The Guitar Practice Routine That Changed My Life

The guitar practice routine that changed my life. It’s easy, it suits anyone, it’s flexible, you can adapt it to your needs and the style of music that you want to play. And it also led to me not feeling like I’d stagnated. So today it’s that routine, plus some tips and tricks to help you get in the swing of it.

A few years ago I had a few comments from someone basically bashing my playing, and he was partly right. He said I was sloppy. I was. I hadn’t been playing regularly for years. I’d totally dropped the ball in terms of my goals on guitar. I also had the problem of not having the time to practice. I was working as a music teacher, I have two kids and a wife, my kids play football, and I coach their team, plus I have this YouTube thing going. And no, making videos is not the same as practicing.

So how did I solve this, and how could it fit you? I set the target of playing for 15 minutes every day. I figured that if I can’t do 15 minutes, I could just as well sell my gear. I started going to work early, and grabbed a coffee and played for 15 minutes before the start of the day. Later on, after no longer working as a teacher, I started playing after breakfast. I started with the Spider Exercise, built up some speed and started doing variations on it. I’ve done all sorts of things, sweeping, hybrid picking, speed picking, ear training, just to name a few things. And that’s the great thing. You can fill that 15 minutes with whatever you feel is appropriate to you. For me the routine has worked wonders. The biggest thing is that it’s much more fun to play guitar these days.

So have I always been consistent? No. In the beginning consistency was a bit of an issue. Being tired, stressed out, and so on didn’t help. But one thing that has helped is that I have a very concrete time and place for playing. It’s after breakfast, in the kitchen. That could help you if you’re struggling with consistency. Set a specific time, and a specific place for yourself. That way it will be more difficult to procrastinate. 

So do I still do 15 minutes? No, these days it varies between 20 and 60 minutes. But the minimum is 15. I refuse to do less. Last year I think I missed around 20 days during the whole year, and this year I’ve missed one. And that’s the great thing about this. Anyone should be able to play for 15 minutes per day, at least most days. And if you want to play more, just add to it. It’s also a good way to build up your practicing muscles, since practice in and of itself is a skill that you need to practice. You can’t just start practicing 10 hours per day if you’ve never focused on anything for more than 30 minutes. 

Another thing that has been a pleasant surprise, even though it shouldn’t have been a surprise, is that I’ve started coming up with new licks as a result of practicing. I’ve also written some riffs, which is nice since I haven’t really written too much music in a couple of years. 

So try it. If you want to maximize the benefits of this routine, check out this video: https://youtu.be/F8kFZm5B1XI?si=RkFvCHEQlGfsSGZc

It’s Not How Good You Are, But That You’re Moving In The Right Direction

Are you the same person you were 10 years ago? Are you the same person you were yesterday? I would venture that if you asked many people these two questions, most would say they are pretty much the same today as yesterday, but not the same as they were 10 years ago. What has this got to do with guitar playing? The answer, a lot. 

There is one thing that is absolutely central to all learning, and learning guitar is no different. You have to believe that you can do it, or at least believing or not believing shouldn’t be an issue. But if you walk around thinking you can’t become good on guitar, well that becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. So if you’re having trouble with your confidence, let’s do something about it. 

Have you ever seen one of these?

I’m guessing you have. My kids had this exact one. Children play with these kinds of toys until they learn how it works, and then they move on to something else. Have you learned to walk? I’m guessing you have. If you learned to do these things, and the tons of other things that you’ve learned, which at the time were very challenging, then why would you not be able to learn to play guitar? Maybe you won’t become good tomorrow, but what about in a year? You’ll certainly be better than today, if you put in the effort. You can say that you’re not talented, that you have short fingers, that you could never play like someone you admire, but it’s all utter rubbish. I’ve heard all of those excuses during my 15 year career as a music teacher in elementary-, middle-, and high school. And believe me, they are just excuses. 

So why should you learn guitar, other than for the fact that you want to? I’ll give you another reason. You’ll practice the art of practising, which is a skill that you can (and definitely should) get better at. You’ll also learn to do something that’s not easy. Both of these skills will come in handy in other areas of life, even if you decide to just play guitar for your own joy. And there is a lot of joy to be had from playing. The great thing is that there’s nothing holding you back from learning, apart from maybe yourself. You can and will learn if you just give yourself enough time, and put in the effort. Chances are you’ll also enjoy it once you start seeing results. You have everything to gain, so pick up your guitar and start practising. 

