The more you play your guitar, the better you will get.

So far in this series we've looked at keeping your guitar on a stand, and building a habit around something else you do on a daily basis.

While both of these are great strategies, it's worth developing a wider toolkit for getting your guitar practice in. 

I've found over the years that it sometimes takes a variety of tools to keep yourself moving forward. Habits may work for a while, but then your schedule changes.

You keep the guitar on a stand in your living room, but now it's summer and you're spending your time outside. 

Whenever one strategy stops helping you play more, you can always change your approach - if you have more than one trick up your sleeve.

This lesson will focus on scheduling guitar practice into your day.

​It can be as simple as a reminder on your phone, or an entry into your calendar app. Just something to give you a little nudge to pick up your guitar.

If you want to improve your guitar playing, you need to spend time playing guitar.

It seems obvious, but sometimes we need to have these things spelled out for us.

​In part one of this series, we looked at making your guitar visible so you'll be more likely to pick up your guitar and play it.

In this lesson, we are going to explore creating a habit of playing your guitar more often.

​It takes a little bit of thought and willpower up front, but before too long you'll be picking up and playing your guitar almost automatically each day.

​The best guitar players I've met are the ones who play guitar the most.

This goes for the professionals I've worked with, and students of mine who have become great players themselves.

You don't have to practice for hours at a time to get good at playing guitar. It does help if you play your guitar regularly though.

Even a few minutes a day can help you start to improve if you do it often enough. 

Note: If you want to become a professional, you have to put in the time. There's no way around that - in college, music majors are expected to practice a minimum of 4 hours each day. If you're playing for fun, you'll be surprised at how much you can improve with a little bit of time each day.

The biggest hurdle you face in your own guitar playing is making sure you're playing your guitar regularly.

​Playing for an hour a couple of days out of the week is not going to help you as much as playing guitar for a little bit of time each day. Make it a goal to play guitar on more days than you don't play guitar. (Even if it's just for a couple of minutes - it's worth it)

Over the next few weeks, we'll look at some simple ways you can start playing your guitar more regularly. Click the "Read More" button below.

Like anything worth doing, learning to play guitar takes time.

Whether you’re in guitar lessons or learning on your own, there is no such thing as a shortcut.

But this should be seen as good news!

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Playing guitar is a lot of fun even at the beginning stages. If you enjoy the process, there is no need to try to speed things up.

That being said, it can be tempting to look around and decide that you are somehow behind.

Whether you’re looking at friends who have been playing longer than you, or watching the 9 year old shredding the blues on youtube, there is always something out there to make us want to take our playing further.

One mistake I see is when people try to “catch up” by working on several things at once and trying to multitask in their guitar practice.

The idea that you can just do more and speed up your progress is tempting to buy into - but unless you have several hours a day to practice (and the attention span/stamina to match), it just doesn’t work out that way.

The best way for you to make progress in your guitar playing is to be patient, and work on one thing at a time. 

Consistent practice (picking up the guitar most days) is your fastest path to improving your guitar playing.  

While this may sound like a no-brainer, many guitar players and students I come across don’t follow this simple idea. 


It’s easy to let life get in the way, especially when you have a busy schedule and don’t feel like you have time to practice.

When you let too many days go by between practice sessions, you’ll start to get rusty - even if you practice for long sessions on days that you do play your guitar. 

This is typical even with more serious students at the college level.

They will tend to practice a lot just before an impending deadline - whether it’s a lesson day, or a performance - and then put the guitar down for a couple of days until the next deadline pops up.

With a little effort you can build a habit of playing your guitar on more days than you don’t - and keep your guitar skills moving in the right direction.

​The more often you pick up your guitar to practice, the faster you’ll improve (and it will be much less stressful to get ready for your big performances)!

Listening to great guitarists is an essential part of learning to play guitar. Hearing great players will give you ideas, inspiration, and help you develop your own unique sound.

Below you'll find a list of some of my favorite guitar players in a variety of styles, with links to recordings of their playing. This list will get updated regularly, so check back often.

If there's a guitarist that isn't on this list that you think should be or any of the links don't work for you, contact me and let me know!

When it comes to playing guitar, you are what you listen to. So keep listening to great guitar players of any style you like.

Keep checking back to see what's new on the list, and feel free to contact me to let me know what you're listening to!