30 Day Beginner Challenge [Day 8] Guitar Lessons For Beginners

Summary

In this 8th lesson of the 30-day beginner's guitar challenge, the focus is on developing a structured practice routine. The instructor emphasizes the importance of daily practice, even if it's just 10 minutes, and suggests dividing practice time into 'guitar gym' exercises, main lesson content, and a bit of theory or fun jamming at the end.

Takeaways

• 🎸 Practice Regularity: It's essential to practice every day, even if it's just for a short time, to build a consistent routine.
• 🕒 Time Management: The ideal practice length varies; the key is to practice as long as you can, whether it's 10 minutes or an hour.
• 💪 Start with Warm-ups: Begin each practice session with 'guitar gym' exercises to warm up your hands and improve finger independence.
• 🔁 Repetition and Consistency: Repeat exercises and practice the main musical focus multiple times to reinforce learning and muscle memory.
• 📈 Incremental Progress: Gradually increase the difficulty of exercises, such as the tempo, to challenge yourself and improve technique.
• 🎼 Musical Focus: After warm-ups, focus on the main musical element of the lesson, like strumming patterns or chord changes.
• 📝 Theory as a Reference: Use theory as a reference to understand the instrument better, but keep it separate from the main practice routine.
• 🔚 End with a Review: Conclude practice sessions with a quick review of theory or a fun, creative jam to solidify learning.
• 📚 Structure Your Practice: Organize your practice time into categories such as warm-ups, main focus, and review to maximize efficiency.
• 📈 Adapt and Grow: As you progress from a beginner to an intermediate level, adjust your practice routine to include more complex elements and longer sessions.
• 🔄 Avoid Long Gaps: Instead of long practice sessions with gaps, opt for frequent, shorter sessions to maintain progress and avoid burnout.

Q & A

What is the main focus of this lesson in the 30-day beginner's challenge?

The main focus of this lesson is to discuss how to practice effectively, develop a good practice routine, and structure practice time with the various elements being learned.

Why is showing up every single day for practice crucial according to the instructor?

Showing up every single day is crucial because consistent practice is key to progress and improvement in learning an instrument like the guitar.

What is the recommended minimum practice time according to the instructor?

The instructor recommends practicing at least once a day, with the time spent being as long as one can, but emphasizes that even 10-15 minutes can be beneficial.

What is the 'guitar gym' category mentioned in the script, and why is it important?

The 'guitar gym' category refers to exercises and warm-ups that develop technique and physicality on the guitar, such as finger independence and chord transitions. It's important because it lays the foundation for more musical aspects of practice.

How much time should be dedicated to the 'guitar gym' exercises during a practice session?

The instructor suggests dedicating about 10 minutes or more at the start of the practice session to 'guitar gym' exercises to warm up and work on technique.

What is the significance of practicing 'little and often' as mentioned in the script?

Practicing 'little and often' is significant because it helps in better absorption of learning and prevents wastage of practice time, making the practice more effective.

What should a beginner do if they can only spare 10-15 minutes for practice?

A beginner should use the available 10-15 minutes effectively by focusing on warm-ups, exercises, and practicing the main topic of the lesson, ensuring they pick up the guitar at least once a day.

How does the instructor suggest structuring a 20-minute practice session?

The instructor suggests starting with 2-3 minutes of 'guitar gym' exercises for warm-up, followed by the bulk of the practice time dedicated to the main lesson topic, and ending with a few minutes of theory or fun jamming.

What is the role of theory in the practice routine as described in the script?

Theory plays a supportive role in the practice routine, providing foundational knowledge about the instrument, such as notes on the neck and string tuning. It should be reviewed briefly at the end of the practice session.

How can a learner ensure they are practicing the right things on the guitar?

A learner can ensure they are practicing the right things by categorizing their practice into 'guitar gym' exercises, main musical focus, and theory, and by following the structure provided by the instructor in the script.

What advice does the instructor give for maintaining motivation and progress in the practice routine?

The instructor advises to maintain consistency by practicing at least once a day, to structure practice time effectively, and to include a mix of exercises, main musical focus, and theory to keep the practice engaging and progressive.

Outlines

00:00

🎸 Establishing a Daily Practice Routine

The instructor emphasizes the importance of daily practice and consistency for beginners in a 30-day challenge. They suggest not introducing new material but focusing on structuring practice time effectively. The lesson encourages students to pick up their guitars and start with the basics, even if they're busy, and to remember that any amount of practice is valuable. The instructor also provides resources for further learning on their website and encourages engagement with the course through likes, subscriptions, and comments.

