How To Practice “Perfectly” And Eliminate Mistakes

In today's video, I'm showing you how to minimize mistakes in your guitar practice so you can master songs in a fraction of the time. If you enjoyed it, hit that "Like" button to help more people see it.
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[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

How do you approach practicing a new piece or song? Do you just jump in or do you have a methodical approach? Let me know in a comment!

[@tonchette7993]

I do a method called "Chunking". This method is repeating 4 measures over and over for 4 times than go to the next 4 measures for 4 times and join those 8 measures together

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

haha "chunking," love the name!

[@tonchette7993]

@@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy Thanks haha

[@brandonessick775]

"The person that practices the slowest will be the best."-Adam Holzman #don't skip leg day #eat vegetables

[@StimPakTskAwwYea]

Hibito Fukuta i too do chunkjng! Haha funny that someone else also calls it chunking.

[@Guitarschoolat]

You are so talented in teaching! Thanks a lot

[@owynn5745]

He doesn’t like the talent word.

[@loupollock4559]

Nathan, forgive me if I ramble a bit, but the bottom line for me is how inspirational you are in my life. A little history: I am 79 years old and haven't played for years. I was fortunate to have begun lessons when I was 15, my teacher inviting me to spend a day with him during his monthly lessons from the then scarcely known Romero family in Hollywood. Such a thrill to meet Celedonio, Celine, Angel, and, of course, Pepe, who was my same age. With both my teacher's and their inspiration, I learned to play Tarrega, Sor, Carcassi, including two favorites: Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Variations of a theme by Mozart. I played more or less adequately, but after watching your lessons, I realize why I had imperfections in my playing. I haven't played for the last 35 years, your lessons inspire me. I am nervous, a little bit scared: my fingers, small to begin with, have lost flexibility and may not stretch multiple frets on the fingerboard. Nay the less, with your encouragement, I going to pick up my 50 year old guitar made for me by Bob Taylor, when he was at American Dream in Lemon Grove, California. If you even have time to read my back ground, do you have any tips for an old guy having the courage to pick up a guitar after all of this time. Your videos are the best I have seen online. Thanks, DrLou.

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

Welcome back to the guitar, my friend. I’m honored to have been a part of what brought you back. My advice is to follow a structured program instead of bouncing from KZbin video to KZbin video. It doesn’t have to be one of the programs or courses that I offer, there are lots of great options out there. But if you were to explore the options I offer - I’d recommend my Fingerstyle Journey course: beyondtheguitar.com/fingerstylejourney

[@jacobpretl4376]

What a humble dude

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

[@omar-mh3ed]

I dont know if u can see this comment , but man you radiate positivty and charisma, and u inspired me a lot to play guitar(i started late at 24, and i made a great progress ) u are an idol for me , i hope to reach half of ur level

[@Kevinschart]

When I discovered slow practice and it actually makes practice more enjoyable. I can progress and eliminate mistakes without the pressure I used to put on myself. Constantly trying to play at the edge of my abilities while fixing wrong notes, poor chord fingerings, fret buzz and everything else, made me frustrated and unmotivated to practice. Slow practice is way more effective than muscling through a piece, and it makes me look forward to my practice sessions

[@sethkins123]

Actual footage of me eating kale at the end

[@StimPakTskAwwYea]

Great vids on this channel so far. Every single one has been super helpful and covers great important content!

[@momosodyssey]

Thank you Nathan for such great videos! These methodologies helps me a lot as a beginner.

[@KevinQualls]

Wow!! I have never heard this kind of approach to practice! Thanks so much for helping us understand this valuable information!!

[@Faegersten]

The visual quality of these videos is breathtaking, man!

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

thanks man! trying to make them not just educational for you guys, but also interesting and fun to watch. it's a lot of extra work, but totally worth it if you enjoy it

[@albertobenitez6427]

Beyond The Guitar Academy I bet you do a lot of things that can be easily overlooked. Thank you for the quality in your videos. I will definitely continue watching...

[@22okansezer22]

Thank you so much 💕🙏🏼

[@gedionbiniyam6503]

Your content and way of presenting it is so wonderful! 👏 keep up!!!

[@alexandeilingad2901]

Your channel has practically helped me a lot. You are a good teacher.

