The desired outcome of this essay is to present my reflective practice journal, specifically for my development of applied guitar theory, which has been a key focus of mine throughout this first semester. The practice shall be documented through Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle.
My active involvement with the instrument, before starting at the conservatoire, concerned mostly of learning songs for whatever the next grade or performance was. Though there were points of learning structure of guitar theory, they never really stuck both to time constraints and a lack of interest on my part. This meant that my main focus in the first semester along with learning the music theory itself was also to gain a better understanding of the instrument I play. The success of the reflective practice will partially be determined as a result of the technical instrumental exam on the 20th of January, which is after the input date of this assignment. Most of the ‘learning’ events took place in the one-to-one sessions with my tutor in the conservatoire, which is when I would be tested on my memory of what I had learned.
Description
In terms of what I learned I had to go back to the basics of guitar theory, whatever I may have known and forgotten in my time playing. So first of all I learned the E major scale on each string, naming all the notes and/or degrees of the scale, this was so as to play the full scale across the whole fretboard. This was a longer process than I had wanted it to be, due to how I had previously reacted to learning scales or chords, which was to memorise the shapes but without learning, or specifically remembering how the chord was formed, or the scale was made. In these lessons, I focused on a different aspect of learning the fretboard each week, or for longer if it had not stuck. This was all focused around the CAGED system. These were all elements of the technical test, for example: pentatonic scales, major and minor chords, scales and arpeggios, blues scales and suspended 2nd arpeggios. As well as this was another aspect of the test which was learning a song of my choice and performing it as close to the original as possible. That part is less relevant to the reflective practice as it was something I was used to, and in lessons where that was either the focus or I had successfully completed the other objectives, we would look at parts of the song and focus on either harder sections, or more likely, focusing on the specific feel and sound of the piece. Learning the song worked well as a break between learning the scales and arpeggios, but would sometimes take too much of my focus.
Feelings
There were a range of emotions in my practice, usually on the spectrum of confidence, irritation, boredom and then gratification when I successfully played whatever I was learning correctly multiple times in a row. At the beginning of the lessons I was quite excited to go back to basics and solely focus on them, because the overarching goal was to become a better guitarist, and I had felt that I had missed out on properly learning the basics due to the previous styles of teaching and disciplines. This did not last however, and as I became less excited, though still aware of the importance of learning this, there was a decline in progress. There would usually be a build up in stress before lessons if I wasn’t making progress, and I would sometimes feel defeated after them because of said stress, though this was nearer the end of the first semester of lessons and mainly due to my part rather than the tutor. As mentioned, there were a scale of emotions during my practice time; I would be focused for potentially twenty minutes to half an hour, and then my attention would begin to divert. This would usually be as a result of either the boredom or irritation if I was getting parts wrong. After a period I would start practicing again, though it would usually be a frantic jump back into playing, acting as if berating myself for getting distracted, which caused a loss of calm and sense of irritation with the process of practice, making it feel like a chore.
Evaluation
The obvious problem with my previous method of learning was that it stuck. This meant I had to focus more on the specific notes and not rush ahead to just repeating the shapes, or at least repeating them without knowledge of what I was doing. There was a progression and improvement in quality over this time; the first steps went relatively quickly, but there would be points in learning other parts where I would focus too much on the shapes, and when asked about the technicalities of what I was doing I wouldn’t fully know, which was irritating, but due to my own impatience. I would sometimes improve, but usually would stay at the same stage of practice for too long .The lessons did become stressful, as they were the last lesson of each week, which meant that my lessons were essentially bookended by a test of my discipline. The stress did help me focus specifically on learning the theory, and would be released whenever I would successfully complete whatever task I had been set, but it was a potentially problematic cycle.
