Some Perspective On Self-Learning

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by ebby-the-dreamer on September 1, 2009 at 12:34pm

Thanx for this Donna! i found your post very encouraging.

maybe because i did play clarinet from 6th grade to 10th i'm not as impatient with myself to "get better NOW". i know i gotta put in that "sweat equity" and that takes time and years.

haven't returned to my teacher yet, but i do plan to even if its not till December once i'm done with surgery.

still i'm committed to learning and playing at home with Susan's really good book and cd. i'm having too much fun with the rhythm exercises. and i just love playing along with the cd! i gave my pets a mini-concert the other night playing along with a couple of the tracks. and yep i've got additional sheet music and i'm working on learning easy songs ("Hey Ho", "Quadling's Delight", "Red River Valley") as well as meeting with other string folks to get in the groove of playing with others.

some days i play for 30 minutes straight through. other days like weekends i'll play for various 10-15 minutes stretches throughout the day. and then there's my before work "just one song" play...lol.

i quite like the idea that i'll be having this much fun learning guitar for years to come ;-)

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Michael Miller on September 1, 2009 at 2:55pm

I have the Learn and Master Guitar Series as well as other instructional DVDs. The issue I have is that you need a computer or DVD player in your practice area. Given that I only get 10 - 15 mins most days, I quite frankly can't be bothered to set up the DVDs etc. Obviously not a very good use of the series.

My practice area does not have a DVD player/TV and it is a pain to boot up a laptop for the short time I have available so usually I just practice the songs I'm working on. I know that I should really play more, but time is a major issue with me and I'm sure many others who started guitar later in life and need to work for a living and have other family commitments.

Any suggestions as to how to make the 15 minutes of practice productive?
.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Donna Zitzelberger on September 1, 2009 at 3:38pm

This can be really frustrating and I have the same situation. To get in front of the computer or the TV takes extra time away from my practice time. And when there is only 10-15 minutes, it can take that long to set up.

Fortunately, a lot of the practice material is in the book that comes with the series. Perhaps on the weekend you could watch the DVD and do the practice with the DVD (assuming there is more time on the weekend), and then make a practice plan for the week utilizing the book?

Practice plans are the only way I can make progress otherwise I forget what I need to do. I, too, am really pressed for time in my own practice. I started by keeping a journal and I'm working with a teacher who is experimenting and coming up with a computer program to input a practice plan. Right now though, I tape a piece of paper onto every piece of music I am working on. On that paper are the goals for the skills that need to be accomplished. Then each practice day, I write a note as to what I accomplished.

For example, I am working to get a piece to 120 bpm, so the practice that I need to do is metronome only. Each practice session, I record the speed I'm at. I generally play through the piece 1 or 2 times each session and work to build the metronome speed. Then I move on to another piece in which I'm working on the fingering - I work that up for about 5 minutes, make a note of where I'm at with it, and then move on to the next piece. Short spurts with each piece works very efficiently as opposed to hours of mulling over the same line of music.

This is a skill I learned from Scott Kritzer - a master musician and concertizing classical guitarist. It has made a huge difference in my growth on the guitar.

Hope this helps,

Donna

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Clark Ellison on September 2, 2009 at 2:35pm

I thought that learning the guitar was a life long endeavor.
At home I have, and they should be cheap and easy to find now that they changed the way they broadcast TV, a twelve inch color TV with built in DVD player. It will not pick up digital TV without a converter so no one ask to borrow it. It is small, sits on a chair or even a keyboard stand, best if you are standing, and only takes a second to fire up. You could even get a portable DVD player with built in screen. The laptops seem to take a while to get through the software load before getting to the point where you can use them for lessons. But if I am traveling then I have lessons on the laptop and take it. I also am fortunate enough to have a room where musical instruments can sit out unless company is over. To me you really need a space at least, and a quiet one at that, that you set aside for practice when you only have a short time to practice or you stop practicing since all your allotted time is used setting up and taking down instead of practicing. Having everything ready to go means the most I have to do before starting practice is tune up. Also a comfortable chair or stool really makes practice easier unless you intend to stand the entire time. If you live with others you should ask not to be disturbed and then give an amount of time or an ending time so you can get the most out of your practice time.
I think I would like to have someone near my level to practice with once in a while but since I do not, I could change my mind about that.

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Donna Zitzelberger on September 2, 2009 at 6:58pm

The portable DVD player is a great idea!

▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Rhythm Strummer on October 22, 2009 at 3:59pm

Yea i agree. I think for the first year of playing guitar i sounded like crap. Then things got a bit smoother, but it does take a long time.

▶ Reply to This