Can I Practice Guitar Eight Hours A Day? (Suprising Findings)

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Written By Sarah Barlow

Chief Music Officer

If you are a new guitarist keen to advance your skills crazy quick, or someone who has been playing for a while but is ready to commit and take your skills to the next level, then you might be contemplating going all in, and practising for eight hours a day.

It’s an admirable idea. I love this kind of dedication.

It can be done, and INSANE progress can be achieved with this kind of dedication.

But it is possible to spend a lot of effort without getting the deserved reward if you don’t practice in the right way.

We explore these issues throughout this article, but the key thing to be aware of is to begin with the end in mind.

What are you trying to achieve?

Ok, so you want to be a great guitarist. That’s great.

But what specifically do you want to be able to do, and play.

What style, what skills, what attributes do you want to have as a guitar player?

All of these questions need to be clear in your mind as you develop a plan to practice for eight hours every day and take over the world as a guitar player.

What Are the Benefits of Practising 8 Hours a Day?

No doubt the more you do something, the more your body adjusts to your demands, and develops the neuronal pathways required to do what you want to do.

The brain is a very efficient mechanism and the nerve connections throughout our body respond to the demands we place on them, and connect certain nerve pathways, at the expense of other nerve pathways.

The body adjusts to the environment it is in, and what the environment demands of it. So if you practice a certain movement with your hands on the guitar, multiple times a day, every day, you will become very good at doing that consistently, and quickly.

So if you are practising the guitar for eight hours a day, your body will adjust to the reality that serving the movement of your hands on the guitar is the priority and adjust accordingly.

What Does It Take to Practice 8 Hours a Day?

Practising your guitar for eight hours a day is a noble goal and requires multiple components in place to be both possible and effective.

If you want to be truly great at something, there is a sacrifice that needs to be paid in terms of practice and preparation. But just dedicating a huge amount of time to something does not ensure your success.

A Plan

The most important thing you need to ensure your eight hours per day of guitar practice are not going to waste is a plan. This is best developed in partnership with a guitar teacher, guitar coach, or lecturer (if you study at university/college).

If you are not in a position to access any of these, then there might be some programs available by guitar coaches on the internet at a heavily reduced price.

You could potentially waste all of your time if you are not using your practice time effectively, so make sure you have a goal in mind, and you have a plan for how your actions every day are working towards that goal.

SMART Goals

If you have spent any amount of time in a corporate environment then you would have come across the term ‘SMART’ goal. a SMART goal is one that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and TIme sensitive.

This is a great prescription for the goal you have in mind.

Some goals are bot worded and conceptualised in a way that makes them effective, so to ensure you have a goal that will deliver the intended results, make sure that your goal is SMART to maximize the chance of it being successful.

Supportive Environment

Another critical ingredient to your capacity to engage in eight hours of guitar practice a day is an environment that supports this commitment.

Take a few minutes and write down on a piece of paper, all the commitments you have in your life, what that commitment is, how long it takes, and how often it is.

If you are single, you will have different relationship demands than if you have a partner. What are your financial commitments, do you need to work? How will you sustain yourself while you practice full time?

For some these questions will be simple, and for others, there will be many more moving pieces to navigate before being able to easily find a clear uninterrupted eight hours per day that you can dedicate to guitar.

If you have people that rely on you, or that have commitments to, then it can help to be transparent about your wish to practice eight hours per day, and see how they are willing to work with you have their needs met as well as your own.

Focus

It takes a significant amount of energy to force yourself to stick with a single task for eight hours straight. You will need huge amounts of energy to keep the focus on a single task for that period of time.

This focus on consciousness about what you are trying to achieve. is what makes the practice most effective.

What Should You Practice If You Are Practising for 8 Hours a Day?

If you are practising eight hours per day then you will need to have a very clear practice plan detailing exactly what you will be practising, on which days and for how long.

If you are not clear on this then a significant proportion of your eight hours will be wasted trying to decide what to do and when to do it.

To make the most of your practice you need to know exactly what you will be doing for the next eight hours.

Your time should be spent on a combination of scale work, harmony, counterpoint, arrangement, other theory, and even ear practice.

You could also use the time to set aside certain pieces you need to perfect and do them for hours and hours. The road to perfection takes you a long way best the work being interesting.

To maximize the effectiveness of your hours of practice, make sure you have a solid plan about what practice will lead you to what results, and check in with a coach or teacher.

Then check-in along the way to see if you are making the expected progress in line with your effort.,

Do You Need to Gradually Work Up to Practising 8 Hours a Day

Depending on what your practice routine includes, there may be a ramp period required.

You will not be able to transition from a period of little to no practise to an extreme eight-hour practice routine without a ramp-up period.

Being applied to guitar strings on a repeated basis requires the skin on your fingers to be conditioned for this and this takes time.

In your ramp-up period, you could use that time to focus your efforts on other non-instrument related learning on music theory and arrangements in general.

Are There Any Downsides to Practicing 8 Hours per Day?

There are some potential downsides to practising eight hours per day.

Though eight hours can be a way to turbocharge your learning, as we discussed above it requires a lot of things to be working together to be possible and effective.

Many people recommend against practising this much as it is genuinely difficult to make sure those hours are effective.

So though many say it is not possible, they are basing that on the assumption that either, you won’t be able to stay focused and motivated for eight hours.

For most people, that is true.

It will take a unique individual, in unique circumstances to be able to manage eight hours of effective guitar practice per day over a long period of time.

But it is technically possible with the right preparation and planning.

FAQs

How Long Do Guitar Players Practice Per Day?

There is a huge variation in how much different guitar players practice per day.

But for many professionals, I have often heard them state they when not on tour they ensure they spend at least three hours per day playing and practising guitar to make sure their chops do not fade away.

How Many Hours Of Guitar Practice Is Too Much?

There is no set figure that could be quantified as ‘too much practice’.

Well, potentially you could say an amount that means you do not have enough time to eat and sleep and look after yourself (10+ hours).

Should I Practice Guitar Eight Hours A Day?

For most people, this is not a good idea as it will be difficult to remain effective for these eight hours.

However for unique individuals with high levels of discipline and focus, and very supportive environments, eight hours of guitar practice per day can lead to rapid developments in guitar skill and competence.

Can You Practice Guitar 12 Hours Per Day?

Though it is technically possible to practice the guitar for 12 hours per day, it is unlikely that you will be able to do this effectively and sustainably.

But it would be worth attempting it, to find your limitations and then find a more reasonable and sustainable amount of practice that fits you and your goals and your life.