<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Chad Crawford<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Among the challenges we face as developing guitar players,\nretention of knowledge and technique is certainly high on the list. As with any\nlong-term complex undertaking, we can take shorter or longer paths to the same\nend. While common sense dictates that we take the shorter path, there a number\nof ways to step off the shortest path without realizing it. For maximum results\nin the shortest possible time we need to be aware of these potential pitfalls\nand make every effort to avoid them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A prevalent obstacle to maximum progress among developing\nguitarists is lack of deliberate maximum focus during lessons and practice.\nRepetition is a potentially powerful aid to recall and technique, but\nrepetition without deliberate focus can actually cultivate less than optimal\nmental and physical habits and thus hinder progress. Contrarily, repetition\ncombined with deliberate focus will enable your mind and hands to progress at\ntheir maximum rates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is important to understand that deliberate focus is not\nthe default mode of the human mind. Our tendency is to let the attention wander\naround to different things, and thus sustained focus on one thing requires some\nconscious effort. Additionally there may be no feeling of increased progress\nwhile making the extra effort to stay focused, and so there may be no immediate\nsense of reward in exchange for the extra effort. However, both science and\ncommon sense reveal that all types of memory, including muscle memory, achieve\ntheir peak power in response to sustained focused attention.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So let\u2019s look at some specific applications of deliberate\nfocus in overcoming common pitfalls. It is not practical to attempt to cover\nevery conceivable situation in which lack of focus will hinder progress, but\nlooking at a few examples will paint a clear picture of how this works. You\nwill then need to use good judgment in applying the general idea toward finding\nspecific tasks where lack of focus is holding you back. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. Paying attention\nto instructions<\/strong> \u2013 it is very easy to allow the mind to wander off in the\nmiddle of an explanation, then practice something wrong all week. In some cases\nI have seen students so excited about learning something new that in the middle\nof my demonstration they take off trying to figure out what I am playing by ear\nrather than concentrating on the demo, which of course defeats the purpose of\nthe demo. While I commend the passion about learning new things, this is an\nobvious example of not paying attention to the instructions, and the results\nare predictable \u2013 we have to go over it again. Whether the instruction method\nbe a book, video, or personal one-on-one lessons, be assured that you will get\nbetter results by controlling the impulse to take off playing as soon as you\nhave the first hint of where to put your fingers, and instead work on getting\nyour mind around the full explanation before attempting to apply it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2. Following the\ninstructions<\/strong> \u2013 assuming you have paid attention to the instructions and\nthus have a sufficient understanding of what to do, the next step is to apply\nthe instructions. Certain details of optimum physical technique are often at\nconflict with our natural inclination toward doing what feels physically\neasiest for us at the moment. While few would argue whether or not following\nthe instructions is important, some aspects of our motor skills operate at a\nsubconscious level. While attempting scale exercises for instance, we must\nmanage a number of things simultaneously such as note location, timing, and\ncoordination of the picking and fretting hands. It is very easy in this kind of\nmulti-tasking situation to allow the fingers to revert to auto-pilot while we\nmonitor other details, and then we slip into repeating poor physical technique\nand allow it to become a self-defeating habit. It is very hard to break\ningrained poor physical technique habits. Do not allow this to happen. Follow\nthe instructions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3. Frustration<\/strong>\n\u2013 nothing will derail your focus faster than allowing the feeling of\nfrustration to take over your consciousness. This is a certain path to lagging\nprogress, which leads to more frustration, and so it becomes a cycle of\nself-sabotage. Don\u2019t let it happen. Assuming you are following a good program\nof instruction and are actually following the instructions accurately,\nindulging frustration is a waste of your time and effort. Do not allow\nfrustration to become your measuring line of how well you are doing.\nFrustration is a typical human response to any complex endeavor and it does not\nnecessarily mean you are doing things wrong. If you know you are working on\nwhat you are supposed to be working on to reach your goals, then when you feel\nfrustrated you should put it aside and stay focused on what you are working on\ninstead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4. Timing<\/strong> \u2013\nwhile learning to apply new scales or develop efficient chord changes, it is\ncommon to focus on simply getting the finger motions done to neglect of the\ncritical timing details that make these things sound clear and smooth so that\nyou achieve a good sense of musical flow. Pay attention that each note of a\nsolo gets a clear pick stroke and \u201cair time\u201d. Stay focused on matching your\nnotes up to the underlying beat. Make sure that you are continually pushing\nyourself for faster chord changing so that each pick stroke of your chords is\nclear, rather than chopping off the last pick stroke of a chord just before the\nchord change. That is a lot to manage simultaneously, but it will get easier\nwith time and repetition until you can do it automatically. In the interim,\nstay focused on timing!<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.\nSpeed\/overplaying<\/strong> \u2013 beginner to intermediate level guitar players often\nshow a tendency during solos toward filling every perception of space with as\nmany notes as possible. While an intelligently executed run of sixteenth note\ntriplets can add a lot of intensity to a solo, this is not the same phenomenon\nas simply blasting every bit of space with a battery of memorized scale\npatterns. While soloing you should be focused on timing, note articulation, and\ncreating a sense of tension and release that complements the song. Do not allow\nyourself to fall into mindless ripping of scale patterns. Blasting scale\npatterns at top speed is practice, not playing. While playing focus on the flow\nof tension and release so that you are saying something with your music rather\nthan simply showing off your mastery of scale patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep in mind \u2026 focus is a choice rather than a \u201ctalent\u201d.\nYou will never develop a mental habit of deliberate focus without determined\neffort to make it so. It does get easier with time and repetition, so get\nstarted today looking for deficiencies in your level of focus. The results will\nbe worth the effort!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A prevalent obstacle to maximum progress among developing guitarists is lack of deliberate maximum focus during lessons and practice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[20,10,36,22,8],"class_list":["post-341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-chad-crawford","tag-focus","tag-greenville-guitar-lessons","tag-palmetto-music-institue","tag-power"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=341"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":342,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/341\/revisions\/342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.guitarlessonsgreenville.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}