[@spitfirestudio6703]

Loved the video Nathan! I have seen these same three principles applied to practice in many different areas of learning. You nailed it. Thanks for teaching and sharing your talents!

[@ThirdWorldClassical]

Dear Nathan, thanks for the great advice on practice habits.

[@jimturner9551]

I do not read music notation so i listen through a piece completely several times until i am pretty familiar with it. Then i pick out short sections to learn (not necessarily in order). Ultimately piecing them together until i have a complete piece. after that it is play through until i have it down. Nathan, i have learned so much from your videos. Thank you so much for what you are doing

[@jethrogalima9312]

Thankyou so much you inspired us👍🤘

[@terran236]

I love guitar pro for this. Start at 25% speed. Learned from watching Tosin Abasi lessons. He said start slow and when you can play it 7-8 times without making mistakes you can speed up by 5-10% at a time. Repeat repeat repeat. Until you reach 100%

[@Zazulastudios]

As you mentioned it is a process. My goal for practice is to go slow and isolate my mistakes and fix them, but it doesn't always happen. I also like to set a goal before my sessions.

[@triebschen]

Simply said: on of the best videos (if not the best) on how to practice. Now you know how the pros pepare themselves to play how they do!! To come to these conclusions would have taken me years...! With your advice, we can all spare precious time if we are willing to put in our practice sessions the patience and determination needed. Now it all depends on ourselves. Infinite, unlimited thanks, Nathan!!

[@rmonte9346]

I had to thank for this video, I’ve been struggling always with tension accumulation, specially on long and hard pieces, for different reasons… the deal is you made it clear “why” we have to practice slow, and that probably there’s no another way to achieve the expected results for these times, where competition and critic is so sharp.. thanks again

[@sinamashayekh528]

you are the best mate! helped me a lot to learn guitar

[@johannesdietsch7526]

Good explanation, helpful and understandeble

[@bernardogarcia1814]

Great job

[@JohnJohn-vh6jh]

So very useful..

[@ArjaysJourney]

Great method❗️Great points❗️Will do this on my next song❗️👍🏻 ❤️ 💕 🙋🏻‍♂️

[@Aalii6]

very valuable lesson, thank you for sharing!

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

thanks for watching!

[@bjjguyphila]

This is great. This is exactly what I needed.

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

perfect!

[@parsataherkhani6043]

I'm loving this kind of videos thanks a lot Nathen

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

i'm so glad!

[@levicook8488]

Hi Nathan, I just wanted to stop for a minute and give not only a huge thanks for the content you create but hopefully a word of encouragement as well. I have been playing for as long as I could hold a guitar. As a young kid, I didn't know what I was doing and still carry a lot of the bad habbits I started back then, with me today. Your videos are very eye opening, and have reignited a flame in me to start practicing proper technique, killing some of those old bad habbits. I have always wanted to learn how to play beautiful, harmonic peices but always ran away from peices that quickly became too hard. I never wanted to put in the time, effort, and serious practice it takes to develop the skill and technique required. You have given me not only motivation but given me tools and taught me lessons as well. PLEASE, keep doing this, super helpful and I love the fact that I am finally determined enough to make the jump from intermediate to expert and maybe a master someday. Thanks!

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

This made my morning. I hope you understand that encouragement like this goes a long way for me. Thank you for your kindness. I'll continue to help you any and every way I can with my content. Keep it up!

[@paulysguitarjournal]

Thank you for this. I normally learn phrase by phase, speeding each one up as I go... but it takes forever to learn a piece.

[@GuitarFable]

great video, i like your analogy with the vegtable this is so true !

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

haha right?!

[@johnlay3040]

You are very right there about muscle memory. That's why when you make a mistake you must correct it straight away and don't let that happen again. Also you are absolutely right about learning a piece section by section. Also you should listen to the recording of the piece by accomplished musicians, doesn't have to be guitarists. It is easier to learn a piece if you already know how it sounds and which interpretation you like best.

[@AlexSeewald]

Very useful tips. It is not the first time I hear them, but you're really reinforcing the idea that the correct way to approach a new piece is to be methodical, take a breath and not rush it. It's counterintuitive but I always got better results - and got there faster - by slowing down in the first place. Thanks Nathan!

