So there you are, all decked out in your Sunday finest, ready to take your main squeeze for a night out on the town. You sit patiently (for a minute) as you wait for your significant other to finally make it down the stairs and out the front door. The problem is, you and I both know she’s going to take longer than she says.

So rather than sit around and do nothing, take this opportunity to put your guitar in your hands and do something productive. That certainly has to be better than flipping through the reality shows on TV, right?

But you’re probably thinking that 10 minutes isn’t enough time. To that I say: Hogwash. Only 10 minutes to practice? No problem!

Although 10 minutes certainly is not a substitute for a full-on practice session, I’m sure we would all much rather play guitar for those 10 minutes than do nothing. 10 minutes every day is also better than one hour once a week!

Here is a list of productive practice activities you can accomplish on guitar in a very short amount of time; choose one the next time you have a few brief moments to spare.

1. Chord Inversions - Take one string group and one chord quality (m7, Maj7#5, etc) and play all of the inversions for that chord in as many keys as you can on that string group.
2. Position Scales - Pick a scale and play it in all 12 keys but only in one position on the fingerboard.
3. Sweep Picking Control - Choose an arpeggio and slowly work on keeping your picking hand consistent throughout the sweep so all of the notes are even in tempo and dynamics.
4. Intervals - Pick a scale and play it in 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, or whatever interval you choose.
5. Sing and Play - Sing a melody out loud, and then try to reproduce it on the guitar. Great ear training!
6. Gymnastics - Choose a finger gymnastic exercise and practice it up to the 12th fret on all strings, then back down again.
7. Arpeggio - It can be one arpeggio in all 12 keys, or choose a single key and play all of the diatonic 7th chord arpeggios horizontally up and down the fingerboard.
8. ii-V-I Improvisation - Pick one key and improvise over that key’s ii-V-I.
9. Four Notes Per String - Play a scale using four notes per string.
10. String Skipping - Choose a simple Major scale. Play every other note one or two octaves higher, which forces you to skip strings and concentrate on fingering and accurate picking.
11. Intonation - Play a scale very slowly, and concentrate on getting your finger to nudge up against each fret every time. Make sure your pick strokes are clearly articulated and full.
12. Name That Note – Without looking, place your finger on any note on the fingerboard. Then look at the note and see how quickly you can identify the note name.
13. Commercial Jam - If you happen to have the TV on while you are waiting around, you will inevitably hear music in the commercials or the show. Try playing along with it; learn the melody or figure out the chord progression and play along with it.
14. Name That Key - Choose a key and name all of the notes. You can also do this with scales, modes, and chords.

I’m feeling in an even mood today, so I’ll leave you with fourteen. As I said, these can all be done in short amounts of time and will definitely help you to improve your playing.

Just make sure you put the guitar down when your better half is ready; the dog house isn’t big enough for effective practicing!