05:02

⏱ Balancing Practice Time and Structure

This section discusses the optimal amount of time to practice, suggesting that students practice as long as they can or are able to. The instructor advises against long gaps between practice sessions and promotes regular, shorter practice periods instead. They introduce the concept of 'guitar gym' exercises as a warm-up and a way to improve technique, recommending that about 10 minutes of a 20-minute practice session be dedicated to these exercises. The importance of structuring practice time with a mix of exercises and musical elements is highlighted.

10:02

🏋️‍♂️ Incorporating Guitar Gym and Musical Practice

The instructor provides a detailed breakdown of a practice session, starting with 'guitar gym' exercises to warm up and work on finger independence and synchronization of hands. They demonstrate exercises and suggest increasing the tempo to challenge oneself. After the warm-up, the focus shifts to the main musical element, such as learning from the lesson video and practicing the material covered. The instructor advises spending the bulk of practice time on the main topic, ensuring that the exercises and theory are well integrated into the practice routine.

15:04

🎼 Ending Practice with Theory and Fun

In the final paragraph, the instructor talks about ending the practice session with a review of theory and some fun elements like jamming to a backing track. They stress the importance of categorizing different types of practice, such as warm-ups, main musical focus, and theory, to create a balanced routine. The summary encourages students to keep practicing with the provided structure and to look forward to future lessons, while also inviting them to engage with the content by commenting and subscribing to the YouTube channel.

Keywords

💡Practice Routine

A practice routine refers to a structured and consistent approach to learning and improving a skill, in this case, playing the guitar. The video emphasizes the importance of developing a good practice routine to ensure that the learner is able to effectively manage and utilize their practice time. For instance, the script mentions the need to structure practice time with elements like warm-ups, exercises, and focused lessons.

💡Guitar Gym

The term 'Guitar Gym' is used metaphorically in the script to describe exercises that are not necessarily musical but are crucial for developing technique and finger independence. These exercises are compared to physical workouts, suggesting that they are essential for building the 'muscles' needed for guitar playing. An example from the script is the 'five six seven eight' exercise, which is part of the warm-up routine.

💡Warm-up

A warm-up in the context of the video refers to the initial phase of practice designed to prepare the hands and mind for more intense playing. It is likened to a physical warm-up before a sports activity. The script provides an example of a warm-up involving a drum beat and strumming exercises to get the fingers moving and ready for more focused practice.

💡Strumming

Strumming is the technique of playing multiple strings on a guitar simultaneously, usually with a pick or fingers. The script discusses strumming as a key element of guitar playing that requires practice to master different rhythms and patterns. It is part of the main bulk of the practice routine, where the learner focuses on applying what they have learned from the lesson.

💡Chords

Chords are combinations of notes played together and are fundamental to the harmony of music. In the script, chords are mentioned as a primary focus for beginners, with the importance of moving between them smoothly and accurately. The script provides examples of practicing chord transitions as part of the 'Guitar Gym' exercises.

💡Theory

Music theory in the video refers to the underlying principles of music that help musicians understand how music works. The script mentions that while the current theory component is minimal, it is essential for understanding notes on the neck and the tuning of strings. Theory is suggested to be reviewed at the end of the practice session for reinforcement.

💡Rhythm

Rhythm is the pattern of sound and silence in music and is a critical aspect of playing the guitar. The script discusses practicing rhythm patterns, especially in conjunction with chord changes, as part of the 'Guitar Gym' exercises. It is an essential part of the musical practice that helps in synchronizing the left and right hand movements.

💡Exercises

In the context of the video, exercises are specific tasks or drills designed to improve particular guitar techniques. The script uses the term to refer to both the 'Guitar Gym' style exercises and the practice of new concepts introduced in the lessons. For example, moving between chords or strumming patterns are exercises that help in developing the necessary skills for guitar playing.

💡Absorption

Absorption in the video refers to the capacity to learn and retain new information or skills. The script warns against the idea of long, infrequent practice sessions, suggesting that they may exceed the learner's ability to absorb new material effectively. Instead, the video promotes regular, shorter practice sessions that are more conducive to learning.

💡Musicality

Musicality in the script is related to the expressive and creative aspects of playing the guitar. It is contrasted with the technical 'Guitar Gym' exercises and is the focus of the main part of the practice routine. The script suggests that after the warm-up and exercises, the learner should dedicate the bulk of their practice time to developing musicality through tasks like learning new songs or strumming patterns.

