Are you looking to take your guitar playing skills up a notch? If so, you need to make sure you have the right tools for the job. No, don’t worry you’re not taking a trip to the hardware store. If you’re like most guitar players, you probably practice every day. But are you getting the most out of your practice sessions? So whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been playing for years, let’s discuss some of the best practice tools every guitarist needs!
Tuner
A guitar tuner should be in every guitar player’s guitar practice toolbox. This is an easy one, but you’d be surprised by how many videos I’ve come across where the guitarist is blazing through some rad licks, but a slight detune makes my ear say “Hey, what’s that.”
Make sure to keep your guitar tuned throughout your practice sessions as keeping it tuned will also train your ear to what the guitar is supposed to sound like. We don’t want to get accustomed to the sound of a detuned guitar. Tuning by ear is great and fast, but we want to hone in on the exact pitches as much as possible. This training will pay off in compound interest to our ear training.
Guitar Practice Routine Log
Practice logs are an excellent practice tool to integrate into your guitar practice routine.
The biggest benefits to a guitar practice routine log:
- Easily keep track of your progress
- Document your practice routine
- See what techniques you’re struggling with
- Practice with more focus and intent
- Make faster progress in your playing
- Help you achieve your musical goals
You know you should be practicing more, but it’s hard to keep track of what you’re doing and how well you’re doing.
Most people think that in order to get better at the guitar, they need to practice for hours on end. But this isn’t always the case. In fact, if you don’t focus on the right things, you can actually make your progress slower by practicing inefficiently.
Guitar routine practice logs are a rad way to track your progress and make sure that you’re focusing on the right things in your practice routine. With a practice log, you can see exactly what techniques you covered each day, how long you practiced for, and how well you performed each technique.
Practice logs are always a great way to brighten up a rainy day when you look back and see all of your progress. If you don’t have a practice log, I have you covered. The link will take you to a gumroad store, simply enter $0 in the amount you want to pay. 🙂
Metronome
The Metronome is one of the most overstated, yet underestimated guitar practice tool. Since the guitar is primarily a rhythm instrument, our sense of timing and pocket HAS to be locked in with the beat. It’s the easiest way to place your technique on some sort of benchmark and develop your inner clock, the ticking that never stops.
Physical metronomes are available in varying price ranges such as the Korg MA-2 and the classic Dr. Beat, or if you want to kill two birds with one stone, you can grab this one (Boss TU-30) and get a tuner AND a metronome in one unit.
If you want to get kinetic, Soundbrenner has released a watch that has a metronome, chromatic tuner, and a decibel meter.
The cool thing about this watch and metronome combo is that the metronome function is done by vibrating. I love this idea as it helps internalize the pulse by actually feeling the pulse. Sometimes singing the rhythm out loud doesn’t help make the timing flow, so feeling the pulse is probably the best thing because eventually, we’ll just feel our way into the arrangement of whatever it is we’re playing.
When playing with a metronome listen for how consistent or inconsistent your playing is with the metronome as your reference.
Music Stand
If you’re printing out charts or learning from a method book, or learning from your favorite band tab book, do yourself a favor and get a proper music stand.
Laying a tab or method book flat on a desk may work but your poster will be in a non-ideal position looking downward. This will apply unnecessary stress to your neck and will make you uncomfortable, subsequently shortening your practice sessions, because who likes to be uncomfortable. Not me, dude.
Of course, you can put your practice material on the music stand, but also place your tuner, metronome, and guitar picks on it. It’s also nice to have all of those things laid out and ready for your practice routine. Having less obstacles in the way of practicing will encourage more practice sessions.
On-Stage makes a solid music stand.
Reference and Technique Books/ Material
The guitar is the easiest instrument to learn but the most difficult to master. As with anything, the more we dig into something the more we realize we don’t know. Keeping a library of material to learn is an easy way to make sure you are inspired.
Here are some of my favorite reference books that made a huge impact on me when I was a youngin’, many moons ago.
Chord Chemistry by Ted Greene
Guitar Grimoire by Adam Kadmon
Rock Discipline by John Petrucci
The Frank Gambale Technique – Book 1 by Frank Gambale
Reharmonization Techniques – a Berklee Press book
Practice makes perfect, and by having the right tools at your disposal, you can make each practice session count especially since people are busier than ever. Whether you’re a beginner playing “Smoke on the Water” or an experienced player ripping out solos, I hope that this list of essentials will help you focus on what’s important during your guitar practice time. Make sure to download the free practice log so you can track your progress and stay motivated!
If YOU have any must have tools you use during your guitar practice sessions and would like to share, feel free to drop me an email! ([email protected])
