Backing tracks are audio tracks you can buy or download that give you accompaniment to your guitar practice. As you grow as a guitar player, you will find that your backing tracks, sometimes referred to as "jamtracks" will be as useful a tool as your metronome or your guitar tuner.

There is no lead guitar or vocalist on your backing tracks just the backing that you can play lead guitar in front of. Using backing tracks you will be always playing in time and you will find that you are looking forward to your guitar practice because you enjoy playing with a band in your bedroom.

When you have obtained some backing tracks to help you with your guitar practice, start using them right away. And if you find after a week or so that you are beginning to practice without using your backing tracks, make an effort to go back to using them. It's natural to lose your initial enthusiasm, but it would be a shame to stop using such a valuable tool with so much potential for making you a really good guitar player.

Backing tracks need to be used in conjunction with your planned guitar practice sessions. If you are learning a solo or some licks from a CD or guitar tabs, play them with your backing as soon as you have the material in your memory. You might have to play your solo more slowly but don't spend any more time than you have to playing new music without using the backing.

Don't turn your guitar practice time into extended guitar solos. If you have a track of say, six minutes at your disposal, use it to practice licks and short solo breaks, the age of the twenty minute solo is long gone. Also, make use of your backing tracks to improve the basic aspects of your guitar playing like your timing.

Most of us do not make use of our music recorders as much as we should. It is sometimes a shock to hear ourselves play on record. Sometimes the shock is pleasant, sometimes not. It is never a neutral experience and that can lead to us "forgetting" to record our guitar playing. You will be really doing yourself a favor by disciplining yourself to record yourself once a day.

Using backing tracks is one of the great benefits of modern technology. It used to be that you practiced alone until other friends or band members found the time to get together to jam. With backing tracks you can jam any time you want. Make use of this tool and enjoy it.