How to Hack Your Brain For Better Guitar Practice

Our brains crave instant gratification and unfortunately that can become a rare occurrence in the guitar learning process after the initial influx of beginner progress. Even though you know that if you play for hours every day you might eventually reap the rewards, it can be much easier in the moment to opt for binge watching some tv or kicking back for some mindless scrolling time, rather than setting yourself up for a good practice session.

The solution? Create an instant reward after each practice session that’ll have your subconscious itching to pick the guitar up in the same way it craves your less productive habits.

For example, if you have a savings goal at the moment, maybe for a holiday you really want to take or for a new guitar you’ve had your eye on, agree with yourself that immediately after each practice session you will put an amount of money into a savings fund.

Your brain will quickly learn that when you perform the action of guitar playing, you have more money in your fund. Another example might be that if you enjoy a coffee or tea every day, you hold off on making it until you’ve picked up the guitar and done some practice. Even if you only play for two minutes your brain will begin to realise that playing guitar = a nice hot drink.

You could incorporate leisure time based rewards such as getting outside for a walk or watching an episode of your current favourite series. It can even be as simple as ticking off another day of practice on a habit tracking app or crossing off a day on the calendar - anything that is a clear action that your brain will find satisfying.

It’s important to note that whatever you choose as your instant reward needs to be done the second your practice is completed to really hard wire that association.

This system works because dopamine is released in the brain in anticipation of a reward rather than when receiving the reward itself. If guitar playing becomes the prelude to an experience that’s a quick hit reward for the brain then it will be the act of picking up a guitar that gives your brain the dopamine hit it always craves.

You may well notice that you find yourself wanting to reach for your guitar more often that ever before.

If you ever really find yourself torn between the need to practice guitar and the desire to be out in the sun on a nice day, or to sit on the sofa and watch sitcoms all day on a rainy one, then endeavour to combine your practice time with whatever other activity you want to do.

Why chose between sitting in the garden with a coffee and practicing when you could take your guitar outside and do both? Similarly, if you really have the burning desire to just sit on the couch with the tv on then do it - just get your guitar on your lap, throw on a metronome, and pick through some exercises or licks at the same time.

This approach can work in a number of different scenarios. If you want to practice but also want to spend quality time with your family, why not consolidate your knowledge by showing a family member a few chords that you’ve got down or learning something new on the guitar together?

Are you really in to a video game your playing right now? Okay - have your guitar next to you and make a deal with yourself that each time you get to a new level or finish a part of a quest, you pick up the guitar and get 20 minutes of playing in.

The list goes on.

The key here is not to make guitar practice something that’s an inhibitor to other desirable tasks that might feel easier to do, it’ll just make it seem like more of a chore. Instead, on days where you feel like relaxing in some other way, get creative and see if you can integrate guitar playing so that it becomes attached to the easily appealing tasks.

Sometimes, the hardest part of sitting down to practice the guitar is actually initiating the task in the first place. Transitioning between tasks takes more mental effort that you might think and so we can find ourselves really struggling to go and pick up the guitar even if we know we actively want to. This is where it can help to emulate a tactic of many performers and have a little bit of a pre-playing ritual that will signal to your brain that it’s time to practice.

This could be literally anything. Maybe you light a certain incense or scented candle and take three deep breaths each time before you sit down to play. Maybe you put your phone on do not disturb mode and shut it away in a drawer. Maybe you brew a herbal tea or make a favourite snack. You might have a brief guided meditation you like to do, or even an item of clothing you like to put on when you play.

As long as you keep it simple and appealing this can be highly personal and a myriad of options will work.

Whatever it is you choose to mark the beginning of practice with, stay consistent with it and it will create a little prompt for your brain that practice is about to happen.

Once you’ve put in some time to establish this small ritual of your choice, whenever you’re struggling to pick the guitar up, you can narrow your focus to simply completing the easy steps that always precede playing without pressure or judgment rather than becoming overwhelmed with the thought of having to put in some serious practice time.

You may be surprised at how easily the urge to play begins to kick in once you complete your small pre-playing ritual. The bonus with this tactic is that it can eventually work as a focussing technique before performances as your brain registers the signals to get in the guitar playing zone.

Now this one may sound a little strange at first, but consider that if you want to create a desire to play the guitar more, you should always stop whilst you’re still having fun.

If you end each practice session at the point where you feel bored, frustrated, or defeated then you run the risk of establishing an association between those negative feeling as an outcome and the process of guitar practice.

Try paying attention to how you feel whilst playing and end your practice session when you’ve done a satisfying amount but still feel good, as though you could keep going for a while if you needed to.

Of course, in our playing journey there are occasions where we have to push ourselves to reach our goals, so consider this hack a tool for initially building the foundational routine of regular guitar practice.

Whilst you're still focussing on getting to a point where you are practicing the guitar every day, or at least most days, if you need to put the guitar down after two minutes of practice because if you keep going for another two you aren’t going to feel good - then do it.

You have still played guitar for two more minutes than you would have if you hadn’t picked it up at all and that is a win. Trust me, it is much easier and far more natural to build up from playing for two minutes you enjoy every day than it is to go all in with a punishing five hour a day practice routine that you hate and will undoubtedly quit in a few months.

The true desire to enjoy practicing scales for hours on end may well come but for now, keep it fun and then see where the journey takes you.

If you’ve made it to this point in the blog, chances are you have an image in your head of who you want to be as a guitar player in the future - a version of you that can shred away with ease and master any song you want to in no time.

Of course it’s a positive thing to have a goal in mind, but simply dreaming about this person you might one day become won’t be enough to motivate you on tricky, low energy days. It is far more productive to shift your mindset to focus on process rather than progress.

Rather than saying “I want to be a great guitar player” try telling yourself that you are a great guitar player and act accordingly.

Ask yourself, what would a great guitar player do today? Would they put off practice another day because they can’t be bothered or would they find a way to spend some time with the instrument they love today? As you learn to embody the actions that align with the player you want to become, you’ll begin to look more and more like the vision of the future you had to begin with.

Remember that the only bad practice session is the one you don’t do, so try not to get too entangled with reflecting on how many things you can’t do yet or worrying wether or not you’ll finally be able to sweep pick next month, instead just focus on the how to act like a great guitar player today and your goals will look after themselves.

Self-talk is incredibly important so if you do miss a practice session you had planned on - don’t beat yourself up or be disheartened. Instead just observe your behaviour, reflect on which factors contributed to you not showing up, adjust your strategy accordingly and move on picking right back up where you left off