give yourself this gift, consistency and focused practice, you'll look up in a few months and be better than you dreamed. You'll also have some overflow into other areas of your life. Discipline is the opposite of what we've been taught to think, it really is freedom, to be and to live our dreams.