{"id":55461,"date":"2019-07-12T10:00:11","date_gmt":"2019-07-12T17:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/?p=55461"},"modified":"2024-07-02T02:57:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-02T09:57:38","slug":"5-guitar-practice-mistakes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Mistakes to Avoid in Classical Guitar Practice"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In our regular guitar practice, it\u2019s very easy to slip into \u201cauto-pilot\u201d. Before we know it, we can burn all our available time and not have much to show for it.<\/p>\n<p>Practicing is a study in itself. In fact, learning to play guitar could more accurately be called \u201clearning to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/beginner-classical-guitar\/\">practice guitar<\/a>\u201d. How well we practice determines how well we play.<\/p>\n<p>Below are five common practice foibles. These are easy to overlook, but cost us dearly in lost opportunities for improvement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"centerc\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/H1-j9SUh2iU?rel=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;autohide=1\" width=\"700\" height=\"393\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Mistake #1: Playing Too Fast<\/h2>\n<p>Speed creates the illusion of perfection.<\/p>\n<p>Again, speed creates the illusion of perfection.<\/p>\n<p>To hear the fine details in our technique and in our pieces, we need to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/slow-practice-classical-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">slow down<\/a>. When we do, we become more aware of the various elements that make up our music. These include tone quality, rhythm, movements, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/legato-guitar-synchronize-the-hands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">smooth connected notes<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/dynamics-phrasing-classical-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">dynamics<\/a>, and more.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Mistake #2: Spending Too Long on Any One Thing<\/h2>\n<p>When we first dive into a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-learn-classical-guitar-pieces\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new piece<\/a> of music or skill, it\u2019s tempting to give it all our time. It\u2019s new and novel and fun.<\/p>\n<p>But our minds and bodies learn best in small chunks of time. When learning, beginnings and endings are more impactful than middles. So it\u2019s better to practice each item on our list for a smaller amount of time. If we have enough time, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/getting-in-the-zone-flow-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">we can come back to the same material more than once in a practice<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We can still spend the same amount of time on the shiny new piece. But we can use many sprints instead of a <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/7-mistakes-learning-new-pieces\/\">single marathon<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Which brings us to\u2026<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Mistake #3: Ignoring Key Practice Areas<\/h2>\n<p>The key practice areas are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Technique (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/why-practice-scales\/\">how we use our hands<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-hold-a-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">bodies<\/a>)<\/li>\n<li>Learning new pieces (new notes, perhaps memorizing)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/polish-performance-level\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Polishing<\/a> recently learned pieces (or sections of pieces, working out the tricky spots)<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-maintain-classical-guitar-repertoire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Maintaining<\/a> pieces we already know (repertoire)<\/li>\n<li>We could also add in \u201cother skills\u201d, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/sight-reading-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sight-reading<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/theory\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">music theory<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Ideally, we give time to each of these in practice. This may not always happen, but it\u2019s a worthy goal.<\/p>\n<p>The most commonly ignored area is <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/how-to-learn-classical-guitar-arpeggios-right-hand-technique\/\">technique<\/a>. We can become so enthralled with pieces that we \u201cforget\u201d to practice our core skills. Over time, <a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/left-hand-guitar-mistakes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this leaves gaping holes in our abilities<\/a>. These holes often lead to frustration and possible <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/guitar-injuries-practice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/7-practice-mistakes\/\">Knowing what and how to practice in advance<\/a> will let us hop from one area to the next in practice. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/guitar-practice-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Preparation<\/a> is key to a well-rounded practice.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Mistake #4: Mind-Wandering<\/h2>\n<p>We learn through the investment of both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/timer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">time<\/a> and attention. Time alone is not enough. We need to give our attention as well.