Transcript and photos included below…

Here at Guitar Serious Fun, we intentionally work to have a good balance between practical and philosophical concepts. Today’s discussion is more on the practical side, but there’s also a philosophy behind it.

Three Pictures of Rhythm

I want you to envision three separate images, and I’ll provide photos of them in the blog version of today’s episode. They are 1) a suspension bridge, 2) a pearl necklace, and 3) a “connect-the-dots” diagram.

First: a suspension bridge:

You’ve probably driven over a suspension bridge at some point in your life. What you might observe as you make your way across the bridge is that it not only takes you from one piece of land to another, but that there are usually at least two points where most of the weight is supported: the towers.

The towers are where the cables are connected, so as to create a parabolic shape, leading from one tower to the next. A suspension bridge doesn’t typically have a single tower. It shares the “weight” between at least two towers. And between those towers is a bit of “rest” or less tension, where not as much weight is carried.

The second image: a pearl necklace.

This is an excellent example of a balance between the connective necklace string and the pearls that are strung on it. There’s a slight gap between each of the pearls. And it’s not one long “tube-shaped” pearl; it’s a collection of pearls.

The last image for your consideration is a “connect-the-dots” diagram.

This is by definition, a collection of dots that are (or will be) connected by lines. Each of the dots is a marker point which can be used, usually in a sequence, to allow for a bigger picture to emerge once the dots are connected.

So, each of these three images I’ve described has anchor points, whether they are the tower of a bridge, the pearl on a necklace, or the dot in a diagram. And each of these images has more than one anchor point, sometimes many.

If you view the trajectory of each of these images, there can be a bit of a rhythm.

The bridge, from one side to the other, has a simple rhythm of: tower, swoop, tower, swoop.

The necklace has a string and a simple rhythm of: pearl, string, pearl, string.

And the “connect-the-dots” diagram has the rhythm of: dot, line, dot line.

Rhythm in Life

Our lives consist of rhythm. We wake up and do our work. We go to sleep. We’re awake, then asleep, then awake, then asleep. We walk, usually right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, etc. Our heartbeat is a rhythm. Our breathing is a rhythm.

Conversations and information exchange can be a sort of rhythm. None of these is even about music…yet. But music is, of course, an avenue where rhythm can be explored. Sure, rhythm doesn’t have to be a part of a song, but it usually is.

For more on this discussion topic, I encourage you to check out Guitar Serious Fun Episode 77: Rhythms of Rest for Guitar.

Where am I going with all of this? You’ve probably got it figured out, based on the title of today’s episode. Here’s where I plan to land this:

Practicing can be in a sort of rhythm as well, especially if it’s done deliberately. To this end, I want you to think about the time between your practice sessions as essential.

What our mind is doing when we’re not “practicing”

If you’re listening to the podcast version of today’s episode, I’ve put the word “practicing” in quotes. Practicing, by definition, is going over musical content with the intent to improve upon it.Can practicing happen when we are not at our instruments? Before I answer this question, I’ll state that the best form of practice happens when we are indeed playing the guitar. That’s a pretty straightforward fact.I can’t form chords and scales without my instrument. (Ok, there may be an app I can tap on a device for, but the strings and the frets won’t be the same.)

And I can’t strum effectively without my guitar. Again, with a pick in my hand, I could strum in the air, or against the front of my shirt. But practicing with our actual guitar is going to be tremendously effective.

However…when we don’t have our guitars, we can still be “practicing.” How often have you sat back down to practice and sensed that you were “further along” than you were when you finished your last practice session?Why would that be?Because your mind was still mulling over the concepts. You might visualize them, you might hum them, you might tap your toes, and you might sing through the musical exercise or song you were practicing.

And this might happen while you’re doing some mundane task that’s not at all related.

Each time we take a break from our practice, probably for the day, we enter this “mini-season” of rest, which allows for the connective time between the practice sessions.

Based on our images from the beginning of today’s episode (the anchor points of the bridge towers, the pearls, or the dots) each represent our practice sessions.

But the cabling, the necklace string, or the lines represent an equally important part of the picture – the time of resting our hands and our eyes, but still allowing our minds to process the material.

The Lord does something unique in our minds during this downtime. I can’t categorize it in terms of psychology or even physiology; I just know if I’ve experienced it.

The Lord helps us process what we did, and prepares us to do it again on the next level. If you have any desire to memorize what you’re learning on the guitar (a song, a scale, a chord, etc.) you will find this process essential to your success.

But here’s the key – we need to have consistency between work and rest.

An Analogy from the Garden

In GuitarSuccess4U, our members are welcomed into the experience right away with a video that lays the groundwork for how they can develop an effective practice regimen.

Without giving too much away, in this video I use the analogy of a small raised garden bed for vegetables, where I made space, framed the garden, added soil, planted seeds, and watered regularly, keeping an eye out for weeds and pests.

Each of these components in the “garden” analogy has a crossover to how a guitarist can carve out a practice space, develop a plan, take in wisdom and knowledge, and apply a moderate amount of diligent, consistent practice, watching out for hindrances and distractions.

Gardening, as I’ve discovered, especially when it comes to growing food, has a bit of a sequence and routine to it.

If I were to bring in the soil without having a frame for it, that would be out of sequence.

If I were to throw down seeds and then frame the garden, later adding soil, that wouldn’t be optimal either.

