[BarbaraM]

For all of you who say ten minutes a day is too little–I am not in disagreement with that. I am simply presenting an alternate viewpoint.

I also have read the book The Laws of Brainjo, so I understand the learning value of shorter sessions, at *least* once daily. More often is obviously going to bring greater returns. Now in my own case, I have not so much a struggle learning but in execution, as my fingers are short and puffy and I cannot do certain things, no matter how much I practice. Plus after about 10-15 minutes of steady practice, my fingers get tired and I start stumbling over simple passages. More is not always better, at least when not broken up. I don’t want it to stop being fun. Now, Braden says he takes 5-10 minute breaks in his hour-long practice; guess what, that’s several non-continuous 10 minute sessions.

I have noticed from various comments in different challenges that many of us are older, and extended practice sessions may not be entirely comfortable. Sure, daily practice will keep your calluses in shape, and that is definitely recommended! But if you are hoping to become a rock star, you should have started at age 12 and never stopped. I only play for myself and maybe a friend or two from time to time. Your mileage (and needs) may vary!

So maybe it’s a marketing strategy, maybe it’s brain science, maybe it’s a way to get more people having fun making music, maybe all of the above. You do you, as they say!

[petelanger]

Your position is well founded @BarbaraM

I copied this excerpt from today’s Monday Momentum email:

Science backs up the power of short, daily playing versus longer playing sessions that are infrequent or scattered.
For instance, a 2021 study from the National Institutes of Health found that taking short breaks between playing sessions allows your brain to “replay” and reinforce skills up to 20 times faster than if you cram all your practice into one long session.
Similarly, sports science shows that weightlifters who trained twice daily for 15 minutes improved more quickly than those who did one long session per week-proving that frequency trumps duration.
And when it comes to guitar, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that musicians who played for 10 minutes daily made 30% faster progress in skill acquisition compared to those who played infrequently but for longer periods.
So, by keeping your sessions brief and consistent, you’ll build muscle memory, finger dexterity, and rhythmic intuition-all essential for learning and playing “Johnny B. Goode’s” infectious groove.
You know the whole, “how do you eat an elephant… one bite at a time.” adage?
Well, apparently there’s science that backs that up… although I think we all know that if we were to eat an elephant we wouldn’t necessarily need science to tell us to take one bite at a time.
Anyways… all I’m trying to say is give yourself some grace and realize that if you are consistent the progress will come.
With that let’s duckwalk through another wonderful week of fun, focus, and progress.
Cheers!!!
– Tony

[the-old-coach]

Great post Pete– and agree wholeheartedly that 10 minutes every day is great stuff!

But at the start of this thread, we were sort-of comparing “10-minutes” to longer periods of time– (but still every day).

(From Tony’s excerpt)-

“Similarly, sports science shows that weightlifters who trained twice daily for 15 minutes improved more quickly than those who did one long session per week-proving that frequency trumps duration.
And when it comes to guitar, a study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that musicians who played for 10 minutes daily made 30% faster progress in skill acquisition compared to those who played infrequently but for longer periods“

Yes, the excerpt noted here refers to how good shorter-sessions-every-day are…….. but instead of comparing them to longer sessions every day- (like at the outset of this thread)– it compares them to “one long session per week” and then “played infrequently but for longer periods”.

Of course, playing every day is gonna provide better results when you hold it up against playing only “one long session per week”. So will playing multiple-short-sessions during every day— in essence playing more than ten minutes every day.

The “earlier” comparisons in this thread were legitimate comparisons. “Every day for 10 minutes” ……. or……… “every day for more than 10 minutes”.

But…. they are completely different from these “latest” comparisons(?) in Tony’s message.

At any rate, I believe the TAC program is great stuff.

[Skyman911]

My only opinion on this is, “committing to 10 minutes a day”. In my personal experience, If I didn’t commit to playing everyday, I would have had long gaps between playing, and probably would have given up. Commit to 10 minutes, and then go as long as comfortable. Some days that might be 10 minutes or a couple of hours. But do at least your 10 minutes. Most likely you’ll play longer and be glad you committed to playing.

TAC also isn’t my only avenue for learning. I’ve had a couple of years of personal instruction with a number of teachers, and have checked out a couple of other online courses. I still think TAC offers the best bang for the buck even with some of the quirks.

[petelanger]

@the-old-coach & @Skyman911 I do thank you guys for all the wisdom you have shared here in this thread. I don’t need to tell you guys that I’m not advocating you more advanced players (or anybody for that matter) should play less. What I have been saying is there is a lot of research supporting learning sessions should not be longer than about 20 minutes (more or less) and then you should break. It doesn’t even have to be a totally relaxing break, just doing something else for at least a short while. I have found for me I learn best when I keep my sessions at around 15 minutes, but I do catch myself going much longer because I’m having so much fun or just so wrapped up in trying to play a chord sequence without mistakes.

If you aren’t hurting in any way it’s easy to go long, one ought to be mindful that the benefit diminishes at some point without breaks in playing, especially while doing new stuff. I do think that rehearsing well known things is a bit different and somewhat longer sessions may be useful but not too long. Most of the members on TAC are newer and the material will be newer also.

[Skyman911]

@petelanger, I didn’t get the impression at all that you were advocating some of us to play shorter sessions. Your posts are always positive and encouraging. I also don’t consider myself anywhere near advanced. : -)

[the-old-coach]

@petelanger– I echo @Skyman911 ‘s message word for word!

• This reply was modified 1 week ago by  the-old-coach.