“PRACTICE DOES NOT MAKE PERFECT.

ONLY
PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT.”
- VINCE LOMBARDI
Vince Lombardi said it, but it’s especially
relevant for guitar players in particular. We've
heard this sound advice time and time again
from our educators; practice the wrong thing,
or practice the wrong way, and you'll learn how
to play it ‘perfectly’ wrong. So, what exactly do
we practice, and how specifically should we
practice it?

The ‘what’ is fairly easy to answer. TrueFire’s

massive library features over 600 courses and
33,000+ video lessons, across all styles and
techniques, and all levels of play from beginner
to pro-advanced.

The following 25 Principles of Perfect Practice

should help answer the critical ‘how to
practice” question. We've tapped several of
our top educators and other experts on the
subject to help compile this valuable list. You
don’t have to follow them all — cherry pick the
ones that work best for you!

"Keep your instrument someplace easily

accessible. A guitar on a hanger in your
bedroom is great. A guitar in a case
underneath the couch is not so great."
- Douglas Baldwin
 "YOUR HABITS IN THE PRACTICE ROOM
MAKE YOU THE MUSICIAN YOU ARE." 
- THE MUSICIAN'S WAY

#1
SET UP YOUR PRACTICE SPACE
If you don't already have a physical space established where
you will sit down and practice, now is the time to set it up.
Whether it’s a spare room, a desk that does double-duty for
daytime work, a corner in the living room, or up in the attic
— set up your practice shed! The first step in establishing the
perfect "head space” for getting down to work!
 “THE MOST CRUCIAL INGREDIENT FOR
SUCCESS IN MUSIC IS WHAT HAPPENS
IN THE PRACTICE ROOM” 
— WILLIAM WESTNEY

#2
KEEP A PRACTICE JOURNAL
Before you even pick up the guitar, grab a pad and a pen and
write down the date and time, followed by your practice goals for
that session. You’ll be amazed at how this little discipline will help
you stay focused and achieve your goals. It’s also a great way to
reference what you’ve been working on in previous sessions. You’ll
find your practice journal indispensable in just a few weeks! (btw,
we have an online Practice Journal, which you can use for free).
#3
USE A CALENDAR
Schedule your practice session just like you would any of your other activities.
Earmark specific hours on your calendar for practice. Set reminders on your
phone or do whatever it takes to stick to a regular regimen. Other activities
will inevitably encroach on your scheduled practice time, so just reschedule to
another day. Don’t get thrown off your practice session goals!
 “YOU'VE GOT TO LEARN YOUR
INSTRUMENT. THEN, YOU PRACTICE,
PRACTICE, PRACTICE. AND THEN, WHEN
YOU FINALLY GET UP THERE ON THE
BANDSTAND, FORGET ALL THAT AND
JUST WAIL.”
- CHARLIE PARKER
"IF I DON’T PRACTICE FOR A DAY, I KNOW IT. IF
I DON’T PRACTICE FOR TWO DAYS, THE CRITICS
KNOW IT. AND IF I DON’T PRACTICE FOR THREE
DAYS, THE PUBLIC KNOWS IT."
- LOUIS ARMSTRONG

#4
FOLLOW A LEARNING PATH
Many students prefer to work with a prescribed regime or
learning path, which has been prepared by a qualified educator,
and designed to focus on the skills you need to develop. That’s
one sure-fire way to take your chops to the next level. Don’t have
a regimen to follow? Check out our Learning Paths for Blues, Rock,
Jazz, Country, and Acoustic!
 "FOCUS FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF
TIME, IN ALL THE RIGHT WAYS.
THEN WALK AWAY AND LET IT GO."
- VICKI GENFAN

#5
PRIORITIZE YOUR PRACTICE ACTIVITIES
Assign practice session activities according to your
priorities. For example, if you’ve decided that exploring
the blues is a priority, pre-determine and prioritize how
much of your time will be dedicated to studying the blues.
Plot your hours accordingly on your calendar and in your
journal. Do not start a new priority, before achieving the
current one!
“THE BEAUTIFUL THING ABOUT LEARNING IS THAT
NOBODY CAN TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU”
- B.B. KING