💡Jamming

Jamming is the act of playing music spontaneously or improvising with others or along with a backing track. In the script, jamming is suggested as a fun way to end the practice session, allowing the learner to apply their newly acquired skills in a more relaxed and creative context. It is mentioned as a potential future activity for the learner to look forward to.

Highlights

The importance of daily practice and showing up every day for beginners in a 30-day challenge.

The necessity of developing a good practice routine as the number of elements to practice increases.

The website provides full write-ups, tabs, chord boxes, and fretboards for mastering lessons.

Encouragement to like, subscribe, and comment on the YouTube channel for free courses and support.

The concept that the best practice duration is as long as one can, balancing physical ability and available time.

The recommendation to practice at least once a day, emphasizing that even 10 minutes is valuable.

The comparison of practice habits, warning against long gaps between practice sessions.

The suggestion to structure practice time with a focus on exercises and theory before moving to the main lesson.

The categorization of practice into 'Guitar Gym' exercises for technique and warm-ups, and the main musical focus.

Allocating 10 minutes of practice time to 'Guitar Gym' exercises as a warm-up routine.

The advice to spend the bulk of practice time on the main lesson topic, such as strumming or chord progressions.

The demonstration of a warm-up exercise with a drum beat to improve finger independence and synchronization.

The emphasis on adjusting and practicing chords to achieve clean sounds as part of the 'Guitar Gym'.

The transition from exercises to the main musical element, such as rhythm patterns with chord changes.

The strategy of ending practice with theory review or fun jamming to reinforce learning and enjoyment.

The encouragement to categorize practice elements effectively to optimize the learning process.

The reminder to keep practicing with the provided structure and to look forward to the next lesson.

Transcripts

hey guys welcome back to lesson 8 of our

30 day beginners

challenge and today we're going to be

talking about how

to practice so you've got a lot going on

at the moment you're practicing a lot

and what's really important is you're

showing up

every single day that's absolutely

crucial and so today i don't want to

give you anything new

but i do want to discuss how you

practice how to start developing

a good practice routine especially now

that we've got so many different

elements suddenly

that we're working with you need to be

able to structure that in your practice

time

so pick up that guitar or don't

you don't necessarily need it for this

lesson but still worth having us sitting

there

with and let's get started

[Music]

[Music]

