Hi! I’m Nostalgia. I’ve been playing guitar for about 3 years, over a 6-year span. Obviously, that means I’ve taken year-long and month-long breaks on the journey. That also means routines and consistency is not my middle name. However, I managed to learn guitar well enough to get on stage and perform, so I figured I’ll share my experience on how and when routines worked for me.
History With Musical Instruments
While I am new to guitar, I played various instruments since childhood including keyboard, clarinet, viola, and bass drum in my school’s drum line. I’d play and practice if I need to, such as for class and clubs, and I’ll have periods where I was motivated to learn a song, but otherwise, I wouldn’t really play.
By the time I was finishing high school, I realized that I wasn’t that talented in music. Sure, I could pass theory tests, and I could learn any song with time, but I don’t think I passed the early-intermediate stage for any instrument I played due to lack of practice. I also didn’t know how to create music, improvise, or play by ear instantly. I assumed that was some innate natural talent that I didn’t have, so I retired.
In my adult life, I was eager to find a hobby. I tried a bunch of other stuff, but they were harder than expected, or required formal lessons, or I needed more space. I shared a room with my little sister, and my mom slept in the living room, so there was no space or privacy. I did try violin, harmonica, and ocarina, but they were too loud to practice with people home, so I never got into it.
What Led Me To Guitar
While I considered quitting music again, I still had a band dream that I was eager to cross off my bucket list. I had yet to play any rock band instruments, so that’s where I started looking into next. The other instruments were nice when it came to portability, but I couldn’t play the rock songs I liked on them. ‘Perhaps I’ll be more serious if I could play the music I like and make the dream happen with it.’
With a foundation in drum line, I decided to try drums first. I bought some drum sticks and a practice pad. I also started my first band attempt around this time. Unfortunately, without a real kit to practice on, I knew I couldn’t truly practice and improve. I didn’t want to hold the band back so I switched to keyboard. The rehearsal went well, but we didn’t have another. Different schedules and priorities.
A while later, I tried bass, but I had yet to see the appeal or really hear the bass in songs, so I quickly lost interest and resold it. (Though now that my ears are tuned to it, and I see the big role it has in Japanese music I am so obsessed! I considered buying one again, but I do want to focus on guitar).
You’ll notice that I haven’t played guitar at all over the years. My family had an acoustic one that was always broken, but regardless, I wasn’t interested. It felt like everyone could play guitar, thus I didn’t find it cool or appealing. I’d rather stand out playing something unique, than work extra hard just to be average due to the amount of competition.
But later, I really got into the Guitar Hero games, and being able to solo and such was really fun! I figured, I may as well spend this time learning to play the real thing. I was willing to try it, but after buying so many other instruments and items for hobbies that I never stuck to, I promised myself that ‘if I bought one, I must stick to it and play it regularly’.
I didn’t want to be average, nor did I want to feel insecure when it came to instruments anymore. When someone would ask me to play a song, I may only have 2-3 easy songs ready to go, and may mess up on other songs since I didn’t practice them enough. I wanted to learn to improvise and freestyle on guitar so I would always have something to pull out. I was also eager to bring the band dream to life.
Within 3 months of playing guitar, I was able to improvise and put chords together. The fretboard made patterns very easy to see and I was able to apply theory I learned way back. This alone made me really enjoy guitar and I was eager to improve. And within 2 years of playing guitar, I was able to bring the band dream to life.
Despite playing guitar for the least amount of time, it’s certainly the instrument that I feel the most confident in due to my commitment. Don’t get me wrong though, there were certainly ups and downs as you’ll see below, but I definitely would still be a beginner if I played it as sparingly as I did previous instruments.
My Experiences With Practice
Period 1: Daily Practice After Work
One thing about me is that I’m quite the night owl. After having a night cleaning job (11pm-7am) in 2014, it’s been a habit of mine to go to sleep after 2am. In 2017 when I first picked up guitar, I was working 12pm-9pm at my job. I’d wake up around 10am, leave around 11am, get home around 10pm, and stay up until 2am.
I didn’t have internet at home at this time, so I really didn’t have much to do in the evening. What’s worse is that my sister who shared the room and my mom who slept in the living room would go to bed around 10/11pm, thus further limiting activities due to noise. Luckily, when the electric guitar is not plugged in, it was quiet enough for me to play without disturbing anyone, so I was able to stick to it.
How did I learn? Well I’d pass by the library on weekends to borrow some books, and also printed out some chord and scale charts from Google at work. I was a receptionist at a legal firm, so they had very strict internet settings. This worked out in my favour as I started to analyze chords, scales, and the fretboard myself and apply theory for the first time.
