The ultimate guide to practice - Part 2

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          This is the second part of my "Ultimate guide to practice".

          In part 1, I approached "HOW" we should practice and what steps should we take to "deconstruct" everything to make it into easier/manageable chunks.

          In this article I will do my best to reply some of the most common questions that beginners have:

      

"Should I learn a hard or easy song?"

 

          There two opposite ways of thinking. By learning easy songs, you are slowly becoming better without even realizing it. By playing hard songs, you are putting your capabilities to the limit and that will require much more work (and probably some frustration along the way).

          Recently, I student of mine wanted to learn a very hard song, but he felt passionate and motivated to it, so I agreed. It was hard, but he managed to play it (although not in a perfect way, of course). His technique improved a lot. He told me: "I am done learning the easy songs. I think with the hard songs I can evolve much faster".  I think that statement is true, HOWEVER:

          Learning a hard song can be a demoralizing and a frustrating process. Your mind becomes your enemy. You think that you are a bad player, your self-esteem goes down (because it's so hard and you have to practice so many hours!). I recommend it only to the ones who really can handle the pressure and that have a big passion for learning. A passion so big, that can overcome the negative thoughts that occur during the process. Otherwise, I suggest easy songs. The progress is slower, but you are having more fun and enjoying yourself along the way, keeping your frustration to a minimum. There will still be frustration and hard work, of course, that is an ESSENCIAL part of the learning process, without it, you would never improve and if you always "keep it easy" and never really challenge yourself, you will ultimately never grow. So, try to know yourself. How much pressure can you handle?What's your mindset like? What are your expectations? Do you expect to learn a song in a week? In a day? In an hour? If you expect to learn a song in a day and play it perfectly, then I suggest picking a really easy song, otherwise the likelyhood of failing is quite high. Then, you will start demoralizing and, eventually, even lose interest in learning the instrument. Those problems could be easily avoided if you just picked an easier song.

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"How much time should I practice?"

 

          To be able to reply truthfully to this question, I must make a distinction between: "Automatic vs. deliberate practice".

Deliberate practice is the process I described in part 1 of this article. People cannot do it for more than 1-2 hours a day. After that, the brain becomes really tired and exhausted. "Although the average adult human brain weighs about 1.4 kilograms (3 pounds), only 2 percent of total body weight, it demands 20 percent of our resting metabolic rate (RMR) — the total amount of energy our bodies expend in one very lazy day of no activity." (1)

          Of course, the big masters practice way more than 1-2 hours per day, so, how do they do it? After they did their deliberate practice routine, they try to automate the behavior by repeating the movements a lot. Every time you are playing around with your guitar, singing a song you already know, you are not doing "deliberate practice". You are doing "automatic practice". Which is a repetitive (but also fun) process where our muscles and our brains, due to repetition become accustomed to the movement. That super hard bar chord you were doing with so much effort? After hundreds of repetitions, now it's automatic and effortless! Congratulations! That is the power of "automatic practice".

          The big masters, by repeating the RIGHT movements so many times, are able to play at dazzling speed, without even spending any brain power, because the movement is already automated.

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"Should I buy a book, watch YouTube tutorials or have private lessons?"

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          Why not all of them!?

          Now, more seriously, each method has its pros and cons.

          YouTube tutorials are cheap, easily accessible, but are targeted mostly at beginners. After you learn the basics, you start to be a bit lost and find it hard to find a YouTube video talking about more complex stuff. Also, they give you no structure and no direction in your musical journey.

That's why books with progressive exercises can be a good solution. Even if the book is not the best book and the ultimate  book ever made, you have a journey and a goal. You start at page 1 and you have a clear goal: Finish all the exercises/play all the songs in the book. That makes your learning process be more structured. You have now a clear goal in mind.

          Private lessons, although cost more money, solve all those problems. My suggestion is that you find  a teacher that is suitable for you and that is interested in teaching the style/genre you want to learn. If you want to learn to play heavy metal, don't go for a teacher who only teaches folk songs and vice-versa. I usually ask my students what song/genre would they dream of learning in the distant future. This gives me an impression of their "dream goal" and helps me make a plan to achieve that.

          I notice also that many people who start to have private lessons feel that by doing that, they will get better without any effort. That, by having a lesson each week they will be making great progress. The amount of progress you will make is completely dependent on you and the amount of hours you practice. For me, a teacher is a travel guide, telling you where and how to go, the important monuments, the tourist traps, etc., But you have to make the journey yourself. Without a teacher this journey becomes longer and harder. You don't know what is important and what is not, you don't know where to go, how to go. You are doing essentially trial and error the whole time. Which is also a valid process and many self-taught (2) people learn like that.

          I hope this two part article will help you have a clear idea of "what is to practice" and "how should you do it". Have fun!

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Useful links / Sources:

1 - https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/thinking-hard-calories/

2 - https://indie88.com/7-musicians-who-never-took-a-lesson/