One Simply Trick That Sky-Rocketed My Guitar Progress:
-By Eric Dieter
When I was in college studying guitar, I was expected to be able to do A LOT of things on the instrument at the end of each week. Nobody really taught me how to practice all of these things, the assumption was that you’d just put in as much time as it took to get it done.
I used to think that I should just try to memorize as much as possible on the first go then go back and clean up the slop once it was memorized. After all, there was so much to practice, why waste time dilly-dallying? So I plowed through, start to finish, as quickly as I could.
This SEEMED like the fastest way to learn.
The problem was that this brute-force “memorize the whole thing first” approach was just effective enough to trick me into thinking this IS the fastest way to learn. Sure, I memorized the stuff… But the reality that took a long time to sink in was that no one cared if I had the piece/concept memorized. They wanted to hear me execute it… flawlessly.
By rushing to memorize things, I accidentally taught my hands and brain to do all kinds of nasty things: panic at certain sections, ingrain sloppy technique, tolerate “good enough” as long as I got through the song…
This isn’t the way. The reality is that it takes far longer to de-program these mistakes than it does to just slow down and get it right the first time.
So what’s the simple trick that sky-rocketed my guitar productivity? Take smaller bites.
Work with smaller portions of practice material at a time and really get them to sound fantastic. Consider this as a guideline: if it takes you longer that 5-10 minutes to memorize what you’re working on, you’ve bitten off too much.
Take your time and chew your food. Even though you think you may be “starving” for time and need to rush… take small bites and savor the flavor.
This may sound slower and counter intuitive… and it is… on day 1. But if you stick with it consistently for just a short time, by day 7 or so you’re going to see (and hear) a far better result.
Happy playing!
-Eric
About the Author
Eric Dieter is a professional guitarist and guitar teacher in Lancaster, PA. He has appeared on dozens of international albums as a session guitar player and tours with the synth-pop and prog-rock band. Eric has studied guitar at Millersville University and Berklee College of Music. Additionally, he holds a degree in psychology and a certification in hypnosis, making him uniquely qualified to train the minds and hands of aspiring musicians. Contact Eric if you are looking for guitar lessons in Lancaster, PA.