Practice. The cornerstone of life as a musician, it is the one thing that can get us from our bedroom to the concert stage. It is the time and work that equips us with everything we need to play our instrument as well as we dream of.
However, while we may attend weekly guitar lessons with a wonderful teacher, practice is something often left to the imagination, something we must figure out on our own.
So what should us guitarists be working on daily?
Physique
Whether we have just begun playing the guitar or we have been playing for what feels like forever, every practice session should start with a body warm up.
It is natural that your muscles need time to warm up in order to avoid injury while playing, but it is something that is overlooked surprisingly frequently.
Try these exercises at the beginning of your practice sessions to get your body warmed up before working out!
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Technique
Whether you live by technical classical guitar method books or creating miniature studies from the pieces you are playing, technique is a fundamental part of classical guitar practice.
One of the only measurable aspects of our guitar practice, it is also good for your mental health to be able to observe the physical improvements you are making through steady work.
Remember that practicing classical guitar technique is part of playing the long game, a long term dedication to improving your ability. Chipping away a little a day is part of owning your practice and using it as meditation.
Knowledge
Knowing your instrument seems like it should be a given, right? Amazingly, many guitarists who play on the concert stage do not know all of their fretboard, especially the notes above the 12th fret!
Every day and every guitar practice session is a chance to acclimatize to our instruments, the more we know about what is in our hands, the more we can use to our advantage.
Fun
In our efforts to be the most efficient workers that we can be, we should not forget that classical guitar practice should have an element of fun, purely because life as a guitarist requires so much dedication, how can we expect to work our whole lives at something we do not enjoy?
Find the best classical guitar method for you, the things that you enjoy about your instrument, and hone in on that. Every day! Classical guitar practice has to make us smile occasionally, work hard, play hard!