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Welcome to the end of 2007! As promised, here is the article on setting your musical goals in 2008!

Are you a better player today than you were on January 1st, 2007? 

I am and I hope you are too!

Are you where you want to be as a musician?

I'm not and I while I hope you are, the more likely answer is that you are sharing the same sentiment as I am.

Well folks, it's time to do something about it!

Now, while I believe wholeheartedly in setting goals and working to achieve those goals, I do have a hang up with "New Year's Resolutions".

Why? Because too many people use the excuse "I'll wait until New Year to do (insert goal here)".

You shouldn't put off for weeks or months something that is important enough to make a goal out of it. You should start immediately while you have the desire to do something. Putting it off until New Year's only dampens your enthusiasm to accomplish the task at hand.

But, since it is 12/31/07 and we do not have to wait weeks/months for New Year's, let's go with the flow and make some New Year's Goals! (notice I didn't say resolutions?)

Here are some ideas that will hopefully encourage you to work toward your goals in 2008. Spend some time with them, make solid goals and then work hard to meet those goals. You'll be glad you did!

Make S.M.A.R.T Goals

What are SMART goals?

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Aligned, Realistic, Timed

Specific

When you make a goal, make it specific and not vague or open ended. A vague goal in our context would be "I want to be the greatest guitar player ever". Admirable, but a little light weight with regard to how you'll become "the" greatest guitar player ever.

What would you have to do to become the greatest guitar player every? Well, how about...

- In 2008, I will practice 8 hours a day 6 days a week in 2008.
- In 2008, I will be able to improvise comfortably using the modes of the Major, Melodic Minor and Harmonic Minor scales.
- In 2008, I will be able to play rhythm guitar comfortably in the following styles: Blues, Rock, Metal, Jazz, Bossa, Samba and Bluegrass

By making specific goals, you know exactly what it is you are working towards. Knowing this will help you work up a game plan on how to practice, how to track and time lines to reach your desired result.

Measurable

It's hard to gauge your success if you cannot measure your results. Many of the goals we have as musicians, when we are practicing to improve our craft, are measurable.

Take, for example, how fast you can play lead. With a metronome, you can find your maximum speed at any time.

Say you can play your favorite lead scale comfortably with 16th notes at 120 bpm. Your goal could be to increase that speed to 160 bpm by the end of the year. You can measure your progress weekly/monthly by checking your max comfortable speed. For example, you start in January at 120 bpm. February 1st, you're clocking in at 128 bpm. March 1st, you hit 140 bpm, and so forth.

Other examples would be to measure (count) the increase in scales you can use at any time, the number of chord grips you know, the number of songs you have in your repertoire, etc.

If you have a goal that cannot be measured, ask yourself if it is a legitimate goal.  If it is a legitimate goal, you will be able to find a way to measure your progress (ask another player or your teacher for help). If it is a vague goal, rewrite it or scrap it. Time is too precious to waste on goals that lead nowhere!

Aligned

This item will take a little soul searching on your part. Your goals must be aligned with your ultimate desires as a musician.

For example, if your ultimate goal is to sit on your porch in the summer time with some lemonade, watching the fireflies as you sing a folk song, you probably shouldn't have a goal that you will be able to play 8-finger Major7#5 arpeggios in all positions.

Or, if you want to be able to play 8-finger Major7#5 arpeggios, learning "He's got the whole world in his hands" might be a waste of practice time.

The bottom line is this, you have to know yourself and what you want to do as a musician in order to write your goals. If you know who you are and where you want to be, your goals should fit your vision!


Realistic

This, sometimes, is the hardest to swallow for some people. While I am a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to, some goals will take longer to do than what we can accomplish in one year. You have to set realistic goals, goals which you have a good chance of attaining, with hard work, so that you have an achievement at the end of the year and not frustration!

A good example would be the beginner who just got their first guitar for Christmas (Hey, check out Little Rock Jams for great teachers and lessons ) Their favorite player is Steve Vai and their goal is to play " Whispering a Prayer" by the end of 2008. Well, they may get close enough to be completely excited about their accomplishment, but it probably will be a long way away from sounding like Vai's song.

With that said, shoot for the stars, but take a step by step approach. As with the example above, the beginner would be better off working their mechanics (picking, fretting, shapes) and their emotion type exercises (vibrato, bends, articulations) first. Then, when comfortable with those, work on building speed and ease of playing. Then, try to tackle the Vai tune.

Timed

Perhaps the one thing that differentiates those who meet their goals and those who do not is setting a time line for when you will achieve your goal!

Using the example goal above regarding improvising using the modes of the major, melodic minor and harmonic minor scale, you could break the year up into three segments:

January - April - Major modes
May - August - Melodic Minor modes
September - December - Harmonic Minor modes

Within this time frame, you will have to have checkpoints to asses if you are on track with meeting your goal. With the seven modes of the major scale, your sub-time line could be to learn one mode a week for 7 weeks, 1 week to review all modes and the 4 weeks to practice soloing with the modes.

These checkpoints keep you on target, force you to practice when you would rather watch TV and ensure that you finish each goal on time. Doing so will help you meet all goals since you will not have to "borrow time" from other goals to finish one that is running behind.

Without a timed period to accomplish a goal, it is all too easy to fall into the "I've got plenty of time to do that" mentality. You then are struggling to meet the goal in the time frame and your results (i.e. the ability to perform/play the goal) will suffer!

Set the time line and work hard to meet it!

In conclusion...

Well, there you go, S.M.A.R.T Goals for 2008 !

It works folks, but only if you work! Good luck!





p.s. here are some links I've found useful and motivational ... have fun looking them over, but don't waste your practice time doing it!!! And if you find something interesting or useful, let me know!

GoalsGuy

Mind Tools

Goal Setting on About.com








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