Five Ways to Stop Sucking at Guitar

The fine chaps who write for Gear Gods are nothing if not pragmatic: you mean we have to friggin’ PRACTICE to be good at our instruments? Psshhhhhhhhh. I always thought you could just buy gear that looks cool, put in your 10,000 hours in front of the mirror perfecting your rock stance, throw some money at an Axe FX and you’d sound like a million bucks right off the bat while looking baller doing it.

But alas, that’s not the case, and GG contributor Max Frank has some tips for how you can improve your craft. They’re extremely practical, even obvious, but sometimes you’ve got to hear someone say something in order for it to truly sink in, ya know? And there are even a few pointers you may never have thought of. For example:

Practice When You Are Focused and at Peak Attentive Hours

There are all sorts of studies that preach that there are “good” and “bad” times during the day to practice. While I tend to have a bit of a skeptical eye towards this sort of science, I actually think the point of these studies is more important than the technicalities. I read an article a few years ago on The Bulletproof Musician that discussed the brain (and body’s) two time slots of attentiveness, which basically happen in the morning and late afternoon (depending on what you eat, how much you sleep, and how you take care of yourself in general, but that’s a subject for another column). Check out a simple chart from that article that demonstrates this:

The short answer is that your body does have peak moments during the day when you will be at your most productive – the challenge is to capture and work on your music during those times. These moments are different for everyone, and you just need to find what works for your life, your body, and your drive to play! Which leads into my second subheading.

Fascinating stuff, right?? Read the entire article here and you’ll stop sucking at guitar in no time.