#6
DON’T TAKE ON TOO MUCH
Don't try to do it all at once. You may be interested in soloing,
songwriting, recording, expanding repertoire, rhythm playing,
ensemble playing, and so on. Decide on just two or three core
interests and give them all of your attention for a reasonable
period of time. Bounce around too much, or spend too much
time ‘goofing” around will not get you where you want to be!
 "PRACTICE IS THE BEST OF ALL INSTRUCTORS”
- PUBLILIUS SYRUS

#7
TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
There’s nothing sweeter, or more motivating, than seeing a long list of practice
session objectives you’ve nailed and checked off your list. So keep a list in your
practice journal and do just that! If you’re working with TrueFire courses, there
a progress tracking tool built into each lesson to help you notate lessons
in-progress or completed. You might also consider adding all of your complete
lessons to a ‘completed’ playlist and watch it grow!
 “THE MOST VALUABLE
PRACTICE AID IS PATIENCE” 
— HOWARD SNELL

#8
CREATE PLAYLISTS
By your very nature as a passionate and curious guitar player, you’re going
to come across lessons that might not fit what you’re working on currently
but a topic you’re very interested in. Create a playlist and stick that lesson in
there for the future. You can also use Playlists to organize all of your rhythm
lessons, soloing lessons, etc. Yes, we have that tool too!
 “IT IS IMPORTANT TO PRACTICE AT THE
SPEED OF NO MISTAKES”
 — LUCINDA MACKWORTH-YOUNG

# 9
STAY COMMITTED
You'll find that many of our courses are planned very deliberately
to bring you from Point A to Point B. Instead of throwing a mix of
disconnected material at you, these courses have a full learning arc.
Follow these courses from beginning to end. Make that commitment
and it will pay off in spades!
 "IT'S TAKEN ME ALL MY LIFE TO
LEARN WHAT NOT TO PLAY"
- DIZZY GILLESPIE

#10
TAKE IT SLOW & LOOP, LOOP, LOOP
With our slo-mo feature, you can slow down any part of
a lesson to the tempo of your choosing, without altering
the pitch. Increase the tempo incrementally, but not
until you can nail a part perfectly at the slower tempo.

There's also a looping tool so that you can set start

and stop points around a specific phrase or series of
measures. These are your secret weapons!
#11
USE A METRONOME
Whether you're working with a TrueFire lesson or
anything else that has made its way to your music stand,
you should always work with a metronome. Practicing to
a steady beat is a must for developing good timing. Good
timing will take you very far as a musician!

"LEARN TO PURSUE WHAT YOU NEED TO

PRACTICE, NOT JUST WHAT YOU THINK
YOU SHOULD PRACTICE"
- DOUGLAS BALDWIN
“STAGE FRIGHT NEEDS TO BE CONFRONTED AND
EXPERIENCED IN ORDER TO BE CONQUERED.”
— ELOISE RISTAD

#12
PLAY OVER JAM TRACKS
More fun than a metronome, but just as effective for developing
good timing is to practice over a jam track. Pick any of 200 free jam
tracks that we have in our library. We have all styles, tempos, and
keys. Working with jam tracks also gives you a real world context for
playing with other musicians so that you can also work on ‘locking in’
with the rhythm section.
 “DON’T JUST MEMORIZE NOTES; MEMORIZE THE
FEELING OF PLAYING THEM” 
— MADELINE BRUSER

#13
GET IN THE GAME
Don’t get trapped into the vacuum of working alone in front of your
screen. Music is a language — use it! Anything and everything you learn
MUST be applied in a live musical context as soon as possible. First, get
your chops together using jam tracks, then run — don’t walk — to your
local jam and get up on the stage! Sure, it will be a little nerve racking but
the rewards are priceless!
 THE WISE MUSICIANS ARE THOSE WHO
PLAY WHAT THEY CAN MASTER.”
- DUKE ELLINGTON

#14
KNOW THYSELF
If you're taking music seriously then you probably have a vision for who you want to
be as a player. Use your practice time to get that vision into focus. As the revered
instructor and author Douglas Baldwin told us, “Learn to pursue what YOU need to
practice, not just what you THINK you should practice."
 “IF YOU WANT TO BECOME A MUSICIAN
YOU MUST PRACTICE. THERE IS NO OTHER
WAY. THERE ARE NO SHORTCUTS” 
— RON OTTLEY