Guitar was something I looked forward to after work. I’d eat, change/shower, and just play for an hour or more (after the calluses kicked in of course). Sometimes if work was slow and I had a quiet evening, I’d spend more time analyzing charts and practicing my fingering on those portable necks. I was really motivated to be good.
6 months later, I got a new job which was a regular 9-5. I also wasn’t really sure what to learn next, so I decided to look into private lessons. I found a local teacher. First lesson was just to see where I’m at and what I know. He taught me the 3-notes-per-string scale and that was about it. He asked me to create a solo for homework and I came back with 3. He was really impressed and it boosted my confidence.
After the second lesson, he told me to learn Gary Moore’s “Still Got The Blues” by ear. I’ve only played on the lower frets, so I learned the song there. And since I always practiced when my family was sleeping, I really never used my amp or distortion. When I came to my lesson, he said it was all wrong. I had to play it higher, I missed some slides, and he wanted me to play it at full speed.
I tried it, but failed miserably. I wasn’t used to muting so strings rung out. Due to speed, my bends were flat (though I found out way later that the strings on my first guitar were just REALLY thick and heavy), etc. As close as I was, it was never perfect, and I got frustrated. He then said that I’d have to start over, and my confidence bombed.
I said I’ll practice on my own until I learned the stuff he thought, but I wasn’t even into the blues (yet) and playing guitar was no longer fun. So after another week or so, I just packed up my guitar and didn’t touch it again until Period 2 in 2020.
I definitely made a lot of progress during this time. The first month and some is especially hard and painful, but the sooner you get over that learning curve and your fingers adjust, more becomes possible. There is just so much to learn on guitar, so I definitely benefitted from playing daily during this time and understanding how the guitar works.
Period 2: Pursuing The Band Dream
In 2018, I went to Japan alone which gave me a lot of courage and faith to pursue other dreams and goals, such as pursing my true childhood dream job. By late 2018, I got a position at a startup and was working from home since then. I quickly became somewhat of a boss, but I was also in charge of my schedule.
In 2019, I got to dance on stage at a small Japanese idol event, and also went to my first concert where I saw my favourite band, One Ok Rock. I also got to see my guitar friend perform a couple times, so I was feeling inspired and motivated, which is great for a goal oriented person like myself.
The band dream felt far away, and I did fail twice before, but I realized it didn’t have to be that hard or complicated. So for my 2020 new year resolution, I decided to pick up guitar again. At this point, I had the internet, but Youtube was certainly overwhelming, so I took a shot with GuitarTricks (Check out my full review here) and loved it. I was able to fill the holes in my foundation, and also fell in love with rhythm guitar.
The pandemic started not long after, which meant even more time to focus since my work had to shut down. I completed the first 2 beginner courses on GuitarTricks and took some additional lessons in the other categories. I also managed to recruit a couple friends who were open to starting a band with me. I did put up ads to find other members, but no one wanted to commit until we were able to meet.
Additionally, my cousin was living with us again so there were now 3 people in the room. Pre-pandemic, I at least had 2-3 hours to myself which kept me sane, but now, everyone was home all the time, which really made it unbareable, thus I took the chance and finally moved out. This was the first time I had my own space and control over my room, so it was nice finally having a dedicated practice spot.
On top of that, I had more control over my practice time. There wasn’t always a TV or music blasting around me, nor was I told to shut up for playing my music. I couldn’t even plug in back then, but now I was able to play with distortion and really work on my technique and muting which is so vital for rock. I also had the space to stand up and work on the performance aspect.
By Summer 2021, the band started meeting up once or twice a week. Once a song was added, I’d spend a week or two learning and really mastering it, and then I’d only have to review it now and then. The band was very slow and behind so I only really felt motivated when a new song was added and I had something to learn. We got to perform a couple times by Summer 2022.
During this time, I really had no schedule, so everyday was different. Sometimes, I’d spend a couple weeks only playing guitar. Then I may spend 3 months trying to build a business, and then I got a new job at a bigger agency and had a summer overwhelmed by cases, and then I started this blog and was writing like crazy. I really wanted to make the most of the Covid period and create a more stable income for when government benefits were over.
I was really motivated at the beginning when I picked up the guitar again and had GuitarTricks to guide me. In 2021, I was super excited to learn the songs everyone pitched and ensure that I had everything solid for rehearsal so I can lead everyone. But since the band was always behind and always forgetting and messing up their parts, we were stuck on the same 3-4 songs, so I started focusing on other things.
Period 3: Part Of My Morning Routine
The Band Project finished in September 2022. Work has been pretty slow, and after 200 articles, I kinda exhausted ideas for this blog, thus the start of my sluggish era. After crossing off the band dream, it was hard to motivate myself to keep playing guitar. However, I know it’d be stupid to let all the time, money, and energy I invested go to waste by not practicing and getting rusty.
As mentioned earlier, I am a night owl. I find my energy kicks in most around 11pm and I’d easily stay up til 3 or 4am getting things done. I could also easily spend a full day and a full week working continuously on a long article. By the time I’m done urgent things or things of priority, I’m just too tired and lazy to practice. Thus, guitar was neglected and rarely touched.
But in November, daylight savings came around and my neighbours and roommate had a 7am alarm that would go on for 30 minutes at least. I’m a very light sleeper, so while I was hoping to go back to sleep, I was disturbed for too long. More so, if I stayed up til 4am like usual, I knew I’d be woken up a few hours later regardless.
So, I decided to just get up and make the most of the morning. I started playing a few guitar exercise videos and it became a habit. Wake up, use the washroom, grab a drink, and get playing for about 45-60 minutes. After that became a solid habit, I also added bible reading and exercise, as those were other things that I wanted to do daily but they too were never a priority.
II started looking forward to playing guitar in the morning. It was a great way to wakeup and engage my mind and body. I knew I couldn’t focus on reading first thing, and you need time to wake up before working out, so guitar was great. Some guitar exercises were challenging, but within 3-4 days, I was able to do it. If something became too easy, I could increase the speed on the video.
The other stuff I incorporated in my morning, like reading and exercise, was a wonderful benefit that put me on track and in a good mood for the rest of the day. Instead of eating breakfast after my first case or when I got out of bed, which could be as late as 4pm, I was actually eating in the morning. I could also clean up and run other personal errands before work came in.
Thus, when I finished work at whatever time that may be, I actually had free time to enjoy. I can destress with some videos/anime, or chat with some friends. Maybe do more reading or guitar playing. Then by 11pm, I can reset my room and get ready for bed. I would actually get enough sleep and be up naturally at 7 the following day to do it all again.
While having a flexible schedule is nice, it’s very easy to be all over the place and neglect things that have no deadline or immediate benefits. But with a morning routine, I was able to give time to things I lack motivation for but need to be consistent with to improve, like guitar and exercise. Instead of rushing work to try to make time for that, just to be tired and lazy by the end of the day, they were done first and never neglected.
What My Experiences Taught Me About Routines
So as you can see from my story, there were only 3 times when I was very consistent about practicing. 2 of those times I was able to practice daily due to routine and commitment. The other time, I had a goal that I was working towards and my motivation pushed me to practice without a schedule.
While I certainly practiced longer when I had the goal (and I do mean hours some days), I was also very inconsistent. I could miss days or weeks if something was a bigger priority, like my job, my blog, or trying to build a business. I would make sure I learned and knew the songs well as I had a band that I had to lead, but I certainly could have been farther ahead talent wise with consistency.
If I don’t have a goal, my motivation is very low and it can become difficult to pick up the guitar because there’s no real reason to play. There’s nothing to really work on, or rather, I may work on something just to forget it, or waste my time since I never got to perform it. Thus, a routine where I just do it out of habit is best as it means I practice whether I like it or not.
That’s not to say, ‘I don’t like guitar’, I’m just very goal-oriented. Anything that is urgent, that I could complete sooner, or where I can see the benefits sooner, I’m more likely to gravitate towards working on it sooner. My work is urgent. A 3 week online course is something I can complete in no time. My blog is something that needs time to grow so the sooner I put things up, the sooner I see the benefits.
But guitar? The dream is now complete. While I certainly would love to perform again, I don’t have that itchiness that I used to. I already got the gold medal, so getting more gold medals isn’t really a motivator. It’s nice, but it’s not necessary. I never cared for the fame or fortune of bigger musicians, I just wanted the experience of playing on stage with a band.
Guitar is certainly an instrument that requires consistency and regular practice to not only get better but to avoid getting rusty and forgetting things. Thus, for me, a routine is great as it gets me to play even when I’m not motivated to. And if by chance, another opportunity knocks at my door, my playing skills will be ready to go!
So Do You Need A Routine?
That depends. Everyone is different. We all have different schedules, families, spaces and so on. Some really can’t commit to a daily routine but do just fine playing a few times a month. But that also depends on your current skill level and what your goals are for the instrument.
If you’re a newer learner or are working a newer technique, the more you can play, the more you can get over certain hurdles. Once something has been truly internalized, even if you don’t play for weeks or months, you’ll be fine.
If you’re a bedroom guitarist who just enjoys the hobby, and you’re someone who likes to pick it up in your free time and for fun, then I also don’t think a routine is needed. These people tend to play quite a bit without any pressure as they are fueled by passion and enjoyment.
