The next time you sit down to play your guitar, ask yourself this question: Am I playing or am I practicing? Confused yet? Didn't think there was much of a difference, don't worry you are not alone! When people tell me they are in a rut, then I will often ask them that question. So what is the difference? Is one more important? The answer, to become a truly well rounded musician you need to spend time doing both.
Practice is when you are focusing your time on expanding your skills and ablities on your instrument. Playing is when you go through the songs you already know or maybe even jamming or experimenting with making music. Both Playing and Practicing have there place, but I find that most people who are in a rut are doing only one of these two aspects.
I have two students, A and B, (wow this is starting to sound like a math problem) Student A sits down and works on scales and learning new skills, learning new songs, but maybe not commmitting them to memory. Student B plays through his song list memorizing songs and just having fun, often playing the same songs with other people. Both students feel like they are in a rut and both are missing a vital part of playing music.
Most of the time I see people with the problem of the student B. They like their instrument, they like playing, they enjoy playing the songs they know. They will sit down and play through the songs they have learned a few times a week maybe look up some tabs on line, but never really focus any of their time on expanding there skills. Sometimes I encounter the opposite when a student does practice dilligently, but doesn't "loosen up" and spend some time playing for fun or experimenting. Sometimes a player who is more rigid like this will have a harder time feeling the rhythm and playing with other musicians.
So the best way to solve these problems is start by practicing first. Practicing will still be the most important part of the equation, because this will build the skill set that you will bring to the table when playing around and experimenting. And when it comes to down to it consistency is much more important than quantity. 15 minutes of actual practicing daily will get better results than 1 hour once a week. Of course more time will get you better results. Some professional musicians practice 4 to 5 hours a day, every day! You will want to set aside a time, maybe even make it an actual appointment, i.e. every weekday at 7 pm. Then when 7 pm rolls around you stop what ever you are doing, video games, tv, internet, and practice. For those of you who practice diligently try take some time to improvise or be creative at the end of your practice sessions.
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