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This is an old blog post that I decided to go back and update. Some of the ideas I expressed here have evolved since the first writing, so I wanted to reflect that. I’ve totally removed the bit about making organized practice routines because, as it occurs to me, they’ve never been so successful. I’d love to get more input, so feel free to leave some comments.

I wanted to attempt to answer two basic questions that can offer a lot of problems for musicians if they go unanswered. These questions were not answered for me when I was a beginner, and it was not until I was very deep into my musical education that I finally found the teachers that taught me some of these fundamentals that probably should have learned much earlier..

Going Solo

The first thing to keep in mind when learning to play a musical instrument is that no one can teach you anything. That’s right, no amount of private lessons, instructional books, videos, drum machines or practice gadgets will yield you any substantial results if you do not put time in on your instrument. Sometimes, practicing untutored can feel like you are beating your head against the wall and it can be difficult to find the the answers alone.  Realize, though, that a teacher is really just a guide. He can’t make you a better player without your help. A private instructor is simply someone who has been where you currently are and can show you the way.

Bottom line: You have to do the work.

Question 1: What do I practice?

This question can have many answers. A popular practice session among musicians is sitting down and spending hours playing music we already know, jamming with our favorite recordings and noodling while we watch TV. After we’re done we brag to our friends that we practiced for hours and we congratulate ourselves incessantly. I am not bashing this kind of self-gratifying performance, because we all do it. It’s fun and I strongly believe that it needs to be done. However, we need to stop lying to ourselves: this is not practice, this is simply playing. Practice, in my opinion, is working on music you do not know. Practice is concentrating on weaknesses and developing skills. Some regular advice I give my students is that if a concept feels uncomfortable it means you are learning something. Practice is not always fun, and not always easy, but if we learn to acknowledge our weaknesses (which can be the hardest part of practicing) then we have a better grasp of how we will make efforts to improve.

If you are studying with a good teacher then, hopefully, they are giving you material that hones in on your weaknesses, and that is what you should be concentrating on. If you are not currently with a teacher, try to be honest with yourself and acknowledge your faults and find some ways you can go about improving them.

Here are four basic concepts I recommend that you practice (if you do not currently) and my reasons as to why. I believe these are fundamentals that musicians of all levels can stand to improve on:

1. Sight-reading Not simply because I believe that all musicians should be able to read music (though I do). I discovered that when I started to really practice sight-reading, other weaknesses in my playing became apparent and then improved because of it. You will find that as you improve as a reader that your knowledge of the fretboard, your internalization of meter, your relative pitch and your basic understanding of rhythm all improve exponentially. Don’t disregard sight-reading because you are “a rock guy” and don’t think you need it, because I guarantee you that learning to read will improve the way you play rock music.

2. Scales / Arpeggios It is astonishing how many students I have had that want to solo like Victor Wooten but fail to see the importance of these basic rudiments. I’ll put it in SAT Test format:

Not learning your scales and arpeggios means to a musician what not learning the alphabet is to an author.

Scales and arpeggios are like words and make up your musical vocabulary. Not knowing these rudiments does not mean you won’t play them, it just means you don’t know that you are playing them. These rudiments are the foundation to competent soloing, improvisation, and will give you an edge in learning new songs more quickly. For some players who’ve been at it for awhile without a theory background, learning some of the basics is as simple as putting a “face” to patterns they’d seen a million times and can be really a propelling moment of inspiration.

3. Ear Training Ear training can be as simple as learning your favorite song from a CD or sitting in front of a keyboard and matching pitches with your voice. The key with ear training is to practice critically, and really work towards remembering what the different intervals sound like, and associate them with music you already know. Most of the time, our instincts are much better than we realize, because even if we are beginners, we have been listening to music most of our lives and– even if we are unaware of it– know what “in tune” sounds like. At the very least we know what “out of tune” sounds like and that is a great of a place to begin learning.

4. Playing With Other People So let’s say you’ve got all of this other stuff down and you head out to jam with some friends. The problem is, you’ve been playing for 5 years but have never actually worked with a band and, when you finally do, everything just falls apart. You can’t find “the beat,” the band plays every song in a different key and you can’t even hear the vocals to follow along. It can be difficult playing with other musicians if you are used to zoning out with your favorite CD. Everyone is capable of making a mistake in the performance environment– a variable that just doesn’t exist when you are rocking out in your bedroom. Playing in a band requires a different kind of listening, and, truth be told, some guys never learn how to do it right. Even at the beginner stage, take every opportunity you can to play with other musicians no matter much better or worse they are than you.

Question 2: How long do I practice?

One thing that gets a great deal of controversy is the amount of time spent practicing every day. Some teachers will tell you that you need to practice several hours a day if you expect to be any good. I do not doubt that they are right, to some extent, but I think that this statement can be misleading. “Several hours a day” does not mean several hours in one sitting, or a single hour at a time of intense practice. The average adult brain can only take 30 to 45 minutes of concentration at once, so it is important to take breaks. My advice to my students– particularly beginners– is that duration is not as important as consistency. Developing good habits and practicing every day, even if it is for a mere 15 minutes, is better than practicing for an hour on one day and not picking the bass up again for three more days. Much of the learning process is based on repetition, and when you are studying a musical instrument it will be important to remember that you are working towards implementing skills and concepts into your vocabulary to the extent that they become second nature. Most of us cannot accomplish this with a sporadic practice routine.

Treat learning music as though you are learning a foreign language. You cannot expect someone to practice a new language for five hours in a sitting and retain much from that study session. Most likely you will remember only a few things from that session. So, promise yourself to spend 15 to 30 minutes a day practicing, as an absolute minimum. If you spend more time than that, great! Some days you will not want to practice and 30 minutes will feel like a lifetime, but it is important to maintain a routine to keep your skills sharp.

Make a short list of the things you need to work on, and take your time with it. Don’t focus too much on any one thing. You don’t have to learn all of it one sitting, but make sure you touch on everything on the list before you are finished. This requires a level of discipline not commonly found amongst musician-types, but its something to keep in mind.

Enjoy the Process!

I received this great advice from Danny Morris, a professor at Berklee, after complaining about how awful I was at organizing my senior recital and it has stayed with me every since.

What I have taken this to mean is, that we should enjoy the process of learning and creating, and not be hung up on finding the answers and completing the journey. There is always more stuff to know, so that feeling of completion can be fleeting and empty. I remember spending hours vexing and worrying about my proficiency exams in college and thinking that “once I take this test it will all be over and I will feel so much better,” but, once it was all over I felt kind of bummed out. I wasted my whole time worrying and freaking out and the end result was that I’d have to do it all over again next semester! If I had been focusing on the journey of learning something new about my instrument I would have benefited just as much (if not more), and passing my proficiency would have just been incidental (which, in retrospect, it was).

Just try and have a good time!