Put it this way; I used to think that if I had a spare moment, I should be playing guitar. If I was watching TV or a movie, I should be playing guitar. If I was downloading something on my computer, I should be playing guitar. That's how I used to operate.
This borderline obsessive behavior caused one major problem in my life; I started to feel guilty when I wasn't playing guitar. I couldn't seem to find the time to take a break, time to do the dishes, time to exercise, time to work on other pursuits and relationships in my life. I couldn't get a good sleep at night, and I was tired all the time. Why? Because I was supposed to be playing guitar.
Fortunately, chatting and jamming with other musicians helped me to realize the fatal problem with this behavior. Musicians that I truly admire had found a balance that worked for them, and this made me want to find a balance for myself, too. Even though they're such amazing musicians, it turns out that they weren't practicing for 20 hours a day! Rather they dedicated a specific amount of time every day to practice their instrument, and focused on using their shorter practice time efficiently.
Then I began to realize that this was the balance I needed in my life. If I could set aside a certain amount of time for practice, learn to practice economically and establish what I wanted to get out of my practice time, not only would I have more time for everything else in my life, I would start to see better results!
When you practice for 10 hours a day, your focus can become lost and you end up going through the same scales and licks and chords you already know. This is wasted time. There may be guitarists out there that can keep their focus and are disciplined enough to make it work for them, but I don't think I'm one of them. I would rather get the best results out of my practice time.
My family is important to me, my friends are important to me, and my clients – obviously – are important too. At this time in my life I have so much more to do and to work on than music and music alone. Right now it's a matter of quality over quantity. This article was written by David Andrew Wiebe, web designer, graphic designer, guitarist, bassist, keyboardist, songwriter, guitar instructor, and music expert. Interested in winning a free CD? Click here for more info! Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Recommendations? Email me.
Published on October 9, 2007