The best guitar focus supplements.... for extended practice... more accurate playing...and creativity.

dsouza

dsouza

Experienced
So this thread is a little different than your typical practice thread.

I'm not alluding to drugs though in many parts of the world cannibas is considered legal including here in Canada. I've tried it .. had a very bad reaction to it and never used it again.

Some people swear on alcohol even red wine. But I have done recording sessions where I took down a glass of red wine before I recorded. I felt elated. Like my performance was godlike from the buzz I was getting from the red wine. However, when I listened to myself a day later on audio I had found out I had made more mistakes that I usually do when I'm 100% sober.

So that brings me to other supplements. Long ago there was one called Brainquicken which would make my brain feel like a sheet of glass. Everything was so clear. It also speed up neural transmission and decreased reaction time and improved memory. That supplement was eventully taken off the market.

I know there are a lot of legal nootropics that are available but they carry the risk of side effects. Some are better than others. I haven't experimented enough.

I do know nothing beats time practicing , but if you were on a laser like focus supplement you could accomplish twice as much in half the time and be ready to go again all day long.

Mind lab pro has a nootropic stack out that they say improves memory , recall, focus, logic etc.. But as musicians we use different part of our brain.

I don't smoke or drink alcohol anymore. The closest I get is my morning cup of coffee. But I find as I age (40+ now) my cognition is maybe 80% of what it used to be in my 20's which is a substantial decrease.

Does anyone have any legal supplements that have worked to make their focus and concentration laser like during their practice sessions?
 
Myers Cocktail
Go today and thank me about 20 minutes later. Best thing I ever did for my body.
 
No matter what you still need to practice. It is the method or curriculum, if you will, that counts. Focus on what you need to improve on.

Taking a supplement may help but if you continue to randomly go up and down the fretboard did you accomplish anything.
 
chris said:
Too much practice has an adverse effect as well.
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Geoff L said:
Just work in small time frames. 8-10 mins with gaps in between.
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A friend sent this link a couple days ago. The study suggest that taking small breaks during practice allows the brain to run what they are calling “neural replay.” Where during pauses in our practice, the brain basically reactivates the same neural circuits that are activated when physically performing the skill – only much faster.
https://bulletproofmusician.com/evi...icro-breaks-if-you-want-to-maximize-learning/
 
If the medication calms the nerves, there is a huge chance it also affects your brain "speed" and cognitive functions. Granted, I'm not a doctor, and I've seen some meditations claim "doesn't decrease focus" etc., but I'm not sure if I can/want trust this, because other medication of that kind clearly do affect cognitive functions. Unless there is a serious disorder to tame, there should be no reason to go medication way. Too often it's a one way ticket.

Pretty much nobody except John McLaughlin kept their physical shape and playing focus until the very respectful age, and if not for arthritis, he'd probably played today just as precise as he played 30 years back. Let's hear from himself: https://www.premierguitar.com/artis...in-on-music-love-and-a-half-century-of-shakti
I believe his "not so secret" secret is meditation, which is as legal as it gets. So if you need to calm your nerves, free your mind and focus, try meditation instead of medication. If you pair it with a very detailed practice plan and focus on it, you should notice the results quickly I believe.

John also recommends books of Dr. Joe Dispenza - I've bought some but didn't complete and really tried that yet, but if John recommends it, it's gotta be good.
 
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ScottyB said:
A friend sent this link a couple days ago. The study suggest that taking small breaks during practice allows the brain to run what they are calling “neural replay.” Where during pauses in our practice, the brain basically reactivates the same neural circuits that are activated when physically performing the skill – only much faster.
https://bulletproofmusician.com/evi...icro-breaks-if-you-want-to-maximize-learning/
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Yep.

I'm a NLP Master Practitioner. This is standard knowledge. Most people focus is about 5-10 minutes dependant on a variety of factors, hunger, lighting, warmth, noises. Understand where you attention span is on any given day and work in windows of that size. That way you are far more productive without adding chemicals into the equation.
 
You guys say focus for 5-10 min at a time. What about all you guys performing in bands for hours every night?
 
dsouza said:
You guys say focus for 5-10 min at a time. What about all you guys performing in bands for hours every night?
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Like me? How long are songs, what happens between them?

