Real discipline is knowing when to stop. It’s knowing when working on a bigger chunk of music is not helpful–real discipline is having the mental fortitude and focus to break a hard passage down into even smaller sections. Real discipline is only working on one of those sections until it’s perfect, resisting the urge go on and keep up the rhythmic flow. It’s listening to your body and knowing when your hands and head need a break.

Real discipline is also knowing what level of repertoire is appropriate for you and, for the most part, sticking to it. Sure, play some challenging pieces, but try to balance those with pieces well within your skill level.

Real discipline is hard.

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What we do when practicing and performing is intense. It’s easy to get burnt out. So here’s three things you can do on your days off to keep them musical.

1. Listen

Part of being a good musician is listening. We have to be aware of all genres and periods of art music, so it makes sense that we should listen to as much as we can.

But let me make a more specific suggestion: don’t listen to guitar music.

Check out some opera or art song. Listen to a symphony or a string quartet. Maybe even tune into a sonata for trumpet and piano. Step outside the box. Listen critically and read the liner notes.

Want more music for listening, but don’t have the budget? Check out the local library.

2. Read

Read about a music subject that interests you. If you’re into music theory, read about it! Or cruise Wikipedia for some articles about guitar composers. I personally read a lot about business and, right now, choice. I find it relates very well to music. More importantly, it makes me think. And the thinking often leads to posts on here.

If you want an overview of music history, check out a book about Great Composers.

3. Play

Just because you’re taking a day off from practicing doesn’t mean you can’t play guitar.

You can just play on your day off. Read through new works, or play old favorites. Improvise or compose something of your own. Play for the pure enjoyment of playing guitar; forget all those little trouble spots and let loose.

Just don’t fall into practicing on accident!

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Satisfice for a While

In The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz spends a lot of time talking about maximizing and satisficing. Maximizing is finding the best choice or option. Satisficing is finding one thing that works and doing it.

We need to spend more time satisficing and less time looking for the ideal solution or the ideal technical routine or the perfect way to practice scales. Chose first option that meets your minimum requirements (ex. “I need a 30 minute technical routine), then practice. There are no bad choices in practicing. If something doesn’t work for you, you’ve gained valuable knowledge for later on (see below). If something does, then keep using it until it stops working.

Analogues

When things are analogous they relate in some respects, but may be different in others. This is different from a metaphor, which relates dissimilar things. Both analogues and metaphors can be used as problem solving strategies. In our case, analogues are more useful.

Everything we do is similar something else. Every practice event probably relates to something we’ve done before. There are only so many things we can do on the guitar, and once you have some experience with most of them you’ll have a huge knowledge base on which to draw.

Think critically about how you solved similar problems before tackling a new one. Look at your practice log if you have to. If you don’t have anything in your memory that relates, ask your teacher about it. Ask him/her to tell a story about how they would solve the problem.

Here’s an example:
I know that when I learn a complex arpeggio pattern–or something unfamiliar to my right hand–that I tend to accent the first beat after a left hand shift. My right hand gets a little too excited and the tension from the left hand carries to the right in the form of an accent. Not good. Because I know this, I (1) look out for it in situations where it might happen in hope of avoiding it and (2) notice it when it does happen so I can fix it. Because my previous experience has taught me this technical quirk, I can work to correct it before it becomes a habit in a piece.

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The method we have found most powerful for eliciting knowledge is to use stories. If you ask experts what makes them so good, they are likely to give general answers that do not reveal much. But if you can get them to tell you about tough cases, nonroutine events where their skills made the difference, they you have a pathway into their perspective, into the way they are seeing the world (p. 189).

Practicing and performing and gigging are problem solving. How do you work out that touch section? How do you get over stage fright? How do you organize a concert program? How do you book gigs?

The best advice I can give anyone is to find a local teacher or, if nobody is available locally, take webcam lessons. Teachers have short cuts and knowledge and, most of all, stories.

Klein is right that the best way elicit knowledge is through stories. Every time I write a post on The Classical Guitar Blog, I’m telling a story about what has worked for me. Or I’m telling you a story about what I do in the practice room or on stage. These are authentic stories I live every time I sit down with the guitar. Your teacher has just as many stories and just as much knowledge.

So ask for those stories. Ask your teacher what she did the first time she performed. Ask him how he practiced that difficult bit in a piece, even if it’s not a piece you’re working on the lessons in those stories can often be applied to other works. Ask about their early years or playing and what they did to get better during them. You’ll be amazed at the responses you get.

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Your time, my friend, is valuable. Your practice time is even more valuable. You’re busy, and that hour or two of guitar each day is hard to fit in. Practice time is so valuable that you have to find the few most effective things and only use them.

Be ruthless with your practice time. Treat it like an experiment: change a few things at a time, cut what doesn’t work, and keep what does. Never stick with a method or an exercise or a routine because an expert (including me) told you it was the best. You are your own teacher and expert in the practice room. Evaluate constantly, take notes, and keep the most effective things.

Did you enjoy this post? Check out Goal Oriented Guitar Practice .

Most kids have trouble with two things: (1) the strings hurt their left hand fingers (no calluses!), and (2) they struggle to get a good sound with even the simplest of chords.

Obviously, I’m a big fan of classical guitar, but I really think the best overall choice for an instrument is a nylon string, classical guitar. The strings are easier to work with, and the wider neck actually helps students get a bit better sound — I can’t tell you how many students get really frustrated when they can’t get the first string to ring while holding down another string. The wider neck on a classical guitar lets the student have a bit more room to play with.

Motivation Please

Another thing to consider is that a child is very much influenced by their instrument. If it’s easy to play and sounds good in their hands, they are going to be more motivated. If it looks the way they want it to look, that might help too.

Before you get that old guitar out from the closet, think about whether or not it’s the guitar the child wants. Will it inspire them to play? Will it be easy to use? My biggest pet peeve as a teacher is seeing a student with a guitar that’s hard to use. If you do want to give a used guitar, take it to a music store and ask them to set the guitar up.

Recommendations

There’s a lot of really great beginner instruments. I don’t really think you can go wrong with a Yamaha C40. If the student is younger, half-sized or 3/4-sized guitars should be used. This largely depends on how big the kid is. Middle school and high school age students are usually find with full sized guitars.

What else?

I like my students to have a few things.

1. A foot stool. Even my electric/rock guitar students sit classical style.
2. A tuner.
3. Lessons. Guitar classes (group lessons) are also a possibility. Ask around and see who the go-to teacher in town is.
4. A method book (optional). I use the Mel Bay Classical Guitar method with most young students. If a student wants to do rock-style guitar, I have a little booklet I give out along with other materials.

Note: links in the post are affiliate links.

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A reader requested I write a post about going to music school. Like many others, he’s struggling with the rough choice of music vs. some “legit” career.

Required Reading

Before I start, I encourage everyone interested in music school to read the following:

Jason Heath wrote free PDF booklet about Life After Music School. Just to be clear this booklet is geared towards orchestral instruments, but it presents some things that are worth thinking about.

Phil Ford of Dial “M” for Musicology gives a come to jesus talk about graduate school. The main thrust of the article? Your motivations in attending grad school (for Musicology, in this case) have to be, “pure.” That is, you have to love music enough that you want to spend your life learning about it.

Phillip Brewer knows that one does not go to college to learn. We can learn cheaply on our own. College is about something else.

Jason Isbell doesn’t really want to get a real job. Which is why he’s a musician. Isbell knows that it doesn’t take a lot of people’s support as fans to really make a living.

Off to Music School

I chose to attend school for music because it seemed like a good idea. When I began, I was extremely interested in jazz/studio guitar work. Then I played a piece by Brouwer and went to my first classical guitar concert; I was hooked. These two formative events changed the course of my career.

There’s two things to keep in mind from this story: (1) I only went to college with the specific goal of completing a music degree, and (2) I had no clue what I was going to do after.

When I started teaching guitar during my Junior year, it became clear that this was something I could do to make a living. As my playing improved, I became more and more excited about performing. At this point I decided grad school was a must: I needed more time to practice my craft outside of the pressures of, “the real world.” Grad school does not require any “gen ed” classes, it’s only focused on music. Which is, in a word, outstanding.

As reading The Savvy Musician pointed out, college is not the time before a music career starts. It is the start. And wise musicians don’t waste that valuable time waiting around. I wish someone had told me that during undergrad.

Why Go to Music School?

As the article linked above points out, we don’t go to school to learn. It’s about making connections and an experience. So if we can learn to play [insert your instrument] on our own, why attended music school?

1. This goes back to the not learning thing, but Connections. Everyone needs networking.
2. Curriculum. The course work in music school will give you an outstanding foundation for future work. Most people are lost when trying to learn music theory and history on their own. Some of the things learned are very subconscious. How do I recognize a cadence? Probably because I’ve been writing and analyzing them since freshman music theory. But they don’t tell you that sort of thing will happen. There’s a lot of information to be learned in the core music curriculum.
3. Certification. Having a music degree automatically gets your foot in the door for some positions. It implies a minimum level of skill. As far as teaching goes, having a masters degree opens up doors for me to teach at higher ed institutions. Having a Bachelors degree opened up doors for teaching at the community school of the arts on campus (a significant source of income).

There’s no real reason to attend music school. Connections and learning the same things as the curriculum can be done alone.

So, really, why go?

Because it’s a different vibe being at an academic institution. Very driven people can no doubt accomplish great things in the music world on their own. However, most of us need an extra push. Being in school, completely immersed in our field, is a great thing. It pushes us to practice more and more efficiently; it pushes us to compete with our peers and make great strides; it pushes us to be musicians.

Like any other field, the professors can make it worth it. I’m grateful for the connections I’ve made with my professors during undergrad and grad school. It feels like I have allies.

Careers and the Critics

So what does one do with a music degree? Depends on the degree. Music education majors will obviously teach somewhere in the k-12 scene. Performance majors generally work at teachers or performers. Some other options, like Music Business, leave the door open!

I have a friend who just graduated last year with a MM degree. He teaches guitar lessons and several sections of Music Appreciation at a Kentucky university, and makes a good living.

I make most of my living from teaching, which frees up more time for me to practice and seek out performances. I also play a few wedding/private party gigs every year (though I don’t market myself as a wedding musician). I’m already using the connections I made while in school to secure gigs. The ultimate job: Teach 20-30 student/week, perform recitals 20 times each year and make a bit of money from my online activities.

There’s plenty of opportunity for musicians. It just takes some ingenuity and passion. Can’t find performance opportunities? Make some. Not the best guitarist in the world? Out-network and out-work your competition. This isn’t an easy field to be in, but I get to play my guitar all day. What can be better than that?!

The critics will tell you that musicians don’t make any money. They’ll tell you having a music degree is worthless. What the critics don’t know is that music is a business, and people with some business savvy (talent is never enough) will do fine. Not only that, but you can really do whatever with any degree.

I had an uncle, upon hearing what I was attending school for, ask me, “What the hell can you do with a music degree?!”

I looked at him and stated, “whatever the fuck I want.”

Have some questions about music school? Leave them in the comments. Both Nick and I have (too much) experience with it.

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Hello readers. My name is Nick Cutroneo. Chris generously asked if I’d like to share some of my ideas/articles and take part on his Classical Guitar Blog. Before I start posting, I figured it would be a smart idea to introduce myself.

I’m currently finishing up my final year at the Hartt School of Music pursuing my Masters Degree in Classical Guitar Performance and Suzuki Pedagogy. I’m currently teaching full time at UConn’s Community School of the Arts teaching both traditional and Suzuki classical guitar. I’m also an avid performer based in the Greater Hartford, Connecticut area and perform throughout New England, New York and New Jersey.

Inspiration

As a teacher, one of the biggest things that I see from students is the inconsistencies of inspiration.  This can be in the form of attitudes during lessons, progress from one week to the next, how the student expresses themselves musically, and a variety of other subtle hints to the teacher.  As a performer/professional musician the things that I see in myself is avoidance of practicing, when I do practice not being able to focus on a single task at hand, a general negative attitude towards what I’m working on, and other things.

As a teacher, how do we help keep the students inspired to continue to make music?  As a performer how do you get yourself out of slumps, points in your practicing life where things just seem to be going no where?  Well to both the teacher working with students and the performer (or even the uninspired student) there are a few simple things help take you out of your rut of playing.

• Attend Concerts – Seems simple enough.  However, its very interesting how hard it is for teachers of amateur players to get their students to seek out concerts.  The main thing is the fact that they may not know where to look.  As a teacher I’m constantly telling my students of potential concert opportunities.  While the initial feeling for most students is that they’ll never play like the performers, if coached appropriately they can turn those thoughts into productive ones that help re-enthuse their practicing and own playing.  For the performer, sometimes it serves as a simple reminder of why we do certain things.  Seeing a top notch performance may remind you about certain technical things to consider, or how moving a certain piece can be.  In the end, its about communicating with your audience, and watching someone effectively do that can be a true inspiration.

• Watch or take part in Master Classes – It’s most obviously that one can get a lot out of playing for someone in a master class.  I think one can get even more out of sitting in on one.  Most college guitar departments will bring in performers to not only do concerts, but in conjunction with their local Guitar Society, bring in someone to conduct a master class.  This is a great opportunity to watch someone teach, and even see their perspective on certain musical or technical issues.  I think that having a conversation with your teacher (if you have one) can help you use the information learned in the most constructive way possible.  For a teacher or performer, these master classes can serve to help your own teaching by giving you some new ideas of teaching concepts.  Hearing the same thing in a new perspective always gets the mind working, and I know for myself I always get more information watching then taking part in a master class.

