TOPIC: Jumpstart

I need to jumpstart my practice sessions. My summer on the road (5,000 Milese in with my spouse, 3 year twins, and mother in law) did not allow the practice time I had thought. Seems just the opposite happened. My practice time dropped off quite a lot. I continued my lessons via the internet but practice I did not.

Any tips for leading a practice filled life? No I cannot put the family up for adoption and sell my business or my Harleys. I need insightful tips and inspiration.

I swear by my patented three-step process for practice proficiency, as follows:
1. Practice
2. Practice some more.
3. When you think you've had enough practice, you're wrong. Go back and practice some more.

No need to thank me. The visionary wisdom of these steps is self-evident. Follow my process and before long you'll be dueling banjos with Jens Kruger. Best of all, there is no need to part with family members or motorcycles, provided they don't interfere with the aforementioned steps.
Hope this works for you.....

Lesliek, I lie to myself...I tell myself "pick up the guitar for just 5 minutes"....sometimes that's all I do but most of the time the 5 minutes become a practice session....yeah, I'm easy to fool, even by me .

Thanks. I did manage a 1/2 hour plus session of practice this evening, and had my class with fretmentor today as well. All added up I got in nearly 2 hours today. We shall see what tomorrow brings.

Sounds like you have such a busy life with work, kids, husband, bike.....you just have to schedule the time for practice......every day.... even if it's just for ten minutes.....if you get the "alone" time for a longer practice session, it's a bonus! I suggest you plan your practice sessions.....figure out what you want to accomplish...scales, songs that the class will be playing, lessons from your teacher...........set a goal.......wow, I just psyched myself to go practice....see ya!

Efficient practice is the goal. Until you memorize a section and work on perfect fingering and movement you can't get much better. Music proficiency is very demanding. You can "mess around" for hours and get nowhere or practice with purpose/precision and memorization for minutes and get somewhere. This must be done very very slowly to work it out.

When I memorize a section I really feel that am having a "senior moment" because it is so difficult, but you get better the more you memorize. During this process you just can't believe how dense /stupid you are.

Analyze each finger position looking for precision and speed. Work the passage to see if you can increase speed or need to go back to the drawing board. Sometimes the finguring and hand position works fine when a section is played slowly but it will fall apart and not ever work if the speed is increased because of the inefficiency and awkwardness of the attack.

YES, IT IS TOUGH !!! If it wasn't everyone could do it. Practicing this way can be very zen. Hey, it almost sounds like music!