This is how you learn without practicing
the art of mindful engagment
The further away I drift from my university years, the more I have to admit that I’ll never have that same amount of free time to dedicate to guitar practice ever again. Busy workdays, traveling, or just feeling exhausted in general will make me skip a day, or even days…
Making peace with this and accepting where I am was an important first step, allowing myself to work with what I have without judgment (I’m still practicing this). However, I have also noticed that we all have lots of time on our hands when we can’t actually sit down to practice physically, but we can still improve our music from afar.
I wanted to share a few of these ideas today. While I’ll speak in music-specific terms, I think the general idea can be adapted to any creative field, like art, sculpting, cross-stitching, photography, or anything your little heart loves.
Analyze the Music
Analyze the music, at least on a basic level. There is no need for formal analysis. Maybe just look at the chords, the chord progression, the voicing, where the melody is, which parts should be highlighted more than others, and other details.
The more consciously and mindfully you engage with the music you learn, the more likely it is to stick. This way, you won’t have to rely only on muscle memory, but on knowledge too. And that’s pretty cool.
This is something you can easily do on a bus or train ride with your sheet music. Or do you know that feeling when you sit on the couch in front of the TV, and you’re not quite tired enough to go to bed but too tired to sit and practice? You can just watch a few videos of your favorite players instead, paying close attention to the details. Maybe doing this for 10 minutes will drain you so much, you’ll even sleep better.
Identify the Biggest Challenge
This connects a little bit to the previous point, but I think it is worth mentioning separately: Sit down with your sheet music or your favorite recording of the thing you’re learning and identify the “biggest challenge.”
This might be a two-bar section or a single chord change that is significantly harder than the rest. This part will need most of your attention, and the sooner you find it, the quicker you can start working on it.
For example, if you’re learning Spanish Romance, you could start with the barre section in the second half and then move to the simpler parts to get ready to perform sooner. It takes longer to perfect the hardest parts, but you can easily catch up with the easier parts later. This makes the learning process more even, and it helps you balance the piece to keep everything at a consistent level.
Write Down What You Notice
Write down what you notice about your playing during practice. As soon as you see something worth addressing, make a note of it. If you wait until half an hour later, you will likely forget, and this habit only adds about five minutes to your overall session.
This is not exactly something you do away from your instrument, but it’s still something that improves your skills significantly, despite not being part of the actual playing. Your notes can be as silly and vague or as detailed as you want them to be.
Here are some of my notes from 2 days ago (I skipped yesterday):
Stretches seem better
Left thumb hurts a bit, that’s new (from stretching?)
Exercises good, got me locked in
Too much tension and force - too harsh chord changes
Now my right thumb hurts too (tension? play quieter?)
Softer play helps
I’m happy, this is going well
I also know that when I practice mindfully, the whole process is more engaging and interesting, and I feel so much more invested. When I practice with a journal, I feel more accountable too, because I feel like I need to come back to address what I noticed.
These are the things you can easily work on with my Practice Journal. Now this is not an exercise book. It’s a guided journey, and that’s exactly what makes it suitable for musicians of all skill levels, instruments, genres, and playing styles. It teaches you how to observe your skills, prepare a session or longer term goals, and reflect on your work. There are also fun side quests, checkpoints, challenges, and vibrant artwork included.
Learn more about the Practice Journal: https://guitarhub.learnworlds.com/practice-journal
Consider picking one up, if not for yourself, then maybe for a musician friend:
The journal makes it easier to progress, but you can always use a blank notebook to make your own notes and system.
YouTube
Later today I’m going out to record two wonderful pieces in a lovely outdoor setting. Wish me luck, because the weather has been really unpredictable these past weeks, so I hope the sunny weather stays all day!
Here’s a short sample of one of the pieces I’ll be recording. The other one will be my secret for now. (well not really, you can find the full version of both on my Patreon page haha)
One of the pieces was written by Eduardo Díaz, a wonderful composer whose works I have recorded a few times before. Here’s one I’m really proud of:
That’s all for today, have a wonderful week!
Hugs,
Betti
Consider taking a look at my education materials
Have a look at my shop and see if you find something you like (artworks, T-shirts and more)
Get my Spanish Romance course and learn this iconic piece and some fundamental classical guitar techniques like arpeggio, barree, legato from scratch!
My Favourite 11 Exercises is an easy to follow booklet including several exercises suitable for advancing beginners to advanced level players
Practice Journal for musicians is a guided journey for musicians of all levels and instruments, carefully written and edited by me and Capy
You can just watch a few videos of your favorite players instead, paying close attention to the details. Maybe doing this for 10 minutes will drain you so much, you’ll even sleep better. 🤣🤣