According to a survey by Fender, 90% of guitar players quit in their first year of learning because of not having any improvement. One of the main reasons for that is the lack of the right knowledge, and the right practice material, also the questions like the amount of practice you need!
If you ask me, you should practice each day for at least 15 minutes.
you have to find a daily routine for yourself, and you’ll see the difference and all of the benefits of a consistent playing habit. Being efficient will not only make you a better guitarist, but it will also free up some time so you can have time for your other daily things to do.
Playing VS Practicing – What Is The Difference?
Playing and practicing are different mindsets, and both are important for guitarists’ improvement. We can know which one to choose at a particular moment only if we know the difference between one and another.
Practicing
Practicing is when you try to solve problems; you are trying to find your weaknesses and to fix them, either caused by a technique and interpretation or your music envision. You practice building skills and push your boundaries.
You need a lot of concentration while practicing; you focus on a particular thing and try to memorize it (for example, arpeggios and scales), you analyze your mistakes during exercise, and you’re trying to fix it.
Guitarists need to be really attentive while practicing; even practicing is walking at the edge of our abilities because that’s the proper way to perfect playing.
Playing
Playing is when you enjoy your hard work during practice time, so it’s a manifestation of practicing.
While playing, you let your inspiration go free, and you just create the music. Playing remains a comfort zone, and improvement is defined as going out of that zone. So, while playing, you won’t improve that much; you just create or test out. Also, repeating one exercise or a part of the song that became easy to play and has become successfully learned is not a practice it’s playing.
How Many Hours Should You Practice Guitar?
Both playing and practicing are important for the optimal growth of the musician because that’s how you train both hands and minds. We need practice for perfect playing, and you can’t divide these two. And if you spend more time on one mindset, you will develop an imbalance that is not that good for your improvement.
Too much practicing will vanish your creativity, and your playing won’t have that beautiful melody, while too much playing will become boring, and everything will sound similar.
How Many Days A Week Should I Practice Guitar?
Science says that you forget most of what you learned yesterday if you don’t practice. It is called a “Forgetting Curve.” So, if your habit is to practice every two or three days, you are going to spend your time re-learning, and your improvement will be slowed down.
So, that’s why a guitarist should practice every day. But, some experts say that music players have to establish a 24-hour period of time every week where they’re not allowed to pick up the instrument to let the brain process what has been learned. So, one- day break is enough, especially in the middle of the week.
Everyone has more and less busy days in life. So, when there seems to be no time for practice sessions, even a few minutes of practicing will help you to improve and will keep your fingers’ calluses from getting soft. Sometimes it’s unavoidable you’ll miss a day, but try to stick to your everyday practicing habit as much as you can.
How Many Hours A Day Should I Practice?
How many hours you should practice a day depends on your goals. So, the first step is to identify them.
If playing guitar is your hobby, then 20-30 minutes of practice is enough for you. On the other side, if you want to be on a bit higher level, and maybe if you need one hour of practice per day. If you want to play in a professional sense or be in a band, then one to two hours a day is enough. Do you want to master the guitar? Then, play three to four hours a day, and you’ll see the improvement for sure!
Conclusion
Playing is enjoying your hard work while practicing. So, practice makes perfect playing. In order to improve yourself, practice is the key.
Guitarists should practice every day in short sessions because we can’t focus for a long period of time. If needed, one day should be determined for a break because your brain may need time to process all those new things.
It depends on you and your goals how many hours a day you should practice. If playing guitar is just your hobby, you need less time than those who want to become masters.
But sometimes, even 4 hours of practicing can be insufficient. That’s because guitarists don’t do high-quality practice sessions.
So, for better results, make a good atmosphere, use the metronome, tune your guitar, write down every success and every mistake, and don’t multitask.
One hour of practice a day is enough for you to improve yourself in playing, except if you’re a professional musician. But, don’t expect you to become a master in 3 months. Be realistic and have realistic goals.
In three months, you can become such a good player if you practice consistently. Being a master requires long-term practice. And after practice, there comes practice again.
The best way to practice is to follow a proper practice routine. First of all, do everything that will make your practice effective. Work on technique development, and train your ears. Learn new songs, new chords, and improve the transition between them.
Learn music theory, even if you find it boring. That will ease your improvement path.
After doing these steps, improvise. Use scales and your creativity.
The guitar is such an interesting instrument. You can play it your whole life and again have to learn something new, and at the same time practice for a month or two and have so much fun!
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