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Is There Talent, And Is It Important? (Yes and No)

Is there talent? What is it? Is it important? How big of a role does it play when learning? Those are just some questions that keep coming up when discussing guitar learning, or learning in general. 

A couple of things I have to get out of the way. First of all, I am very much aware that people have different potentials in different subjects. I am also very much aware that we learn at different paces. But the whole way we speak of talent and thus think of it can have a huge effect on our learning, or lack thereof. How we speak of talent sets the tone for how we learn. 

“I could never learn to play like that” is a phrase I’ve heard countless times in various forms during my 15 years of teaching music and guitar. Why is that such a problematic phrase? The reason is simple. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. This is where we can start seeing why how we think of talent can become problematic. 

I would venture that there is no such thing as talent in the way that we most often talk about it. Maybe it is something more like what we are interested in, and maybe it also gives us a bit of a head start if we have an interest in something. It might also have something to do with how fast we learn things. But remember, how we practise, and therefore how fast we learn, can change over time. Sometimes “talented” people get complacent. I’ve seen it happen many times and less “talented” people have improved beyond the “talented” complacent person. 

A good way to think of it might be to look at this picture of the child standing at the bottom of these stairs.

The image is from Unsplash, and is by Jukan Tateisi.

The stairs seem enormous compared to the child, but each step is just an obstacle to be climbed on the journey (a journey which is fun if we like, or even love, what we’re doing), and the “talented” person has a head start in the sense that he or she has already climbed one or two stairs. Does that make it impossible to achieve greatness for the person who’s starting at the bottom? No. Absolutely not. 

So what is more important than talent? Well, the answer is pretty obvious by this point. It’s hard work. I’m a firm believer that hard work is the key. Like someone once said: hard work always beats talent when talent isn’t working hard. And here’s what’s important to remember here. If you think you can never become as good as someone who’s “talented”, you’re already putting yourself at a disadvantage. It becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. So believe in the journey, not some magical mumbo jumbo called talent. And remember to enjoy the journey. In the end that’s what matters.  

A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.

The Why

Hello everyone!

I have tons of ideas bouncing around in my head, and writing a blog is one of them. I’ve never really properly written one, and I have approached this with some trepidation, due to just that fact. But at the same time I have come to realize that learning by doing is probably the best approach for something like this.

In the summer of 2019 I turned 40. At the time I was suffering from a then unknown medical problem, which turned out to be reflux. Basically my stomach acids were getting into my throat causing a chronic inflammation. That leads to a swelling feeling at times, and it can also lead to trouble swallowing. Back then I didn’t know what it was, and I’d had the symptoms for most of that year. All sorts of thoughts were swirling around in my head, the worst ones being really dark. It was the not knowing.

During that half a year or so when my thoughts were really not in the most hopeful of places I had thoughts of my own mortality. I basically started asking myself, “why do I do the things that I do?” This was a question that had been bobbing around in my head from time to time earlier as well, and it again surfaced with the Covid outbreak in 2020 when musicians could no longer play live shows.

So what’s the answer? What is that why? Before I say what it is, I do have to say something about why I think it’s so important, at least to me. Every person in their work life knows what it is they do. The same goes for businesses. Most know how they do it. But there are very many who don’t know why they do it. So I used to be a teacher. That was what I did. How did I teach? Broadly speaking with a very relaxed style, using lots of humor, and trying to instill a sense of responsibility in my students (in other words, if you don’t want to work, and you’re fine with a poor grade, then that’s fine by me). I also wanted to help as many of my students either find something that they’re passionate about, and/or encourage them to go after that thing. That was the how (there’s more to it of course). So why did I do it? What was my why? Put simply it was to help and/or inspire my students so that they in turn might help and/or inspire others, thus making the world a better place. And that’s really why I do all of things that I do (no, going shopping for groceries doesn’t fall into this category).

Why am I saying all this? Because that’s also the reason I started this blog. Maybe I can help someone with some of my ramblings, which will in the future become more structured (hopefully). Also, will I keep posting them here? I don’t know. I’m not sure I like the layout of my website for this kind of thing, but we’ll see. How often will I post? I don’t know. We’ll see we’ll see about that too.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this type of thing. Please let me know in the comments if you have any questions, or topics you’d like to see me cover. Take care!
Cheers,

Elmo