Revision Of YOur Guitar Lessons - Putting It all together...

Sometimes it can be tempting to constantly strive to learn new things and neglect the fact that you must also perfect what you already know. Your progress in playing guitar depends a lot upon the quality of what you have previously learned and by taking some time-outs every now and again to review and improve those things already covered is very important. You want to build upon solid foundations as that is what will make your playing sound accomplished and professional. No one gives any respect to a guitar player who tries to play things which are clearly a leap too far for him or her - play simply and play with quality.

You may decide at any time to stop your program of guitar lessons to concentrate on redoing and revising what has gone before and at Guitar in a Nutshell this is considered good practice and encouraged. In fact, in any private lesson you would do with a Guitar in a Nutshell instructor only 1/3rd of the time would be focused on new material, the rest would be revision and perfection of what you had already learnt. This is how we build quality guitar players who sound confident and refined on the instrument.

One thing to avoid in your revision periods is to practice what you can already do well. Instead your time would be far better spent focused on things you are not yet playing so well and in creating exercises or a practice schedule to work on them. Be honest with yourself about identifying these areas in your playing which require attention - if you’re like most guitar players, they’ll be plainly obvious to you.

When we revise we’re taking stock of all we’ve learned so far and trying to cement it into a deep understanding, one where all the material and techniques are crystal clear in the mind. This is proof that you are standing squarely on the ground with your guitar playing and are ready to build more new things on top of it. No guitar player will ever be perfect in every area, not even world renowned players are perfect, they will all have their strengths and weaknesses on the instrument. The point here is to be critical of your playing but not so critical that it becomes unrealistic.

Identify what you do well generally on guitar and what you do not. You audience is looking for a well balanced player who can do all the basics such as chording, strumming, picking and fingerstyle to a respectable level. Among those techniques will be ones you excel in more than others and it’s perfectly natural to be that way. By taking stock of your playing as you progress through the lessons you’ll be able to clearly see what needs further practice and what is going well. Please don’t rush to be a good guitar player, it takes measured time and a mature approach to practice to eventually get there.

Lastly, it’s a good idea to keep a practice journal so you can keep track of what you’re working on or any exercises and metronome speeds you achieve. This can provide you with a valuable reference as the months go by and you continue to progress in your guitar lessons.

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