#15
BUILD YOUR LICK VOCABULARY
Licks are like words and phrases in sentences. The bigger your
vocabulary of licks, the more you can express yourself. All of the greats
have their own vocabulary of licks and phrases — so should you! Once
you have command of a new lick; twist it, turn it, and make it your own.
That’s what the greats do and so should you. Check out our Licks You
MUST Know series!
“IF YOU HIT A WRONG NOTE, THEN
MAKE IT RIGHT BY WHAT YOU PLAY
AFTERWARDS” 
— JOE PASS

#16
WORK ON YOUR RHYTHM CHOPS
One of the biggest mysteries is why guitar players
spend 90% of their time working on their soloing
chops when they actually wind up playing rhythm
90% of the time. Here’s a fact you should know —
a player with stronger rhythm chops will always
win the gig away from the player with stronger
soloing chops. Don’t let that happen to you!
 “PRACTICING IS THE PROCESS OF TAKING A
TASK THAT SEEMS DIFFICULT AND DOING IT
REPEATEDLY, OVER DAYS AND WEEKS UNTIL YOU
ARE ABLE TO DO IT WELL, AND EASILY.” 
— RON OTTLEY

#17
HIT THE GYM
Developing solid guitar techniques is directly subject to the quality
and intensity of your practice regimens. Integrate various technique
workouts into your practice sessions. Work on your picking, legato,
hammers, pull-offs, and all of the other right or left-hand techniques
that are characteristic in your preferred style. Pump it up with our
Guitar Gym series!
“THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN KNOWLEDGE
AND SKILL IS PRACTICE” 
— HOLLY MARIE SIMMERS

#18
REPETITION
Repetition is the key to burning concepts into your mind and
increasing the “muscle memory” in your fingers. For material
that seems daunting at first, start slow and build the tempo.
Repeat until you can play the material in your sleep. And then
repeat again!
“GOOD LISTENING IS ALWAYS THE FIRST
STEP IN THE PROCESS THAT CREATES
TECHNIQUE AND CAPABILITY” 
— HOWARD SNELL

#19
EXPLORE A DIFFERENT STYLE
Rock, jazz, funk, blues and country are just a few styles
that influence and compliment each other. You will
become a better, more versatile player when you start
mixing in other influences. You might just learn a new bag
of tricks. And your audience’s ears will thank you for it!
 “THE VALUE OF AN EXERCISE DEPENDS
ON YOUR STATE OF MIND. IF YOU DON’T
FIND IT INTERESTING, THEN IT IS NOT
USEFUL” — MADELINE BRUSER

#20
LISTEN AND OBSERVE
One critical aspect of musicianship is one the hardest things to
do — listening. Listening and observing what the other payers
are doing is crucial! Your playing isn't worth squat unless it makes
harmonic and rhythmic sense within the musical setting. You also
can learn a great deal from other players in the band. How the
piano player phrases a line, where the drummer increases the
dynamics, or where the bass player drops the beat. Listen!
 “LEARNING NEVER EXHAUSTS THE MIND”
- LEONARDO DA VINCI

#21
BUST OUT OF YOUR RUT
Spend at least five minutes every single practice
session playing something you’ve never played
before. How long can you go before you fall into
your well-worn licks, tricks, and grooves? Try
something new and you stand to add something
new to your bag. This is a trade secret of many
of the greatest jazz players in history. Worked for
them, might work for you too!
 “IF A HARD BIT IS GIVING YOU A HARD TIME, YOU
SHOULD GIVE IT A HARD TIME” — PHILIP JOHNSTON

#22
RECORD YOURSELF
Find an easy way to record yourself performing the material
you’re working on. Listen back to it and be truly objective.
Rushing some of the lines? Pushing or dragging the tempo? Is
a segment of the piece giving you trouble? You’ll hear all kinds
of things that are not apparent while you’re actually playing
the material. You might also be quite impressed with yourself!
“TO STUDY MUSIC, WE MUST LEARN THE RULES. TO
CREATE MUSIC, WE MUST BREAK THEM” 
— NADIA BOULANGER

#23
ATTEMPT SOMETHING DIFFICULT
Every so often, try reaching over your own head. Test yourself with something
that strikes you as impossibly difficult. Sure, you'll find it humbling. But soon
you'll realize that it's not as unapproachable as you think once you break it down
into bite-size segments, slow it down, and work it up to speed. Reach for the sky!
“IN LEARNING YOU WILL TEACH, AND IN
TEACHING YOU WILL LEARN”
- PHIL COLLINS

