Hello there, guitar slingers!

Here are some tips that will give you the most results for the least amount of practice:

1. Get a good guitar teacher or guitar coach.

This is consistently the best way to develop your skills. This does not have to do with the teaching material that he will give you. It has to do with the corrections that he will do on what you are already playing. For example, when a student comes to me for coaching, I start by doing a very thorough test of his current playing level. I listen to him and watch him play and at the same time, I have a checklist of about 250 things to note on his playing. Then, depending on what I see and hear, I create a program and eventually practice a schedule for him. This is not something that a student can do by himself and be effective at it.

2. Get a good quality practice instrument.

That means a guitar that will help you with your playing, and it will be of sufficiently good quality. Many people think they should get a good guitar after they learn how to play, as a reward for their accomplishment. This is not true at all. Getting a decent guitar is part of the learning process just like getting a decent pair of running shoes is part of the process of being a distance runner.

3. Develop the mindset of PRACTICING instead of just PLAYING the guitar.

This is the most difficult one since has to do with instant and delayed gratification. If you want to develop your skills and become a good guitar player, you need to prioritize practicing and not just playing. It is possible to play all day, without getting any better. On the other hand, proper practicing for even just 40 minutes per day will help you become a much better guitarist! The difference between those two is that the person practicing for 40 minutes daily is doing deliberate practice. He is not just playing around songs and licks he already knows. He is practicing specific things. It is way beyond the scope of this topic to explain what deliberate practice is, but the main idea is to have highly specific things that you need to develop and/or correct in your playing and then practice them slowly and deliberately. Not fooling around with riffs or solos between them. I am simplifying now, but just take a little thing and practice it for 10 minutes. So, you must understand the difference between playing for fun and practicing.

I hope this was helpful. You can watch the video below, where I explain this topic in more detail. If you’re interested in developing your guitar skills and reaching your music goals, please check the different Elite Guitar Coaching Academy packages and how you can get private coaching from me.