A Simple Way To Minimize Your Musical Frustration And Become A Better Guitarist Faster

Musical frustration kills your motivation to practice guitar and slows down your progress. One of the common causes of musical frustration is slow progress in guitar technique and musical creativity. Frustration develops from:

• Not knowing the exact reasons why your guitar progress is slow and
   
• Not knowing what exactly to do to improve at a faster rate.

Tracking your progress is one of the simplest ways to overcome this cause of guitar playing frustration and become a better guitarist in less time.

Why tracking your musical progress helps minimize musical frustration:

Reason #1: You Eliminate Guesswork

Tracking your progress gives you objective feedback on what your musical strengths and weaknesses are. This allows you to:

• Use your guitar practice time more effectively. You stop wasting time on things you are already strong in and focus more on skills that hold you back from your goals.
   
• Test a variety of guitar practice approaches in an intelligent way. You know exactly what practice methods are having an effect on your guitar playing and how big that effect is.

Your guitar practice becomes strategic and laser-guided vs. chaotic and random.

Reason #2: Guitar Practice Becomes More Fun

Tracking your musical progress turns guitar practice into a game. You become excited to see yourself progress each week and begin to compete (with yourself) to surpass your previous skill level.

How To Track Your Musical Progress The Right Way:

Break down general guitar playing skills into many detailed guitar playing elements. For example, break down guitar technique into:

• Maximum guitar speed (the speed at which you can play something 1-2 times without making major mistakes).
   
• 2-hand synchronization (the speed threshold at which your hands pick and fret every note at the same time).
   
• Picking articulation (the level of pick attack you apply to the notes you play).
   
• Integration of guitar techniques (your ability to combine guitar licks and techniques together in a fluent way).
   
• Real-life guitar playing (your ability to use your musical skills reliably when playing for others or recording your music).

You can track progress with each element of guitar technique using any exercise you practice. This tells you exactly where you are weak and where you are strong.

This guitar speed report explains how to track your musical progress with guitar technique.

Break down the general topic of music theory into your knowledge of

• Different types of chords (triads, 7th chords, extended chords, suspended chords).
   
• Different types of scales (major, natural minor, harmonic minor, melodic minor, minor pentatonic, major pentatonic, whole tone, octatonic and exotic scales).
   
• Different types of chord progressions (including cadences, modulations and voice leading).
   
• Rhythm & meter (simple meter, compound meter and odd meter)
   
• Fretboard visualization of scales, chords, arpeggios and chord progressions all over the guitar.
   
• Intervals (melodic and harmonic). You must identify intervals both intellectually (using music theory) and visually (on your guitar fretboard).
   
• Integration between these musical elements.

…and track your knowledge (and progress) in each area. 

The more clarity you have about your musical progress, the more immune you become to musical frustration.

Learn many more ways to manage your guitar playing frustration and become a better guitar player.

Become a better guitar player with online lessons for guitarists.