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Ok, for those of you that did not raise your hand - stop lying! You know good and well there have been times where you've been frustrated while practicing your instrument.

It is a given that if you continually push yourself to grow as a musician, there will be times where you get frustrated while practicing. In this post, I'll talk about frustration and offer some insights that will help you stay on target when those frustrating moments occur.


What is Frustration?

Frustration - the feeling that accompanies an experience of being thwarted in attaining your goals

* The Free Dictionary.com


That definition fits nicely for us musicians. Our goal, as musicians, is to play music that excites and inspires us. Unfortunately, as our skills grow, so does the complexity of the music we wish to play (in most cases). With more complex music, comes additional practice time to develop the skills require to play the piece.

Regardless of whether that difficult piece is a Mel Bay song like Sparkling Stella or a 9 minute Frank Zappa masterpiece like Inca Roads, both experienced and beginning musicians will have to practice to get the song under their fingers.

What is interesting is that both will likely have the same thought when they run into a difficult section of music. Both will think "It shouldn't be this hard, why is this giving me so much trouble?" Where the two differ is in their ability to work through the difficult section.

More experienced players will realize this is just another obstacle that will be overcome through focused practice. Beginners may decide to move on to another piece or worse, give up and go back to playing Guitar Hero! (this video is hilarious - you've got to watch it!)

Keep reading for some ideas that will help you through these situations...

Take a break from practice

Yes, a guitar teacher said "take a break from practice".

Sometimes, you do more harm than good when you try to bull your way through a tough section of a song making the same mistakes over and over. For example, you've been hitting the practice for almost two hours and for the last 30 minutes, you've been working on 2 measures of the song that you just cannot play cleanly.

You're tired, your focus is on everything but the music (i.e. I'm hungry, is there any ham in the fridge, I can't believe the Pats are going to the super bowl, Green Bay lost to New York - what is the world coming to?)

In this case, you have a date with frustration in a few minutes. Take a break, go get that ham sandwich, drink a coke (or water - much better for you). Talk to the family or give a friend a call. Do not get on Myspace or play video games - you'll never get back to practice. Get the idea?

By taking a break, and more importantly, taking your mind off the piece of music, you reset both yourself and your ability to focus. When you return to the practice room, you are able to tackle the piece refreshed. Will this make you instantly play the piece perfectly? No, but it will allow you to continue practicing without getting frustrated.

Step back and realize who you are

Or another way of putting it, get a little perspective on the big picture.  Most of us are not professional musicians* that can dedicate 10-12 hours a day in perfecting our craft through practice and rehearsal. We are, however, dedicated enthusiasts who want to play as good as we think we can play and we practice as much as life will allow.

* although I'm pretty confident that professionals also deal with these issues as well

With that said, if you are tackling a difficult piece for your skill level, it may take you longer than a professional musician to learn the piece. However, there is no time limit on you to have the piece ready by tomorrow or next week. If it takes you a month to learn a song or a solo, so what? At least at the end of the month, you will have the song under your fingers.

So, if you are the type of person that puts pressure on yourself to learn something as fast as possible, ease up on the time line expectations, give yourself some breathing room. When you do, you'll find that you not only get frustrated less often, you also will likely learn the piece more thoroughly.

Look at the work you put into learning the song as your accomplishment, rather than just learning the song

Take pride in the fact that you've tackled a hard song. Pat yourself on the back for the hours of practice time you've put into learning the song to the best of your ability. Know that your work has made you a better player!

If you look at your practicing this way, rather than beating yourself down because you took longer than you think you should have to master something, you'll be frustrated less often. You'll find yourself enjoying the obstacles that come up (i.e. Why does my pinky finger do that every time I play this run, I can work on that) and seeing them for what they are, stepping stones to becoming the player you want to be.

So there you have it

A few ideas that you can apply to your own practicing to limit the times you become frustrated with your playing.

Good luck and let me know what you do to avoid/eliminate frustration when practicing.





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