Kamis, 13 September 2012

Bored Of Practicing Guitar? 8 Tips To Supercharge Your Playing

Playing the guitar is hard work. That's a bit blunt but it's true and that's the reason why we spend so much time looking on the internet for lessons, tips and videos.

In my opinion we have to learn to enjoy playing as without that progress will grind to a halt. I have come up with 10 tips to help relieve the frustration and boredom that can occur when practicing becomes a bit too boring.

1. Jam with other musicians.

This one is a no brainer as music is meant to be shared with others and performed. We all need band mates and an audience and both can be of great benefit. Band mates create a very enjoyable environment within which to practice and an audience can help us gain confidence with our own playing ability.

2. Record yourself playing.

Sometimes we aren't aware of our mistakes as when we play to ourselves we generally sound better than we are. By recording either using a audio device or a video recorder, we can objectively judge our standard and where we are going wrong. It is a real eye opener.

3. Learn something in a new genre

If you're a metaller like me, often we can become a bit blinkered with regards to other musical genres. Sometimes I get a little bored of playing the same thing and I like to dive into something totally different. Try some Flamenco or some Blues for a change and see if it invigorates your practice sessions.

4. Focus on one thing and ignore everything else.

One of the reasons why I can get frustrated is we live in a world where we have a million different things bombarding us from all angles. How to we know what song to learn or what technique to master if there are so many? Just pick one thing and ignore everything else. Only change when you either master it or you hit a brick wall.

5. Hit a brick wall? Leave it alone

When we reach a plateau with our learning it is sometimes best to just leave it alone and come back to it at a later date. For example, say you are learning a particular sweep picking technique but you just can't seem to improve on it. Well leave it be and learn something else related to it. Learn some more sweep patterns and come back to it in the future. You will probably find that it is now easier to play.

6. Buy or use another guitar.

Us guitar players are a bit fickle at times and we all love the latest designs and shiny guitars that get released every year. Sometimes something as simple as playing on a different guitar can inspire us to practice a lot more intently than before.

7. Leave that lead alone and play some rhythm.

Most guitarists focus too much on lead playing and they tend to neglect their rhythm duties. Maybe it's time to leave the solos behind for a while and embrace the role of the rhythm guitarist. Sometimes that is a much more rewarding way to play.

8. Become an instructor.

By doing this, you kind of force yourself to look through the eyes of the beginner and this can cause you to remember what it was like being that wide eyed and fresh with the instrument. You are also accountable to another person so you need to up your game to keep your skills sharp.

There, I hope I have given you some ideas about how to change things up and kick start your practice sessions. Click through to my website below for more articles and tips.

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar