How Long Should I Practice?

So, How long should you practice your guitar?

That’s more than a loaded question. And, of course, partly determined by WHAT you are practicing, WHY you are practicing and from WHOM?

Some truisms abound here: the more time you have, the more time you have to practice!  And, the more you practice the better you get! But, please be mindful that “practice doesn’t always make perfect!”  This is especially true if you practice the wrong thing. As the old ball coach Vince Lombardi says:

Practice doesn’t make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.

So with that in mind how long should you practice:

• Well If you only have 10 minutes a day – that’s how long you should practice.
  • 10 minutes a day for six days a week is better than a single hour practice on Saturday!
    • Why: because I believe that the brain works better with a  gradual series of exposures.
• Serious students should allocate as much time to practice as possible:
  • as close to an hour a day as possible for minimum results.
    • if you can’t practice an hour in one setting break up your time so that you practice 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening
    • if you have gotten this far, use your own good judgement to manage your time
• professional students should allocate as much time as practical to practice:
  • several hours daily would be reasonable
    • it’s your gig – you are suppose to practice 😉

Need help tracking your practice time? Download this Weekly-Practice-Record in pdf .