Things To Do and Things Required for Effective Guitar Practice

Before jamming or setting about with your next practice session on the guitar, it is important to go in fully prepared. This means that your practicing environment should be comfortable and you should have easy access to certain things.

For starters, ensure that the environment you practice in is very comfortable. Unless you’re playing with a band, you will in all likelihood need a comfortable place to sit down a practice. Find a suitable, flat chair, without arms (duh!). It should be a comfortable chair with good ergonomics so that it doesn’t have any ill effects on your health in the long run.

Also remember to follow some of the pre-playing best practices in order to ensure that not only you get the best out of your playing-sessions, but also so that you remain in good shape for many years.

For instance, take regular and periodic breaks between your playing sessions. Don’t practice for more than 15-20 minutes at a stretch because it is unadvised to sit down in one place for extended periods of time. Go for a 15-5 approach: a 5 minute break (stand up and walk around a bit) after every 15 minutes of play. Use a timer/stop-watch or a clock to keep a track of time, as well as your practice sessions and when to take breaks.

Also make sure that you stretch and warm-up properly before starting your practice sessions. Stretching and warming up your fingers, arms and wrists ensures that RSI and other health-related issues don’t pop up.

Also invest in a music stand, preferably with an adjustable stand, rather than using the bed, the floor or some other surface to put your notes and sheet music on. You could also use a tablet or an iPad for this purpose. Load up any one of the million apps available on the iPad which let you download and/or view music notes, chords, etc.

Always keep a notebook (and something to write with) handy. As you’ll find out, a notebook will let you keep a track of your practice sessions, jot down any breakthroughs, thoughts or ideas that pop up in your head during the practice. A good alternative to the notebook would be something like an iPad (equipped with your favorite note-taking app).

Along with your axe-of-choice, your amp, a tuner (important!) and all the equipment, I strongly recommend that you practice with a metronome. Not only will it allow you to keep it right as far as the timing’s concerned, it will also improve your playing speed and make your sessions more efficient.

One thing that has really helped me improve my technique and guitar-play over the years is recording all my playing and practice sessions. You could go for an audio-only recording setup by simply using a mic, an audio recorder (or a similar device), or your cellphone. Or you could do what I do and invest in a camcorder with a stand and record your sessions on video. This has numerous advantages: you can watch yourself play, hear what you play, and look at and change aspects which might need work. Also, you can look at your posture while playing and make any changes or corrections to it, if required.

You playing are should always be well-lit and have proper lighting levels. For instance I find practicing close to a window with ample natural light coming in to be the best. Doing so will not cause any strin on your eyes.

And speaking of the playing environment, practice in a place with peace and quiet, preferably away from noise or away from where people are. Turn off your cellphone (or put it on silent) and switch off your laptop’s notifications as well. This will allow you to have a distraction-free playing environment and allow you to fully concentrate on your playing sessions.

Recently, I’ve discovered that the iPad can make a musicians life immensely easy. Of course, we didn’t have tablets or such gadgets 6 or 7 years back, but now that these have become so easily accessible, and most importantly have all sorts of apps on them, they’ve become immense tools for guitarists and musicians. The iPad has a huge library of apps, which means that there’s guaranteed to be something available for just about any and every musician and guitarists out there. For instance, there are tons of notes, chords, tuning and metronome apps available on the iPad. In addition, guitar lessons, tips, tricks and stuff is also widely available. The Apple App Store has a separate section on music, so do check that out.

Remember to cut down on distractions, keeping cellphone off, stay away from computer and Facebook at all costs, and make your practice environment as comfortable as possible.

Work on your aural (ear training). This LearnGuitar.org article should help with that. As the article says, the difference between a casual guitar-player and a musician is aural training, which just about sums it up just perfectly.