"I don't have time for practicing." "Practicing is boring. I just want to play." "I hate practicing!" You may have heard (or used) these excuses yourself whenever the subject of practicing your guitar has ever come up, especially if you're an experienced player. I know I have. But if you're ever going to develop your skills as a masterful musician, you need to practice.
One of the most important tools you can have in life is a little word called "Patience." Why? Think of it this way: Do you think your favorite guitar heroes ever got where they are today by not having the patience to practice? Do you think Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Vai, Slash, etc. became the legendary guitarists they are without the discipline and the patience it takes to practice? I think not.
Sure it's fun to "just play," but to go from playing okay to playing extraordinary requires discipline. So let's talk about that for just a sec. Discipline doesn't have to be this chore that you are forced to do every day. It's a process of training yourself to be consistent. It's developing new routines that eventually become habits after only a few weeks. And when habits are formed via repetition, it becomes like second nature; it's no longer a chore.
Repetition is the key to good practice. If you are to learn anything on guitar, whether it be new or something you've known for a while and need to polish your skills, you need to utilize this invaluable tool called repetition. It's the bread and butter of good practice. And being able to play something more than a few times requires discipline.
Believe it or not, all your favorite guitar heroes play their solos, licks, riffs, etc. over and over and over and over and over... you get the picture. And not just on stage, either. The reason their playing sounds flawless isn't just because they're "just that good." It's because they've taking the time - the discipline - to play the same things constantly until they feel they've mastered them. Sitting on their tour buses, on their sofas at home, in the studio, during rehearsals; good guitarists play, but great guitarists practice what they play beforehand.