• Be part of a larger ensemble – Playing in a group be it a guitar duo, or even a guitar orchestra will expand one’s musical and technical playing.  Taking an example from back when I was in a rock band, I always wanted to surround myself with musicians who in certain aspects where better than me.  This allowed me to push myself further in my own playing.  The same can be applied to classical guitar.  Usually a Guitar Society has a small ensemble that is directed by one of the local teachers in the area.  This is a chance to play with other people and create music together.  For the teacher, if you have enough students to do so (who are willing), create an ensemble for them.

• Seek out performances or other opportunities to share your playing – While most amateurs hate this idea, it can become a very useful and rewarding tool.  For myself, nothing inspires me more then an upcoming performance.  This is probably one of the main reasons why I perform at times, aside from having the opportunity to share my own ideas of a piece with an audience.  Performances, when approached with the right mind frame don’t have to be nerve racking ordeals that are difficult to get through.  Rather they can be a way to show friends and family (and sometimes even strangers) what you’ve been working on.  Sure there are going to be performance issues, but these are normal and can be worked through with your teacher.  The more your perform, the easier it becomes.  There are natural performers, and ones who have to work at it.  I’m remind of Manuel Barrueco on his “A Gift and a Life” DVD.  They show him getting ready for a concert, and you can tell when he’s about to walk on stage, he TOO gets nervous.  It happens to everyone.

• Listen to recordings – When concerts are hard to get to, recordings can be very inspiration, especially your favorite ones.  Often times I’ll make iTunes playlists of upcoming concert programs for myself with either my own recordings (if I have them) or of my favorite recordings of a piece, and I’ll listen to it regularly. Hearing someone who you admire on the instrument play your piece can be very powerful and influential.

• Attend Classical Guitar or Music Festivals – At music festivals, you get alot of these thigns that I’ve listened.  There are concerts and master classes.  Sometimes even lectures and guest speakers.  At some Guitar Festivals you’ll even find that there is an ensemble componant.  While its costly, you can leave a concert feeling re-inspired and ready to get back to practicing again.

• Become a member of a Classical Guitar Society – To me this is the biggest bang for your buck.  May Guitar Societies will have most if not all the points that I’ve talked about somehow worked into their concert season.  Many have monthly gatherings of society members, where they can sit around and play for each other in a friendly enviornment.  They’ll bring in a variety of different artists for concerts (from world-class performers to up and coming local talents).  As I stated earlier they often provide master classes and an ensemble for members to take part of.  Some even put together annual Guitar Festivals for their members.

I think it would be safe to say that everyone suffers from having a rough point in their playing every now and then.  The thing is to not feed into it, but to stay active in the guitar community somehow.  At the same time, if you aren’t inspired, the worst thing that you can do is to not touch or practice the guitar.  You might not put in as much time, you might restructure your practicing, but stopping all together won’t bring back the inspiration you require.  Maybe having a day that you allow yourself to unwind throughout the practice week, but nothing more.  This just the beginning, but a very good starting point.

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Is that music appreciation? Does that encourage people to love art music?

I don’t think so. Because memorization of terms does do anything for appreciate. Knowing what a sonata is by definition does not force a person to enjoy it.

This talk by Benjamin Zander is what a music appreciation classes want to be when the grow up. Discussing a piece, describing the events, getting inside of it–THAT makes people love music because something previously not understand become clear. People know what to listen for! That’s amazingly powerful. People know how to engage the piece and have had their attention guided to specific series of events. But everyone can notice something in a piece. Next time you listen, pay attention to what pops out to your ear. That’s no accident. The performer and composer are working together to feed you what they believe is the most important thing in the piece.

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I just did quick search of my Library’s listings. Starting with CDs (not complete, just a few notables):

1. Julian Bream- Spanish Guitar Music
2. Romeros- Essential Guitar
3. David Russell- Aire Latino

There’s also well over 100 method books, sheet music collections and books about guitar. That’s an amazing amount of stuff for a public library.

University Libraries

University libraries are an even better source of music and guitar books and sheet music. Most libraries have an extensive collection of sheet music. Of course this isn’t limited to guitar music, so if you’ve got the urge to arrange something, a local library may have the score. Sometimes other music makes great sight reading material as well. Collections of clarinet music work surprisingly well for sight reading as the clarinet and guitar share almost the same range on paper.

Most libraries will also have large collections of books about music. This includes composer biographies, books by composers, harmony texts, theory texts, method books. Many of the books about guitar I read in undergrad (including Charles Duncan’s Art of Classical Guitar Playing and the Shearer method books) were from my university’s library.

There’s also the opportunity to look at more expensive and rare books. Check your local college’s library policies. Mine allows community members (not affiliated with the university in any way) to get a so called courtesy card. Which gives people a three week check out and up to three items at a time.

Don’t overlook the library! It’s a great resource! Have you ever made a cool guitar-related find at the library?

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