“Practice makes perfect” is a popular phrase, and you most likely have heard of it. The idea behind the phrase is that the more you practice, the better you get at it. Musicians may have spent years practicing guitar before they reached the level where they can be called professional musicians. So what is the best way to practice guitar effectively?
how to practice guitar effectively
Unfortunately, practice can be boring, and therein lies the challenge in keeping up a practice routine. Practicing is an everyday effort. A Huffpost Living Canada article by Penny Will explains the importance of this type of effort:
There are many studies extolling the virtues of music. It helps develop a child’s brain, it improves hand-eye coordination, it forestalls Alzheimer’s; but I think the greatest benefit of music is that it fosters an “every day effort” mindset. In this day of montages in movies and a desire for instant fame and fortune, nothing is more important than developing the true key to success; the “every day effort.”
Unfortunately this “every day effort” mindset runs counter to the “lottery” thinking that pervades our society. So many people give up on music because they are not instantly great as seen in August Rush, School of Rock, or Rock Star.
We all know, logically, that if we want to be the world boxing champion we have to train every day, for years.
But, we’ve been so inundated with the message that everything is instant and easy, that we’ve lost the ability to work slowly towards our goal.
Learning music is great for re-establishing the concept, “The slow and steady, wins the race.”
Practice is often a contentious issue among parents and their young budding musicians. Not many musicians enjoy it, and there are even good musicians who do little of it. So why do you have to practice, then?
The point is practice is primarily for skill development. It allows you to have much more material to work with than you’d have otherwise. The trick to a good practice is not the quantity, but the quality, and for this, you need to have a good music teacher.
If you feel that your present guitar lessons aren’t progressing the way you want them to, you should know that there are Orange County guitar instructors like Mark Hamrock of Hamrock Music that focus on teaching you the instrument in the most efficient and fun way possible.
(Source: Music’s Greatest Lesson? The Value of “Every Day Effort,” Huffpost Living Canada, Nov. 23, 2013)