[@Kevinschart]

For too long I thought you were meant to practice at the edge of your abilities and improve from there. Slow practice has made me an accurate guitar player and those tough sessions have now become fun for me.

[@kepler1175]

He ate a vegetable for the quality of this video. Outstanding and brave

[@onetruetroy]

Nice video. Scales and visualizations are the best practice for me. I have played with different tunings and am getting familiar where the notes are on the chromatic scale. I started with a 12 string and have to visualize the strings as manuals if on an organ but pushed left instead of right. As I consider a lowered numbered string I have to know what notes are on each string in open, fretted and barred position. Thinking ahead two or three notes is important.

[@leedouglass4106]

I love sightreading for fun but I'm excited to learn how to practice more efficiently :)

[@LegoAnimationCousins]

Another great video, somehow you are able to explain these thins in a way more interesting and clear way than my teacher, even though you speak english and he speaks my native tongue finnish! Ive always struggled with training, at least efficiently, but recently I have tried splitting the pieces into smaller sections, and practising them actually as slow as I need to, but I still too often start playing it faster too early and end up reacting and fixing my mistakes. Also I got some new tips to try, thank you!

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

Wow I'm honored! Keep it up, remember, it's a constant discipline

[@parsataherkhani6043]

Can you tell us about your gear your guitar, strings, and recording equipment?

[@karthikmitta4134]

I like to sight read through the piece, and then break into sections. Then I spend about 2 to 3 weeks working on that section, and then I spend a week making sure that all of the sections flow. After that, I practice the piece a couple of times in its whole, and then thats pretty much it. BTW, keep up the great vids and content man! Hopefully you can get to 500k on ur main channel by the end of the year and 30k on this channel by the end of the year! 😃❤ Also, can you make some tutorials on some of your pieces that you have arranged like the mandolorian one bc season 2 is coming out!

[@alesegdia]

Interestingly I've approached both ways of doing it, and effectively the proactive approach is much more efficient, but I'm dumb enough to keep going with the reactive approach sometimes still because I didn't know this was a common sense among musicians but I'm also learning from a piano teacher which suggests this very same approach. It's probable more boring than the reactive one, but you will grasp the whole song much earlier, and there's times that the reactive approach just won't get you better. Awesome video by the way!

[@PiyerX]

I practice so much slow ... The last time I played a note was one year ago, now it's time for another note ... By the way, amazing video 🫡

[@Kostja81]

Perfect video and very helpful. Like you said we know that we should do things slowly but....

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

yup! we're all guilty of not slowing down enough

[@robosolo4336]

Great video Nathan. When I´m learning a new peace I like to divide the song into sections. So I practice the first part until my fingers can remember this and then move on to the next, as you point out. At the end I start to glue sections togheter. This can be a challenge sometimes because you want to learn and play it right away, so I have to be patient. This is my approach now when I´m practicing you´re version of This Land (Lion King), which is brilliant and beautiful by the way.

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

perfect! so glad you're learning my lion king arrangement. i really love that one!

[@joelestes2257]

Nathan eating greens is how I looked trying to play the second section of "Concerning Hobbits"!

[@GuitarSVD]

Have been practiced reactively to my mistake. Great advice and will try the preventive method on my current practice!

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

Let me know how it goes, Cecil!

[@albertobenitez6427]

I would be very interested in knowing good warmups and stretches you do before practicing the guitar!

[@Felker93]

I think it’s also important at first to sing or clap the part you are practicing just make sure you’re one with the rhythm first. Then I try to play it very slow without metronome to make my Fingers comfortable with the piece and have a little feel for the timing Then I take my metronome and start to practice even slower, as you said, as slow as possible and repeat the part over and over again.

[@loupollock4559]

This tip makes good sense.

[@leonardkiefner6460]

I really appreciate these videos because they actually help a lot Thank you Nathan

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

i'm so glad! you're very welcome

[@leonardkiefner6460]

@@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy What kind of effects do you use in your editing ?

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

What do you mean?