If you’re someone who wants to get better, and you know you need to play more, but you just can’t seem to find the time or energy, which is me at the moment, then a routine where you learn discipline is wonderful. No matter how you feel, you will play. And if you stick with it, you will grow!
Tips For Getting Into A Practice Routine
1. Commit To A Time/Trigger
You can play first thing in the morning, during lunch break if you work from home, right after work or dinner, or just before bed. I wouldn’t recommend setting a certain time (ex 7pm) unless you have a really consistent schedule. Otherwise, when you’re late, you may just end up making excuses and skipping days.
Evenings worked for me in the past as I was usually rushing to work in the morning and had nothing to do after work in the evening. It was especially great as everyone was asleep and I had the quiet needed to focus. Nowadays, morning is best as my days can be quite unpredictable and I may get absorbed in work or an article and may not have the energy later on to play.
2. Have A Dedicated Practice Spot
Another great idea to implement is having a dedicated practice spot. As in, as long as you’re in this area, in this room, on this chair etc, you know you have to practice. There’s been lots of studies that say getting your mind to accompany a space with a task helps you get in the mindset everytime you go. Kinda like when you go to the gym, it’s easy to work out for 2 hours, or even longer.
I stay in my room all day everyday, as my roommate has the living room. I usually do everything on my bed as well, so I find myself switching between work, blogging, eating etc. I decided to set up a chair by my guitars and my music stand. In the morning, I get off my bed, set up in my chair, and all I do is play on it. As long as I’m in that chair and in that spot, my brain knows its time to play.
3. Prepare Your Guitar & Materials In Advance
There is a tip that I’ve seen a lot that says if you want to play guitar more, you need to keep your guitar out of your case. Essentially, if your guitar is in a case in a closet or in your basement, you’re not going to think about it. Or if by chance you do want to play, it may require too much effort, so make sure everything is out and ready to go.
I also highly suggest to figure out what you will be working on when you have a routine. You don’t want to waste time browsing Youtube videos, or just playing songs you already know, or noodling around. I have about 10 5-minute exercise videos, along with some scales and a few songs I want to learn. I downloaded everything onto my tablet so I don’t have to worry about slow internet ruining my groove or ads getting in the way. You should be able to sit and get playing within a couple minutes.
4. Be Disciplined. Be Consistent.
They say it takes 21 days to create a habit. You may start off some goals strong but lose motivation or fall of track within days. A guitar routine is no different. It’s okay to take a day off, or for an event to change things, but you need to be committed to this and you need to be consistent. Even if you don’t want to, even if you’d rather watch Netflix or scroll on social media, you need to make sure you play first.
You can definitely start off with less time, like 15-20 minutes. An hour can be daunting and you’re more likely to procrastinate. Make sure you put aside any distractions, or even set a timer to make sure you fulfill your time. Once the habit is established, you can then start adding more time. Always remember, it’s better to play 15 minutes a day, 4 times a week, than 4 hours once a month. It’s not always about how long you play, as it is consistency and building on your techniques each time you play.
5. Keep Track Of Your Progress
My last tip is to keep track of what you are accomplishing through establishing a routine. Some may use an app where they can click off if they did it each day as it’s encouraging to maintain a streak. During my morning routines, a new exercise may be difficult the first couple days, but it’s amazing to see myself get a handle of it a few days later.
Another great thing is recording yourself as you learn new songs and techniques so you can see how far you’ve come when you can play those with easy. I certainly feel encouraged when I look back at my journey on my Instagram (@Key2Nostalgia). I hope you can feel inspired as well when you see how an absolutely beginner can make her dreams happen in a short amount of time.
It’s easy to play guitar now and then and feel like you’re not getting anywhere. It’s also discouraging seeing all these advanced players online and feel like you’ll never get to their level. However, sometimes thinking like that blinds you from all you’ve achieved so far.
At one point, you couldn’t even play a C chord, let alone an F barre chord. You had to play scales at an incredible low speed and you had to take lots of breaks playing any song. You are making progress! I definitely recommend recording yourself, even if it’s just for yourself.
Conclusion
Schedules and routines can be hard to incorporate. There are many people who want to learn an instrument or improve their skill, and it’s easy to say you don’t have time, but everyone has time. Sometimes even the busiest people with 2 jobs and kids will find a way, because they are serious and motivated.
If you have to wake up a bit earlier, do that. If you have to sacrifice TV time, do that. If it means finding a job that is closer to home, it’s worth a shot. But usually, most people don’t have to go to such extreme means to find 15 or 25 minutes to spare towards a skill they really want to master.
I hope you gained some insight on the importance of a routine, along with some tips on how you can start one yourself. It sucks being a beginner, but you don’t have to be there forever. As long as you put the time in, you will see the benefits sooner!