Stamina, Endurance and Practice Time.

All the time top Guitar players are asked about how they learnt their skill, what made them so good and how long they practised every day to reach there skill level. Quite often the guitar player will then come out with some big answer. Chris Broderick of Megadeth and Jag Panza has been said to have practiced 14 hours a day when he was young, taking several different guitar lessons each week. Though practising that long is very rare, the average figure seems to be between 3-5 hours.

These answers can be incredibly inspirational. Becoming a great guitar player takes a lot of dedication, love and care.

But this can also be a bit intimidating to a new guitar player. I myself have had the moments where I have thought; '5 hours practice? I can do that', only to feel tired and in need of a rest less than 2 hours later.

Like any physical activity you have to let your strength and stamina build over time. Take a Marathon runner for example. They could not run 26 miles straight away. They start of with light jogging, then running and gradually increased there distance over time. Guitar playing is the same.

When I started playing, 40 minutes practice was my average, but over time that increased to an hour, then 2 hours, and now after a few more years I can easily do 5 or more hours practice most day.

Taking regular 5 minute breaks are a good idea to.

Also note that every guitar player is different, what works for one person may not work for you. Kerry King has said that sometimes he goes a few days with out even touching the guitar.

I promise that if you stay patient, work hard and be honest with your self you will be able to manage those long practices and become a great guitar player. Do not be scared to take days off here and there if your busy with other things, and most importantly, make sure you enjoy playing the guitar.