The Fret Freaks Blog

I’ve often asked myself: “Why am I practicing?” I spend hours a week going over scales, working on exercises, learning songs. All of this alone in my office. If you’ve played for any amount of time, you’ve undoubtedly had periods when you’ve questioned why you’ve sacrifice all this time when you could be watching TV or playing video games.

Well, let me tell you a little story. I’ve studied jazz off and on for as long as I’ve been playing. One of my early teachers taught me “How High the Moon” when I really wanted to learn “Iron Man.” That teacher’s influence paid off later when I played in my high school’s jazz ensemble. A few years ago, I quit a rock band because I wanted to study jazz more in depth. 

I spent about nine months doing that. At the time, I was working full time and only had enough time to practice a couple times a week. That wasn’t enough time to keep my hands in shape, let alone get my head around the concepts I needed to improvise effectively.

On my last birthday, as a gift to myself, I bought a jazz fake book and set about learning a few tunes. As I did that, that question popped into my head again. Why was I doing this? Do I really expect to become a jazz guitarist? I was enjoying what I was doing, so I just ignored the nagging, logical half of my mind. I learned “Satin Doll,” “Bluesette,” “Take Five,” and “Straight No Chaser.” I felt a real feeling of accomplishment learning those songs even though I was only playing them for myself. I had no grand plan of what I was going to do with what I’d learned.

Then, earlier this week, completely out of the blue, I received an email from a director at a local community theater. She was in desperate need for a guitarist for a show she was mounting. One of the songs she needed someone to play was “That’s All” by Nat “King” Cole. I didn’t know the tune. But because I had been building my jazz chops, I was able to learn it quickly and accept the gig.

That is why you practice. So you’re ready to accept an opportunity when it presents itself. Are you ready for your next opportunity? What should you do while you wait for it? Simple. Practice.