(last edited on April 24, 2016 at 4:33 pm)
Lori Linstruth, aka Lorinator, wrote me to tell me about this guitar practice form that she created. Lori is a melodic metal guitarist who gets asked a lot how she got to be so awesome; she writes:
I get a surprising amount email from people who want my advice about how to practice guitar. (That I rarely practice myself doesn’t seem to matter to them.) If the detail of their questions is at all representative, I’m amazed at the amount of mental energy that people can put into finding the optimal guitar practice routine. I don’t think it needs to be that complicated: it seems logical that the keys to gradual, steady improvement on a musical instrument are simple: 1) Decide what you want to play, 2) practice until you can do it, and 3) repeat as necessary.* (*Preferably regularly and at increasing levels of challenge.) It doesn’t need to be more complicated than that. […]
Paper Makes Practice
Lorinator created The ShredTracker to help put our sorry butts in gear. It’s designed to encourage short intervals of frequent practice over a period of time. I’m very impressed at how concisely she expresses the design rationale in her post. The form itself is very clear and attractively laid-out, and a sample filled-out form completes the presentation. Excellent!
If you won’t take my word for it—which is understandable, since I don’t play an instrument—perhaps one of Lorinator’s mighty arpeggios will convince you otherwise. Check it out:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=GYY3euo3bUA
So cool! Read more about The ShredTracker—you’ll find the download links in the post—and rock on! :-)
4 Comments
Dave,
That’s pretty far to go to just get us to say
You Rock!!!
(but ya do)
-Fred
Thanks Fred! But really, it’s awesome to see people like Lorinator doin’ what they love and rocking at it. It reminds me that I can always be rockin’ harder. The past couple weeks I’d forgotten this, so it’s good to be reminded.
That is so cool. :)
Thanks for posting my cheeky little practice form, Dave. I hope other musicians will find it useful, or use it as inspiration for making their own practice trackers.
There are many ways to rock, you know. You rock bigtime :)