does learning the wrong thing re-enforce bad habbits

Barney

so when we work on something whether its technique ..phrasing...improvising ...correct note choices...iff we dont get all these in place first and correct are we practising to get worse and re-enforcing bad habbits ...
so is it maybe better to take things really slow and be precise about everthing before moving on and the process would probably be quicker and less hours instead of undoing bad habbits later......
thought it would be interesting to discuss..

Fuzzdog

Absolutely.  Do something wrong enough times and you'll learn the wrong thing just as well as if you did it right.

Of course, sometimes it's those bad habits which make you unique as a player.

Rayza1983

Yes I'd agree it's better to play things slow and precise when learning new techniques and songs. I generally practice what I like. There's no point in learning something you don't just because you think it'll make you better. When I improvise I'd just suggest go with the feel and sound. You can hear the right note choices if you practice improvising enough. I've been studying double stops lately and put that into my lead technique when improvising with my looper and I'm really enjoying it. Also I've been learning some fingerstyle acoustic songs, folk stuff. I'm enjoying that too. I keep with a song till I've finished it mostly. I learnt Little Wing a couple of months back so I thought I'd go into some fingerstyle again. I've also started to get my head around modes. I'm going to practice each one at a time until I can hear the scale and use it musically. I'm up to Dorian but could already play Major and Natural Minor.

Phil_aka_Pip

When you practice, you are programming your motor system. Do NOT program bum notes and bad timing into it! Speed is a by-product of accuracy, make sure the movements are correct before trying to work on agility, and you will probably find that agility comes easier once your muscle memory knows what it is supposed to be doing.

Barney

so can a player actually get worse through a wrong decision of what to practice..even by spending loads of hours on that subject ...
or
could another improve by practicing the right materials and even in a lot shorter time

for example maybe
phrasing ...iff we were to work on new runs or lines and were finishing them on a bad note or out of time or not starting on a good beat...or good note but its sort of ..ok..by practising this way and ignoring these things is it actually making us a worse player..
verses
recognising its not quite right and not going any further until it is...making sure the starts and ends are right with good note choices and timing ...

do we sometimes think ...it will be ok ..cos the more i do this it will improve in time ..because anything you do ...iff you do it long enuff you get better at it ....when maybe that isnt the way we should be looking at things..?
this is just something i have been thinking about today so thought i would share whats in my head....iff anything is in there..