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. Out Of Sight, Out Of MindIf you can't see your guitar, you're not going to pick it up and play it. One of the simplest things you can do to play your guitar more often is to put it on a guitar stand, in a room where you can see it all the time. Leaving your guitar in a case, under a bed, or in a closet is a good way to forget to pick it up and play it. There's a reason that "out of sight, out of mind" is a common saying. Plus, having to get your instrument out of the case adds another step you have to take to get going - making it more likely you'll skip playing today. Seeing your guitar makes it much more likely you'll think about playing it - and if it's not in a case all you have to do is pick it up and play. Personally, I leave my guitars on stands as much as possible. Partly because I use them for my work, but also so it's super easy to play for a few minutes here and there throughout the day. There were a few years where I lived in a townhouse, teaching guitar lessons out of the upper level. I figured out that I wasn't playing guitar very much outside of my lesson time, so I took one guitar and put it on a stand on the ground floor, in the living room, right next to the tv. Suddenly I was playing guitar all the time. Any time I got bored or just walked through the room, the guitar was an easy option to pick up and play. The guitar lived in that room for the rest of the time I lived there, and I always try to keep one in easy reach these days. Guitar stands are inexpensive, and much safer for your guitar than leaning it up against a table, chair, or wall. Remember - leaning your guitar against anything other than a guitar stand is a recipe for a broken guitar! A guitar stand is going to be way cheaper than taking your guitar to a repair shop, or having to buy a new guitar. Try This:As soon as possible, buy a guitar stand if you don't already have one. You can go to any music store that sells guitars, and they will have at least a couple of types of guitar stands. If you want to get really fancy, there are options for mounting your guitar stand on the wall so it's up off of the floor (maybe a good idea if you have small humans or pets running around). Put your guitar stand somewhere you will see it every day, and you'll probably end up playing your guitar more. The more you play your guitar, the better you will get! Keep playing, and let me know how it's going! Other Articles In This Series
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |