Practice Habits

Good practice habits are something that you dont hear too much about. Usually everyone associates what to practice with a good practice habit. In reality much of what musicians do during their practice routine is not habitual. Quite often they will move from one thing to another before they have properly explored the exercise they are working on. In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell states that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. Daniel Goleman, in his book Focus states that without the proper focus you will lack productivity, making the benchmark of 10,000 hours lack merit.

Knowing what to practice when you sit down will depend on the individual because everyone has developed certain aspects of their playing that are stronger than others. Oliver Gannon once told me that so many guitarists spent most of their time working on improvising and studying solos that when it came time to comping for someone else they were very limited. In a playing situation where you are the main rhythm instrument backing up a sax player, for example, he is going to depend on your abilities to back him up during his solos. Therefore if you are weak in this area you should be spending more time at it. Prioritize what needs to be done.

The discipline and focus that you are able to develop during your practice routine will make all the difference. Bruce Forman, the great guitarist out of San Francisco, once told me that he would sit down and just learn one Charlie Parker lick in major, learn it in all keys, then modify the lick and learn it in all minor keys. He wouldnt move on to something else until the task was completed. During one stage of his development Wynton Marsalis learned John Coltranes solo to Giant Steps and would practice it every morning as part of his routine. The guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel demonstrates during his master classes that when learning a new tune he will first learn the lead line and play the bass notes of the chords. He will then learn the tune one way, maybe in one part of the neck, then learn it a completely different way in order to have more options. All of these examples portray the various means of focus and discipline used to improve your playing level.

By applying the following ideas to your practice routine you will greatly improve the productivity of your practice session and advance that much faster.

1.) Write it down Write down what you intend to work on and be precise (i.e. learn one lick and transpose it to all 12 keys).2.) Prioritize Be honest with yourself and pick out your weak points. Place the emphasis on improving these areas first before moving on to something new.3.) Time it Take small chunks of time for each exercise. Put aside 10 minutes for example towards an exercise and concentrate on that one thing for 10 minutes. It is tough to hold ones concentration for long period of time so do yourself a favor and bite off small pieces. Dont set aside 2 hours for an exercise. Your concentration will start to wane and your productivity will suffer. 4.) Right environment Choose the right environment and the right time of day. Place yourself where your focus and concentration will be at its highest. 5.) Take a break Give yourself a break and go do something else between exercises. You will come back fresh and your concentration wont suffer for it.

In Charles Duhiggs book the Power of Habit he explains how learning new routines and practicing them over and over again can overcome bad habits. By making small changes to your practice routine you will develop good habits, increase your productivity and improve your power of focus and develop a better disciplined approach moving forward.