Get More in 30 Minutes of Practice than Most Get in 3 Hours
How often have you experienced this: you sit down to practice guitar but you’re not sure what to do and you end up just noodling aimlessly without making any real progress.
This is the kind of practice that leads you nowhere fast. You might spend hours every week “practicing” like this but when it comes down to it, you don’t see any improvement in your playing.
This usually leads to this thought, “No matter what I do, I can’t get better.”
What if it was possible to sit down and, without even having to think, you know what to practice in a way that is far more effective than noodling.
Learning guitar is often a process of trial and error. And it seems, mostly error. That’s a big problem you face when learning something. You don’t know what you don’t know, so you try this, try that, and sometimes it works but a lot of the time it doesn’t. You practice and don’t get much better, or maybe you get a little bit better, but you still feel stuck and you’re left wondering, why?
If you’re anything like me when I was younger, you practice a lot and then watch other people play and think to yourself, well, they must just have a gift because I can’t play like that even though I practice all the time. That can make you feel pretty discouraged., especially if you buy into the idea of natural talent.
We all know we could be practicing more effectively.
John Williams’ father knew this. In the early days of learning the guitar, his father would not let him practice unless he was present with him. Why is that? Because his father understood that good practice produces good results, and bad practice produces bad results. He knew that a kid trying to learn guitar needed more – a lot more – than just lessons. He needed someone sitting there watching him, guiding him, and making sure he was doing exactly what he needed in order to become a great player.
I remember wondering what I should practice and just taking my best guess.
It was always a guessing game for me in college studying classical guitar or desperately trying to figure out jazz on my own. I had repertoire to work on, so I knew I had to practice that. I had some exercises, so I went over those boring drills a million times. And I had a large, scary book with lots of technical stuff in it that was unbearably boring, and yes, I practiced that too. But I didn’t have anyone guiding me on a regular basis, and so as a result I would practice for long periods of time and end up with less than stellar results.
This is what we all struggle with. How do I know, with certainty, that I’m practicing well?
Mostly we don’t, until we see the results (or lack thereof). And if we don’t get good results, we get discouraged. And who do we blame? We don’t blame the guitar, and we don’t usually blame the teacher, we usually blame ourselves. We end up like Jim Carrey’s character in Liar Liar when he beats himself up in the bathroom to try to get out of a losing court hearing. We throw ourselves against the wall and then have to go back to the practice room and try again while feeling completely discouraged.
So, what can we do to help ensure we practice well?
The ideal solution is having me come to your house, sit you down, and make you practice while I watch, but that’s going to cost too much money and take up too much of my time, so the next best thing is what I’ve created – the Guitar Mastery Workout Series.
Here’s what you’ll get:
Video Guitar Workouts (2-4 per month)
Each month you’ll receive 2-4 videos (each 5-25+ minutes in length) of me guiding you through specific practice routines. I’ll explain everything about each aspect of the routine and show you exactly how to practice, what to avoid, mistakes you might make, and how to make each workout a little more difficult if it feels too easy. All you have to do is hit play and let me guide you through the session. It’s about as good as you can get without paying me to be with you in person (and it’s much cheaper).
Audio Mastery Guides (1-2 per month)
You’ll also receive Guided Practice Sessions that help you focus on specific skills and technical aspects of your playing. Like the videos, simply hit play and follow my instructions. You’ll always know how and what to practice. These audio guides will often be accompanied by PDF examples (see below).
Written Workout Examples (As Needed)
Written workouts will be given when needed to accompany either the audio or video workouts. Sometimes you don’t need more “stuff” and it’s better to simply watch or listen and play along, but sometimes you’ll need examples to help you implement the concepts in your workout videos. Each example will be clearly labeled with fingering, articulation, dynamics, and anything else you need to play them correctly.
So, why subscribe to Guitar Mastery Workouts? Here are a few benefits:
- Learn how the pros practice (it might make you feel silly, but it works like gangbusters)
- Why playing super slow can actually make you play faster and more accurately
- Learn new ways to practice for maximum progress
- Once these are delivered they’re yours to keep forever
- Use them anytime, anywhere from your computer or smartphone
- Always have a guide to walk you through an effective practice routine
- Mix up your favorite routines so practice doesn’t get boring
- A technique that can help you eliminate excessive tension from your playing
- How to figure out what you need to do next and avoid getting stuck again
- Learn 3 unexpected ways to make learning faster
- How to interval training helps you retain more of what you practice
- Why it’s actually good to make mistakes (sometimes)
- How to double your guitar speed
- A simple way to gauge how much progress you’re making
- A tiny adjustment to how to hold your pick that makes playing smoother, easier and more consistent
- How the “inertia of the rhythmic flow” prevents you from practicing effectively
- Why you should divide your practice into 3 distinct parts (and why almost no one does this)
- How to “detach” from practicing (and no longer be bothered by mistakes)
- The 5 stages of learning a piece of music (almost everyone skips the most important step)
- Why you should never focus on how much time you spend practicing
- A simple way to stay on task and keep you mind from wandering
- How to spot bad habits (and how to fix them)
- Learn specific strategies for improving just about any skill area that is weak
- What to do to avoid “brain boredom”
- The most common mistake I see guitarists make and how to fix it
- The one exercise I make all my students do because it’s just that good (I learned it 18 years ago and still do it)
- How to appreciate the mistakes you make
Here are the details:
- 2-4 videos each month
- 1-2 Audio Practice Guides each month
- Written examples as needed
- Cancel any time, there’s no long term commitment
- Your first set of Guitar Mastery Workouts will be delivered within 48 hours of your first payment
- $67/month