Purposeful Practice
“An analogy I use is, if you’re going out for dinner, it’s going to take you a couple of hours. You spend 5 minute working out where to go for dinner. It seems reasonable to spend 5% of your time on how to spend the reminding 95%. If you did that with your career, that would be 4,000 hours, or 2 working years. And actually, I think that’s a pretty legitimate thing to do- spending that length of time trying to work out how you should be spending the rest of your life.”- Will MacAskill
I’ve been playing music since I was eight, and not a single teacher addressed this one issue: how to practice.
I was always told ‘what’ to practice, but the ‘how’ was never talked about.
To improve your guitar skills, you need to practice regularly and deliberately. But what does that mean exactly? How can you practice guitar in a way that leads to real progress and mastery?
I will share with you some principles of purposeful practicing. This concept comes from the field of skill acquisition and performance psychology. Purposeful practice is a system of practicing that goal-oriented and feedback-driven.
Here are some steps to apply purposeful practice to your guitar learning:
Set a specific and realistic goal for each practice session. Instead of saying "I want to learn this song", say "I want to play the first verse of this song at 80% speed without mistakes".
Break down your goal into smaller and manageable sub-goals. Let's say your goal is to play the first verse of a song. You can divide it into four measures and work on each measure separately. Focus on each sub-goal one time at a time.
Practice slowly and perfectly. Using a metronome can be helpful to play accurately and in rhythm. Start with a slow speed that allows you to play the measure correctly and comfortably. Gradually increase the speed until you reach your target tempo. Be comfortable at each speed you play. Accuracy and rhythm is the goal at every speed you play.
Track your performance and get feedback. Listen to your playing and identify any errors or areas of improvement. You can record yourself and see where things could be improved. You can also compare your performance with the original song to see what could change.
Adjust your practice based on the feedback. If you notice that you are making the same mistake repeatedly, isolate the problem area. Slow it down and practice it until you fix it. Make sure it's fixed for good though. Once you get it correct, play it at least two more times correctly. That way you make sure that first time wasn't luck.
Repeat the process with each sub-goal. until you achieve your main goal for the session. If you feel that you have mastered the one sub-goal, move on to the next one. Then start to combine them with the other parts/sub-goals.
Finish strong. Review what you have learned and celebrate your progress. Play something from the session that you have down well. Always try to end on a high note.
By following these steps, you will be able to practice guitar better. You will also enjoy your practice more and feel more motivated to keep learning. Remember that purposeful practice is not easy. But, it is what the name entails, "purposeful." Your purpose being to get better.
We encourage this type of practicing at Lone Star Guitar. Book a free intro lesson with us to see the Lone Star difference.
