It really makes it so much easier to track the progress/improvement when you record your practice sessions. Which leads to feelin good, which leads to more practice! Another tip I heard in regards to practice: “don’t just play til you get it right. Play it til you can’t get it wrong”.
As far as routine, I don't even think about it. I have a three ring binder with plastic inserts for music. I set it up the way I want to go through my session. So every day I sit down with the guitar and just turn to page 1. After that's done, I turn to page 2. Etc etc etc. Takes about fifteen minutes to get through all my preliminary material. Then turn the page and there's the songs I'm working on. Just like that. Make it so you don't have to constantly think about what you're gonna do today.
Thanks for having me on Tony! Appreciate you and everyone involved with Acoustic Tuesday. This show helps me grow and you were my introduction to bluegrass. 😁👍❤️ Glad to be part of the community! Here’s to your continued success!
Here's where Tony's Acoustic Challenge helps. He sets out practice sessions so I don't have to think. I get up & sing n play when I pray in the morning and night. I then walk the dog & try that day's lesson. Sometime after lunch I play/sing/practice what is going to be used in my 1~1.5 hours volunteer session that week. I SLOWLY work in some things I learned in TAC. I play the lessons again. My wife will sing with me and the dog lays down at my feet. Day ends with a song.
I’m a 80s baby grew up on rap then I heard the Beatles at age 33 and they were without a doubt what inspired me to play guitar. I hardly listen to rap now.
Just having a lightweight portable instrument is always handy. I am in love with my Klos travel guitar. Always have it next to my couch and just jam on it daily.
Thanks for reading my post about your Mavis Mule guitar. I was definitely blown away and will tell my wife to blame you when I purchase one. Thanks again and please post more videos with the Mule.
Hi Tony and tac family. Thank you for sharing my guitarsenal. Just an update, I have passed the Fender banjo to my son in West Virginia. He said he was going to look for a banjo and since I purchased my Nechville, the Fender was not getting much use. I hope we will be able to play together when we meet for vacation. I have also purchased another guitar. A Furch Little Jane with a spruce top and Cocobolo back and sides, with electronics. My Janie fills my parlor nitch with the added bonus of a great little travel guitar. It is even smaller and easier to carry than my Voyage Air travel guitar. Thanks for the practice tips. I am looking forward to putting the ideas into practice that I have not currently been using. I especially like the practice log and note the win idea after every session. I feel this is a great way to have your progress be in black and white to follow when you hit those wall. Have fun and play on tac family!!
I just cleared my first 1,000 hours of practice. I use rocksmith as a stat tracker since it records everything by default. I follow Malcolm Gladwell's outliers (10,000 hour rule) along with the Steve Vai guitar workout which involves the following: an hour of finger exercises, an hour of scales, an hour of chords, an hour of ear training, an hour of sight reading sheet music (not tabs), transcription of a song a day, an hour of music theory, then 2 hours of practice. I follow this 7 days a week so yes, it's intense, but my spouse is an rn in a high covid 19 count hospital so I have to do extra social distancing because I can't really control my exposure and I'm a stay-at-home husband. I've gotten a library of almost 600 songs to practice and my overall master is pushing 76% with all songs covering from bob dylan to dragonforce. The biggest tip I can give for keeping yourself honest with time is the old reliable metronome. There's a reason that it's stood the test of time (pun intended). Even though the majority of my guitar playing is electric, I do have a kadence acoustica: It's a budget brand that punches pretty high above it's belt. Thanks Tony
My significant other doesn’t really care that I play tbh. I’m always playing and practicing she just watches RU-vid videos or goes to the other room she honestly never seems interested. Anything I show her she says she likes but she doesn’t even really pay attention. It’s.. really discouraging to be honest. I don’t really know what else to do. It makes me happy, its how I express myself. I get together with my band and other friends to jam and they like what I do and they like the things I come up with
Damn, there are so many people who I listened to, I don't know who exactly inspired me to buy my first yamaha F280, I can say I was a big fan of 80s rock and Linkin park, so maybe RHCP, Bon Jovi etc.
Hi Tony. Thank you for the videos. I joined your TAC but coukdnt log in half the time. Im glad you are on here. I have learned so much from your explanations. You are a great teacher! Going to keep at it.
I've actually made a print out of the guitar playing steps that you listed and put it in my practice room. I often focus on the negatives of my guitar playing so I was glad to see that you mention to celebrate successes. Even if my playing session wasn't the best there is always something that I have improved on from day to day. I have come to guitar playing later in life and enjoy it so much. Thanks for the guitar playing tips. I have subscribed and will keep on learning what you have to teach.
I usually practice after work on my porch. Usually around 6-6:30. My intention is usually the acoustic daily challenge. I can say that as progress, my wife has said, I notice you are playing different things, sounds good! Christopher H.
Hey, Tony! I’m proud to say that I can now get back into my guitar practice. I finally......FINALLY.......finished my MBA this month and can’t wait to fill my time with practice in the den every night. Your timing for this episode to remind us to set an intent, routine, and celebrating #smallwins was perfect! I’m hoping to actually memorize a few open E slide blues songs, record them and send them up to you for fun in the next few weeks. Anyway, thanks for being there every week during my “breaks” in my studies and preparing me for the free time at the end of my degree to dig deep into my guitar obsession! You’re awesome, Ton! #guitargeeksunite
I started playing the violin. and because it mostly soloes it helped me think about the melody by itself how am I making the melody nicer (dynamics, vibrato, playing more harmony) I guess any musical instrument that plays solo (like a trumpet, saxophone, etc )will be like that.
The fear of having to talk more to my lovely wife of 24 years during quarantines/lockdowns got me to buy a guitar, this community keeps amazing me. Thank you all :)
Tony it would still be nice if the lessons could be packable to take to the cabin in the woods or on the lake. I was upset the lessons are no longer available for download. Retiring soon and don’t plan on being at home w Internet access :(
Glad to see Gallagher mentioned - they are a wonderful crew making great instruments in MURFREESBORO Tennessee. Here is your appropriate attribution in using a portion of my work… The American Acoustic Guitar Series is produced and copyrighted by Bill Noel, all rights are reserved, and clips may used by permission or license only. Links (which play at the appropriate speed): Gallagher feature ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BeB9ZMMomgU.html Original 1994 documentary ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-flu6agJjoSs.html Rockbridge Guitars ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AcGsaGYwHKk.html
So, I am doing the 30 days to play. It's probably going to be more like 60 days, BUT!!!! I am practicing, oh I mean playing with my metronome. Slow but surely getting there.
@AcousticLife Tony, I must respectfully disagree with you: we, as guitar geeks, need to hear ourselves practice. We need the avalanche of notes. The people we love do not. It's one thing for them to appreciate the fruits of the work, but it's quite another for the hours of practice it takes to reach certain goals. In fact, none other than Tommy Emmanuel preaches this in some of his workshops. The people we love deserve the rewards of our practice, but asking them to shoulder the burden of practice with us is laying it on a little thick. Granted, I'm all for having a spouse being our biggest fan. Imagine how gratifying it would be for the wife to toss her bra and panties on stage during a performance. "I know these!" you might tell yourself in addition to, "Damn I'm good!" and, "I must do a load of delicates when I get home."