3-1 · Big Picture: Techniques for Effective Practice

Here are some ideas to help you get the most out of your practice time.

Desirable difficulty refers to the idea of challenging yourself in the right ways to enhance your learning, e.g.,:

• You will make the most progress when you work on things that are at the edge of your abilities.
• Interleaving means frequently switching up what you’re working on. With guitar practice, the first few reps of each exercise are where we make the most progress. Changing frequently from one exercise to another will speed your progress in the long run.
• Spaced repetition is a technique for that maximizes memory retention, including muscle memory. The best time to practice something is just before you are about to forget it. When you’re first learning something, you may need to practice it every day, but once you’ve learned it, try waiting a day or two before practicing it again. If it’s still easy to recall and you can still play it well the first time through, you can continue to increase the interval and wait a bit longer before you practice it again. If you ever find that you’ve waited too long and can no longer recall it or play it fluently, shorten the interval and practice it more frequently until it becomes easy again, and then gradually increase the interval. Only if you’re having trouble playing something correctly should you repeat it multiple times. Ultimately, you want to build up the skill of playing each exercise or each piece of repertoire well the first time through.
• It’s hard to maintain perfect focus when practicing. In the Pomodoro Technique, you practice with intense focus for 25 minutes and then take a break with your hands off the guitar for at least five minutes.

Memory consolidation is the process by which your brain transfers information from short-term memory into long-term memory, integrating the information with everything else you already know. The short breaks inherent in the Pomodoro Technique help with this, but sleep is where the magic happens. Consider practicing or doing some visualization exercises just before going to bed to boost your playing overnight.

Memory consolidation is why consistency of practice is more important than quantity. It is much better to practice ten minutes a day, six days a week, than for an hour once a week.

When practicing improvisation, strive to maintain a relaxed focus and refrain from judging your performance while playing. But do record yourself now and then and listen back afterward.

Use the included Practice Log worksheet to plan your practice sessions in advance and track how often you work on each exercise.