<\/p>\n<p>With practice (which is what we do), we can more quickly recognize when our mind wanders. Then, we can gently bring it back to the task at hand.<\/p>\n<p>Having clear <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/fine-details-classical-guitar-polish-perfect\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">details<\/a> on which to focus helps us maintain attention. When we practice at the point of \u201chard but not too hard\u201d, we enter a state of \u201cflow\u201d (also called \u201cthe zone\u201d). This is where we learn the fastest.<\/p>\n<p>For each repetition in practice, we can have specific goals. These could be cleanliness, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/classical-guitar-tone\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">beautiful tone<\/a>, graceful movements, or any of a million other things.<\/p>\n<p>Focus is a muscle, and it strengthens with daily effort. It\u2019s normal to experience mind-wandering when we\u2019re out of practice. But our time on guitar is a wonderful opportunity to build the focus muscle.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: center;\">Mistake #5: Setting the Bar Too High<\/h2>\n<p>Lofty goals can be motivating. It\u2019s healthy to want to play Asturias, Capricho Arabe, or any other high-level piece.<\/p>\n<p>However, our short-term goals work better when they feel more realistic. If our bar to success is too far out of reach, we become dismayed. But if we lower the bar for the short term, we get to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/beginner-progress-guitar\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">succeed<\/a>. This creates the momentum and excitement to show up again tomorrow.<\/p>\n<p>Over years, this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/one-percent-improvements\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtuous cycle<\/a> gets us to our larger goals, step by step.<\/p>\n<p>One of the main goals for any practice session can and should be to feel good about it. This makes a low bar to success a viable strategy. If we define a win for the day as \u201cpick up the guitar and play one chord\u201d, it\u2019s easy to win. Even if this is all we do, we can feel good knowing we\u2019ve kept our promise to ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>But if a win means we follow a three-hour routine down to the minute, we\u2019ll likely feel bad about our practice. Most days anyway. Especially when life gets busy and practice becomes less convenient.<\/p>\n<p>The main goal is to stay on the path. Defining today as a win helps us show up tomorrow. Day by day, we steadily grow and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.classicalguitarshed.com\/practice-vs-playing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">improve<\/a>. And that\u2019s the real win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In our regular guitar practice, it\u2019s very easy to slip into \u201cauto-pilot\u201d. Before we know it, we can burn all our available time and not have much to show for it. Practicing is a study in itself. In fact, learning to play guitar could more accurately be called \u201clearning to practice guitar\u201d. How well we practice determines how well we &#8230; <\/p>\n<div><a href=\"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":55465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434,20],"tags":[54,33,384,52],"class_list":["post-55461","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-main-content-parent","category-practicing","tag-mindset","tag-practice","tag-practice-concepts","tag-practice-skills"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.8 (Yoast SEO v25.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes in Classical Guitar Practice<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Get better faster and enjoy music by practicing well. 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Avoid these 5 mistakes and craft a classical guitar practice you can enjoy.","og_url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/","og_site_name":"Classical Guitar Shed","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ClassicalGuitarShed\/","article_published_time":"2019-07-12T17:00:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-07-02T09:57:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":320,"url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/5-avoid-in-guitar-practice-640.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@CLguitarshed","twitter_site":"@CLguitarshed","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allen","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/"},"author":{"name":"Allen","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#\/schema\/person\/85d09303adb38d43cdedd2033f6b016e"},"headline":"5 Mistakes to Avoid in Classical Guitar Practice","datePublished":"2019-07-12T17:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-02T09:57:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/"},"wordCount":800,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/5-avoid-in-guitar-practice-640.jpg","keywords":["mindset","practice","practice concepts","practice skills"],"articleSection":["Main Content Parent","On Practicing"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/","url":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/","name":"Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes in Classical Guitar Practice","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/5-guitar-practice-mistakes\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/classicalguitarshed.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/5-avoid-in-guitar-practice-640.jpg","datePublished":"2019-07-12T17:00:11+00:00","dateModified":"2024-07-02T09:57:38+00:00","description":"Get better faster and enjoy music by practicing well. 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