Rex's system

After countless failed attempts at following other’s practice systems, my own practice system has evolved into what’s described in this section.

Don’t let the length fool you. The system isn’t at all complicated. I’ve learned the hard way that I’ll give up on any system that isn’t dirt simple.

At its heart, it’s just three things:

1. An exercise library
2. Handwritten notes on index cards (my Zettelkasten)
3. One note in particular contains my current focus list (the five or fewer exercises I’m currently focused on)

Every time I stumble across something new and interesting online or wherever, I add one or more items to my exercise library.

If it’s particularly interesting, I’ll replace one of the items on my focus list.

To keep myself focused, I force myself to keep five or fewer items on my focus list. Any more than that and I have a hard time deciding what to practice on any given day.

I still let myself watch whatever videos and read whatever content I want. If something seems worthwhile, I’ll add a link to it from my library.

But before I take up any valuable practice time with the latest cool video or whatever, I first look at my focus list and ask myself if the new thing seems more important or valuable than everything already there.

Sometimes I realize I’ve already mastered something on the list, so I feel no guilt about replacing it with the new thing. Other times, an item on the list no longer “sparks joy” as Marie Kondo would say, so I drop it and put the new thing in its place.

Usually, though, I realize I’ve already got plenty to work on, so I just add the link to my library and relax knowing I won’t forget about it and will get to it eventually.

Neither my focus list nor my exercise library are in any sort of priority order — I work on what I want when I want.

Pen vs. computer

I’ve tried various phone and computer apps to manage my practice, but I’ve found I strongly prefer a pen and paper to take notes during practice.

For some reason, scribbling something with a pen seems far less intrusive and distracting than typing on my phone or on a computer. A pen requires far less of a context switch.

I want to avoid a computer keyboard if at all possible while practicing, but my exercise documentation must link to videos, audio files, neck diagrams, tablature/notation, etc.

My solution is to maintain an exercise library on my computer, but use hand-written notes on index cards while practicing. The notes refer back to exercises in the library.

I rarely need to refer to the online documentation for a particular exercise after practicing it the first time.

The rules

Rule 1: Practice what you want.

Rule 2: Track and review what you practice.

Rule 3: Never work on more than 5 things at a time.

Practice what you want

At the risk of stating the obvious: if you hate to practice, then eventually you won’t. Full stop.

Practice should be at least somewhat enjoyable, but keep the following in mind:

• If practice is too hard, you’ll hate practicing. If it’s too easy you won’t make progress. You must push yourself without becoming demotivated (finding that balance point is tricky).

• There is no point in practicing what you’ve already mastered except for “mindless” warm-up drills and technique exercises. Some days I only have energy for “mindless” exercises.

• I try to balance the six T’s: training (general/mixed topics), timing, tunes (repertoire), theory, technique, and tones (ear training). This isn’t necessary every session, but strive for balance over the long haul.

• Remember that you play what you practice. The way you practice scales, triads, etc. will show up in your playing eventually. If you only practice scales by mechanically going up and down the scale linearly with a monotonous rhythm, guess how your solos will sound? If you permit fret buzzes and muted notes when playing chords during practice, they won’t magically fix themselves when performing.

  Try to be musical with your practice.

Track what you practice

The simple act of writing down what you’re working on helps you focus.

It’s motivational to track how much time you spend practicing as well as tracking streaks (continuous days with at least one exercise practiced).

A kitchen timer will keep you honest about time.

Track streaks by marking a big red X on a wall-calendar each day you practice (or use an app like strides on iOS or loop on Android).

Use a metronome. A metronome helps to not only build speed, but also to measure progress. Remember you can use whole notes, half notes, quarter notes, triplets, and sixteenth notes in addition to adjusting BPM!

Record yourself. Objectively listening to yourself is a million times easier if you aren’t currently focused on playing. Get in the habit of recording yourself often. Go back and listen to old recordings periodically, too.

Never work on more than five things at a time

Three things at a time is even better (but hard to stick to).

Your focus list should change slowly, certainly no more than every several days. If you’re tired of working on something, feel free to swap it out for anything else that interests you, but nothing feels better than taking something off the list because you’ve already mastered it.

Persistence is a virtue!

Practice vs. exercise sessions

My practice sessions are typically thirty to ninety minutes long on any given day.

Like most people, my “practice” sessions usually comprise a few short bursts of true, focused practice interspersed with bits of noodling/playing, trying to find my blasted tuner or favorite pick, getting coffee, searching for something I just saw online, etc.

The system described here tracks these individual, focused, “exercise-sessions” within a day’s practice, not the total wall-clock time I spent in my practice area.

Each exercise-session is a short, focused burst of effort, typically just three to five minutes long. I’ll often work through more than one during a single day’s practice.

Don’t feel bad about time spent noodling and goofing around! Every minute you spend with a guitar in hand helps. It’s important to enjoy your practice time, and we need recovery time between exercise-sessions. It’s impossible to sustain the intense focus required by real practice for more than a few minutes at a time.