#24
BE SOCIAL
You’d be amazed at just how much you’ll learn by interacting
with other students. Guitar players love to talk to other guitar
players, and they all have something insightful to say. Chime in
on our YouTube and Facebook channels, or jump on our Punch-
In blog. Read Riff Journal, our digital magazine, for even more
insight and lessons from a wide variety of sources. Mingle!
#25
FIND YOUR TEACHER
Every player needs a mentor, someone to tell them what
they’re doing right or wrong. Find a teacher that you can
consult with when and as needed. You don’t have to take
weekly or even regular lessons. What’s important is having
an instructor that you feel you can connect with, and feel
confident in their ability to guide your progress. Check out our
Private Lesson educators if you don’t already have someone
you’re working with.
10 Ways to Learn,
Practice & Play
with TrueFire
READY TO PUT THESE 25 PERFECT PRACTICE TIPS TO WORK? HERE’S
A RUNDOWN ON 10 HANDY LEARNING TOOLS DESIGNED TO HELP
OPTIMIZE YOUR PRACTICE SESSIONS. USE SOME OR USE THEM ALL TO
LEARN, PRACTICE AND PLAY WITH TRUEFIRE.

#1
LEARNING PATHS
With over 700 courses and 33,000+ video lessons to choose from, mapping
out your lesson plan might appear to be a daunting task on TrueFire. TrueFire’s
Learning Paths to the rescue! Our style-specific Learning Paths are accelerated,
hands-on study plans for beginner, intermediate and advanced guitar players.
The Learning Path system will help you assess your current level of play, and
then present you with a personalized curriculum of video lessons presented by
TrueFire's world-class guitar educators. If you prefer to craft your own lesson
plan, you can also use Learning Paths as a style, level, and topic-specific guide
through TrueFire’s library.

TRUEFIRE.COM/LEARNING-PATHS
Tab and Video sync available streaming online, in iOS and TrueFire Desktop Apps

#2
VIDEO-SYNC TAB AND NOTATION
One of the first things you’ll notice when working with TrueFire lessons is how
the video lesson is synced to the corresponding tab and notation that appears
below the video window. Click and drag to select any measure or section, and
then adjust the speed to slow down or speed up the video and notation. You
can even display a fretboard to show the range of frets where a section is
being played on the neck. Practice your selection at a comfortable speed and
then work it up to tempo before moving on to there next section. Bingo!

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.ZENDESK.COM/HC/EN-US/ARTICLES/207810868-
USING-THE-SOUNDSLICE-FEATURES
ABOUT TRUEFIRE VIDEO SYNC
#3
SPEED & LOOPING CONTROLS
#4
PRACTICE JAM TRACKS
In addition to the speed and looping
controls that you have at your disposal
with video-sync, you also have independent
speed and looping controls that you can
access directly within the video player itself.
Whether your learning a lick, a solo, or
rhythm part, the most effective approach
is to break the part down into bite-size
chunks, and then slow down and loop the
part as you learn and practice it. Gradually
increase the speed until you can nail it at
tempo. If there’s one practice habit you
should embrace — this is the one!
Another learning you’ll notice right away when
working with TrueFire lessons is the corresponding
practice jam track that accompanies virtually all of
our video lessons. These are the actual backing
tracks that the educator used when demonstrating
the lick, solo or rhythm part. Once you’ve worked
the entire part up to tempo using the speed and
looping controls, start practicing the part by playing
along with the educator’s performance. Finally, call
up the practice jam track and play the part yourself.
First, play the part as close to the educators’
performance as possible and then feel free to
tweak it and make it your own!
HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.ZENDESK.COM/HC/EN-US/
ARTICLES/360008907073-HOW-TO-ACCESS-
P D F S -AJ A
BMOU
S -TGP R
5A- FCI L
TEI CSE- I N
J A-M
D ETSRKATCOKPS- A P P
#5
IN THE JAM
There’s simply no substitute for getting out and playing with other musicians, but we
know that can be difficult for many students of guitar. That’s why we produce the In The
Jam series of video jam sessions — the next best thing to playing live. Each edition of
In The Jam includes 10 multi-track video jams organized into separate video and audio
tracks for each of the instruments. You can select any video angle and you can mute, solo
or adjust the volume of any track. There's no better way to develop your improvisational
skills than jamming with a solid rhythm section and top TrueFire artists!