okay so if you're new to this course and

you've just come through to this on

youtube

then please remember that you can head

on over to the website and you'll find

full write-ups for every lesson all of

the tab all of the chord boxes the

fretboards

everything you need to absolutely smash

and master every single lesson

as well as that please do like and

subscribe to our youtube channel it

massively helps us

continue to provide you these free

courses and leave us a comment

if you've got questions we will get back

to you so leave us a comment under the

video and we'll speak to you there

okay then guys so let's talk practicing

now

the first thing i want to talk about is

the amount of time to practice

and this is the unanswerable question

essentially because

the the best answer i should say is

practice as long as you can

okay and that that that that is kind of

two revolving doors one is physically

practice as long as

as long as you can until your hands want

to fall off and the other is

you know how much time do you have if

you're if you're a very busy person and

maybe you've got lots of work to do

you know family time everything and by

the time you sit down in the evening

you can only spare 10 15 minutes that's

the time you have to practice okay

if you've got a little bit more time on

your hands or you want to kind of inject

time into your day to make this happen

then you know you can do a 30 minute

practice session a 45 minute practice

session

and the further you go through your your

from a beginner into an intermediate

the more more there will be to practice

so the easier it will be to fill out a

whole hour's session

but the main thing is that you do pick

it up

at least once a day that's the kind of

bottom line okay

if you can pick it up a few times during

that day that's fantastic

you know but once a day is great

really honestly that's where you should

be aiming for and

and don't kind of pooh-pooh if you're

kind of sitting there thinking oh well

i've only got 10 minutes it's not even

going to be worth it

it really is so just get that straight

out of your head 10 minutes is fantastic

okay

if what we talk about today if you apply

that to that 10 minutes

that is fantastic time okay because

really

little and often you know practicing the

right things

is going to make all the difference here

okay so we know you know

working you know in a guitar teaching

industry for so long

you know we know it's very common for

our students to come back to us and

say you know i put in a five-hour

practice session on sunday

and haven't touched it since you know

saturday for our next lesson

that's okay you know what a session on

on sunday but actually

it's much like anything that you are

learning you know

there's only so much you can really

absorb before

it starts to become just a bit of a

waste of time

you know and you get you procrastinate

or you you don't do enough

or of the right thing or whatever it is

so

really you know little chunks often is

is what i'm trying to get at here okay

so

to answer the question how long should i

practice the answer is

as long as you can essentially

all right what is more important is

what you do in that practice okay so

let's let's take a kind of middle ground

here and say that you can find

20 minutes a day to practice okay you

know obviously you've got your

20 minutes a day of gym you do you're

meditating 20 minutes a day you work for

eight hours a day you work you're with

the kids for another

four hours but let's try and find that

20 minutes okay that you could do

it's a lovely 20 minutes isn't it it's

beautiful you take your mind of

everything else

learn this wonderful instrument okay

what we need to start doing is

is structuring that time a little bit

okay and i'm gonna work with what we've

got

right now so right now what we've got a

couple of elements we've got a little

bit of theory

so in terms of our theory you know we've

got the kind of notes on the neck

um we know that the the notes are the

string what the strings are tuned to

that's really the only theory we've got

for the moment but that goes into the

theory category

we've got the guitar gym category so

that's our exercise

for the moment okay but equally i would

put into that category

moving those two chords around okay

because that's that's guitar gym as well

isn't it think of guitar gym as just

kind of i'm not gonna say boring because

i don't find it boring but

the exercises the things that are not as

musical

okay that's where the guitar gym

category comes in so we've got

our five six seven eight exercise

we've got the exercise of moving between

the two chords getting those chords

physically sounding really good you

could even make an argument for saying

that the rhythm pattern with the chord

changes

is an exercise as well but as it happens

that's our main

practice thing for the moment so let's

just um

let's take that out of it for now and

say that our guitar gym

part of our practice is that is this

exercise

five six seven eight apples

quite quickly there so don't worry about

keeping up with that speed i'm just kind

of demonstrating for the moment

and the other exercise is just simply

moving between

that e minor chord is that is that

sounding good

[Music]

or is it sounding a bit a bit like that

still so we're adjusting

then moving to the c major seven

and that's a guitar gym isn't it really

it's not particularly exciting it's not

particularly musical

um it's just putting the work in okay

and i would say as a basic rule of thumb

let's try and give 10 of your practice

time to that

okay you can think of it even as a

warm-up if you want to so when you pick

up the guitar let's say you've got 20

minutes

let's take two three minutes something

like that i mean

it can be a bit more at this stage

because we've got

not that much extra to practice i mean

we'll get there soon

um you might actually want to take more

like you know five six

minutes out of that time just doing

those warm-ups okay so you warm up

[Music]

okay i'm picking up a guitar i'm warming

up i pop the drum beat on

let's go let's get this warmed up

my fingers are moving this is great

we're going through it

you know it only takes a couple of

minutes maybe you want to do the

exercise

a couple of times obviously

and you go through okay so whatever your

guitar gym exercises of that time are

whatever you've learned to be put as a

guitar gem exercise and more and more

will be added

you want to make sure you always do

those at the start of your practice time

it warms up your hands

and it and it kind of works on all the

things we've talked about so there it's

all about the finger independence it's

about the right hand picking

is it's synchronizing the left and the

right hand

and there with the chords it's all about

saying okay

you know i'm just trying to just get

these chords sounding as good as i can

then you need to move on to the lesson

all right and this is the bulk of your

practice so in this instance now with

the course you're doing with me it's

literally

the lesson we're doing all right so it's

watching the video

that's the next part of the practice so

you're watching the video and and it

might have been that strumming

okay so the next part of your practice

routine should be

learning what i'm talking about in the

video

all right so that's gonna then therefore

be like 15

20 minutes so the rest of your practice

time is that so you're actually

practicing with me in the video all

right then when you come back to pick up

the guitar if you come back again later

and do another 10 minutes 20 minutes or

whatever

you're practicing what we did in that

video so what the topic

is today that's what you then practice

so

the key thing here is remembering that

everything i show you everything you get

shown

you need to put it into a couple of

categories we have we want to find that

kind of guitar gym

category whereby it's an exercise it's a

warm-up it develops your technique

it develops the your kind of physicality

on the guitar

but it's not that musical that's what

you start your

practice routine with then you want to

then have

the kind of more musical element the

bulk of the lessons so

you know in a lot of the lessons we've

been through it's been all about

strumming

getting these chords together like that

right

so that is then something where you like

okay well that's

really my main musical thing that i'm

working on here so in the future it

might be a song i'm working on a song

i'm gonna work on that song now

okay um so that would be the bulk of

your

lesson so as of today right now um

you would your you would start you'd

pick up a guitar and i'd do exactly this

so i would come

to the drum beat and i'd put my drum

beat on i've got 50 bpm

and i'd start like this so my warm-up

just assuming for total beginners i'm

doing fourth notes

[Music]