[@leonardkiefner6460]

@@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy I mean after having recorded your guitar how do you edit your recording ? What kind of effects do you use to make the sound better (e.g. reverb) ? Or in general how exactly do you record your guitar ? How far is your mic set from your guitar ? How do you get the most natural and smoothest sound of your recorded guitar ? Those are kind of questions I would be very interested in cause I want to record my guitar myself :)

[@churchhymnsandpsalms]

I play easy fingerstyle arrangements and i usually play through the whole piece slowly and identify the tricky parts. Then i start at the beginning, repeating one measure until it's right, then keep adding, memorizing as i go. The tricky parts i repeat by themselves until they're not tricky anymore.

[@JVDAfghan]

Thanks for the good tips. Sometimes, and perhaps often, movements that work at slow tempos do not work at performance tempos. In fact, I have found that often I have to relearn a movement that will work at speed. What to you think? Also, I have read, and I agree, that once a movement is learned, playing it faster increases the odds of a successful execution. What do you think? Thanks.

[@vinnyoorsprong62]

I start to sing the melodie, before and during the playing

[@jeremybartolomey7673]

I usually play the whole thing slowly from the first moment then speed up individual segments

[@dennishamm5721]

So guilty of playing thru a whole piece haphazardly trying to figure out how it's shown on the tab and struggling to figure out the correct position of my fingers on the fretboard. Find myself relearning a piece over and over again realizing I practice it the wrong way. Thank you for your videos.

[@johnstickney7042]

I can play the most difficult music if I get one minute between each note. My attempt at humor. But seriously these are excellent tips on learning new music

[@josdurkstraful]

JUst a little extra advise: I always teach my students to not look where the fingers are but where they are going to be next.

[@bladewalker9120]

Killer lesson, Nathan. Thanks for these awesome practice tips. Maybe sometime you can mention the actual name of your teacher so as to give this person "props" for helping you become the wicked player you are today. Plus, I'm sure many of us are curious to know the identity of this guitar mentor heretofore known as "my teacher." Thanks again for sharing more guitar "secrets."

[@duyanhnguyen4372]

thank you very much for tipps, but i have a question. Do we pratice slowly with a slow tempo melody.

[@Mauitaoist]

You know I teach Tai Chi and it's kind of the same thing it's muscle memory and I tell my students, just go so slow that you don't make any mistakes. You can always go faster when have learned how to do it right; but isn't that a metaphor for life. I mean what this gentleman is saying applies to everything in life When I practice my tai chi, I go so slow, my breath and my heart rate are my metronome... and I hear in my mind, the music I've Been Working On My Guitar ....so slowly it's a meditation...

[@fcolon4]

Dive in from the beginning for sure

[@gemaf]

I like to listen to a piece measure by measure. I work very slowly and I don’t move on until I fix the mistake I might encounter.

[@deluca2854]

I usually split my pracitce in 2 splits: First: I listen to the music (original & cover), then I listen to the cover with the notes Secondly: I start practicing, playing the melody first and then adding the percussion, bass notes and rythme

[@k.anngelinem.1532]

"Practice makes permanent"

[@mr.m4524]

I get down the finer left and right hand placements, than pracice small phrases untill they are "perfect" than combine them.

[@ssharingexperience1123]

Naethen u are my fav

[@jeremiahjones137]

You should do guitar lessons on here

[@ivsonpereiradasilva4157]

Por favor coloca legenda em português 🇧🇷

[@benediktrahn8344]

Hi Nathan, the quality of your videos is very good! it would be great if you can show us your daily practice routine. How much time do you spent in practicing scales? Are there any other exercises beside scales?

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

I'll definitely consider that for the future! Although have you seen my How and Why You Should Practice Scales video? It gives some insight on how I practice scales

[@abunchofemos-kn4sm]

does this work for scales i already do scales slow cause my memory but idk

[@sadnoodle]

I listen first, then by looking at tabs I see what finger positions are most comfortable, and then I just go on

[@rubenkoster1015]

How i do know i can speed up the piece? Do i have to play it a 100 times before i speed it up? Whats your approach?

[@dannypearn9507]

This video helped a lot. I have a question though, Say you practice 12 bars at 40bpm then keep repeating the same bars over and over again. When do you know to increase the tempo and move on to the next 12 bars?

