Guitar Social Blog

Some people find it hard to practice with other guitarist or musicians. They get so used to playing on their own that when they get together with another musician all they can do is show off what they’ve learned and never get any quality jamming in.

If you feel like you never get anything accomplished when you practice with other people consider the following and see if it makes a difference in your jamming sessions.

1. Find someone that plays your style of music. It makes it a lot easier to collaborate.
2. Agree on a few songs you both want to tackle. Make print outs and do a little practicing before sitting down together. Practice the more challenging parts of the song on your own. This way when you start jamming and learning the songs together it’s much easier.
3. Relax. Take a deep breath and just play. If you mess up while jamming just keep going.
4. Be open minded and don’t take criticism or suggestions to heart. If the person you are practicing with suggest you try to play something differently give it try. No matter how long you’ve been playing you don’t know everything. It’s amazing how much you can learn from other people when you don’t let your ego get in the way.

Jamming with other people can be a wonderful experience if the right chemistry is there. Don’t forget that there has to be a vision of what everyone wants to accomplish while jamming and don’t be afraid to take the lead to get some direction of the jam session moving. Let the ego go and just have fun.

We have some sad news to report today. Canadian blues guitarist Jeff Healey died Sunday in a Toronto hospital after a lifelong battle with cancer. He was 41.

Healey had been in the hospital for a week fighting advanced lung cancer.

Healey had undergone numerous operations in recent years to remove tumors from his lungs and leg.

When he was only one year old, Healey lost his eyesight due to retinoblastoma, a rare form of retinal cancer.

He began playing the guitar at the age of 3 and developed a unique style of playing the instrument flat on his lap.

Healey was discovered in a Toronto bar at 15 by the late Stevie Ray Vaughan. When he was 17 he formed the band Blue Direction and later found fame with his trio The Jeff Healey Band.

Healey recently completed work on his first studio album in eight years, 'Mess of Blues' which is being released in Europe on March 20, and in Canada and the U.S. on April 22.

Healey leaves behind his wife, Cristie, 13-year-old daughter Rachel and three-year-old son Derek.

Society thinks that more is better. We have bigger homes and we fill them with more stuff. We have bigger cars that hold more stuff. We are constantly being told that more is better. When it comes to guitar playing, a lot of people think "I need to practice more to get better". Practicing does help, and you will get better, but the key to accelerating your guitar playing is to practice consistently. Consistency matters more than "more". Let me explain - I always ask my students how much time they spent practicing the previous week. I always get different answers back, but on average, the amount of time is about 1 to 3 hours. My second question is "how many days did you practice?" Almost every time the response I get is "one - I practiced yesterday but I did it for three hours".

The problem with this type of practicing is that it's inconsistent. To really accelerate your guitar playing you need to practice every day. Practicing for 15 minutes a day is more important than practicing for three hours once a week. The reason you should practice every day is that it's repetitive. You are building new pathways in your brain – training your brain to remind your fingers how to play the guitar. You are most importantly building a habit. A good habit. We humans love habits - we take comfort in our habits. Practicing every day will get you more comfortable with playing your guitar and the more comfortable you are the better you will play.

In reality, you might not be able to practice every day, but you can think about your practice and study about guitars when you don't have your guitar available. The key thing is to keep your practice in your mind consistently. Live and breathe guitar. You will get better faster if you are consistent with your playing.

Knowledge is power – or perhaps I should say – consistency is the key. Happy practicing. . .