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3 Dumb Guitar Mistakes 99% of All Guitarists Make These Same 3 Mistakes
By Mike Hayes | August 12, 2010
Twenty years ago as I was reading a guitar column in a industry
magazine when I came across a great phrase “the dedicated take
care of their time and time takes care of the undedicated”.
This particular phrase made a gigantic impact on me and I think
about it almost everyday for two reasons:
(a) it keeps me motivated to make the most of everyday and not
waste time, after all ‘time is all you got!’
(b) as I go about my work as a professional musician/guitarist
I’m aware of how much time would-be guitarists waste by
repeatedly making the same awful mistakes everyday.
I’ve listed my top three mistakes or should I say “time wasting
traps” that the majority of guitar players fall into.
Mistake #1: practice too long – in most cases guitar players who
practice long hours are literally throwing countless hours of
practice out in the street.
The solution: the trick is to determine what type of practice you
need to do; many guitar players are not aware that there are
types of practice (a) data memory training; and (b) motor skill
training.
In a nutshell data memory practice sessions should be short
3-5 minutes whereas effective motor skill practice sessions can
be as long as 20-30 minutes.
Mistake #2: practicing too fast – long hours of sloppy guitar
practice results in a sloppy guitar technique; don’t train
yourself to make mistakes.
The solution: speed is a by-product of accuracy. The first
mistake should be a warning to slow down. There’s no point
practicing mistakes, that defeats the whole purpose of
practicing, once a mistake is ingrained it is extremely difficult
to eradicate.
Use a metronome to track your progress, always practice
everything slowly and gradually build up the tempo, never play
faster than you can accurately!
Mistake #3: can’t remember what they have learned – most guitar
players suffer from short term memory training. In our school
years we learned to retain information only long enough to pass
the test, once our short term objective (the test) was achieved
most or all of the information was discarded; the information is
still in our memory banks somewhere the difficulty is recalling
it!
While not being able to fully recall your algebra assignment may
not really bother you (unless of course you are working for
NASA); we don’t want this type of ’short term’ memory training to
spill over into our guitar practice habits.
The solution: develop long term memory and recall training habits
by practicing for short time frames of 2-5 minutes, use a timer
to keep an accurate track of your time frames, when the timer
rings take a break, stand up and get away from the guitar, leave
your practice area stretch have a drink etc., the idea is to
change your environment before going back to practice.
Summary: Avoid these mistake and develop effective, efficient
practice habits, learn how to work with your nervous system not
against it and you will be well on your way to becoming a
successful guitarist.
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