Before even picking up your guitar to practice, you need to clearly define your musical goals. This will motivate you to take action towards improving your guitar playing consistently. Do you think a ship captain would set sail without clear coordinates? No. This same idea applies to your guitar playing progress. Not setting clear goals for yourself sets you up to fail before you even get started. Once you set your goals, you will be able to clearly see the areas of your guitar playing that need most of your attention and adjust your guitar practice accordingly.If you don’t fully understand how to start, download this free eBook to playing guitar more accurately.

STEP 2: Determine How Far You Are From Reaching Your Goals

After setting clear goals for yourself, you need to determine where you are now and exactly how far you are from reaching them. Don’t do what most guitarists do and simply use a metronome to find your maximum guitar speed. This is a vastly incomplete method due to the fact that your maximum guitar speed is only ONE of the many elements you must track in this area.

Think about how the ship captain needs the exact coordinates of his destination. He doesn’t simply “sail East”and HOPE he stumbles upon his destination. So why would you do the equivalent of this to your guitar playing progress? Tracking only your maximum speed on guitar is the same thing as the ship captain “sailing East”.

The “exact coordinates”you must track in your guitar playing are elements such as your:

•    Creativity in your guitar playing (yes, this can be tracked!)

•    Music theory knowledge

•    Your ability to visualize scales, arpeggios and chords on the fretboard without hesitation

•    Overall lead guitar skills. Hint: this involves so much more than your maximum speed on guitar

•    Ability to play rhythm guitar

•    Ability to integrate all of your guitar techniques together fluently

•    Ability to develop your “musical ear”

Start tracking your guitar playing progress in great detail so you can make more progress in your guitar playing.

STEP 3: Close The Gap Between Your Ideal And Current Skill Levels

After you know the size of the gap between where you are now and where you want to be, start using the most effective guitar practice exercises so you can improve your playing faster. Most guitar teachers don’t know how to provide these kinds of exercises to their students and instead give all of their students the same exercises with zero customization.

If you are actually serious about reaching your musical goals, seek out a qualified guitar teacher who knows how to properly customize your exercises to help you reach your goals faster.

STEP 4: Create A Customized “Road Map”

After finding the practice exercises that are guaranteed to improve your guitar playing, you need to organize them by using a highly effective guitar practice schedule that ensures you reach your goals. Think of this practice schedule as a “road map”that leads you to your goals. Without it, you are just as lost as the ship captain without coordinates.

While using the best guitar practice exercises will certainly help you improve your guitar playing, it’s only ONE of the steps you need to take to truly become a great guitar player. Developing an effective guitar practice schedule is crucial to you actually benefiting from these exercises and reaching your goals.

STEP 5: Keep Track Of The Progress You Make

Just as the ship captain must get constant updates on his coordinates to make sure he stays on course, you need to be constantly tracking and assessing the progress you make in your guitar playing. Understanding exactly how much you know and exactly how much you are improving is the best way to reach your long-term musical goals. To make this much easier, use the most powerful invention for helping guitar players reach their goals since the invention of guitar lessons: The Guitar Playing Accelerator.

Taking all 5 of these steps will guarantee that you become an awesome guitarist faster than you thought possible and reach all of your musical goals. To guarantee that your guitar practicing sessions are as effective as possible, download this free eGuide about playing guitar perfectly.

About The Author:

Tom Hess is a successful professional guitar player and composer. He trains musicians to reach their guitar playing goals in his rock guitar lessons online. Visit his website, tomhess.net to read more articles about guitar playing, get free guitar tips and guitar playing resources.