Category: How To Practice

Trying to play the guitar without warming up first is no the way to have a good guitar experience. If you are trying to get some guitar practice in and you do not have much time, then do not rush to get a certain amount of practice in little time, just practice less material in the time you have. If you approach guitar practice in this way you will start to see the benefits very quickly. If you only have say, fifteen minutes to play your guitar, then do something very simple. If, for instance you are learning a new chord change, then start with making sure each left hand finger is placed with only the very minimum of tension. Once your hand is in place on the guitar neck, then try to make a smooth change to the next chord. As a variation on this routine, try fingering each chord without doing it as a chord “change”, that is, finger the first chord then put your hand down and relax it completely. Shake it a little to get the previous chord position out of your muscle memory. Now take the fingering of the next chord. Try practicing your chords in this way for a bit. Doing your guitar practice in this way is not going to give you a great number of chord changes in your fifteen minutes’ practice, but it will give you a few QUALITY chord change practices.

I have found a link to a bunch of warm up exercises for guitarists. You sould probably print this page for further reference.

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When you decided to become a guitar player you thought it would be fun, right? But you have discovered that the process of learning to play guitar involves climbing a mountain or two. If you have persisted in your efforts to learn guitar you might have just decided to grit your teeth and knuckle down to solid hard work. Hours of it. Hours on end. The reward is in the future. Well, the work is necessary but if there is no fun then much of the work is wasted.
If your aim is to do one hour of guitar practice per day it would be good to focus a little on getting value for money out of all that sweating. One hour’s guitar practice is not one hour’s continuous playing without a break. It is a process of rethinking your aims and constantly renewing your view of the guitar and of yourself. If you are the type of person who has trouble getting down to work, make a set time to practice and make yourself stick to it.
It is true that constant playing makes you a guitarist, but constantly trying to play scales and chords your hands are not ready for just makes you grumpy. If you find yourself thinking about how your speed is not improving or you are just not getting the chord change you have been working on then you need to take a step back and have more fun while you practice.
Maybe you can start by having several things to practice on any given day so that when you get sick of practicing one thing you can move onto something else.
Or you could simply rest for a few minutes after a grueling practice session. An ideal way to break up practice time is to be always making sure your guitar is in tune.
Divide your guitar practice time into portions, say 10 minutes arpeggios, 5 minute tuning break, 15 minutes scales, 5 minutes on a tricky chord change. If it is natural for you to sit down to practice regularly you should spice up your routine as much as you can because your biggest danger is going stale.
Every guitarist should work out a practice regime that helps develop technique, widening repertoire, performing a variety of music, and in getting your songs into your memory.
You need to have an aim or two every time you sit down to practice.
Some goals would be in these areas:
Warming up your hands
Working on technique
Learning new songs
Memorizing songs
Improving technique using music you are already familiar with.
Take time to work on musical interpretation
If you have lessons with a teacher or occasionally play for friends and family, prepare in advance as though you were preparing for a formal performance. You need to see what you need to work on to sound your best.
When you sit down to practice, allow your problems to drop away. Take a holiday from your life.
At least once a week make a point of playing the songs you really enjoy playing. Then find songs or pieces that you dislike or have trouble with.

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I found this fantastic essay called “Improve Your Guitar Playing By Practicing Less”. Here’s a few tidbits:

“Getting into a rhythm of regularly picking up your guitar for a quick practice session is a great habit to get into – the more your guitar is in your hands, the more you’ll get used to playing guitar.
So if you don’t have enough time for a full practice session, and you have 10-15 minutes to spare, here’s some ideas for what you should practice . . .”

“. . . You may not think these short practice sessions help much, but doing this builds up your skills fast – and you’ll surprise yourself by how much you improve just be having the guitar in your hands regularly.
However, you don’t want to solely rely on these quick practice sessions. Like most things, you need to strike a balance. A good way of finding that balance is to set a routine.
When you have a routine, you will find it gets easier to find the time for practice. Once you’re in a habit of practicing you’ll find it harder to break out of, and that’s a good habit to have.”
Here’s the article.

Technorati Tags: Improve Your Guitar Playing