Hey hey! Dokkodo here again!

I talk to a lot of people of all skill levels—from the music appreciators who haven't yet pickup up an instrument, to the hard and seasoned session guys who practice until they bleed—and I'd just like to share what I can gather from what I've learned in my own performance practice and what I've learned from my peers and colleagues.

"Musicianship is not an inherent trait, but a learned skill."

The most common deterrents any aspiring performer face are the "tone-deaf" or "untalented" terms thrown around by supposed musical elitists, and regurgitated by the general populace. This is not true.
Musical performance practice, like any other skill, is learned and not hereditary.
Whether you're looking to play Madison Square Garden, your local pub, or simply want to play from the heart for yourself and those close to you, the key to achieving these goals is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE and then, practice again...

Here are some tips to help you improve on your instrument of choice:

- Learn to hold your instrument

This may seem like an obvious one, but I see musicians from my favourite local hangouts to festival gigs around the world who do not know the proper way to hold their instruments. This is the first step on the long road to mastery and if you're looking to teach yourself without the aid of another human being, then this is often the first major problem you will encounter.

Incorrect technique can hold back your playing and hinder you throughout your career. What is often comfortable at first is misunderstood as the correct form simply because your muscle memory has kicked in and though your body may be relaxed, you still run the risk of suffering from a repetitive strain injury. For years, my bass guitar technique was holding me back; my wrist and forearms were relaxed when playing but as I started delving into more technically demanding music, I started to feel the onset of tendinitis and had to quickly adjust my technique in order to play in a more relaxed and "natural" way.

There are many online resources across the net that can help you. I cannot possibly list every instrument and the proper technique, but if you are reading this and think that you can improve your technique and efficiency on your instrument, leave a comment below and I will do my best to point you to a reputable source for bettering your technique.

- Time (part 1)

Time... People often say they would like to do something, but aren't prepared to put in the necessary hours to accomplish it. When I first started taking formal music lessons I was a horrible student, always leaving my practice to the night before a lesson—if at all—and never considering that I could be more productive if I managed my time better. I was about 10 years old and the naivety of youth is forgivable.

After many lessons and seeing no improvement in my playing, my teacher told me, "[Dokkodo], all it takes is 15 minutes of practice every day and I promise you will see better results than if you keep cramming in hours before our lessons."
Intrigued by this new information I set myself the challenge of practicing a set amount of time every day. I was always fascinated by my father's guitar playing and wanted to be like him and my two older brothers (two very accomplished performers and producers) and until that first week, I hadn't realized just how attainable this goal was!
I played my heart out every day on my axe, experimenting with intervalic relations and familiarizing myself with the world of harmony that lived on my fretboard. I started to fall in love with the sound of my own playing and would entrance myself for hours playing the same few notes in succession, gradually building up the harmonic pallet which, to this day, captivates and inspires me to find more ways to express myself.

After the week was up I realized I couldn't simply play for 15 minutes a day; I needed more and more time! Time...
I walked into my lesson, satisfied with the past week's progression, sat down and tuned up my instrument and told my teacher all that I had discovered.
"So let's hear it then!"
"Hear what?"
"What you've practiced."
I was stumped. I had spent the week indulging in harmony but had nothing to show for it. I was able to improvise some dorian-influenced chord/melody piece but under the scrutinizing stare of my instructor, my confidence faltered and I was defeated once again.
I don't consider that time wasted, but my only structure was that I must play every day. I hadn't yet learned how to use even 15 minutes to proactively improve my technical proficiency.

