Deadlines: Helpful or Hurtful?
There’s no doubt that deadlines can accelerate progress in guitar playing. It’s important to use them wisely, though. As invaluable as they are at times, they can also be stifling, not to mention stress inducing. Knowing how and when to employ them is key.
When to Use Deadlines
Setting deadlines is useful for many of the short-term goals that support your longer-term goals. Exercises, scales, memorizing a melody or a chord progression—these are all appropriate tasks for working within a time frame. Deadlines will help you enhance focus and tie up loose ends in these types of tasks.
Try it the next time you practice. Pick a song that you’ve played for a while and commit to memorizing it within a time that you think is doable, but maybe a little challenging. Set a timer for 5 – 15 minutes, depending on the length and complexity of the song.
Begin by taking three long, slow breaths, relaxing more with each exhalation. Release any tension, especially in your face, neck, shoulders, arms, and hands. Then, start your timer and get to work. Remember to break the song down into small parts for memorization. Four measures usually works well, but if the song is complicated or has a lot of rapid chord changes, do no more than two measures at a time.
Look at the chords in those measures while thinking about how they sound and what lyrics, if any, go with them. Then look away, bring the content to mind, and play it on your guitar repeatedly. It will usually take 3 – 6 repetitions to set those measures in your memory, but that number may vary. Continue using the same process for each 4 (or 2) – measure segment throughout the song.
You may be surprised to discover that you’ve memorized the song in far less time than you thought you could and laid to rest a task that might have been hanging over you for a long time. By having a deadline and using an external timer, you were able to take your eye off the clock and your mind off of distractions.
When to Reject Deadlines
Creative endeavors can’t be corralled or forced into a time frame. Writing a song, creating a solo, or building an arrangement are some of the things that fit into this category. Instead of setting a hard deadline for your creative goals, establish an environment that allows creativity to emerge. You & Your Guitar is all about that, so if you’re not already working with it, you’ll want to check it out.
