PRESENCE - Volume 18
Inspiration For Guitarists
There is this principle known as the 80/20 Rule that says 80% of results come from 20% of effort. It’s a general principle that applies to various areas, such as productivity, business, and personal development.
Some examples of this are:
Productivity: 20% of your tasks produce 80% of your results.
Business: 20% of customers generate 80% of revenue.
Learning: 20% of study materials cover 80% of what you need to know.
The key takeaway of this for us guitarists is to identify and focus on the 20% of things to practice that drive the majority of your musical growth, while minimizing time spent on low-value practice tasks.
I see A LOT of guitarists spending way too much of their time on things that barely move them forward, or more often don’t move them forward at all but rather keep them stuck. We only have so much time to practice so identifying what skills to focus on is the key to quicker forward progress.
Conservatively I would guess that I have taught over 30,000 guitar lessons (over 1,000 lessons a year for 30 years). Over the years I have had so many clients come to me who were spending their time on the wrong stuff.
If you are an intermediate guitarist, spending 80% your practice time on these 3 things is what will really move the needle for you.
What chords belong together in a key – This is the number system. It helps you understand songs, write your own, and get fluent in music.
How to play those chords all over the neck – That’s the CAGED system… or if you prefer my simplified approach, the AED system.
How to solo anywhere on the neck in any key – That’s what I call the Landmark Pentatonic system. Once you get it, everything opens up.
Focus your practice time on those 3 skills and you will get results!
-Dustin