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By: Craig Bassett
You've probably noticed that there is an almost infinite number
of guitar tuition books that you can buy. And if you're anything
like me, you've probably bought dozens of them. You've also
probably noticed that some of the books would take SEVERAL
lifetimes to master! And would it be fair to say that sometimes
you don't know where to start? So much information, so little
time! Don't worry, you're not alone... I used to get totally overwhelmed by my guitar book collection.
I used to pick up a book and not really know where to start. I
usually would play around with a book for a week or two, and
then move onto another book...even when I hadn't mastered what I
had learnt from the book. End result? A feeling of frustration!
The good thing about this though was that this frustration
inspired me to create a system to get the most out of my books.
Let's take a look at it now... ***Step One: Quick Overview*** Find a guitar book that you would like to work on. Read the
front and back covers only. What are some things that you think
the book might help you with? Please write these down now. ***Step Two: Define Your Purpose*** Have a quick think about your musical goals. With your goals in
mind, write down your purpose for studying the book. What
EXACTLY would you like to get from the book? Make it specific.
If you feel that the book is not totally relevant to your goals
right now, then DON'T study it. It will be a waste of your
valuable time. Instead, find another book that is more relevant. ***Step Three: Preview The Book***
Read the table of contents. As you read it, ask yourself..."What
ONE section of this book will help me the most with my current
musical goals?" Once you've finished reading the table of
contents, choose the ONE section that you feel will help you the
most.
***Step Four: Detailed Reading***
Read the section that you chose in Step Three. Do you still feel
that it will really help you achieve your musical goals? If you
do... great! If not...just repeat Step Three and choose another
section.
Once you've read through the whole section, choose the ONE thing
in it that you think will help you the most. It could be a
specific lick, theoretical concept, chord progression etc. The
idea is to choose the one thing that will benefit your guitar
playing the most. Life is too short to practice things that
aren't INCREDIBLY important to your musical development! ***Step Five: Get To Work***
Practice the thing that you chose in Step Four. Practice it like
a maniac! Really work hard to integrate it into your playing or
knowledge. Keep working on it daily until you feel that you have
mastered it. Depending on what you chose, this could take hours,
days, weeks, months of even years!
I hope you find this method works for you. Dust off those books
now, and get to work!
About the author:
Craig Bassett is a professional guitarist, author and guitar
tutor. To gain TOTAL mastery of the guitar fretboard,
please go to: www.GuitarNoteMastery.com
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