Why You Should Practice Guitar In Front of a Mirror
By Andrew Tintle
Practicing in front of a mirror is a simple and often overlooked way that you can help yourself improve faster on the guitar. Having a full-length mirror is ideal, but even a smaller mirror hung on the wall still help. If you aren't practicing with a mirror currently, this article will lay out the primary benefits to doing so. If you do currently use a mirror, you will learn some additional benefits you may not have thought of. Here are 4 reasons why you should be practicing in front of a mirror:
- Refine Your Movements -
When I first started playing, I was completely mesmerized by how effortless many guitarists made their playing look and how smooth all of their movements were. People like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and many others seemed to have mastered the physical aspect of playing and made their fingers look so graceful as they played with maximum efficiency of movement. By practicing exercises in front of a mirror, whether it's scales or part of a song you are learning, you can observe what your hands actually look like as you play and focus on making them look like the professionals do. By seeing how much your fingers move, you will be able to make adjustments and see it from an observer’s viewpoint. Doing this will help tighten up your technique in addition to improving your presentation.
- See What the Crowd Sees -
If you play in front of other people or plan to, practicing in front of a mirror will help you get used to seeing what others see when you perform. What is your posture like? Are you able to look away from your guitar and make eye contact with your imaginary audience without losing your place, or are you only looking at the fretboard most of the time? Do you look confident? Building your stage presence is an important part of playing music for other people. Practicing in front of a mirror will give you unbiased feedback on what your current stage presence looks like so you can make adjustments.
- Spot problems in your technique -
When we are really focused on one area of our playing, such as our fretting hand, we may be doing things with our picking hand that are causing problems but we aren't aware of it (or vice-versa). By practicing in front of a mirror you will be able to periodically check in and look at all aspects of your posture and technique in both hands. For example, I used to have a lot of tension in my left shoulder where my guitar strap would sit while I was practicing picking exercises. I would pull my left shoulder up to my ear while practicing and didn't even realize it until I saw myself in the mirror. I was so focused on my picking hand, that I wasn’t aware of what was happening with my shoulder. All the excess tension from my shoulder was causing my hand to tense up, and was negatively affecting my technique. Once I became aware of this, I was able to watch my shoulder in the mirror and consciously keep it from creeping up until it eventually wasn't a problem anymore. This type of insight can be invaluable to you as you practice.
- Get the perspective of an instructor -
Teachers have the whole picture of our playing. Though a mirror won't replace the perspective your teacher will give you, it can help you to step outside yourself and get a better view of what they see when you practice. Your instructor may give you a tip to focus on a particular aspect of your technique, but you may not be able to get the best angle from where you can see. For example, when I was learning how to sweep pick arpeggios, I had a hard time seeing (and feeling) if my picking hand was smoothly sweeping through the strings like I wanted it to. By watching it in the mirror and knowing what I wanted it to do, I was able to see in real time if my hand was executing the movements I wanted. I was also able to crystallize the vision I had in my head of what I wanted them to do (see point 1). Without the mirror this would have been a lot harder and would have taken a lot longer to master.
As you can see, practicing with a mirror is a really helpful strategy to help you improve your guitar playing. The mirror adds a new dimension that would otherwise be missed. Once you start practicing with a mirror, you will definitely see improvement reflected in your playing!
Andrew teaches guitar lessons in Roseville, CA. He is committed to helping his students learn the best strategies and methods to be able to play the guitar the way they want to
- Refine Your Movements -
When I first started playing, I was completely mesmerized by how effortless many guitarists made their playing look and how smooth all of their movements were. People like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and many others seemed to have mastered the physical aspect of playing and made their fingers look so graceful as they played with maximum efficiency of movement. By practicing exercises in front of a mirror, whether it's scales or part of a song you are learning, you can observe what your hands actually look like as you play and focus on making them look like the professionals do. By seeing how much your fingers move, you will be able to make adjustments and see it from an observer’s viewpoint. Doing this will help tighten up your technique in addition to improving your presentation.
- See What the Crowd Sees -
If you play in front of other people or plan to, practicing in front of a mirror will help you get used to seeing what others see when you perform. What is your posture like? Are you able to look away from your guitar and make eye contact with your imaginary audience without losing your place, or are you only looking at the fretboard most of the time? Do you look confident? Building your stage presence is an important part of playing music for other people. Practicing in front of a mirror will give you unbiased feedback on what your current stage presence looks like so you can make adjustments.
- Spot problems in your technique -
When we are really focused on one area of our playing, such as our fretting hand, we may be doing things with our picking hand that are causing problems but we aren't aware of it (or vice-versa). By practicing in front of a mirror you will be able to periodically check in and look at all aspects of your posture and technique in both hands. For example, I used to have a lot of tension in my left shoulder where my guitar strap would sit while I was practicing picking exercises. I would pull my left shoulder up to my ear while practicing and didn't even realize it until I saw myself in the mirror. I was so focused on my picking hand, that I wasn’t aware of what was happening with my shoulder. All the excess tension from my shoulder was causing my hand to tense up, and was negatively affecting my technique. Once I became aware of this, I was able to watch my shoulder in the mirror and consciously keep it from creeping up until it eventually wasn't a problem anymore. This type of insight can be invaluable to you as you practice.
- Get the perspective of an instructor -
Teachers have the whole picture of our playing. Though a mirror won't replace the perspective your teacher will give you, it can help you to step outside yourself and get a better view of what they see when you practice. Your instructor may give you a tip to focus on a particular aspect of your technique, but you may not be able to get the best angle from where you can see. For example, when I was learning how to sweep pick arpeggios, I had a hard time seeing (and feeling) if my picking hand was smoothly sweeping through the strings like I wanted it to. By watching it in the mirror and knowing what I wanted it to do, I was able to see in real time if my hand was executing the movements I wanted. I was also able to crystallize the vision I had in my head of what I wanted them to do (see point 1). Without the mirror this would have been a lot harder and would have taken a lot longer to master.
As you can see, practicing with a mirror is a really helpful strategy to help you improve your guitar playing. The mirror adds a new dimension that would otherwise be missed. Once you start practicing with a mirror, you will definitely see improvement reflected in your playing!
Andrew teaches guitar lessons in Roseville, CA. He is committed to helping his students learn the best strategies and methods to be able to play the guitar the way they want to