Feeling like you don’t have time to practice? You work all day and get home exhausted. The kids need your attention, your spouse would like some time, you have obligations,… Where do you find the time to pick up your guitar and play? Time can easily derail what was an honest effort to learn or just improve guitar playing. There are many things you can do to help and we are going to concentrate on just two: proximity and making use of downtime.
Proximity
Where do you keep your guitar? Probably in its case which is not a bad idea in light of what I wrote yesterday. However, you may want to consider getting it out and leaving it out close to where you typically spend your time. Not to contradict what I said before about humidity, take some steps to help better control the atmosphere in the room you keep your guitar or buy a beater and don’t worry about (my solution 😉
In the picture above, you can see my ol’ beater electric that I’ve modified many times over the years. My office/studio is fairly well controlled for humidity and doesn’t fluctuate much. So, this guitar is safe. Not very visible behind my Texas shaped coffee mug, is the mini amp I use with it. Plugged or unplugged, every little stolen moment is worth it.
Downtime
So, you are sitting at the doctor’s office either for yourself or for a family member. Could be a five minute wait but it is likely to be more like 30 minutes or more. What a waste! …or is it?
Denis Waitley, a noted motivational speaker and author, introduced me to the concept of “practicing within when you are without.” This is a concept used by Blue Angels pilots, dancers and musicians all over. You may have run into it if you have ever heard about how professional musicians take time to “get in the zone” just before they play. Noted studio musician, Tim Pierce, goes into this in one of his videos. In his 20 guitar TIPS you MUST know to always be READY, tip 18 is about Eddie Van Halen doing this exact thing.
Stealing from the Pros
Denis relates the story of sitting next to a violinist on a plane and hearing a funny sound coming from him. The violinist had his head back and eyes closed in deep concentration. When Denis was able to ask him about it, he told him that he was practicing for a concert he was traveling to by going over the music in his head. He was imagining all of the moves necessary to play the pieces.
Blue Angels pilots go over their flight moves in detail together in a room. They talk through their moves while imagining themselves actually flying. They have their eyes closed as each of them go through the choreography of the show they will perform immediately following this session.
You can do this!
In your car at a light or in a traffic jam, you can play a little “air guitar” by making the actual moves you would make if you had a guitar in your hands. I will form the chords on the wheel with one hand and make the picking motions with the other against the wheel or on my leg. You can do that anywhere.
Notice where you miss something or have trouble remembering a move or chord shape. Identify your trouble spots and you will know what to spend your time on later. You don’t need your guitar in your hands to do that.
Take control of your time
Make it more convenient and take advantage of what you have available. You are training your brain so the next time you really Do have time, you haven’t fallen backwards. That can be frustrating. Just beware that the next time you see someone playing air guitar, you will notice whether they can actually play or not. Watching actors play guitar will suddenly cause you to notice if they can really play. My wife and I just look at each other knowingly when that happens.