Becoming a good guitarist takes a lot of practice unless you’re a Jimi Hendrix or an Axel Bay who just pick up a guitar and it becomes another appendage to your body. But for normal people it takes a lot of practice. Developing good practice habits is something that many guitarists fail to do. So keep on reading for 5 tips and techniques for healthy and effective guitar practice.

Make Time - It’s important to find a time and space to focus on guitar practice. I know we all get lazy and sometimes setting aside a certain amount of time each day for practice seems like a chore but it is important to have some time set aside where you can concentrate solely on practicing guitar. However, the guitar doesn’t always have to be played in such a strict and formal way; just strumming a guitar when watching TV or running through scales while chatting with friends is another great way to become comfortable with the guitar. I knew a Chinese girl who was a great guitarist, all due to the fact that she never put the guitar down. She was always playing regardless of what she was doing. The Emmanuel Brothers used to sleep with their guitars as kids, and look how good they got. The more time spent with the guitar the better, but at least part of this time should be focused, quality time.

Make Practice Fun - As above, guitar practice doesn’t always have to be strict and formal. But even when you are practicing in a formal way, there are ways to make the practice really enjoyable. Playing along to favorite songs, playing with friends, making fun challenges such as playing scales as quickly as possible — all of these techniques can be used to keep guitar practice from becoming a chore.

Play To a Metronome - It’s important to develop a good sense of timing as early as possible or you will end up playing like Steve Jones (Sex Pistols). Playing to a metronome or a CD will help you learn to play in time. Another option is to play with a drum machine or a good drummer. If you only practice alone without some sort of timing device you could develop bad habits which will make it difficult to play with other musicians.

Strengthen Weaknesses - When practicing, you shouldn’t just cover the things you can already do well. Practice should be a time for developing new skills, and this means understanding your weaknesses as a guitarist and remedying the situation by practicing the techniques that you are having problems with until they become easier.

Understand Music Theory - Being a good guitarist will always be more than just having quick fingers and a good ear. With no comprehension of music theory, it can be difficult to understand chord progressions, how to play solos well, how to read music, and a myriad of other important skills. The best option is to develop your fingers and mind simultaneously. This doesn’t mean spending years becoming a music theory pro, but it does mean learning some basic theory principles.

By balancing fun with hard work, and practical skills with theoretical knowledge, you can develop healthy practice techniques. From this, you can become well-rounded with a wide range of technical abilities and musical knowledge. It all starts with developing and maintaining a good practice schedule. The sooner this is done, the quicker you will progress as a musician.

- Axel

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