related posts:
Guitar Practice and Peak Efficiency
Guitar Practice Essentials: Faith and Constancy
Newton’s first law of motion: “an object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.” In other words, when an object has momentum, it’s going to take some force to stop it. But an object in a state of inertia requires force and energy to get it moving.
Newton’s law applies not only to objects such as planets orbiting stars. They also apply to your mind and will. When you put forth effort to learn, and sustain that effort, you gain momentum. It manifests as inspiration and energy that drives you forward. You feel creative & exhilarated, you look forward to practice, to mastering songs and skills, to learning more.
When your effort is interrupted and you lose momentum, you also lose drive and inspiration. Discouragement, and a feeling of being overwhelmed at the thought of practice may creep in. It becomes hard to raise the energy you need to get going, at which point many students descend into a state of complete inertia. This can start a further spiral of self doubt, self blaming, regret, and finally depression.
Schedule Practice (and show up!)
We can employ practice strategies and develop habits which make this law of motion work in our favor. (See also my post on Guitar Practice and Peak Efficiency). To begin, daily moderate practice is more effective than long practice sessions followed by days off. In order to practice daily we must manage our time, so it’s crucial to plan ahead. Look at your week, day by day, and schedule your practice. Before you go to bed, and as soon as you wake up, you should know exactly when your next practice session will take place, and exactly what you are going to practice. Having a well thought out practice plan reduces uncertainty and makes us less likely to avoid practice.
Five Minutes on Your Worst Day
To maintain momentum pick up your guitar and play for at least five minutes on even your busiest, most harried days. You won’t learn anything new, but you’ll keep the thread. A little motion of the fingers, a little working of the mind, and when you pick up your guitar the next day you’ll feel current with whatever you’ve been practicing.
Take Lessons
If you are taking lessons, these can (and should!) provide you with inspiration, encouragement and direction. Whenever possible follow a lesson by reviewing your lesson material on the same day of your lesson. You may not have time for a full practice, but just going through your notes will remind you of everything that was said and learned in your lesson. When you begin practice the following day you’ll effortlessly recall everything you need to do, there will be no break in the momentum you gathered at your lesson.
Follow Through
It’s particularly important to get in a strong practice session on the day following your lesson. Your effiort on this day will set the trajectory for your entire week. Practice and you’ll build on the momentum you gained in your lesson; skip practice and you’ll lose it.
It’s easy when we’re tired or busy to rationalize skipping practice. We tell ourselves it’s just one day, we can practice harder and make it up the next day. We’ve got a whole week until our next lesson. But then sometimes we do it again the next day … and the next. The problem is, we don’t just forego the gains we could have made. We lose our momentum.
related posts:
Guitar Practice and Peak Efficiency
Guitar Practice Essentials: Faith and Constancy
© 2013 Brenna Method