now depending on how that feels i'm

probably going to try and do it

twice all the way through

[Music]

i'm testing myself with the beat if i'm

not ready for the beat yet then do it

without the beat

however it is it's a guitar gym it's an

exercise you're using to improve your

technique

and your physicality on the guitar okay

that's going to enable you to tackle

all the musical stuff you want to be

able to do okay

[Music]

okay so then i might say to myself okay

well do you know what i can handle that

i'm gonna up that bpm i'm gonna go up to

60 bpm

do another one three four

so i'm trying to push myself a little

bit

still in this kind of guitar gym format

okay

[Music]

[Music]

really thinking about my right hand down

up strokes

come back down

[Music]

okay get all the way to the bottom

and i'm starting to feel like my my hand

is warmed up

you know i practice this exercise now

which is great okay

you know this is going to be very

physical so it's going to be the kind of

thing where you want to give it a little

break

after this and i'm going to stop there

okay

then i'm going to spend a minute just

also just making sure that my chords are

sounding good

[Music]

you know by now these just start to

become a bit more familiar

[Music]

just my two chords it's like okay i'm

picking through them i'm getting clean

sounds if i'm not just spend a bit of

time

[Music]

just adjusting adjusting

and doing the physicality doing the work

and then i'm thinking right okay cool

i'm now ready to get get onto that kind

of musical thing so this might be now

you know once a day it'll be that

popping on the video and listening to me

fantastic

um but outside of listening to the

actual video it's like okay well what

are my main tasks now so

the tasks really that we're focusing on

outside of the theory stuff

is being able to go with my drum beat

two three four

[Music]

one two three

[Music]

so this is now the bulk of my practice

[Music]

you know i might do this for 10 minutes

try to get this right

against the beat

[Music]

okay and then we'd stop there okay and

that really for the moment is your

practice that's great practice so you've

done those warm-ups those kind of guitar

gym style exercises

and then you've gone to the main musical

element the thing you're practicing the

most so that's

obviously what we're doing you know our

main focus so far is really that

musicality there

we've got the guitar gym exercises that

we've developed and those little bits of

theory

that's the kind of stuff where you can

write at the end just kind of refresh

yourself with those

or i would typically just have that you

know

kind of for reference when i'm out and

about you know when i'm at work or when

i'm

you know making dinner i'd just be

referencing those kind of basic theory

ideas

you know just so that they're the kind

of thing you just need to just

understand

separately to the guitar for the moment

but equally

you can just see at the end of the

practice session just for a minute just

before you put it down just go okay e

f f sharp g g sharp a so you've got

guitar gym a little pocket at the start

of the practice then the main bulk of

the practice

which is the kind of main topic that

you're working on it might be a song

it might be a solo it might be the

rhythm stuff that we're doing here

and then a little bit at the end which

is a bit of theory at the moment

and eventually that might turn into a

little bit of extra fun so

you know by the end of this course

you'll be able to jam a little bit over

a backing track

you know you'd put that at the end of

the practice so we'll be developing this

practice routine

but that's a really good solid base okay

so just categorize things is that a

guitar gym exercise great that can go

into my warm-ups

is that like a musical thing is this the

bulk of the thing i'm trying to aim for

at the moment yes

that's what i spend most of my time

doing and then the little bits at the

end so it might be just you have five

minutes of fun jamming away

doing stupid things on the guitar it

might be that you just

review some of the theory stuff you know

that last little bit before you put the

guitar down and that

that only needs to be 10 minutes 10 15

minutes if you do it like that you're

gonna get a lot

out of that trust me so there we have it

hopefully that's cleared up a little bit

about how you should be practicing with

all these different elements

as we add more elements in i'll now talk

about where to put that

within this basic practice plan okay

um so keep up the good work go away

practice like this like i've just shown

you and i'll see you next time for

another lesson

okay guys so thank you so much for

watching this video that's it for today

please do head on over to the next

lesson when you're ready which you can

find here or you can start from the

beginning of the playlist right here on

youtube

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helps thank you so much guys speak to

you later