And the practice is done by that point , just about all performance is motor memory.

Your initial question was with regard to practicing, that is a different topic than performance.
 
Geoff L said:
Like me? How long are songs, what happens between them?

And the practice is done by that point , just about all performance is motor memory.

Your initial question was with regard to practicing, that is a different topic than performance.
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You are correct. I didn't differentiate between practice and performance. But even with performance, sometimes people get brain farts, nerves under the pressure of the audience or the lights, distractions as well . So performance for many can be much harder than practice.

I know this one IG guitarist. She amazing on IG .. I mean she has like 15k followers and uploads daily. But put her in front of an audience and she got the nerves and went blank. The first and last time she performed. The screaming people, the blinding lights, the roar of the crowd.. It all made her too nervous.

So I will change my query a bit. Is there any supplements that help you not just focus, but focus under pressure?

P.S. As for learning in segments of 5 -10 min I will give your approach a try. How much do you rest in between these segments?
 
Chromatizm said:
I believe his "not so secret" secret is meditation, which is as legal as it gets. So if you need to calm your nerves, free your mind and focus, try meditation instead of medication. If you pair it with a very detailed practice plan and focus on it, you should notice the results quickly I believe.
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This is the best solution to me. Meditation (especially mindfullness meditation) is a workout for you ability to focus.
And no side effects.

As for practice time i prefer the Pomodoro method. In the Pomodoro method you set you timer for 25 min and take a 5 min break after your focused practicing is over. After 4 rounds of 25 min practicing and 5 min breaks you take a half an hour break.
I like standing up and doing some stretches during the 5 min breaks.
 
dsouza said:
So I will change my query a bit. Is there any supplements that help you not just focus, but focus under pressure?
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Not supplements, but i hear that in the world of classical music some musicians use beta blockers to perform under pressure.
 
dsouza said:
You are correct. I didn't differentiate between practice and performance. But even with performance, sometimes people get brain farts, nerves under the pressure of the audience or the lights, distractions as well . So performance for many can be much harder than practice.

I know this one IG guitarist. She amazing on IG .. I mean she has like 15k followers and uploads daily. But put her in front of an audience and she got the nerves and went blank. The first and last time she performed. The screaming people, the blinding lights, the roar of the crowd.. It all made her too nervous.

So I will change my query a bit. Is there any supplements that help you not just focus, but focus under pressure?

P.S. As for learning in segments of 5 -10 min I will give your approach a try. How much do you rest in between these segments?
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I rest for anywhere between 30 seconds and 2 mins.


As for playing under pressure. Experience. Mistakes occur and they are learning experiences. Fearing them is the problem.

I don't advocate medicating to achieve ends. Each to their own though
 
PatrickWD said:
Not supplements, but i hear that in the world of classical music some musicians use beta blockers to perform under pressure.
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Competitive shooters as well… Although these drugs are not allowed for those kinds of activities. They remove the shakes, and keep your heartbeat, limited/governed.
 
Sleep, diet, exercices.

I’m in a point of my life where I’ve not slept in 4 years + (only 3/4 hours) because our first kid has serious sleep issues.
I developed some cervical pinch nerves problems that ruin my playing, back problems and I feel like I’m on a hangover all the time.

My playing is maybe 50% of what it would be pre kids era.

I used to be that guy that you could call 3 days before a show to play 50 songs and be sure that everything was great.

I’m getting better (slowly) by increasing a little my sleep, doing a lot of stretching.
 
+1 on staying healthy with good diet and exercise.

tai chi and/or qigong are good moving meditation that can help focus
and easy to do in the between practice breaks (once you learn some moves).

I also take gingko 3 times a week, seems to subtly enhance mental acuity.
 
FWIW...

I've been meditating twice a day since 1971. Pretty sure I would have lost it completely by now otherwise.

I walk 3.5 - 4 miles every morning, for both body and spirit.

I take ginkgo biloba every morning, for mental acuity, though at 71 there's some, uh, leakage anyway.

I don't exactly practice. Mostly I just play what comes to mind. Sometimes I'll focus for a bit on some specific type of thing I want to get better at, but that's a small fraction of my limited playing time. I'm nowhere near a super fast or technically adept player, but that stuff isn't what really moves me about other players, so.
 
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