We all never want to stop getting better at guitar. What’s the best way to go about achieving Never-Ending Guitar Improvement?
The Japanese have a word for Never-ending Improvement.
It is “Kaizen.” Kai meaning “change” and Zen meaning “good”
If all you did was improve one tiny aspect of your guitar life every single day, you would achieve outstanding results and even mastery within time.
Here’s how:
If you aren’t Getting Better, You are Getting Worse
It’s pretty easy to feel overwhelmed sometimes by all the goals you are setting for yourself and your music. Thinking in terms of kaizen is a good way to focus your actions and reduce stress. It also is a great way to create personal momentum and satisfaction.
How awesome would it be to know that each and every day you are better than the last day in some aspect?
I don’t know about you but to me that idea is very exciting and motivating!
If you are more motivated by avoiding pain and discomfort than you are by moving towards pleasure, think of it this way:
“If you aren’t getting better, you are getting worse.”
Yikes! That’s no fun!
So now that you are pumped up and filled with energy, how can you specifically achieve this? Well let’s do a little brainstorming to get your creative juices flowing and find the areas that relate to your situation:
- Work with a metronome to build up your right hand picking speed. Record your times in a journal so that you have references for improvement.
- Practice finding as many voicings as you can for the chords you find yourself playing the most
- Experiment with new altered chords and their voicings
- Work on your legato technique by practicing without picking.
- Tweak your tone so that is more like your ideal tone that you are hearing in your head
- Challenge yourself to learn your favorite guitar player’s song and licks in a week or two. Watch as you progress and get the song down solid.
- Work with a metronome, drum machine, or drummer to get your rhythm chops and timing down and groovin’
- Buy a book on home recording and set up your home studio
- Learn more about how you can market your talents and skills
- Ask someone for some un-biased advice on how to improve
- Work on your two-handed tapping skills
- Make your vibrato really “sing”
- Learn how to play an amazing solo with only 4 notes.
- Evaluate yourself and find out what you want to improve at and work on it!
If you are dedicated to never-ending improvement, but maybe unsure of how to go about it, contact us to learn more about our Personal Guitar Coaching Programs and what they can do to help make you the player you want to be. Don’t wait until tomorrow to get started. Now is the time to take control of your future.
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9 responses so far ↓
1 Ron Zabrocki // Feb 12, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Just a little everyday! Or how about alot everyday!
I think it’s important to practice, not play. Set time aside to practice. Here’s how you know you are practicing and learning….if you sound good and all is easy you are only playing…if you sound like you are just a beginner and the you are having a hard time executing a lick, or sight reading, or playing over chords, etc. If you sound like a beginner…you are learning!
And make notes of what you are working on so you can develop it even more the next day!
I love Guitarplayerzen.com!
Peace
Ron Z
Ron
2 Sandy Crespo/Grzelak // Feb 13, 2008 at 6:17 pm
Ron Zabrocki is one of the greatest treasures as a human being and the rockingest guitarist and engineeer/producer!! His creativity inspires one to dive into oneself and not be afraid to let it go !! I am honored and grateful for having him as a great influence in my singing career !! Thanks Ron. You sound Fantastic !! Rock On !!!! Sandwich
3 John // Feb 13, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Ya I know your great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic keep up the good work.
4 Anekretia // Feb 15, 2008 at 1:44 am
Brilliant Article thx for sharing that! I have always linked to my guitar on a spiritual level, somehow or another, Kaizen, is a great goal and achievement, I will be pursuing this more now than ever!
“Ron Zabrocki // Feb 12, 2008 at 5:23 pm
Just a little everyday! Or how about alot everyday!”
a side note to respond to Ron, a lot of practice is a good thing, but remember to keep it on a broader spectrum, if you focus too long and too hard, several bad things can happen, some mental, some physical, I have had Carpal Tunnel syndrome, to the point where it shut me down cold after half a song, no fun live, you have to break up the routines, and do proper warm ups and stretching before attempting to break world record practice times, otherwise it costs you far more than you learn. Routines, speed, articulation, we all work so hard at it, that it is easy to lose sight of the good or harm to ourselves in the processes.
5 Linda Ort // May 29, 2008 at 12:14 am
I’ve been wanting to play Guitar my whole life….I wish
I would have started sooner but….I didn’t and now I’m
doing pretty good for myself…learning pretty quick…seems to come easy to me…. I love it….
6 Jeff // May 30, 2008 at 9:24 am
That is awesome Linda! It’s never too late to learn something new or add a new value to your life.
Let me know when your first album comes out!
7 JB // Sep 27, 2008 at 8:23 am
Those 14 points you mention should be known by everybody.not only musicians.
It is,when adapted,valuable for any musician though,even a saxophonist!
This is an article that quite sums up the only thing we need beside our guitar and amp.
Kaizen.
Btw,feel free to mail me privately,unless the whole site will disappear under my comments.lol!
This is a really addictive website,and i’m glad it exists.
Here,people share openly,instead of keeping secret success/health recipes for themselves.
Thank you.
8 JB // Oct 15, 2008 at 11:52 pm
I just wish to share a quote.by a french lawyer,Hubert le Blanc.XVIIth century stuff but still very actual.
“Choosing fingerings and positions is always to be revised:the spirit does not find strong guidelines to hold,to grasp,upon which to build ones knowledge with continuity.The spirit wanders among particular instances in which a local memory which cannot be a principal is used.After thrice the time as the seige of Troy one still has to grasp the real heart of the instrument’s difficulty.”
True,uh?
9 JB/Meldrum // Nov 11, 2008 at 2:10 am
Hey y’all.
In a kaizen perspective,you can also think that way:”creativity allows you to make mistakes.Art learns you which ones to keep.”
It works,believe me!
JB
http://www.myspace.com/meldrumrocks
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