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

When it feels easy and everything is clicking both mentally and physically, and you're not making any errors

[@dannypearn9507]

Beyond The Guitar Academy Okay thank you.

[@calebhamilton8382]

I have a question about tempo, I don't know if I'm the only person struggling with this but it just doesn't seems to click, what can I do to fix this?

[@AaronWillmon]

Do you speed up each section you are learning or do you wait until the entire piece is learned at a slow tempo before speeding up?

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

For really tricky sections, I isolate, drill, and speed them up individually. Otherwise, I generally work in very small segments slowly, then put them together in bigger sections slowly, then progressively speed up the bigger sections.

[@chromerathalos]

My high school teacher told me " play slowly not until you can get it right but until you cant get it wrong. Then upen the pace. Repeat."

[@zu0832]

Ever tried starting practicing a piece from the end of that very piece?

[@albertobenitez6427]

I wasn’t ever sure how to do it. Typical I would go section through section. I need to learn to practice slowly... I NEED PATIENCE

[@christofinb]

Hello Nathan, this is a really good channel love your advice and your playing is amazing. But what does it for your on classical guitar in particular? I’ve practised pieces over and over again but after a while those pieces completely lose their sensitivity, their novelty. Classical guitar just turns into an exercise in skill acquisition, the music becomes just an aim of accuracy, mistake limitation, technical expertise. What makes it worth playing after so many hours of repetition that the sound and soul is ripped out of the piece by repetition ? This puts me off classical guitar, as by the time I’ve even semi learnt a piece proficiency, I’m sick of it and the whole aim and joy of playing it is gone. Would like to hear your thoughts on that. Music is an art not a technical sport, to me it always contains novelty, a sense of spontaneity, inspiration and emotional expression. There is something I don’t get about classical playing.

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

Very important insight. It's a delicate balance to maintain. I think much of the music composed/arranged for the classical guitar is some of the most beautiful guitar music out there (opinion obviously) - but creating that beauty requires a lot of work, dedication, and repetition. So yes, the phenomenon you're describing is something I think we've all dealt with at some time or another. I'll try to address this in a future video. Thanks!

[@christofinb]

@@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy thanks for the reply, will look forward to any tips and if indeed you address this at a future date. I am aware of the common suggestions I think of trying to keep a piece ‘fresh’. But still I get stuck, it’s like gazing at a piece of artwork for hours, it loses its context and even meaning. Many a piece I thought I might never tire of I’ve got sick of, maybe it’s just me and my interpretation of music.

[@derfinsniter5185]

I learn what’s easy then when it comes to the hard part I burn my guitar.... usually doesn’t work to well

[@huambo]

I learn a section at a time.

[@creator4734]

I always practice one by one because i want to make it sound perfect . Yet it still sound horrible -.- . The thing is , its hard when i want to change the chord . The sound is too short you know what i mean ? It sound too tense

[@TheRightAngleGamer]

I just go in and try to play it and fail

[@thehootingowl7179]

I literally look at Yt videos of how to play a song I like and try to play it till I get bord.....probably why I still can't play

[@stevensnead4833]

Well it was a bummer I thought I would get the fretboard lesson gave email address and it never came. I hope it is not just some scam. Thanks for the video though

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

Check your spam folder. If it’s there, make sure to mark it as not spam so you don’t miss any other freebies. If it’s not there, email me at [e-mail]

[@joshingente7726]

Is tabs considered as music sheet? Lemaw

[@johnwelch765]

Nice beard.

[@TPacoustic]

I disagree on everything, except on practicing slowly, but okay. :)

[@acousticincorperated6791]

I play measure one until it's perfect then I add measure two until it's perfect then I continue that until the how song is done

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

that takes a lot of discipline! impressive

[@kalmangt2265]

look at it, say a prayer, attempt to play the first line, swear a bit, rinse and repeat :)

[@BeyondTheGuitarAcademy]

haha accurate!

[@RobinMeys]

I love vegetables

[@shashankrao23]

1 person has the muscle memory to dislike stuff....

[@tylerfields2654]

Learn from 👂

[@clam4597]

Very helpful. Also the trick is to eat your vegetables slowly.

[@bigdickmcgee5665]

Muscle memory is actually triggered by the brain therefore there's no such thing. Training the brain is key