Let’s have a heart-to-heart about practice.
At Hawaii MusicWorks, we see a lot of students who say they practiced—but when they sit down in class, it’s clear something’s not clicking. That’s not because they’re lazy or bad or uncommitted. It’s usually because they did something we call practice in disguise.

It feels like practice. It looks like practice. But it doesn’t actually help you grow.

So let’s break it down.

🎭 Fake Practice Looks Like…

• Playing your favorite part of the song over and over because it sounds cool
• Running through a song start to finish, never stopping to fix anything
• Practicing while watching YouTube, TikTok, or literally anything else
• Guessing what your assignment was instead of checking
• Ending early because “you played it once all the way through”
• Strumming the guitar with your thumb while lying on the couch
• “Practicing” in the car by humming along to the radio and calling it good

Look, we’ve all been there. Sometimes we just don’t have the juice. But fake practice tricks your brain into thinking you put in the work—without any of the results.

🔥 Real Practice Looks Like…

• Focusing on the part that’s hard, not the part that makes you feel cool
• Slowing it down. Like, way down. So your brain and fingers can sync up
• Repeating a section multiple times until it sounds better, not just louder
• Practicing in a quiet space, free from distractions (screens, siblings, pets, etc.)
• Checking your notes or video lesson to make sure you’re working on the right thing
• Asking for help when something’s confusing—before the next lesson
• Ending with a playthrough for fun, after you’ve done the focused work

Real practice is focused, honest, and sometimes a little uncomfortable. But it works. And it builds not just skills, but confidence.

Not Sure Which One You’re Doing? Ask Yourself:

• Did I work on what was assigned?
• Did I improve anything? Even a little?
• Did I stay focused, or was I multitasking?
• Did I avoid the hard stuff, or work through it?
• Would I be proud to show this to my teacher tomorrow?

If you answered “yes” to most of those—boom, that’s real practice. If not? No shame. Just try again tomorrow.

Final Thought
You don’t need to practice perfectly. You just need to practice intentionally. Even 10 minutes of real, focused work can move you forward more than 30 minutes of fake practice ever will.
So next time you sit down with your instrument, ask yourself:
“Am I actually practicing… or just pretending to?”
Your future self (and your teacher) will thank you.