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07/03/26
Guitar Lab: The Art of Practicing, Vol. 3
More great advice and practicing concepts in this volume from a master musician. Thank you for sharing your knowledge Brad!
Guitar Lab: The Art of Practicing, Vol. 3
Unlock Better Playing Through Smarter, More Creative Practice.
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About this course
The Art of Practicing is a deep dive into the mindset, discipline, and self-awareness required to become a better musician. Drawing on more than 56 years of teaching experience, Brad Carlton shares the core principles behind effective practice, showing you how to listen more deeply, assess your own playing honestly, and build the habits that lead to real musical growth. This is not a course about memorizing licks or running exercises without purpose. It is about learning how to practice with focus, intention, and a clear understanding of what you are trying to improve.
Brad breaks down the different roles you need to play in your own development, from teacher to student to coach, while helping you understand how to identify weaknesses, set goals, and stay motivated through the process. You’ll explore concepts like the investment of time, the difference between difficult and different, the three levels of assessment, and the major areas of study, including the classroom, the gym, the playground, the stage, and the studio.
Along the way, the course strengthens much more than your practice routine. You’ll sharpen your listening, improve your time, develop better fretboard awareness, build stronger technique, and learn how to approach mistakes, improvisation, performance, and recording with a more productive mindset. By the end of the course, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how to guide your own musical growth and make your practice time more focused, creative, and rewarding. So listen closely, take your time, and let’s dig into The Art of Practicing.
Brad breaks down the different roles you need to play in your own development, from teacher to student to coach, while helping you understand how to identify weaknesses, set goals, and stay motivated through the process. You’ll explore concepts like the investment of time, the difference between difficult and different, the three levels of assessment, and the major areas of study, including the classroom, the gym, the playground, the stage, and the studio.
Along the way, the course strengthens much more than your practice routine. You’ll sharpen your listening, improve your time, develop better fretboard awareness, build stronger technique, and learn how to approach mistakes, improvisation, performance, and recording with a more productive mindset. By the end of the course, you’ll have a clearer understanding of how to guide your own musical growth and make your practice time more focused, creative, and rewarding. So listen closely, take your time, and let’s dig into The Art of Practicing.
Release date: 07/01/2026 • 1h 27m runtime
Sample lessons
Two Worlds
Prepared Music vs Improvisation
What's included
13 lessons • 1 charts
Guitar Lab: The Art of Practicing, Vol. 3
Hi, I’m Brad Carlton and this is The Art of Practicing Volume 3.
In this course, I’ll be talking about principles for better practice. We’ll look at some of the things you need to do, some of the things you need to be careful not to do, and how to get more focused, useful results from the time you spend with your instrument.
I’ll also share a few stories about what it means to be both the teacher and the student, along with a little bit of psychology and a lot of practical ideas you can apply to your own playing.
So grab your guitar and let's get started
In this course, I’ll be talking about principles for better practice. We’ll look at some of the things you need to do, some of the things you need to be careful not to do, and how to get more focused, useful results from the time you spend with your instrument.
I’ll also share a few stories about what it means to be both the teacher and the student, along with a little bit of psychology and a lot of practical ideas you can apply to your own playing.
So grab your guitar and let's get started
Two Worlds
In this lesson, we’re going to talk about the two worlds musicians live in: prepared music and improvisation. We’ll look at how learning a written part, a classical piece, a cover solo, or even a simple riff can become part of your vocabulary, and how you can take that prepared material and start turning it into something of your own.
Being "In The Moment"
In this lesson, we’re going to talk about being in the moment and why fear gets in the way. We’ll look at how to recover from mistakes, keep playing, listen without judgment, and practice taking chances so you can become more comfortable improvising freely.
Wrong Notes
In this lesson, we’re going to talk about wrong notes, or really, whether there is such a thing when you’re improvising. We’ll look at the 12 notes as colors, with some being stronger and some being weaker, and we’ll see how tension notes can work if you learn how to resolve them.
Top Priorities
In this lesson, we’re going to talk about your top priorities: rhythm and intonation. If your time is off or you’re not playing in tune, it doesn’t matter how many correct notes you know, so we’ll focus on how to listen back, assess your playing, and practice the things that actually make you sound better.
Rutbusters
In this lesson, we’re going to talk about getting out of ruts by listening beyond the guitar. We’ll look at how other instruments, like horns, piano, voice, violin, percussion, and even Indian classical music, can open up new sounds and help you become a better musician who happens to play guitar.
Systematic Study pt. 1
In this lesson, we’re going to talk about systematic study and juggling techniques. We’ll look at how to take something simple, like a chord or a scale, and explore different fingerings, picking approaches, positions, sounds, and technical possibilities so your technique serves the music instead of trapping you in the same old patterns.
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