The great thing about being a new Scottsdale Music Academy student is that you get to practice your passion every day! You might meet with us only once or twice a week, but on your own time, you can get as much practice in at home, the garage, the basement or elsewhere!
If you’re taking guitar lessons with us, we can show you some of the top ways to get your practice time in, and make it worthwhile. But understand that you have to set aside some time to focus on the practices. Learning guitar scales in between checking your phone of your pal’s latest Snapchat will distract you and hinder your guitar prowess.
Schedule the calendar
Maybe you’ve got homework after school, and Mom or Dad says that comes first. In that case, get the school work done in 90 minutes, then take 30-60 minutes to practice your guitar. Making guitar practice a regular routine will also alert members of your family when ‘s a good time to let you play. Plus, keeping a consistency in your schedule will help you become a more focused player.
Plan your exercises
Know in advance what you want to work on. If you’re still shaky from the scales lesson you got from one of our guitar instructors earlier in the week, then plan that to start your own practice. Maybe you want to work out the chords for your new favorite song? Then plan that in addition what you need to do for your next instructor lesson with us.
Tune up right
Instead of just picking up your guitar every day without a thought to tuning it up, do the right thing and download Guitar Tuna for your phone to act as your mobile phone guitar tuner. That way there’s no excuse to keeping your instrument in tune. This app works wonders whether you’re at your friend’s garage or in the instruction room when taking guitar lessons with us.
Stay in Time
We recommend that you find a good beats machine on the Internet or find a mobile metronome on your phone to act as a beats keeper. Keeping a reliable beat will help you play along better with a bassist, drummer or percussionist
Wash, Rinse, Repeat
Ok, we’re not talking dishes here, but about your own approach to getting better on guitar. Take a particular lesson, study it out, learn how your fingers go, develop a picking style that works for you, and practice it over and over until you’re comfortable with your playing. Then… do it again! The continual work of playing guitar eventually brings you to a place where it’s supremely comfortable on your hands and fingers while playing.
We hope these tactics will help you in your practice routine. This way, when you’re ready for your next guitar lesson at Scottsdale Music Academy, we can both move faster and start to challenge you with increased levels of guitar playing! Call us at 602-751-3537 for your first lesson with us – it’s FREE!