If you've been taking music lessons for any length of time, then you've probably heard about the value of practice. If you have yet to establish a practice regime, then perhaps it has not been stated clearly enough. In fact, I don't think it can be overstated. Practice is the key to improvement.

Why is practice so important? Well, there are a number of reasons and explanations.

If you've been taking lessons with me, you may have heard me say this before. What does it mean? Let's talk about muscle memory first.

Basically, most things we do like typing, driving, or even playing video games involves some kind of muscle memory. If you had to stop and think about every little action you took, like what button to push at what time (as in video games), life would be an uphill process. Every time you come to a red light, you would have to remember to step on the brake. However, if you've been doing the same thing for any length of time, it starts to happen automatically. You don't have to think about it anymore.

Repetition is the magic key ingredient in developing muscle memory. If you don't give your muscles anything to remember, how are they supposed to remember it? This doesn't necessarily mean that you have to practice something for hours. However, next time you sit down to play something, try setting a goal of how many times you're going to repeat that exercise or riff; 10 times, 20 times, 50 times, 100 times...

Then, rest. What? Yes, I said rest. How do you expect your muscles to remember something if you're not giving them enough rest? Everybody takes a different number of repetitions for something to become embedded in their muscle memory. However, you also need to rest your muscles for this to work. Don't worry about what anyone else is doing; just do what you need to do to work towards your goals. Besides, you don't want to develop repetitive stress injuries.

This is a phrase describing momentum. Momentum can't easily be stopped after a certain point. The trick is that it takes time to develop. If you get into the habit of practicing every day, repeat that action over and over, it will become your new default. Once you have gotten to that point, you don't have to think about it anymore. It's not a question of if you're going to practice or not, it's a question of what and how long.

When you continue to practice, put in the days, months, and years (yes, years), all your practice is going to catch up with you. That's why I don't worry about seeing immediate progress. Somewhere down the line it will catch up with me, and I will be able to do what used to be hard. I won't be able to stop the wave of results coming my way.

This relates to what I just finished saying. You don't always see instant results from the hours you put in. It doesn't mean you're not getting better. It doesn't mean you're going backwards, even when it may feel like it. It means that your muscle memory is processing the movements you're feeding it. Don't get discouraged, and just know that your ship is coming in!

I don't think I need to say much more at this point. Hours of practice adds up, causing you to become a better player, better able to process and handle a variety of techniques, scales, styles, and riffs without much conscious thought. That is our ultimate goal, is it not? We want to become unconsciously competent at our instrument.