Thinking about practicing vs. actually practicing

[220volt]

Originally Posted by opencee

My father had a sailboat. He used to keep a log of every time he used it. At the end of the sailing season he would add up all of the boat expenses for the year, then divide by the number of hours sailing. This would give him a cost per hour.

It almost became a chore, going out in bad weather, or missing other events in his life, for the simple sake of sailing hours. He worked harder to keep the hourly cost down than he did enjoying his sailboat or maybe even life in general.

I can't live that way.


opencee

.

That's why there's saying "have a friend with a boat"

[s2y]

Originally Posted by harmonics101

To mitigate that problem, leave the guitar out on a stand, conditions permitting (i.e. kids, dogs, wives),

H

Wives? I have enough problems with just one!

By the time I have free time to play is usually after a long day at work and getting the kids fed, cleaned up, and in bed. Often tired at that point.

[Laughingboy68]

Originally Posted by opencee

My father had a sailboat. He used to keep a log of every time he used it. At the end of the sailing season he would add up all of the boat expenses for the year, then divide by the number of hours sailing. This would give him a cost per hour.

It almost became a chore, going out in bad weather, or missing other events in his life, for the simple sake of sailing hours. He worked harder to keep the hourly cost down than he did enjoying his sailboat or maybe even life in general.

I can't live that way.


opencee

.

My dad used to the same thing when we were skiing:

"We're down to $$ per run"...

I always found it to be kinda fun. My dad never beat the fun out of activities, He was just a little frugal.

[Neil K Walk]

Originally Posted by Laughingboy68

Guitars aren't meant to hibernate. Get 'em out to play. Please, for the sake of all involved.

I agree and am making an effort. I do take them out and had two on stands for a couple of days before I noticed the chapped hands and furnace was running more. Now I make it a point to "tuck them in" right before I turn in. It's only prudent.

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by AxeDude

Strings last longer when you just think about practice but don't actually do it.

Post of the day! Too funny.

[gfsark]

1. I like practicing, I just don't like starting practice. Same can be said of lots of activities, getting started is the hardest thing for me to do.

2. The most motivating impetus to practice is to have a gig coming up. I feel no resistance to practicing if I know I'm going to be on stage with new material.

3. The next most motivating is to have a lesson coming up, which is one principal reason I still take lessons.

4. Being able to hold my own with other players either jamming or in a band is another motivation. I'm going to be starting an open mic night in my neck of the woods, and that will provide a constant source of motivation...what am I going to play next time, that the other's haven't heard before?

[fatt-dad]

Yes. Life, companions, pets, work, groceries, cooking compete and when the free time arrives it may actually be movie time.

I always have a melody in my mind (i.e., not from the radio). It supports my actual playing to mentally think over a melody you are working on. . . I mean if you want to learn Bach, O'Carolan, Old-time, etc. you have to know the melody. So, I think over stuff like that and that leads to making mental concepts for variations. It's often difficult to immortalize such inspiration. I think it's a part of practice - learning the language of music. . . thinking over it!

When I travel, I get a lot of practice on my mandolin.
When my wife travels, I get more practice on my mandolin and guitar.
When we're together, we make meals and watch movies and visit her mother-in-law, and, and, and . .. . We've been together for (almost) 30 years. I've played longer. And, I'm not that great. I love it though!

f-d

[RustyAxe]

I suppose that would work just fine ... as long as all you do is THINK ABOUT performing.

[gfa]

Originally Posted by opencee

If I thought about picking up a guitar to "practice", I would probably never pick it up. I always think of picking it up to "play". That sort of defines how I feel about my musical endeavors. Guitar/banjo/ukulele is a hobby for anti-work and anti-stress enjoyment. Playing is fun time, and I like to keep the fun in it. It keeps me coming back.

As a kid, I always hated sports practices, but I liked to play.

Certainly, when learning something new, I go over the material again and again until I get it down the best I can. Yes, that is "practice", by definition, but my neurotic brain prefers the word "play".

As a hobbyist/amateur, if it isn't fun, what's the point?

I do know a lot of pros who hate to practice, but that is "work" related.


opencee

.

^^^^^^This.

[Looburst]

It's something I have to force myself to do, but in a day or two, to two weeks, the outcome is worth it. It sucks in the beginning because we all want comfort for our limited time spent playing but if you'll dive in to really focusing on a new style or genre, you'll be very happy in the weeks to come, then move on to something else. I told myself when I picked up the guitar again after a 20 year hiatus, I wanted to learn the difficult and the easy for me, no matter what it was.

Originally Posted by Porchpkr

Anyone else got this problem?

If I have a gig coming up, I don't have that problem. However, when nothing's coming up I do! Fortunately I play at least weekly so I need to rehearse/practice.

[JonHBone]

You have to cultivate good practice habits. A regular schedule, goals, having fun songs lined up to learn etc. More often than not the more I play the more I want to play. But it's not easy. I'm 35...full time job, long commute blah blah blah etc. Good luck.

[Earl49]

"Practice" is a four-letter word.
Play your guitar....

From the title I expected this thread would be about the potential benefits of envisioning or mentally rehearsing a task or skill, which is useful. Turns out the discussion is more about prioritizing and making yourself set aside some play time. I encourage my students to pick up their guitar, uke (or whatever) for ten minutes a day, knowing that ten minutes often turns into much longer sessions once it is in their hands. Who needs that 15-30 minutes of extra sleep anyway?

As for TV, I'd much rather spend time with my guitar than learning who got voted off the island this week. I do watch some TV, but mostly as a way to decompress after a tough work day.

[Steel and wood]

Life (and even this forum) gets in the way more often than not.

[Mivo]

Yes, I have that problem. I believe it is in part because I lack a good plan how to actually practice well. There is a lot of noodling, which then inevitably comes with the feeling of getting nowhere. That doesn't feel good and makes me want to avoid the situation altogether.

In theory, I like the "just play" approach, but just playing and having fun is more enjoyable if you are already competent at what you do, and getting there requires practice.