Supercharge Your Guitar Practice Time

Lesson 3: Last & First

Today's lesson is one I learned in  college, when I wasn't even playing much guitar. But it applies to anything you want to learn. I call it Last & First.

In order to give your brain the maximum opportunity to retain what you're trying to learn, whether it's a guitar lick or a generally accepted accounting principle (hey, I was an accounting major. so sue me.), you can harness the power of sleep.

That's right, sleep.

Try this the next time you want to learn a new technique, lick, song, chord, or scale pattern: practice it just before you go to bed at night. (That's "Last" as in the last thing you do before bed.) Then practice it again as soon as you can after you get up the next morning. (That's "First" as in the first thing you do in the morning). While you sleep, your mind will process the new information. Then your early morning practice will reinforce it, and before you know it, you'll have it committed to memory.

It also works really well for jokes. When you hear a new joke that you want to be able to remember, tell it to someone right before bed, and first thing next morning. If you don't have someone to tell it to at those times, tell it to yourself in the bathroom mirror.