Small Chunking
In the pursuit of learning the guitar we’re faced with the exciting (and overwhelming) reality that an infinite amount of practice material lies in front of us. Do I want to be a rhythm player? An improviser? A shredder? Finger-picker? Singer/songwriter? Classical guitarist? Start a cover band? Use a loop pedal to create swirling soundscapes that penetrate the collective Gaian world consciousness and ignite the unawakened psychedelic potential that lies within the heart, mind, and third eye of every man, woman, and child on planet Earth to initiate the 2nd great awakening of brotherly love? Okay, that’s a bit much. But there’s probably at least one individual on the planet actually attempting to do that (if you meet him, please message me what edibles dispensary he uses -- asking for a friend).
Even if we decide to pursue one of those things and dedicate ourselves to it, the amount of practice material available remains almost unlimited. We often face the issue of “which thing should I focus on today so I can become a better player?” If we don’t define it and keep it small, we risk another practice session floundering around, jumping from idea to idea like a pollinating insect. The guitar is incredibly fun and this makes it easy to get distracted. I personally specialize in distracted guitar playing, and any success I’ve had is probably due to the sheer magnitude of time spent playing the instrument, not from focused planning or execution. But I can say with certainty the times I’ve intentionally focused on a single, difficult exercise with consistency were the times that created some of the biggest growth spurts.
Dealing with an overabundance of important decisions is discussed by U.S. Navy SEALs Jocko Willink & Leif Babin in their book Extreme Ownership, with their principle of Prioritize And Execute. The authors demonstrate that success in chaotic environments demands we suss out the one most important thing, then do that and only that. There might be 15 simultaneous concerns that need to be handled, but to be effective we need to decide which is priority #1, and put all focus on that until it’s taken care of. Then we can continue to repeat the process, ask ourselves “what’s most important now?”, and work down the list. In their case the scenario is a battleground with firefights happening in real time. In our case, it’s our guitar player mind, and our scattered ambition.
Next time you sit down to practice, take 3 minutes to define your top 5 or 6 priorities. This could be a list of songs, short-term or long-term musical goals, practice exercises, or a combination of those things. Decide which thing is priority #1, and circle it. Then give yourself permission to put the other things aside. Now focus on that one thing.
Rob Wolfe is a guitar teacher in Austin, TX. His students range in age from 6 years old to 74 years young.