Finding the time to develop as a Guitarist

Hi! This is my first attempt at a blog. I’ll get straight to the point.

Whatever level you are at in your musical journey, finding the time to learn, refine and create can be a challenging concept. Balancing family life, maybe a daytime job, social life and the dreaded daily chores with the amount of time required to focus on music is tough at times. In my experience at least.

How do I balance everything? I generally focus on my music in the evenings so I can spend quality time with my family. So I think that is the first step, to figure out what part of the day or week you can set aside to focus on your craft.

Guitar is a little easier to work around daily tasks because you won’t be bound by volume constraints. If you haven’t already, maybe invest in some sort of ‘silent practice’ method. A headphones equipped setup, whether that be computer based plugins, any of the modelling options or straight up unplugged.

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Whether you’re learning new chords, developing your theory or working on new/old material, make sure you work to a click. This will most definitely kill two birds with one stone helping you to improve your timing whilst learning or refining your playing.

Whether you have 15 minutes or an hour, try and avoid distractions from Social Media. Concentrate and make a plan.

What do you want to achieve? Are you focusing on technique or learning a new song? Preparing for a show or chasing that elusive ‘Holy Grail of Tone’? Whatever your end goal is, make sure those goals are segmented into achievable chunks so you don’t become disheartened.

Maybe try and develop your ear whilst watching TV,have a guitar in your hands and pick out melodies. On a lunch break at work you could find the time to study some music theory in preparation for your next encounter with the instrument. Learn 2 new chords a day and study their intervalic makeup.

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This might sound crazy but set an alarm to wake 30 mins before your days starts, to incorporate some more playing into your day. I have done this for years and it has worked wonders with my playing and mental state. I like to feel like I’ve achieved something on a daily basis with the guitar.

This leads me onto my final point, view practice as playing. Simple I know, but practice sounds like work and playing sounds more like fun to me.

Don’t be afraid of making mistakes or disheartened with your progress. We never reach our ultimate goals, just enjoy the ride.