And in terms of a routine, if I decided I wanted to pour a hundred gallons of water onto the garden one day, and not water it again for six months, that would be ineffective.

It’s the consistent watering that leads to the plants germinating and coming up through the soil. And some of the watering needs to happen for several consistent weeks before results can be seen as the plants emerge. The watering is done in moderate, consistent amounts.

Eventually, the plants are large enough to harvest. This is a high point, before we move on to the next season and plant a new crop.

But the key word is consistent, or consistency.

Wisdom from an Athlete

A friend of mine named Jonathan (who stays very fit) once shared this bit of wisdom with me, and I’ve never forgotten it. I’m actually including it in some of the teaching I’ll be offering in an upcoming online guitar web masterclass, which you’ll hear about in the near future.The phrase is: consistency trumps intensity.

I’ll unpack this briefly from the perspective of an athlete.

An athlete typically works out several times a week on an ongoing basis. You won’t see an athlete work out 10 hours straight for 7 days and then “call it good” for a year’s worth of exercise, right?

Consistency trumps intensity. An intense week of exercise can be trumped by multiple weeks and months of consistent exercise, of a much shorter duration.

Some athletes train for an event. Another friend of mine, Chuck, recently ran a marathon. He did a lot of consistent training, whether running, strength training, or even intentional measured food consumption, under the close supervision of a coach.Chuck was tremendously consistent, and we spoke at length about his process. Ultimately, the payoff came when he ran the marathon. His consistency had paid off.

The Pit Stop

We can learn consistently, but sometimes our musical development has a bit of a “pit stop” in the form of a concentrated learning environment over the course of a short amount of time, like a single day or a weekend.

Worship conferences fall into this category. They are a great opportunity to grow in our skills, but to me, the main “win” of a conference experience is just that – the experience. It’s the opportunity to be inspired, encouraged, and perhaps offered a handful of insights that can be put to use.

A conference can be a “mountaintop” experience.

A conference also allows for the opportunity to connect with others who are on a similar trajectory. Tips, tools and insights can be absorbed on a moderate level at a conference.

But that conference is rarely more than a few days. Imagine if someone wanted to host a regional worship conference every day for a couple years. Hmmm…I just don’t see that being sustainable for the hosts, or the attendees.Most people need to get back to work and to their own routines, and many folks travel a significant distance to be at these worship conferences. I recall one man traveling from the other side of the planet to be at a worship conference I taught at.

So the “win” of the conference is that it inspires us and serves as a catalyst for each one of us as we go back to our routines and our “week in, week out” worship leading, songwriting, or performing schedule which is hopefully undergirded by some element of consistent practice.

I’ve hosted multiple annual Guitar Symposia over the years. Those have been very uplifting to worship leaders and Christian songwriters who want to grow with their guitar skills.

I hosted our first GuitarSuccess4U Live event last year, and people drove and flew in for it. Our time together was such a blessing, and although I offered some teaching on requested topics, the vast majority of the time was spent with informal jamming, fellowship, and feasting together.

And when everyone rejoined the Zoom calls as we got back into our routine inside the membership, we were more closely connected.

So, I totally support the conference or retreat experience.

Now in Guitar Serious Fun Episode 17 and Episode 18, I offered a 2-part discussion of Guitar Through the Seasons. In these episodes, I did allude to the fact that there are seasons where we need to set down our guitars and play them for less time.

But in a normal schedule, my hope is that you would take a little time each day, ideally in the same location and at the same time of day, to provide that consistency that will lead to traction.

Certain concepts like a strumming pattern can be imitated and picked up almost immediately. Other concepts like some moveable chords, scales, fingerstyle patterns or entire songs may take weeks or months, but if we “chip away” at them consistently, we’ll surprise ourselves.

We’ll find ourselves saying something like, “Hey – yesterday, I couldn’t play this, but today, I can.” And by the way, it wasn’t a one-day transformation; much like when I planted the garden, the seed germinated below ground and then came up through the soil.It became visible one day, but only as a result of consistent care and watering.

Did the plant spring up instantly? Of course not.

Did it respond to the consistent care I gave it? Yes.

Did I leave the plant alone for the rest of the day and give it some space after I watered it? Yes.

To keep watering it hourly would be similar to practicing every hour I’m awake. I wouldn’t be allowing myself the mental or the physical opportunity to…you know it: rest.

Wrap-upAs we close things out today, I’ll leave you with this thought. Life is not perfect, and we don’t live in a vacuum. But if we can tether our practice to our existing day-to-day routine, and allow for rest between the practice sessions, we’ll work with our minds and bodies, and not against them.

When we need a longer break, like weeks or even months, we can do that.

When we are excited to attend a concentrated experience like a conference, we can do that. But the battle is not won on the mountaintop, at the conference. It’s won in the “day in, day out” routine. It’s not super glamorous, but it is worthy, and it does lead to the results we seek.

So, keep practicing, get the rest you need, and watch what the Lord does in your guitar playing and musicianship.

And if you want to see what other people are doing as they sharpen their skills for the Lord and share their combined wisdom, experience and encouragement, please check out GuitarSuccess4U.com. I can’t say enough about what an amazing experience this is, and I hope you’ll come find out for yourself.Thanks for listening today, and I’ll see you next time.

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