Practice Habits

Good practice habits are something that you dont hear too much
about. Usually everyone associates what to practice with a good
practice habit. In reality much of what musicians do during their
practice routine is not habitual. Quite often they will move from one
thing to another before they have properly explored the exercise
they are working on. In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell states
that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.
Daniel Goleman, in his book Focus states that without the proper
focus you will lack productivity, making the benchmark of 10,000
hours lack merit.
Knowing what to practice when you sit down will depend on the
individual because everyone has developed certain aspects of their
playing that are stronger than others. Oliver Gannon once told me
that so many guitarists spent most of their time working on
improvising and studying solos that when it came time to comping
for someone else they were very limited. In a playing situation
where you are the main rhythm instrument backing up a sax player,
for example, he is going to depend on your abilities to back him up
during his solos. Therefore if you are weak in this area you should be
spending more time at it. Prioritize what needs to be done.
The discipline and focus that you are able to develop during your
practice routine will make all the difference. Bruce Forman, the
great guitarist out of San Francisco, once told me that he would sit
down and just learn one Charlie Parker lick in major, learn it in all
keys, then modify the lick and learn it in all minor keys. He wouldnt
move on to something else until the task was completed. During
one stage of his development Wynton Marsalis learned John
Coltranes solo to Giant Steps and would practice it every morning
as part of his routine. The guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel demonstrates
during his master classes that when learning a new tune he will first
learn the lead line and play the bass notes of the chords. He will
then learn the tune one way, maybe in one part of the neck, then
learn it a completely different way in order to have more options.
All of these examples portray the various means of focus and
discipline used to improve your playing level.
By applying the following ideas to your practice routine you will
greatly improve the productivity of your practice session and
advance that much faster.
1.) Write it down Write down what you intend to work on and be
precise (i.e. learn one lick and transpose it to all 12 keys).

2.) Prioritize Be honest with yourself and pick out your weak
points. Place the emphasis on improving these areas first
before moving on to something new.
3.) Time it Take small chunks of time for each exercise. Put
aside 10 minutes for example towards an exercise and
concentrate on that one thing for 10 minutes. It is tough to
hold ones concentration for long period of time so do yourself
a favor and bite off small pieces. Dont set aside 2 hours for
an exercise. Your concentration will start to wane and your
productivity will suffer.
4.) Right environment Choose the right environment and the
right time of day. Place yourself where your focus and
concentration will be at its highest.
5.) Take a break Give yourself a break and go do something else
between exercises. You will come back fresh and your
concentration wont suffer for it.
In Charles Duhiggs book the Power of Habit he explains how
learning new routines and practicing them over and over again can
overcome bad habits. By making small changes to your practice
routine you will develop good habits, increase your productivity and
improve your power of focus and develop a better disciplined
approach moving forward.