If you play the guitar long enough, you will eventually get to the point where you can no longer see
the forest for the trees.
Perhaps you have accumulated so many exercises that you no longer know where to continue. Or
you want to learn so many songs that you have a hard time figuring out the next step. Or you know
so many techniques that you haven’t yet mastered 100% that you don’t know which ones to train
now.
In a word, you are overwhelmed.
And this is where lists come in.
It sounds mundane, but it can be liberating if you put your practice items in a list. Overwhelm
typically occurs when the one loses sight of the goal. Making a list helps you to see the connections
and to give you clarity about what the overarching skills are that you want to train.
Once you have done this, an overwhelming number of guitar exercises, songs or techniques quickly
turn into a few concepts that allow you to approach your practice time in a more structured manner.
In addition you now can order this list and add notes to the list. Once you have identified the
broader skills take some time to order your exercises by how those skills, by how much fun you
have with them or by the level of difficulty. This allows you to quickly find the right exercise for
whatever you need.
And if you make better use of your practice time, you will become a better guitarist faster. And in
that way lists can help to get better. 🙂
About the author: René Kerkdyk is an expert guitar teacher in Hildesheim, Germany and has been
featured on many guitar teaching websites.
