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There is No Substitute for Practice

You need to have a regular practice routine that contains certain constant elements (such as warm-up exercises) as well as variable elements that address your current avenue of study.  And performing doesn't count as practice.  Although playing gigs, performing in Church or for your personal enjoyment is an essential part of your musical development, it won't replace time in the practice room.

There are times, however, when you just can't maintain a regular practice routine.  All the other elements of your life crowd in and you find you have to grab a spare hour of practice wherever you can.  It seems futile to embark on any long-range practice projects that will require weeks or months of steady work, because you know it won't happen.

So should you give up?

Must you put off the idea of improving your playing until you have more time (and are you sure that time will come)?  Here's an alternative.

You have an hour to practice.  Find something to practice that is not currently in your repertoire.  It could be a lick, a scale, a set of chord voicings, a section of a tune, a transcribed solo, anything.  But this is important:  it must be small.  Don't set a large goal.  Instead, select a little piece of music.  Assume that this is the only opportunity you'll have to learn this particular piece.  Tomorrow you'll move on to something else.

Approach the hour's practice with this attitude: "What can I do within the next hour to permanently improve my playing in one very small but measurable way?"

Your plan is to devour this one small piece so completely that it can't slip away.  If it's a lick, make it a short one and learn it in several keys.  Work out the fingering.

If it's a chord voicing, practice it in 12 keys, work it into tunes, and make sure you can make smooth transitions to and from other voicings.

If you don't get it by the end of the hour, you lose it forever.  But if you ingest it fully enough, then it will immediately begin to show up in your performances.  It will become a small element of your style and you'll never lose it.

It's intense, focused, and can be tremendously effective and satisfying.  Although at first it may be a method that you use because you can't find time for the more traditional, routine-oriented practice, you may find it so successful and fun that you make it your primary approach.

After all, you climb a mountain with thousands of small steps.  Take each step so well that you never have to take it again.

This approach can work but it can also fail miserably.  It requires a type of tunnel vision, a willingness to gnaw on one thing for one hour without letting other concerns intrude.

You might feel as if you are playing when you should be working or that focusing on a tiny area is not productive when there are so many major areas to be covered.  But once you successfully use this technique, you'll realize it is a great way to practice.

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