As I sit here practicing a couple of tougher fingerstyle songs, the idea practicing slowly comes to my mind. I always have the idea of practicing slowly enough to where I make 0 mistakes but real life is a bit different. Practicing new things slowly enough to where you are making 0 mistakes is THE fastest way to get better at something on the guitar. There are two problems with this though. #1 - It's very difficult to muster up the self-control to practice this slowly. #2 - When you are practicing like this, it doesn't feel like it's getting you to your goal any faster.
The truth is that it does. Nearly every ultra-high level musician I've had the privilege to meet has reinforced the idea that you have to SLOW THINGS RIGHT DOWN to play new or more complicated things. I've found this to be true. Unfortunately, my lack of self-control has held me back more than I care to admit.
To help get the communicate the importance of slow and "perfect" practice across, Chelsea and I are toying around with a funny/dramatic idea for YouTube video. It should be pretty funny.
Anyways, I just wanted to make this post and get everyone else's thoughts on the idea of SLOW practice , and making your playing as mistake free as possible when working on new things.
Vince Lombardi said “Practice does not make perfect. Only perfect practice makes perfect.”
My son & I have always had a saying for our martial arts students:
”Slow is Smooth; Smooth is Fast”. It works there where speed is needed. It will work with guitar as well.
Without question the biggest mistake in my 2+ years of Guitar was not practicing slowly enough, especially early on, and moving on to something else before I was ready to. Some of those mistakes continue to haunt me to this day. I don't play certain chords cleanly (Dm anyone?), some chord changes are less than smooth. I could continue, but I'll spare everyone (and myself) that pain.
In a sense, my commitment to Fingerstyle the past few months has given me a second chance, since in many ways, it's like learning Guitar all over again. I've been going VERY slow, intentionally. My practice has been very methodical, and my fingerstyle technique and ability to play patterns are constantly improving. I'm feeling it! The mistakes I make are less fingerstyle technique, and more the basic fundamentals that I didn't nail down in the beginning. But the Practice Plan Nate provided me during our One on One lessons incorporated many of those fundamentals. I like Second Chances!
I have been reading the book "The Practice of Practice" and it had a whole chapter on slowing down. Once I read that, I realized I hadn't been practicing songs and techniques slowly enough to learn them without making mistakes. At times, I also moved on too quickly when learning techniques. When I first started playing guitar, I learned a bunch of chords in a row without memorizing the chords. I had to back up and practice chords and still have to work on it now. When I practice, I am making an effort to slow down when I am working on things.
@David Lieder I've heard that quote before, but I never where it originated. Thanks for posting that. I also love relating this back to martial arts. I know you are quite advanced, but I made it to a brown belt in TKD so I can relate.
@Irwin1957 I hear you. I always fool myself or "think" I'm practicing slowly but my mistakes tell me otherwise. It always seems to come back to the fundamentals and nailing those hardcore.
@Daphne Turnbull Yeah, I need to read that book again. Maybe we could start a thread hear in the forum to discuss it. It's tough to play slowly but it's certainly more effective and rewarding.
@Nate Savage I would love that, I have been reading it off and on because life got in the way and want to be more consistent and read in it every day. What I have read so far has really helped my guitar playing.