Guitar Lab: The Art of Practicing, Vol. 6

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Guitar Lab: The Art of Practicing, Vol. 6

About this course

The Art of Practicing, Volume 6 continues Brad Carlton’s deep dive into the mindset, discipline, and self-awareness required to become a better musician. Building on the concepts explored in Volume 5 and drawing on more than 56 years of teaching experience, Brad continues to share 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 continues to break down the different roles you need to play in your own development, from teacher to student to coach, while helping you better understand how to identify weaknesses, set goals, and stay motivated through the process. You’ll dig deeper into the ideas and approaches introduced throughout the series, developing a stronger understanding of how to organize your practice, evaluate your progress, and make the most of the time you spend with your instrument.

Along the way, Volume 6 strengthens much more than your practice routine. You’ll continue sharpening your listening, improving your time, developing better fretboard awareness, building stronger technique, and learning how to approach mistakes, improvisation, performance, and recording with a more productive mindset. By the end of the course, you’ll have an even 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 continue with The Art of Practicing, Volume 6.
Release date: 10/01/2026 • 1h 27m runtime
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Sample lessons
Technical Tools pt. 1
Technical Tools pt. 1
Pivot Fingers

What's included

22 lessons • 1 charts • 5 Jam Tracks

Brad Carlton here with Volume Six of The Art of Practicing.

I’ll be talking about ear training, discerning what’s going on with a drum kit, how to emulate different sounds of other instruments, and also applying your vocal techniques to the guitar.

This is really where the rubber meets the road, because everything I’m gonna show you in this volume will help you become more expressive as a guitarist.

Grab your guitar and let’s start practicing.
In this lesson, we’ll learn how to identify and use pivot fingers during chord changes to create more stability, smoother transitions, and a stronger sense of legato in our playing.
In this lesson, we’ll go over how guide fingers can help us move more efficiently from one shape to another while keeping our left hand oriented on the fretboard.
In this lesson, we’ll cover how to prepare guide fingers ahead of time so our chord changes and position shifts can feel smoother, more controlled, and more deliberate.
In this lesson, we’ll learn how dragging fingers can help us maintain contact with the strings and move more efficiently through chord changes and position shifts.
In this lesson, we’ll go over how to use barres as a practical technical tool for building cleaner chord shapes, improving efficiency, and making transitions easier.
In this lesson, we’ll learn how to listen specifically for the kick drum so we can better understand the pulse, feel, and rhythmic foundation of the music.

+ 15 more lessons

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Reviews

1 result

Ohio5665

Verified buyer

10/03/26

The Art of Practicing, Volume 6

Another great volume in the series. Lots of concepts and solid advice from a master!

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