Help Building a practice plan/Goals!

Hi fellow Guitar learners,

I'm a fresh beginner. Like i never played before and do know nothing about anything. However my biggest problem is motivation and i need goals who i can accomplish to keep me going.

In this respect this site does lack 100% of plan making/motivating. GT Staff! DO Something, even a practice journal on the site would help me (and others)

I would like to see like the "notes" section a "goal" section per lesson who could be integrated in a scheduled trainings plan something like:

Practice this for 5 min,
in the next x lesson as it progresses over time it can be practice the last bit but do it 20 % faster which should mean around x changes per minute or so.. As you can put in numbers and stuff you can create your own trainings plan who drives you to get better over the progression of the course!

Sadly this is not the case and i turn to the forums to get help.

To make it clear, keeping my motivation high/there is hard for me and i need to see (and measure) success so i get a kick. I know that this method is not for anyone and that is fine, but i need it.

It would be super if some ppl who can relate to that would help me build my goal list from the ground up.

For now im in the "change C ang G cord (with rythm)" section and i want to train that but i need a goal otherwise i will just go to the next lesson and not work on that fully.

So how would i make a proper plan to see success ?

My idea so far (for the chord changes)

Day 1 (today)
1. Practice 3 minutes c to g with the intention/focus on hitting the strings and not muting others (slow)
2. Practice 3 minutes to change (normal speed)
3. Try 2. it with rythm
4. Do 2. again
Pause 30 min
Repeat 1-4

So i hope you get what i try to say and can give some advice and help in building a solid practice plan for the guitar fundementals 1.

Also general advice to stay motivated is appreciated.

Thanks

Originally Posted by: manuelsoukupHi fellow Guitar learners,

I'm a fresh beginner. Like i never played before and do know nothing about anything. However my biggest problem is motivation and i need goals who i can accomplish to keep me going.

In this respect this site does lack 100% of plan making/motivating. GT Staff! DO Something, even a practice journal on the site would help me (and others)

I would like to see like the "notes" section a "goal" section per lesson who could be integrated in a scheduled trainings plan something like:

Practice this for 5 min,
in the next x lesson as it progresses over time it can be practice the last bit but do it 20 % faster which should mean around x changes per minute or so.. As you can put in numbers and stuff you can create your own trainings plan who drives you to get better over the progression of the course!

Sadly this is not the case and i turn to the forums to get help.

To make it clear, keeping my motivation high/there is hard for me and i need to see (and measure) success so i get a kick. I know that this method is not for anyone and that is fine, but i need it.

It would be super if some ppl who can relate to that would help me build my goal list from the ground up.

For now im in the "change C ang G cord (with rythm)" section and i want to train that but i need a goal otherwise i will just go to the next lesson and not work on that fully.

So how would i make a proper plan to see success ?

My idea so far (for the chord changes)

Day 1 (today)
1. Practice 3 minutes c to g with the intention/focus on hitting the strings and not muting others (slow)
2. Practice 3 minutes to change (normal speed)
3. Try 2. it with rythm
4. Do 2. again
Pause 30 min
Repeat 1-4

So i hope you get what i try to say and can give some advice and help in building a solid practice plan for the guitar fundementals 1.

Also general advice to stay motivated is appreciated.

Thanks

To be honest, I would advise against writing down your practice plan to the minute and perhaps come up with a more generalized set of goals.

I know that for me, one of the single most motivating things is to be able to play songs, so perhaps plan your practice strategy around getting to the point where you can play a song or two.

Try something like a weekly plan:

Week One: Basic Intervals and Chord Changes (memorize intervals and work on open chord changes)

Week Two: Finalize chord changes for the following open chords (Em, G, C, D, A, F)

Week Three: Work on and learn a song using the chords I covered in week 2.

Then you can continue on in three-week segments, using the first week to introduce a topic, the second week to "master" or polish it and the third week to apply it by learning a song.

Hope this helps!

Manuel, I understand where you are coming from. I am on my second attempt to learn guitar due to lack of direction and motivation the first go-round.

Some people prefer to have that structure when learning something new, especially when they are so new that they don't really even know what they should be practicing in the first place. Am I supposed to practice chords first or am I supposed to practice scales first kind of thing. You wind up just kind of noodling around for 20 minutes and then get frustrated because you aren't really getting anywhere.

What I have found to be helpful is to go to the beginner lessons, go the practice for beginners tab at the bottom and do the Guided Practice Routine for Beginners taught by Lisa McCormick. You don't have to do it in order but I like to do the warmups and then pick a couple of the chord changing lessons to focus on for an hour.

It's not glamorous but it is fundamental and I have seen a huge difference in my progress since I now have some kind of guided focus.

Once I can't stand to do another exercise, then I look through the songs for beginners list and find something there to work on.

I'm probably a little different than a lot of players, unlike GT Staff, my motivation isn't so much to be able to play songs, but to learn a skill and get satisfaction from doing it well. On the flip side though, learning songs will help develop those skills and it is a lot more enjoyable than just doing exercises.

Hi

Thanks for the advice, both are great!

It seems more suited for the guitar to make weekly goals. Thanks for pointing that out! Playing songs is also one of my main motivators.

@zonkrd

You totally get what is my problem!
The tutorials from Lisa look very good. But there is still one question unanswered for me:

WHEN do i start with those practising sessions ? Do i need to wait till i can play some basic chords ?

