There are two huge progress killers when it comes to reaching your guitar goals. The first is inneficcient practice, this could be mindless noodling or simply practicing the wrong way. The second is a lack of specificity with their practice.

This might be a guitarist thing. I remember back at university If I asekd someone what they were working on, they would have one definitive answer. Then when I asked them again two weeks later, it would be the same answer. They had clarity behind what they needed to work on and they had the work ethic to stick with it for months.

Lots of guitarist are overwhelmed by all the possible things that there are to learn, and instead of practicing smart and looking at what they actually need, they try to learn it all… at the same time.. in no particular order.

To solve these issues I recommend people reverse engineer their learning experience. Look at what you want to achieve and find out the specifics of what you need to learn. In my imagination I have a clear image of how I want to play, and I use that as the guiding light for what I learn and how I practice.

If you want to play like Eric Clapton, then you don’t need hours of melodic minor practice. Yes, those things are great to learn, but realistically you should prioritise your practice time for what you practictally need and your most important deficiencies. Think of it this way, “How different would your practice routine look if everything you worked on was proportional to how much you used it”

For example, we practice lead guitar 99% of the time but play rhythm 90% of the time on gigs. What if your practice routine reflected the musical demands.

The easiest way to get better at this is to find a good teacher or guitarist you admire, and ask them questions about what they specifically worked on or what they think “Insert your favourite artist” worked on. Then work on that.

If you want to be the next Stevie Ray Vaughaun, take time to get specific with your practice. What does he do? What do you like about his playing? where did he learn his licks? What scales does he use? What can he do that you can’t?

So the moral of the first part is cut the fat and don’t be afraid to be specific with what you chose to learn. At the end of the day, we all are working towards creating our own voice, and we need to manage how we build that voice if we want to be happy with it.

The second concept I want to talk about is professional practice. I meet lots of aspiring musicians while teaching that have very clear professional goals but their practice routine doesn’t reflect it. I should be able to look at your practice routine and be able to guess what your goals are and what your weaknesses are.

So take a moment to think: “How specifically am I practicing for my goals?’

Here are some things that I very rarely hear aspiring professionals practice, that make a huge difference;

• Practice 4 and 8 bar solos. These are what you’ll get in most session and live situations. Playing over 5 minute long backing tracks doesn’t teach you how to punch in a pop solo thats short and memorable.
• Practice Sight reading along with a recording. You need to learn how to sightread with a band that will move on no matter what. Learn how to find your place again after you get lost.
• Practice writing guitar parts. Take any song and imagine that the artist had come to you to write a guitar part. ignore what is there, look at the other instruments and the style of the song, what would you have written? Rewrite the riff for Sweet home alabama… what would you do with those three chords? Also, practice writing guitar parts that don’t stand out, the ones that just add to the texture and the mix without getting in the way.
• Practice mixing your guitar and getting tones that work in band situations. learn how the band instrumentation and mix should influence your tone.
• Learn listen to tons of contemporary music. Stay up to date so that you can communicate with artists and MD’s that might ask for a specific style of playing.
• Replicate tones. Train your ear and ability to dial in tones after hearing them. A few times in sessions, people have played tracks and asked if I can “Get that sound”… I couldn’t. I hadn’t practiced this.

Think of what skills you actually need for the job you want to do, that might mean studying videography if you want to be a youtube guitar sensation, or practicing playing standing up because you want to be able to play well when you gig.

The path you walk determines the destination. Think of where you want to go and walk that path. If you wnat to be a professional guitarist, Practice and get experience using the skills you’ll need. It’s a very different skill set to just being a proficient shredder or bedroom guitarist.