So You’ve Had Your Fretlight For A While…
… and you’re having a blast learning new things, but you feel a bit overwhelmed. After all, there is so much to learn, and sometimes it’s hard to know how to organize it all and really make your practice time count. In this post I’m going to outline four really important ways to get the most out of the Fretlight learning experience.
1. Write It Down!
To really help you track your progress, you should keep a practice journal where you write down exactly what you work on each time that you pick up the guitar. Years ago I used to have a notebook that I would keep right next to my guitar and I would write down the following:
- how long I practiced for (30 minutes, an hour, etc.)
- specifically what I worked on (new chords, rhythms, new songs, etc.)
- what I felt needed improvement/further practice (switching between chords, keeping time, etc.)
- a short term goal that I knew I could achieve by the end of the week (example: learn four new chords)
- a long term goal that might take a month or more (example: learn the lead guitar part to a Led Zeppelin song)
To this day I still keep a practice journal, but now I use my computer for easy access 
As a Fretlight guitarist, you might work on studying some new chords in Lesson Player, work on a new song with M-Player, try out some new tabs with Guitarz, or experiment with a new scale using Improviser. The important thing is this: Now matter how much you practice, learn, and play, it is important to ALWAYS have something new to work on. After 23 years of playing, I’m still just as excited to learn new things now as I was when I first started playing. For me, a huge part of staying motivated is writing down the things that I’m working on. I can really see exactly how my time is spent, and I can track my results and really see how far I‘ve come.
2. Record Yourself
Years ago I had a music teacher tell me “The tape don’t lie”. What he was referring to was the process of recording a practice session and listening back to it. After I had been playing guitar for about 6 months or so, I began to use my dad’s old tape recorder to record my practice sessions. I found out very quickly that what I THOUGHT sounded good when I was playing it didn’t sound so hot when I listened back to it later, hence the saying “The tape don’t lie”. Recording your own playing and listening back to it can be an eye opening experience. The nice part is that with the advent of modern recording technology, you don’t have to use the old tape deck like I did. The important thing is this: Now matter how you do it, you should try to record yourself practicing at least once every few weeks. It might be a new song you’ve learned, some new chords, or even just a simple finger exercise. The really important thing is to NOT listen to the recording right away, but to wait a day or two so that you can listen to it with ‘fresh’ ears. If you make this a regular habit, you will find that you are much more ‘aware’ of your playing when you know that you are being recorded, and this ‘awareness’ will really help you grow as a player.
3. Compose An Original Piece Of Music
When I first started playing, I had a lot of ‘guitar heroes’ that provided me with the inspiration to practice all of the time and try to get better. Even now there are dozens of players that I continue to draw inspiration from. BUT, as cool as it is to learn your favorite player’s songs, NOTHING is as rewarding as creating your own original music. Whether it’s just a few chords that you strum or a simple melody or riff, creating your own music form scratch truly has no comparison. Over the years I’ve written hundreds of original songs, some very simple and some very complex, but the important part is that I’m ALWAYS writing. I still have a box of old tapes from when I was 12 or 13 strumming away on a few chords that ended up turning into my first few songs. I laugh at those songs now because they seem so simple, but at the time, I thought they were the greatest thing ever, and THAT was what inspired me to keep playing, practicing and writing. To this day I try to compose something new at least once a month, more than that if I have time. It might be a series of chords that I think sound good, or a new melody that catches my ear, or it could be the result of a new scale or technique I’m working on. No matter what it is, you should strive to be as creative as you can as often as possible. Who knows, you could end up writing the next great guitar anthem!
4. Playing With Other Musicians
The single most defining moment in my life as a guitar playing came when I first played with other musicians. I was 15 and I’ll never forget it: A bunch of other players who were much older and much more skilled that I was had invited me to come jam with them. At that time in my life, it was an exciting, frightening, and exhilarating experience. We cranked up our amps and played the blues for what seemed like forever and it was FANTASTIC. Even though I knew I wasn‘t that good, I was having so much fun I didn‘t care. That one moment really lit a fire under me, and all I wanted to do from that moment on was jam as much as I could with other players. I always tried to surround myself with musicians who were better than me so that I could try and learn from their experience. Now, I’m not saying that everyone out there who plays guitar is going to have the same kind of experience I did, but I DO know this: Playing with other musicians is hands down the best type of ‘on-the-job’ training you will ever get. By jamming with other players, you get to use all of the skills that you’ve been working on, and you also get to experience the ’dynamics’ or the ’chemistry’ that comes from playing live music. And the next time you sit down to practice, you’ll have a much better idea of what you should be working on.
Good Luck!
Nate
Great suggestions and insight. As a beginning player, this is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I need to know. Thanks!
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NATE COMP EVERYBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hi rusty I bought a Fretlight FG-405 Order ID: 16627
As I finally decided to purchase a 405
I received it in the mail I live in Illinois man was I excited to finally learn the guitar. I was so happy only to be disappointed by the following. The action was set a little too high for me. So I took it to my local music store Kidder/top dog music c for a pro set up only to find out that the holes in the neck were stripped and Little pieces of wires in three of the four holes the guy at the music shop said he would not go no farther until I contacted the company the website says 30 day product warranty on defective parts. I stood there when the guy loosen the neck screws when he turned A ½ turn two of the screws were alredy loose. In the holes you could see twisted wires to take up space for stripped out holes.
I am 40 years old and have seen this done in a factory situation for a Quick fix The guy At top dog music says this a unacceptable I am so disgusted now .I don’t know what to do so I took it out in the back yard and busted it into 20 pieces .I been on the phone with Greg for three or four phone conversations the best the company will do for me is give me a hundred dollars off another guitar.
I waited 40 years to learn the guitar raised two kids and really sad I decided on your product.
Jim Wagenknecht
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You busted it up and want Optek to pay for it? You're lucky they even offered you $100 off.
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I broke it up in pure disgust that company would sell a guitar with stripped out neck holes fixed with wires and the company offers $100.00 coupon towards a B stock guitar seconds
what good is a guitar with stripped out neck holes. waisted 350.00 bucks
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Jim, you're 40 and act like you're 7 (I know, I have a 7 year old). Had you simply contacted Fretlight (prior to your tantrum), they would have taken care of it. I initially purchased a FG-421, and it had a grounding problem (very bad hum). I contacted Greg, and they took care of it. Now, imagine if I had gone into the backyard and smashed the guitar. Instead of getting a new guitar, I'd bet I would be offered 100 bucks off or something. Now, I agree that you should not have gotten a product that was obviously of substandard quality, but you should FIRST try to resolve it in a "grown-up" manner. If Fretlight THEN didn't take care of the problem (which, from my experiences, I doubt), go smash the thing...
And what is this comment doing on the Guitar Blog, anyway?
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