Read ReviewsThe Practice Solution
It's not you, it's your practice. Do you want to play the guitar better? Then you need to learn to practice better. Our online schedule along with our Secrets of Successful Practice report (members only) will have you conquering your greatest guitar challenge in no time.
Instructions
The online practice schedule consits of several parts. The main section consists of a calendar which is used to organize and track your pratice for a weeks time. On the right hand side of the page there is also a tuning fork, metronome, and counter.
The Calendar
At the top of the page are the days of the week:
Click on one of the days (or the arrow next to it) to get started. You will see the daily menu. The menu has five choices. "New Timer" creates a new time oriented task, for example if you plan on warming up for fifteen minutes you would use a timer task. "New Goal" creats a "to-do" type task, something you either finish or not. For more on goal oriented practice visit our Secrets of Succesful Practice report (members only). "New Memo" creates a memo box, kind of like on on screen sticky pad. "Delete All". erases all tasks for that day, and "Reset All" clears all the timer and goal boxes and sets them back to zero or not completed.
When you create timer you will see a purple box appear on that day. Timers have several parts. The large text ("Concierto de Aranjuez" in our example) is for writing the assignment. There is also a time amount box (15 in our example) that shows the number of minutes you want to spend on a given activity. There is a big black triangle next to it (it looks like a play button) which you click when you want to start the timer. As time passes the white box next to it will fill up and show the number of minutes that pass. When a timer is running the box turns red.
To pause it click on the pause button (the two little lines that are now where the play button was.) When the box is finished then it turns gray.
To move a timer click and hold on the drag area (the three lines at the top). To erase a timer click on the X. For more options click on the down arrow and a menu will appear.practice schedule sub menu "Reset Timer" sets the timer back to zero, "Duplicate" creates a copy of the timer box on the same day, "Daily" puts a copy of the box on every day of the week, "M W F" includes the box on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and "T Th" includes the box on Tuesday and Thursday.
Goal Tasks are created by selecting "New Goal" from the day drop down menu. Goal boxes are very similar to timer boxes. Moving, deleting, and copying them is done in the same way. The difference lies in how they keep track of tasks. Rather than a timer, they are completed simply by clicking the "To-Do" check box. Goal boxes work great for many tasks, often better than timer boxes. For more on goal-oriented practice visit our Secrets of Succesful Practice report.
The third type of box used on the schedule is a memo box. They are available for making notes, like a scale's top speed or any observation that might be relevant to a given day.
The Menu
Members have access to many additonal features, all of which can be found in the menu at the top right of the page. "Save" will save a copy of your schedule online. That way your schedule appears automatically after you log in. Also, it is available from any computer with an internet connection, so you can use the same schedule at home, the office, and at your guitar lesson. The Online Practice Schedule also automatically saves after you complete a task as well as saving automatically every fifteen minutes. "Print" sends a copy of the schedule to the printer (We recommend you select landscape under your printer settings for the best results.) "Hide Alerts" hides all of the alerts like "Are you sure you want to delete this?" "Hide Hints" hides the little helpful hints that appear in the bottom right hand part of the screen. "Reset All" resets all the timers and goal tasks for the whole week. This is helpful if you are starting a new week of practice when the new week is similar to the old. That way you don't have to type the same information in over again. "Delete All" clears the whole week and starts you fresh.
The Tuning Fork
The tuning fork will play a pitch so that you can tune your instrument. Click on the tuning fork icon or press "t" to hear the tone. You can change the refrence pitch in the drop down menu located next to the tuning fork icon.
The Metronome
The metronome is a crucial part of developing your skills. The Online Practice Schedule includes a basic metronome on the right hand side. To start and stop the metronome click the "on/off" button or press the space bar. To set the meter select from the drop down menu (e.g. for 4/4 select 4, for 5/4 select 5, etc.) To change the speed type in the number you want (up to 240). To change the volume drag the volume slider.
The Counter
A counter is also included. Why? Because repetition is a crucial part of succesful practice. This counter helps you keep track of repetive actions. Say you are going to repeat a section seven times. Click the up arrow (or press the up key) until the counter reaches seven. Play it once, then click the down arrow (or press the down key). Repeat until you reach zero.
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