How do you effectively test yourself to see how well you can play
something on guitar? Answer: observe how well you can play when it
really matters - I refer to this as "real life guitar playing".
Real-life guitar playing refers to the following:
*Playing guitar on stage or in front of others without messing up.
*Playing guitar with consistency even on a bad day
To practice for real-life playing situations, you need to:
1. Train yourself so you can play at your top form.
2. Simulate musical performing situations by practicing with a circuit. A circuit can be customized to fit your unique needs, goals and playing level. Guitar practice circuit training is not only effective, but very enjoyable.
The following guitar playing training circuit sample gets you ready to play guitar in any real-life scenario.
Perform these steps using a metronome to keep the beat. Play everything at the beats per minute you want to play at, unless instructed to do differently.
Step 1: Pick something you want to improve and play it while standing for a total of 6 repetitions.
Step 2: Play the practice item you picked in step one while working on performance and movement. For instance, hold the guitar at an angle and make big, exaggerated motions while playing. While doing this, don't watch your hands. Complete this nine times in a row, but only play the specific practice item from step one - nothing else.
Note: If you need ideas for movements to use while performing, watch videos of your favorite musicians.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 3: Begin walking around the room while playing it. Repeat this 8 times in a row.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 4: Next, with your eyes closed, play the item seven more times in a row. Do your best to play as perfectly as possible (however, note that mistakes will happen during this step). When you make a mistake, keep playing through without stopping.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 5: Purposefully make a mistake in your playing. That's right: choose a specific guitar playing mistake and insert it into your playing. Repeat the practice item four times with this mistake inserted.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 6: Play the practice item around 10 beats per minute faster than you would usually play at. Repeat four times.
Repeat this practice circuit for 15-20 minutes without stopping.
How This Guitar Practice Circuit Gets You Ready For Real-Life Guitar Playing:
Practicing Guitar As You Stand:
You'll need to stand while playing in most real-life situations. Playing guitar while standing is more difficult than sitting. The guitar feels less stable against your body. This makes it harder to play.
Practicing guitar while standing will get you accustomed to this more quickly.
Practicing Guitar With Movement:
The best performances on stage involve moving around. Simply playing notes correctly is not enough to put on a great performance. You express music better by moving around as you play.
Practicing Guitar While Walking Around:
Walking around stage is normal while performing and this kind of movement challenges your coordination and fluency. This improves your stage presence.
Practicing Guitar With Eyes Shut:
Most guitarists watch their hands too much while playing. On stage, you won't always be able to see what you're playing. Sometimes it will be too dark, other times there may be light in your eyes. Practicing guitar with your eyes shut helps you prepare for this.
Practicing Guitar At A Higher Rate Of Beats Per Minute:
Playing something at a faster tempo than normal makes it easier to play reliably when playing at the original tempo.
Practicing Guitar By Purposefully Inserting Mistakes:
You will always make at least some mistakes while playing live. By training yourself to keep playing as you make a mistake, you remove any potential nervousness or embarrassment that might happen while playing live.
Question: "Tom Hess, what types of mistakes can I put into my guitar playing?"
Answer: Insert mistakes that are most likely to occur while playing. Generally speaking, this involves:
unwanted string noises, notes running together, poor articulation on certain notes, playing out of sync, mistiming notes and out of tune vibrato.
Additional Ways To Simulate Real-Life Scenarios When You Practice Guitar
Idea #1: Stand adjacent to the amp and turn the volume up louder than usual. It feels much more different to play while standing next to a loud amp. You need to play well even when the sound from your guitar is blaring in your face.
Idea #2: Stand far away from the amp. For instance, stand in the hall while the door is closed in the room containing your amp. This adds a different dynamic to how it feels while playing guitar (when you can barely hear what you're playing). You need to be able to play well in this situation.
Idea #3: Play with the backing chords or track turned up much louder than the part you are playing. This happens a lot in live situations and you must be able to play when you can't hear your part.
When you can play well in these scenarios, you will feel much more confident with your overall skills. This makes your live playing much better.
Warning: this circuit should not be a replacement for other practicing strategies. Combine it together with your current guitar practice routine several times each week for the next two months. Acclimate yourself to this circuit and enjoy the results you get from it. Keep using this circuit to improve your live playing.
Real-life guitar playing refers to the following:
*Playing guitar on stage or in front of others without messing up.
