Okay, so the festive season is upon us. Christmas is nearly here and you’ve got a whole load of commitments, gatherings and family dos to make. Where does that leave your guitar playing?
Look, if you miss out on a few days practice over Jesus’ birthday, don’t sweat! You’ll have plenty of time to regain any lost ground (in the unlikely event you’ve lost any!) or catch up on the stuff you’ve been working on. I’ve got a few pointers to try and help give your guitar a bit more love and attention whilst you’re tearing open presents. LETS GO!
Still got lessons?
Your guitar routine will only take a hit for a couple of weeks. If you’ve still got any lessons lined up try not to cancel them. Finishing lessons just before the festive break begins can help set you up with useful material to keep you going before lessons resume in the new year. Don’t forget to ask your teach at the start of your last lesson!
Got a practice schedule? Use it!
This one may seem obvious, and does kind of contradict my opening point, but if you’ve still got a routine don’t throw it out of the window! Stick to it as best you can, just make sure it’s flexible to fit in around your Xmas plans. If you miss a day, don’t rush to catch up by squeezing two sessions in to one day, go over yesterday’s material and get on to today’s when you can.
Stay in touch with other musician friends
You won’t be the only person in HMS ‘I can’t play my guitar over Christmas’. If you have any likeminded friends in need of some musical stimulus, see if you can arrange a jam session. This is fun but will also help you to keep on top of your playing in a more relaxed environment.
Keep listening to music
There’s going to be loads of Christmassy music floating around, so dip in and out of that and listening to your own favourite music. Actively listening to music keeps it in the spotlight over the next couple of weeks. You might even come across something you get really into and want to learn. Maybe it’ll setup new goals for you to aim for in the new year. It might seem obvious to focus on guitar-centric music, but any music is good music! Just keep those ears stimulated.
Don’t worry about how long you play
Less is more in this instance. If you’d normally play for an hour perhaps in a given practice session, halve that amount of time. make the practices shorter and even more frequent if you can. You’ll achieve results as well as find time to squeeze a bit of playing in every so often.
Have fun!
This kind of goes back to the part about finding some musical peers to jam with. Make sure that anytime you pick the guitar up, you’re going to enjoy the session. This may not be considered fully practicing, but it maintains your enjoyment of the instrument at a time when everything should be enjoyable! Maybe you’ll give learning a Christmas song a go?
Keep the guitar in focus
Normally tuck your guitar in a case nice and safe? If you’ve got a stand or somewhere safe to put your instrument out in the open, then do it! Really, you should try and do this all year round as seeing it sitting out in the open may provide that little boost of motivation to pick it up. If you can just plug in and go without the faff of fumbling with a gig bag, well that’s a winner!
Feeling confident? Perform!
Even if you’ve not got any gigs lined up, playing a little tune for friends and family over the festive period can be a great excuse to show off what you’ve been working on at the end of the year. Sharing your talent is a gift unto itself! No need to go crazy, why not just get a singalong going.
Maybe after the festive season, you’re at a bit of a loss with your direction. So don’t hesitate to give me a shout if you need a hand learning some new skills!