When I first started playing I was a maniac! I had no real structure to my practice. I just put in the hours and hoped that I got better. And I did! But there was a problem. I practiced something different almost every day. My practice "schedule" changed from one day to the next. This created two major negative side effects...
1. Sore hands. For example, I would often go so berserk on alternate picking exercises that my picking wrist would get incredibly sore. It would be so sore that I couldn't practice alternate picking the next day. So what did I do? I then went crazy with legato exercises. So much so that I wouldn't be able to practice legato the next day. So I went back to my trusty alternate picking. Mmmm...there's a pattern emerging here. :-)
2. Slower Progress. Now, don't get me wrong. I progressed faster than any of my friends. But I definitely don't think I progressed at my fastest possible rate. If I had practiced less on an exercise, but did it EVERY day I think my progress would have been much faster.
I guess the moral of the story is to temper your enthusiasm with intelligence. Let's look at how to start to be more consistent with your practice...
***Step One***
Decide on something that you would like to master. Make it something short like a lick, scale or perhaps a few bars of a song.
***Step Two***
Decide on a speed goal for the thing that you have chosen. This will be your target tempo. Make it challenging. Something that will make you a significantly better player once you have achieved it. Of course, you need to keep in mind your current playing level. If you are a beginner and you set a speed goal of sixteenth notes at 240bpm, you are definitely setting yourself up for a failure!
***Step Three***
Decide on how much time you'll invest practicing the thing that you have chosen. I would recommend setting a goal of 10-15 minutes a day. A small amount done daily will give you better results than hours done irregularly.
***Step Four***
Make a commitment to practice what you have chosen on a daily basis. The key is to practice it every single day until your speed goal has been reached. No excuses,no crying, no moaning, no exceptions.
***Step Five***
Get to work! This is the step that requires discipline. It could take weeks or months to achieve your speed goal! Just keep in mind that anyone can write down a goal, but unfortunately VERY few people will follow it though to completion. That's probably why there are so many more guitar OWNERS than guitar PLAYERS ;-)
I invite you to try this approach to guitar practice. I've found that it really helps me, and I'm sure you'll benefit from it as well!