*Playing guitar with consistency even on a bad day
To practice for real-life playing situations, you need to:
1. Train yourself so you can play at your top form.
2. Simulate musical performing situations by practicing with a circuit. A circuit can be customized to fit your unique needs, goals and playing level. Guitar practice circuit training is not only effective, but very enjoyable.
The following guitar playing training circuit sample gets you ready to play guitar in any real-life scenario.
Perform these steps using a metronome to keep the beat. Play everything at the beats per minute you want to play at, unless instructed to do differently.
Step 1: Pick something you want to improve and play it while standing for a total of 6 repetitions.
Step 2: Play the practice item you picked in step one while working on performance and movement. For instance, hold the guitar at an angle and make big, exaggerated motions while playing. While doing this, don't watch your hands. Complete this nine times in a row, but only play the specific practice item from step one - nothing else.
Note: If you need ideas for movements to use while performing, watch videos of your favorite musicians.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 3: Begin walking around the room while playing it. Repeat this 8 times in a row.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 4: Next, with your eyes closed, play the item seven more times in a row. Do your best to play as perfectly as possible (however, note that mistakes will happen during this step). When you make a mistake, keep playing through without stopping.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 5: Purposefully make a mistake in your playing. That's right: choose a specific guitar playing mistake and insert it into your playing. Repeat the practice item four times with this mistake inserted.
As soon as you've done this, quickly move to:
Step 6: Play the practice item around 10 beats per minute faster than you would usually play at. Repeat four times.
Repeat this practice circuit for 15-20 minutes without stopping.
How This Guitar Practice Circuit Gets You Ready For Real-Life Guitar Playing:
Practicing Guitar As You Stand:
You'll need to stand while playing in most real-life situations. Playing guitar while standing is more difficult than sitting. The guitar feels less stable against your body. This makes it harder to play.
Practicing guitar while standing will get you accustomed to this more quickly.
Practicing Guitar With Movement:
The best performances on stage involve moving around. Simply playing notes correctly is not enough to put on a great performance. You express music better by moving around as you play.
Practicing Guitar While Walking Around:
Walking around stage is normal while performing and this kind of movement challenges your coordination and fluency. This improves your stage presence.
Practicing Guitar With Eyes Shut:
Most guitarists watch their hands too much while playing. On stage, you won't always be able to see what you're playing. Sometimes it will be too dark, other times there may be light in your eyes. Practicing guitar with your eyes shut helps you prepare for this.
Practicing Guitar At A Higher Rate Of Beats Per Minute:
Playing something at a faster tempo than normal makes it easier to play reliably when playing at the original tempo.
Practicing Guitar By Purposefully Inserting Mistakes:
You will always make at least some mistakes while playing live. By training yourself to keep playing as you make a mistake, you remove any potential nervousness or embarrassment that might happen while playing live.
Question: "Tom Hess, what types of mistakes can I put into my guitar playing?"
Answer: Insert mistakes that are most likely to occur while playing. Generally speaking, this involves:
unwanted string noises, notes running together, poor articulation on certain notes, playing out of sync, mistiming notes and out of tune vibrato.
Additional Ways To Simulate Real-Life Scenarios When You Practice Guitar
Idea #1: Stand adjacent to the amp and turn the volume up louder than usual. It feels much more different to play while standing next to a loud amp. You need to play well even when the sound from your guitar is blaring in your face.
Idea #2: Stand far away from the amp. For instance, stand in the hall while the door is closed in the room containing your amp. This adds a different dynamic to how it feels while playing guitar (when you can barely hear what you're playing). You need to be able to play well in this situation.
Idea #3: Play with the backing chords or track turned up much louder than the part you are playing. This happens a lot in live situations and you must be able to play when you can't hear your part.
When you can play well in these scenarios, you will feel much more confident with your overall skills. This makes your live playing much better.
Warning: this circuit should not be a replacement for other practicing strategies. Combine it together with your current guitar practice routine several times each week for the next two months. Acclimate yourself to this circuit and enjoy the results you get from it. Keep using this circuit to improve your live playing.
About The Author:
Tom Hess is a highly successful guitar teacher, recording artist and virtuoso guitar player. He teaches guitar players from all over the world in his online guitar lessons. Visit his website tomhess.net to get free guitar playing resources and to read more guitar playing articles.
By
T. Hess
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