GEEK ALERT:  this might only be interesting to musicians…

I was skimming through a couple of my notebooks today and found two lists titled “Things To Practice.”

They were written four months apart.

They are virtually identical.

What made me laugh was that I could feel the enthusiasm in the beginning of both lists.  I’ve probably written a “Things To Practice” list about 800 times in my life, and the end result is always the same…

total paralysis

There are too many possibilities of “things to practice.” Even a simple entry on a list, like “major scales,” can trigger it’s own sub-list. For example:

1. major scales

a) in all 12 keys

b) in all 5 positions (on guitar)

c) out of time/in time

d) ascending/descending

e) slow/fast

f) in 3rds

g) in 4ths

h) in 5ths

….etc.

Really, this is how my brain works when I think of practicing a major scale.  And that’s just the first entry on the list!  Similar sub-lists are triggered by entries like “improvising” and “chord voicings.”

The problem with lists like this is that they are too unfocused.  Too vague.  You can’t ever really cross  “scales” off a list.   If scales are something you actually want to work on, then you have to make some sort of goal out of it.

let your right hand teach your left hand

When I was taking drum lessons from Al Cross, I learned how to let my right hand teach my left hand.  I don’t know if this is something he told me to do, or if I just realized it on my own.

Here’s what it means:

When something is difficult to do with your left hand, but easy for your right hand, you just need to observe how your right hand is accomplishing the task, and then apply that to the left.

The lesson in letting your right hand teach your left hand is that if something is working well in one area, you can apply what works to the area you’re struggling with.

running and drumming

A few months ago I trained to run a 5k.  It’s relatively easy to do.  I seemed to have no problem getting to the gym every day to “practice” running.  Around the same time, I had a few challenging  gigs to prepare for on drums, and this period of practicing drums was also easy. (oh – the drums are not my main instrument…the guitar is!)

So I decided to apply the idea of letting my right hand teach my left.

In this case, my right hand = the gym and the drums, and my left hand = practicing guitar.

Here’s what made practicing running and practicing the drums so easy:

5 things that make a practice routine work

1. A clear goal - for the gym, it was to be able to run 5k without stopping and to maintain steady breathing.  For the drums, it was to be able to play the tunes I needed to play for upcoming gigs.
2. A simple, repeatable, no-brainer structure – I used a timer.  Treadmills have built in timers.  And for the drums, I used a timer on my computer.  I could get into more detail about how I structured these things, but basically I set up a structure and I stuck with it.
3. Gear always ready to go – this is probably the most important factor in getting to the gym.  Must have my clothes and ipod ready the night before.  And with drums – they’re almost always set up in the house (unlike my guitar, which is almost always packed up from the night before!)
4. Variety - if there’s no variety in the activity that you’re trying to make a routine, forget it.  At the gym, I always mix it up as far as what I listen to.  With the drums, I always end a session of practice with 30 minutes of playing along to random songs.
5. Make it the first thing of the day – sometimes I have a few “first things” that I bunch together in the morning.  I think it’s best to put the hardest task first.

These are the 5 things I need to make practicing the guitar a routine.  Otherwise I slip into gig mode – just playing a billion gigs and only practicing the music I need to learn for those gigs.

What works for you?

How do you approach practicing your main instrument?