7 Guitar Practice Tips

Struggle finding time to practice? Here are 7 guitar practice tips that you may find helpful. It’s good to have a reason to practice, to know what to practice, and then make it easy to fit in your schedule.

For starters, there are many benefits to learning to play an instrument. Here is an article about the effects playing music has just on your brain.

Playing Music is Good For Your Brain

I believe the type of music you play can also make a difference. Playing worship songs, in my opinion, is one of the best types of music to learn.

You not only experience the physical benefits, but also can grow spiritually.

Here are the 7 guitar practice tips. A lot of what we do is tied to how we think and feel about the activity. Hence, the first few tips are focused with how you think about practicing.

7 Guitar Practice Tips

1. Connect practicing to worshiping and spending time with God. For me, in times of worship I always sense God is near and am more receptive to hearing from Him. Being close to God is a huge motivation for practicing. You can absolutely use your practice time as worship.
2. Ask God to help you learn to play the guitar and to help you stay focused on Him. He wants us to keep our hearts and minds connected to Him. Think of practice as a time when He can help you. This is similar to tip #1, but with a shift from worshiping upwards to receiving His help and inspirations.
3. Know that playing the guitar can reward you with emotional and physical benefits. Music has huge benefits for your brain and emotions. Think of it as a therapeutic session that doesn’t cost a lot of money! One of my guitar students told me playing worship songs on the guitar actually healed a deep emotional wound.
4. Remember that practicing will help you be a better guitar player. Without practicing you will not improve. You actually do need to spend time with the instrument to get better. If you want to be a good guitar playing, you need to practice.
5. Know what you want to practice. Have in mind what you want to work on. If you’re using one of our courses, follow the lessons in order and also the practice suggestions. If you don’t know what to practice, it’s hard to start. Have a goal in mind.
6. Make it a priority. In other words schedule it. One of my guitar students was working full-time and evenings were filled with church activities. She really wanted to play the guitar, so she practiced in her car during lunch breaks for 20 minutes a day. One of the Internet students shared that the whole family worshiped together with their Dad learning to play the guitar. Everyone was shocked at how fast he learned. Where can it fit in your day? Are mornings best, evenings? Plan when to practice and make it a priority.
7. If possible, have a special place to practice and keep it in view. I’ve always told my students to get a guitar stand and leave their guitars out. It’s also good to have a music stand with the music already on it. Now, in California we do get earthquakes and having the guitars out wasn’t the best idea. In one of our major quakes the guitars fell down and there was some damage to some of the instruments. So, you may want to leave it out inside a guitar case next to the music stand.

Those are the tips I thought might help you. Playing the guitar is not only a wonderful hobby, but can be an amazing vehicle for drawing closer to our Loving Father!