When did you start with those sessions ? How long are you at it ?

As for playing songs, when should I "divert" from the guitar fundamentals section I to the Learn to play songs section.

Again i fear that i will get lost in the many songs and not making real progress due to selecting to hard songs, getting frustrated or not having the proper foundation to do all of that....

Thanks a lot!

I started the practicing lessons about the time I hit chapter 3 or 4 of Guitar Fundamentals 1. Obviously I cant do all of them as a lot of it is stuff I haven't done yet, but it is something to practice. Even just the finger exercises will help develop dexterity and strength.

It has only been a couple of weeks since I picked the guitar back up and like you, I find I do better with more structure so I have been doing my best to follow the practicing guidelines laid out in all of the beginner practicing lessons.

I am realizing that chords are really the most important right now. I am finding out that by working on chords I am also working on the mechanics of where and how to put my fingers and get it to sound right. The chord exercises can be pretty short so I will usually just use it as an "assignment" and then use the metronome tool to establish a rhythm and try to do 20 chord changes that are correct and sound clean. If I mess up I start over. If I keep messing up, I slow down the metronome. Once I get 20 changes without any mistakes I bump up the metronome or switch to a different pair of chords. Repetition is key though, just because I get it down one day doesn't mean I am done. I will do it again the next day, and the next.

I guess I could call this developing my own practice routine but I am using the lessons laid out by Lisa as my guideline.

The instructors on here have the credentials and the experience so If their first lessons focus primarily on chords over scales or fretboard knowledge, then I am guessing that is probably what I should be working on first.

Now just because this is working for me does not mean it's how you should do it. It's probably why there isn't a set practice journal or highly structured routine. Different people progress at different paces and while it may take me 2 weeks to get down switching from a D chord to a G chord, it may take you a couple of practice sessions. So, my advice is to start off by following the Guided Practice Routine for Beginners I mentioned earlier and use it as a checklist for what to work on more so than as an absolute regimen.

Good Luck!

Good question! A question that is pretty challenging to answer as well. Because every single person must practice a completely different set of skills, every time they practice.

First, you must find your weaknesses.

This is also challenging if you are not even aware of what kinds of things are wrong with your playing.

You must define your goals. Which is also challenging if you are not aware of what is possible to achieve!

My answer probably seems a little bit silly so far... but try to imagine what it might be like to... "cure a sick person"...

You must be aware of the symptoms of many kinds of sicknesses. You must know the patient history. You must then know what medicine to prescribe, knowing full well that you may be wrong and the patient gets worse!

This all takes a great deal of knowledge, experience, testing, etc.

Which is why teaching yourself to play guitar, even off websites or forums is very difficult.... But cmon. You wanna play doctor? Get educated!

If you are going so far as to "plan a goal-oriented schedule" you might as well look for a good teacher in your area. That's already much more further ahead than most people who try to teach themselves.

Most self-taught guitar players just learn songs, and ... maybe a scale or two... and that's kind of it. Maybe writing some songs or jamming with friends, but not really knowing what it is they're doing..

If you want to make serious progress with your guitar playing, follow this guideline. I actually just wrote this out TODAY for my students! Good timing on your question!

You may not have any idea HOW to practice some of these items. Do some research, perhaps. However, you probably have SOME clue. SOMETHING you CAN do for each item, even if it's super simple... Just make sure you do something for ALL of the items on the list.

Don't just focus on one piece of the puzzle.

Guitar Practice Schedule

Picking Technique 5%
Isolate your picking hand and find weaknesses in your economy of motion.

Lead Guitar Techniques 10%
Perfect the execution of your lead guitar techniques so you don’t make mistakes.

Ear Training 5%
Singing intervals, arpeggios, and scales so you can hear and understand music more clearly.

Music Theory [Chords, Scales, Arpeggios, Intervals, Keys] 15%
Study and expand your knowledge of music theory, and how to apply it to guitar playing.

Fretboard Memorization 5%
Memorize the fretboard by looking at it from different angles.

Improvising 20%
Improvise with various restrictions so you force yourself to play in innovative ways.

Songwriting and Recording 15%
Apply your knowledge and develop creativity by composing your own music.

2-Hand Coordination + Speed Building 10%
Isolate your fretting hand and find weaknesses in your economy of motion.
Develop synchronization between your two hands so they work together like cog wheels.

Rhythm and Timing 5%
Perfect your timing so you can play along with music, other people, and sound professional.

Performance + Songs 10%
Practice while standing up, and rehearse your songs!

I've been doing GT for a year now. What has helped me, is following Lisa McCormick's GF I, and now GF II, lessons. And in conjunction with that, I go to the Songs section and continually pick out easy songs and practice them. Then once I become fairly proficient in them, then I go to another song. This helps keep it interesting and keeps me motivated.

Hello

Thanks for all your help!

I have now come up with plan for my practice. I decided to go song wise, (at least for now).

This means i will practice so long till i can play one song and sing to it. For now this is "Walk down town"

When i can play that i will move forward to the next chords. It is a slow approach but it has the advantage of showing me success when its done (can play one song) and in the break times (fingers hurting etc i will watch some youtube vids about music therory etc.)

I also have another question but will open another thread for this as it is not goal related.

Hope this also helps others.