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.COM/IN-THE-JAM

TRUEFIRE.COM/IN-THE-JAM
#6
PROGRESS TRACKING
As you browse or work through TrueFire lessons, you can use our Progress Tracking
tool to indicate whether a particular video lesson is untouched, in-progress or
completed. This is a simple, but very effective way to keep track of what you’re
working on currently, what you’ve already worked through to completion, and what
you’re planning to work on next. This tool works great with Learning Paths and with
your own customized lesson plans.

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.ZENDESK.COM/HC/EN-US/ARTICLES/220896027-TRACK-
YOUR-PROGRESS-ON-COURSES
ABOUT PROGRESS TRACKING
#7
PLAYLISTS
Speaking of ‘customized lesson plans’…our Playlist toolset is an ideal way to organize
TrueFire lessons any way you wish. You can create as many Playlists as you like, fill
them with any number of lessons, and easily access them anytime you wish. You
can even make them public to share them with other students if you are so inclined.
This is one of TrueFire students’ favorite learning tools and it’s not uncommon for a
student have a dozen or more of them. Create one for licks, one for rhythm parts,
one for soloing lessons, one for theory, one for…you get the idea. Organize your
TrueFire curriculum to your heart’s delight!

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.ZENDESK.COM/HC/EN-US/ARTICLES/218816367-
PLAYLISTS-SAVE-ORGANIZE-RE-ORDER-INDIVIDUAL-VIDEO-LESSONS
ABOUT PLAYLISTS

#8
FAVORITES
Try as you might to stay 100% focused on a particular lesson, course, customized
playlist or Learning Path lesson plan — you will be drawn away to explore other
lessons on TrueFire. Considering the size and depth of the library, and all of the new
courses being launched monthly, it’s unavoidable! Bright shiny things and all that
— it’s what we practicing guitarists love to do! This is where and why our Favorites
tool comes in handy. See something you might be interested in digging into later?
Simply make it a favorite and then review all of your favorites at a later date to decide
whether you want to add it to your lesson plan or playlist. Easy as pie!

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.ZENDESK.COM/HC/EN-US/ARTICLES/216622387-SAVE-
COURSES-JAMS-LESSONS-EDUCATORS-AS-FAVORITES
ABOUT FAVORITES
#9
BIG BLACK BOOK
Anyone practicing guitar needs staff paper,
blank tab, guitar chord charts, guitar scale
charts, and fretboard diagrams to chart
their guitar lessons and musical ideas. You
can find books with some combination of
these blank charts and grids, but you can't
find one with all of them organized in a
practical way. That's why we chose to design
our own and optimize its design specifically
for the practicing guitarist. TrueFire’s Big
Black Book includes: blank Chord, Staff,
Tab and Scale Charts, Fretboard Grids,
Fretboard Diagram, 80 Guitar Chord Charts,
Guitar Scales and Modes, Pentatonic Guitar
Scales, Blues Guitar Scales, Major & Minor
Guitar Scales and much more! Better yet…
it’s free for TrueFire Students!

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.COM/BIG-BLACK-
BOOK
TRUEFIRE.COM/BIG-BLACK-BOOK
#10
PRIVATE LESSONS
The online and digital world is a wonderful thing for the practicing guitarist. So
many cool tools, vast libraries of lesson content, and sound advice on virtually
any topic — all at your fingertips. Just one problem… there’s no one to tell you
what your doing right and more importantly, what you’re doing wrong. Every
student of music needs assessment, feedback, guidance and someone to
give them a kick in the behind every now and then. Take your playing to the
next level with individual or ongoing private online guitar lessons from one or
more of TrueFire's top educators who specialize in the learning methods and
techniques of your preferred style. Interact privately with your instructor using
TrueFire's patented learning tools and iOS app for private video messaging,
discussion threads, lesson plans, tab, notation, jam tracks, and charts. Learn at
your own pace, on your own schedule, and accelerate your studies with the best
educators in the biz!

HTTPS://TRUEFIRE.COM/PRIVATE-LESSONS

TRUEFIRE.COM/PRIVATE-LESSONS