To improve your guitar playing, you need a plan, not a goal.

Posted by Chris 19 Apr, 2008 

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I'm in the process of getting a new band together. It's been a while since Sledge finished up and I want to get back in the game. Unfortunately, with full time work and getting my own business off the ground, as well as some other projects I have found my chops to be severely lacking. Not that they were brilliant to begin with, but I got by. Lets just say I was better than the average Joe.

Anyway, I need to get back there, and I want to be better than ever. Call it an ego thing, but my fellow guitarist in this band is a natural player. A pure ear player who can hear anything and work it out almost note for note. I've always been more of a feel player and that is why we have always complimented each other's playing. What I want to do is make this a genuine two guitar line up even if I am handling the singing duties.

Image from http://flickr.com/photos/idiotjenn/

To that affect I am developing my own goals for getting back up to scratch and beyond, and have developed a plan to get there. Hopefully showing you how I am going to approach this will help you with planning your own regime, or you may see some serious flaws with mine and point me in a better direction. With a busy schedule (fiancé / full time work / part time business work / gym) I need to find some quick drills that I can do that I know will help.

Before planning your practice tasks you need to know when you can play. During the week I know I can squeeze in at least 30 minutes a day for basic exercises. That doesn't mean only 30 minutes, it's a minimum. Three night a week I go to the gym now, so the other two nights I can basically play for as long as I want. But 30 minute drills are the goal for my schedule.

So what do I want to learn. That my friends is the question. You will have your own mission, but mine was clear:

  1. Get out of the box - lets finally use the entire fretboard
  2. Learn from the greats - Pick three of my favourite guitarists and learn a song from each that best sums up what I like about their style
  3. Left hand wizardry - get my left hand working the way it used to

Now I just have to find the tools to unleash the guitar monster within. I'm going to tackle these objectives in reverse order, so next time I'll share with you my personal guitar idols and what songs I have picked.

Image from : idiotjenn

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Viewing 3 Comments

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    Its funny we seem to be in a very similar place at the moment, I'm currently re-learning all the things I've forgotten over the years and really want to focus on practicing correctly this time and making my picking and left hand technique better than it ever was! Unfortunately I don't seem to be able to commit to playing daily, there's just too much to do with work and house rennovations! ah well... I need to get a band together too, there's nothing like playing with other musicians to get me inspired to practice!
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    For sure. I'm not jumping in and just playing through. I'm going to plan this out properly so I have a definite path to follow. With out the plan I'd just be spinning my wheels, sometimes it is a drag to be so busy. I have full time work, a business getting off the fround, plus trying to get back in shape al to contend with too.
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    I'm trying to reacquaint myself with the guitar after a long absence, and really being a bassist I have much to learn (ouch my fingers)... it's great to see your game plan. I think goals and time lines are a great idea and I'm gonna do the same. Thanks for the post!

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