Practice mistake most people make

I’m my experience when practicing, I’m very much focusing being constantly in direct control, following every move. While I think this is great for programming in a movement, I find staying there all the time does not accomplish much, in fact could begin to train poor technique.
I think a method not talked about is going in the 3rd person perspective.
Of Course you can’t do that as like in a video game unless you record yourself, but I’m talking about stepping back mentally as you practice, just letting the motions happen, Not focusing on playing correct, letting mistakes go by, noticing them but not correcting them.
You’re almost perceiving the music with a slight delay as you’re not zoomed in on direct technique, actually listening to the music.

I find this is a vital step in being able to actually play in front of people, as when you do play in front, you are very much in that 3rd person mode, self conscious of the whole rather than those little perfect movements you are used to alone in your room.
Not my room… :upside_down_face:

Any thoughts?

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This is an extremely important practice methodology. Claus Levin’s TV practice is formed on the bedrock of such an approach.

From my own perspective, following the advice you gave is what turned everything around for me. It literally was what saved me from quitting guitar and eBaying my gear.

Overthinking is just as bad as not thinking enough. There’s a middle ground. But overanalyzing, which Cracking the Code does tend towards, needs to be offset by some intuition. You can’t think your way to great guitar technique. Some aspects of it are impossible to put into words, and there’s no “IKEA Assembly Guide” for great guitar technique. The role of the disinterested observer is an important one to play.

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I remember reading ‘The Inner Game of Music’ years ago (I really should read it again), it pushed the idea of ‘awareness’ being key, not a judgemental mind. The idea is that you are aware of what isn’t right and let your body and mind sort it out without trying to brute forcing it. That’s not to say that you should endlessly play like crap and wait for the magic to happen - you sort of sense that its wrong and invite your nervous system to make adjustments to make it work. The link with CTC in this regard is the important aspects of random practice and exploration, not mindless repeats of the same stuff and wait for the wind to change.

I like this, it feels very real. Most of the progress I have made in recent times is by absorbing CTC and then getting the hell out of my own way. Then at some point as you say the disinterested observer in my brain picks up on something and it feels good and the results seem to match CTC and (hopefully) the cycle starts again!

This all turning zen… :sunglasses:

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My problem, and I have been thinking about this a lot is that I don’t seem to know when to change my approach on a bit of music that’s hanging me up, and I will spend years sometimes practicing the same thing, never actually breaking that barrier, but sort of expecting something to change or improve, because dammit that’s what the guitar mags said… play slow, and hit it with a metronome, then one day…

So yeah, changing my practice habits, and knowing when to change my approach, or even just quit and do something else is a really important concept I have been coming to terms with…