This brings me to my next point

- Time (part 2)

Sadly, it's not enough to just play idly for 15 minutes a day. Another very important part of music (and arguably, the most important part of performing) is keeping time.
Buy a metronome or use the google metronome for now, but for the love of Coltrane, PLAY WITH A DAMNED METRONOME!
It's tedious at first, and difficult, and the constant bleeping and blooping will likely drive you insane (see: Musician) but any experienced player worth their salt will tell you that it pays off to practice to a click.
It's not up to the drummer to keep time, it's not even up to the entire rhythm section as a whole, and if you're a classical musician, you can't rely exclusively on your conductor. Learn to take time into your own hands, or mouth, or whatever you use to play your instrument!
I learned a very important lesson from my bass guitar instructor at university. He put the metronome on 40BPM (which, to me at the time, was impossibly slow) and told me to play quarter notes up and down my scales and arpeggios. I begrudgingly obliged and he quickly heard that I had never done this before. We spent the next 35 minutes plodding along at a dead slow pace and by the end of the lesson I was exhausted. I had never been challenged like that in my years of playing. Even playing that ludicrous bass solo in "The Dance of Eternity" by Dream Theater paled in comparison to this excruciating (and greatly humbling) musical trial. It proved to me that although I had "chops", I hadn't the "pocket" to truly pull it off in a convincing, lyrical, and musical manner.
It's far easier to play quickly than it is to play slowly, so please, for my people in the back who want to be the next Steve Vai:

1. Put that metronome at 40BPM (or lower for the more experienced players).
2. Play quarter notes and gradually work your way through the faster subdivisions (quarter note triplets, eighth note, etc.).
3. Profit
   Okay, profit in the music industry is not nearly as easy to come by as the benefits of playing to a click, but I believe the two to be linked by no mere coincidence.

- Repertoire

This is an easy one. If you don't like the music you're playing, you're not going to want to play it.
I encourage everybody to listen to music from every part of the world. A really great resource is the YouTube channel, Traditional Music Channel (trust me, the music is far more creative than the title of the channel).
While it's important to play music for your instrument, I feel very strongly that non-Western music is ill-represented in our society. I am an African, and even here in the deep south, we are raised on "the top 100 culture of easily digestible trash" system like so many other countries. Get out there and find you something that really WOW's you and inspires you. Find a piece of music you have never heard but love, and transcribe the melody, rhythm or harmony onto your instrument. Sing along to the track and develop a taste for the many musics different cultures have brought into this world.
If diversifying your musical horizons is not your cup of tea (woah ho! you're probably not going to like my blog!) then seek out popular Western music for your instrument and play pieces that both intrigue you and challenge your abilities.

So many modern-day musicians fall into the trap of playing in one style and become complacent with their below average abilities. While the music they make may have artistic value, there is no excuse, (in my mind) short of disability, for complacency within music. We are all capable of expanding our means of expression and music is a very powerful tool that can teach, heal, and bewilder the mind. "Don't let your indie-rock band mates hold you back from being the best musician you can possibly be!" Go out there and conquer you some more challenges! Yes, YOU!

- Set yourself goals

Each instrument comes with its own challenges.
Nobody is the perfect instrumentalist.
There is always room for improvement.
Each day you practice you are a step closer to mastery, but only if you have clear objectives!
For many years I have wanted to improve my classical guitar tremolo picking. Each time I pick up my nylon string guitar—before any fun can be had—I do my trem exercises until I am confident that I am a little better than I was yesterday. I pick up my electric guitar and, for the past two weeks, have been learning the low B string on my 7 string and practicing straight alternate picking over the neck pickup without resting my wrist (something I think a lot of "lead guitarist" types should practice) as well as new voicings incorporating the low B. On my bass guitar I work on developing new and interesting rhythmic and harmonic ideas for improvising grooves and on all my instruments, my overall goal is to improve my tone, timing and general proficiency.

Goals are very easy to come by.
Find what you're not good at, get good at it. There...

Now, to summarize

• Learn the correct techniques for your chosen instrument
• Practice regularly
• Play with a metronome!
• Find music that inspires you to grow as a musician
• Say "No!" to complacency
• Set goals that will lead to your development as a musician
• "Like" this post and "Follow" @dokkodo for more!
• Click the links ;)

-- dokkodo out!