I love talking about how the musicians I play with got to where they are at. There are so many great ideas, especially when you ask musicians of other instruments. I remember when I started to play guitar I was driven by just owning a guitar. I put an LP or tapes (I know I’m old) in my stereo and played along, to the chagrin of my parents and brother I’m sure. I had no form, structure or goals when I practiced but surprisingly this took me quite far. This extended phase of discovery lasted for quite a while and sometimes I would actually hit the same note or be kind of in the same key of the music I was playing to. The excitement of that motivated me until the next chance emulation of the music I loved.

That time is where I developed a true love for music and the guitar. A big help in getting to this love was not truly understanding how much I sucked. But thankfully no one told me, so I kept going. This took me to about grade 10 where I signed up for a improvising class that the University of Saskatchewan was putting on in the evenings for a few weeks. This was the turning point in my playing. I began to understand that I had to study. I knew scales, well a scale… but the instructor of the class went on and on showing how chords and scales worked together and then he made music up. I was blown away, not that I didn’t know what improvisation was at that point, but I had no idea to that depth. This really got me interested in working hard at practicing and getting to the place where I could understand and play what I was getting introduced to at the U of S that summer.

So that’s a little bit of how I got to where I was asking the question “what is the best way to practice”. From there I conceived of a practice schedule that continues to evolve and shape the way I learn and play today. Here are some principles that I picked up along the way that have worked really well for me.

  • Practice with a metronome, for everything. No exceptions.
  • Set goals and adjust weekly
  • Create little categories that you are working on that you can practice in chunks no longer than 20min. It’s amazing how 4 or 5hrs can go by when you are stringing 20min chunks together.
  • Set the bar high. Who is the best? Look and emulate them.
  • Develop a good understanding of how good you are. (or how bad you are) It helps you to know what you are shooting for.
  • A sense of groove / feel / time is really important. Make to listen to musicians who excel at that.
  • Push yourself. Always ask yourself the question “where and how am I being lazy”?
  • Keep the ego in check.
  • It more important what you have accomplished this year than this week, but this year is a string of weeks.
  • There is always someone better than you. Make sure your learning from them.
  • If practicing is easy, you aren’t practicing.
  • Discipline is the goal.
  • I never truly understood what I was practicing until I performed it.

Those are a few things that lead me in how I practice. I will get more specific and practical in my next post. Until then I would love to hear how you practice. How did you get to where you are or if you are just starting what are you doing now.