35 Minute Guided Classical Guitar Practice
The art of learning to play classical guitar is actually the art of learning how to practice.
Practice is what we spend 99% of our guitar time on. It’s the personal engagement, moment by moment, that leads us to discover new things, build our skills, and progress as musicians.
In The Woodshed®, there are many guided practice videos, most focusing in on a particular skill or aspect of playing. This is because to play beautifully for a lifetime, it helps to have solid technique and intentional movement in our hands.
And sometimes, we know what we’re working on and how to work on it.
Then the matter becomes one of fitting everything into the small amount of time allotted for the day.
So I created a 35-minute audio that will guide you through a practice. It will tell what to do when, and remind you of things to keep in mind as you practice.
Before starting:
- Have your guitar tuned
- Have your music ready
- Decide on 5 tricky spots on which to focus
- Decide on 2 pieces you’ve already learned that you want to maintain
- Decide on one piece that you can practice performing.
This guided classical guitar practice follows the following format:
Starting without the guitar:
- Close your eyes and take a few breaths
- Do some light stretching and relaxing
Then with the guitar:
- Slow arpeggios
- Slow scales
- Faster arpeggios
- Faster scales
- Exercise #1
- Exercise #2
- Learning new music, or sightreading
- Work on tricky spot #1
- Work on tricky spot #2
- Work on tricky spot #3
- Work on tricky spot #4
- Work on tricky spot #5
- Maintenance piece #1
- Maintenance piece #2
- Full performance practice
It’s amazing how much you can get done in a half hour or 45 minutes if you’re focused and organized.
Download This Guided Classical Guitar Practice Audio (MP3)

Hi, I’m Allen Mathews.
I started as a folk guitarist, then fell in love with classical guitar in my 20’s. Despite a lot of practice and schooling, I still couldn’t get my music to flow well. I struggled with excess tension. My music sounded forced. And my hands and body were often sore. I got frustrated, and couldn’t see the way forward. Then, over the next decade, I studied with two other stellar teachers – one focused on the technical movements, and one on the musical (he was a concert pianist). In time, I came to discover a new set of formulas and movements. These brought new life and vitality to my practice. Now I help guitarists find more comfort and flow in their music, so they play more beautifully.
Click here for a sample formula.
Hi Allen,
Greetings from the UK. I would like to thank you for providing such an excellent resource. The effort and skill which has gone into creating this program is very evident. I started classical guitar a year or so ago with a teacher but was unable to commit to same time regular slots each week.The Woodshed Program was exactly what I was looking for. I have found the site very intuitive and well structured and have taken your advice and started from the very beginning of the program whilst still practising some of the pieces I was already working on. It is clear that I will benefit greatly from these early technical studies. There were clearly weaknesses and gaps in my knowledge even though I am still at an early stage. Once again many thanks for the program and very best wishes.
~ Rodger Paylor
-Rodger Paylor
Hi allen, it amazes me how good and precise your teachings are. The best thing I ever did was to download a piece of music from you and to listen to your videos. The enjoyment I now have from playing is ten fold. Thanks!
Regards,
~ Tony Christopher
-Tony Christopher
“Success lies in relentless execution of the basics.”
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