Three Rules For Practicing
Published: Fri, 12/09/22
When I did finally start understanding how to practice, it happened because I took on a new instrument: I determined, at around 22 or 23, to become fluent on the dobro and the pedal steel, and since I was starting from scratch, it was an opportunity to learn the right way, whatever that was, from the ground up. Also to observe the process as I went. But because it was not my main thing – I knew it would be a while before I could actually play with other people or otherwise operate competently on either instrument – I decided I would limit my involvement to just a half an hour a day. (I also started with just the dobro, as it took me a couple of years to round up the cash and the wherewithal to get my hands on a worthwhile steel in the first place.)
As it turns out, through a combination of obsessive focus, ludicrous overconfidence and the fact of playing an instrument so relatively obscure that being able to do anything on it seems nearly miraculous to anyone else, I played my first gig with my new axe within about six months of getting started, and played a recording session on it soon after. Which was interesting, and cool, and not a little insane, but more importantly, in pursuing this half-hour-a-day policy with the dobro, I stumbled upon a learning process I could subsequently use for all kinds of hare-brained pursuits, musical and otherwise, from learning the basics of graphic design and becoming a guy who can run a couple miles a day without entirely sucking wind, to getting at least semi-functional at writing four part harmony and counterpoint.
At its simplest, my process has just three rules: have a text, have a time, and have an assignment. With the dobro, it worked like this:
- Have a text: There was almost no one to learn dobro from in New York in the late 1980s, and almost no books or videos either. So I got the one book you could get, Stacy Phillips' The Dobro Book, and just worked my way through it. It gave me a direction, it gave me an order in which to do things, and by working my way through it, page by page, I had some kind of way to measure my progress.
- Have a time: As a freelance musician, I had the lattitude to practice first thing in the morning. So I did. Which meant the practicing got done before other distraction had a chance to tug on my sleeve. Also, as I mentioned above, I only ever promised myself a half hour a day of concentrated effort. Which meant I knew I was only signing on for thirty minutes each morning, and would still have time to get to other stuff pretty soon.
- Have an assignment: Each week I would write down, in the margins of Stacy's book, the three things I was going to work on that week, and what tempo I would practice them at with the metronome. So when I picked up the instrument each day and flipped open my book, I knew exactly what to work on and why I was working on it.
In today's Youtube lesson, I go over these three rules in more detail; you can find the video at the link below, ironic title and all:
Spend Less Time Practicing!
More soon,
David
P.S. In response to some inquiries I've had lately, let me clarify that yes, the Fingerstyle Five membership is currently open for registration; you can sign up whenever you're ready at https://www.fretboardconfidential.com/