Analysis
Some of the difficulty I found in playing multiple types of scale repeatedly was making the same mistake over and over again, despite knowing what the right thing to play was. In lessons because of the patterns in scales and along the guitar neck, my tutor was showing me that, for example, the distance and position between the first and the fifth of each scale will always be the same, at least on the lower four strings. Especially with the CAGED system, there is always an order of the degrees of the scale within each chord and how they are constructed. These can work together to help predict where the next note will be, and what it should sound like, though the sound is built up from prior knowledge as well as a sense of relative pitch. A major problem was inconsistent practicing. This did not necessarily mean there was a lack of it, but that it was not formal. Even if I practiced for three hours, it would not be structured, it would simply be three hours over the course of a whole day, or ‘practicing’ for three hours but the length of time actually being more like one. This could have been both due to how practice was scheduled as well as how I felt when practicing, as something mentally would cause me to stop, for whichever reason it entailed. Andy Lemaire (2013) wrote “Mindlessness and distraction are the primary enemies of good guitar practice. It’s important to be completely in the present moment when practicing,” which sums up the experiences I had when practicing, because of distractions either from being in my room or not being in the moment. Therefore it is useful to focus on playing guitar partially for the sake of playing it as well as for the purpose of learning, focusing the mindset to help focus of the instrument.
Conclusion
In conclusion emotions and potential burnout of the practice are more of a problem than the difficulty of the practice itself. It would have helped if I had found a system or schedule that allowed me to get the right amount of practice in without focusing too much on the stress of it. While I did play things other than the technical test focuses, it would have helped to specifically focus on other pieces for a measured amount of time, acting as a break between the theory practice. In terms of the actual theory, learning the start has helped me keep going, as it begins to make more sense and build towards learning more complex parts of theory. This is also helped by some of the contextual studies seminars that also have a focus on the theory part, mainly harmony. The scales and other aspects are coming along well as part of this and there seems to be some form of muscle memory taking shape, as sometimes my hands will gravitate to the parts I am learning when doing other things.
Action Plan
Looking forward, I can develop a stronger routine when practicing, both around how I practice and what I practice; “fundamentals can easily be expanded upon, like taking major scales to practice different articulations, phrasing, or rhythms” (D’Angelo, 2014), as well as how practice is viewed, rather than solely focusing on one singular objective, e.g. have this prepared for next week, it can work well to step back and think about what is different about what I’m playing, or the theory behind it so as to develop a greater understanding of what I’m doing which can help ingrain it into memory, echoed in the quote, “Each practice session should be, amongst other things, an exercise in revealing another facet of the music.” (Wilson, 2020). If these two key methods are kept at the focus, learning what I’m practicing should become more fulfilling. It is of course another thing to enforce this, as there are plenty of opportunities to be distracted. “Cognitive scientists refer to this as “context-dependent learning,” which means that the environment where you study can impact how well you absorb and retain information. By using your bedroom for both rest and study, you may inadvertently dilute your brain’s association with either activity.” (Wilson 2023) To combat this it could be an idea to either remove items like phones or other appliances, and keep routine as regularly as possible, so it is easier to settle into it. It can also help to practice in academic areas, as the atmosphere can be different and potentially more focused.
As this is a reflective cycle, it is important at another stage to reflect upon the same descriptive, emotive and evaluative thoughts each time, as there will be changes in each cycle, and these are important steps to improving from practice. This study of reflective practice has been an interesting experience, as it has allowed if not forced me to look at my practice from a wider perspective than I would have before. The process of studying emotions definitely opened up another view of reflective study and will almost certainly help develop my abilities in future.
Bibliography
D’Angelo, Michael. “In Order to Progress as Musicians, We Must Practice.” Medium, 31 Mar. 2014, medium.com/@michael_dangelo/the-art-of-practicing-24ea9834fafc. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
Lemaire, Andy. “Zen and the Art of Guitar Practice.” Guitar Lessons with Andy Lemaire, 7 Feb. 2013, andylemaire.com/zen-and-the-art-of-guitar-practice/. Accessed 12 Jan. 2026.
Wilson, Alice. “Is It Better to Study at Home or Somewhere Else? | Genio.” Genio.co, Genio, 7 June 2023, genio.co/blog/is-it-better-to-study-at-home-or-somewhere-else. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
Wilson, Frances. “How to Keep Practice from Feeling like a Chore.” Interlude.hk, 6 Sept. 2020, interlude.hk/the-tide-of-practice/. Accessed 14 Jan. 2026.
