Distracted practice can be a great thing for your jazz guitar playing. It’s not a common position for a jazz guitar teacher to take, I know.
Most people out there will tell you how to avoid or get rid of distractions so you can “get the most out of your practice time.” In all honesty, I don’t think distractions are all that bad for your playing.
Think about it – what if occasionally practicing with distractions on purpose is actually good for you?
Performing music is rarely a distraction-free experience. Most of the time you’re in some kind of restaurant, bar, or club. There are people talking, plates or glasses getting dropped, and just about any other kind of distraction you can think of.
If you have to have complete focus to play your music, you’re going to have a hard time performing well. That’s just the way it is.
So that’s where I get my idea that distracted practicing isn’t all bad for your jazz guitar playing.
In fact, I’ve used it as a tool for years – to make the best out of otherwise wasted time, or to take my mind off of what I’m working on. One of my college professors even recommended practicing scales while watching a football game – to get the scales out of the way.
Keep reading to learn how to get better at jazz guitar while you watch tv!
My Experience
Like I said earlier,I’ve used distracted practice off and on for years. I think it’s a useful tool – and there were even some times where it was the only way I could get myself to practice.
When I was in college, one of my side jobs was working in the light and sound booth for recitals and concerts. It wasn’t an exciting job – change the lights a couple of times, and remember to start the recorder so there would be a CD available later.
That’s it.
It was pretty boring, but I made the best of it. I would bring a guitar up to the booth with me, and as soon as the concert was rolling – I was working through my major scale exercises.
I had to pay just enough attention to what was going on that I didn’t miss something important like an intermission. So it was actually a good introduction to distracted practice for guitar.
It wasn’t a great time to try to work on anything really musical – there was too much going on and we could hear a little bit of the concert in the booth. But I logged a lot of time playing scales, technical drills, and other muscle-memory based exercises.
Use Distracted Practice for Jazz Guitar
Distracted practice has a very useful place in your own routine. Because I had to split my attention between the concert and my playing,
I got a lot better at trusting my fingers, and building my muscle memory to the point where I didn’t have to think about my scales – they just happened.
In this case, I was just trying to make the most of time that otherwise would have been lost to me. I had to be there running the booth – so I figured I may as well get some practice in while I was at it.
But sometimes, I find that distracted practice is a perfect fit for times where you just don’t want to play guitar. But you still want to keep your skills together.
The TV Practice Routine That Kept Me “Gig-Ready”
After I finished graduate school. I was just completely burned out. I mean, the last thing I wanted to do was look at a guitar. Forget playing it.
And I absolutely didn’t want to think very hard about music. I’d just done that, finished some huge projects, and I needed a break.
But the reality was, I still had lessons to teach. And I had camps and performances coming up that I needed to be on top of my game for.
I couldn’t afford to take a month off and just not play (no matter how badly I wanted to at the time).
I needed something I could do that would keep my fingers moving, but required almost no thought. Something that would keep my chops together so when I was ready to get back at it, I could just dive right in.
The Watching TV Exercises
Enter the “Watching TV Exercises.” I had a pretty rigorous scale routine that I could play almost in my sleep – but it would keep my fingers in shape. And I really wanted to just zone out and watch TV for a little while.
So I grabbed one of my guitars, and fired up my favorite show at the time – The Office.
The Office worked great for my purposes. The short episodes were like a practice timer – 20 minutes of work, and I could take a little break to rest my fingers. Plus there was no music in the show, other than the intro and outro music. It was perfect for me at the time.
Distracted practice, or “Watching TV Exercises” worked really well for me. I really needed a mental break from practicing music, but I needed to keep my physical skills together so I wouldn’t have to play catch up later.
Think about a time when you come home from work, and you’re exhausted. The last thing you want to do is pick up your guitar and practice. But if you can put on a show and get your fingers moving, the practice session isn’t a loss.
You might even be able to come back tomorrow a little bit better than you were today.
I was able to spend a few weeks practicing while watching TV. And when I was ready to get back to my normal practice again, I was able to jump right in without having to knock the rust off my fingers first.
The Best Lessons I Ever Had
When I was living in Spokane, WA, I took a lot of lessons with jazz guitar players who came through town. I got really lucky – there was a jazz guitar society who brought in great players regularly. Sometimes once a month.
And two of the best guitar lessons I’ve ever had were when my teacher for the day was watching TV.
The first time this happened was with Portland based jazz guitarist Dan Balmer. He was on tour with Diane Schuur at the time, and I grabbed a lesson with him in his hotel room. As we were playing through There Will Never Be Another You, he was watching an Oregon State football game.
I thought it was a little weird, but I went with it. We’d be playing, and every so often he’d glance over at the tv screen to check out the game. Then he’d tune back in to what we were doing.
He could even do this while he was soloing! It was incredible. And it was amazing how detailed his feedback was on both my soloing and my comping when we were done with the tune.
The second time it happened was in one of my lessons with Rodney Jones. He had been a hero of mine for years at that point, and I was lucky to grab a couple of lessons with him while he was in town.
My Lesson With Rodney Jones
In my second lesson, he was watching a Lakers Game (with the sound off). And just like my earlier experience, he was really on top of what was going well…
… and what needed work in my playing.
What I really had to think about after both of these experiences was how good both of these teachers were. Even with the distraction of a game they were paying at least halfway attention to.
In my experience you get good at what you do the most often. So my best guess is that both of these players had to have spent some serious time practicing with distractions. Maybe it was watching TV.
Or maybe they were just used to the constant distractions that come from playing in restaurants or clubs.
Either way, it might be a good idea to work some distraction into your practice routine.
Distracted Practice for Jazz Guitar – It Just Works
I’m not saying that you should always have a tv on when you’re practicing. That’s not a great idea. And to be honest, you should probably be paying attention to what you’re doing in your practice sessions.
Most of the time, anyway.
But – it’s impossible to just be “on” all the time. It’s exhausting.
You only have so much attention span to work with. So if you’re constantly stretching your focus, you’re going to hit a point of diminishing returns. The point where, as my first jazz guitar teacher put it; “the wheels start falling off the wagon.”
Distracted practice gives you a way to keep things going when you don’t feel like playing. Or make the best of a situation where you would otherwise just be sitting around and waiting.
This shouldn’t be all that you do though…
You can’t rely on this type of practice for everything. It works really well for technical drills and muscle memory. For exercises where you don’t have to pay the closest attention to what your fingers are doing.
You can’t be learning new things and watching a show. But you can play through patterns you already know, like scales that you want to drill every day.
Conclusion
In my experience, distracted practice can be a helpful tool in some cases. Especially if you’re struggling to get going in your practice session…
… or you’ve got a repetitive technical problem to work out.
It might even help you prepare for dealing with the distractions that are going to pop up on a gig. But it’s important to remember that you’re not really working on music with distracted practice. You’re building skills.
It’s hard to learn tunes or work through new concepts when you’re watching a show or a game. But distracted practice is a great way to keep your fingers moving, maintain your skills, and maybe even improve your technique.
I’ve also had multiple students get past some mental stumbling blocks by turning on a show and tuning out a little bit.
So give it a try next time you need to work through your scales, or just don’t feel like playing anything. Turn on your favorite show, and get playing!
Do you ever use distracted practice in your routine? Let me know in the comments!