Now, I realize that not everyone who reads my emails and blog posts is at retirement age, but I know that a lot of you are…<\/p>\n
And one of the emails that I often get is from new retirees who now feel like they should have all this time to practice… but they find they aren’t really playing that much at all.<\/p>\n
So if that’s you, or is about to be you, read on…<\/p>\n
This is the one I hear the most… most folks I know that retire find sooooo many things to do in a day around the house, or traveling, that guitar playing simply takes a backseat to other things.<\/p>\n
When you were working, everything took a backseat to that and now that the working time is available, you might have to take a little time and manage the priorities a little. Or at the very least, take stock of what is going to be a short term project that you’ve been waiting on, and what is becoming a habit now.<\/p>\n
If you’re taking care of a few short term things because you can, then maybe that re-prioritizing can wait until those are done.<\/p>\n
Don’t put your guitar away where it’s an event to get it out and play it. Put it on a stand or a wall hanger where it’s easily accessible and you walk by it fairly regularly throughout your day.<\/p>\n
Even go so far as to keep it tuned up, and when you want to grab it and play a few chords, just do exactly that. There’s no pressure, just play a minute and then move on.<\/p>\n
Waiting for your spouse or your kids or grandkids? Play a few chords or a couple of licks and at least you’ll get that guitar in your hands and start to build the habit.<\/p>\n
You’ve spent your whole working life focusing on goals and deadlines and sometimes it’s just hard to do something for fun, with no pressure attached.<\/p>\n
Realize that you play guitar because you enjoy it and because it’s something you’ve always wanted to do. You’ll get better just because you pick it up, and as you continue to build the habit, you’ll pick it up more and more.<\/p>\n
Remember that 2×20 minutes is better than 1×40 minutes where practice is concerned. So playing that new lick or chord 3 or 4 times throughout the day for 5 minutes each will do much better in the long run that sitting down and playing it straight through for 20 minutes all in one sitting.<\/p>\n
The attention required to practice and play guitar is a muscle like any other… the more you use it the better it’ll get. When I haven’t practiced much for a while, I get about 15 minutes before my mind wanders. But if I’ve been practicing regularly for weeks, I can go 40-45 minutes fairly easily. In my youth I played for 2 hours or more without stopping, but I simply can’t do that anymore and I doubt most of us can in our adult years.<\/p>\n
That’s what I have for suggestions, but if you have retired recently and have any suggestions, I’m sure folks would love to hear from your experiences in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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