Billy Strings Shares His Practice Method for Progress

In this episode, Billy Strings sits down with his longtime mentor Rob Cappelletto at Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville to talk about breaking out of ruts, rethinking practice, and staying a student even at the top of your game. We cover Billy’s journey from instinctive, ear-based bluegrass to studying jazz, Bach, and fretboard fluency through Sonora. He breaks down how specific exercises shaped his new record, shares stories from the road (including playing with Ringo), and gets candid about nerves, self-doubt, and the grind of staying sharp as a performer. 🚀 Book a Free Skills Assessment with Sonora. https://www.learnwithsonora.com/skills-assessment 👇 Want to go deeper? Join the Playback Sessions community for tabs, breakdowns, and more. https://www.skool.com/playback-community-9570 ⏱️ Free Tool for looping videos on YouTube and Instagram https://looper.sonoraintensive.com/ 📍 Chapters: 00:00 Intro – Playing Without Thinking 00:12 How Billy Found Sonora & Met Rob 01:59 Does Music Theory Kill Creativity? 03:28 Learning to Apply New Concepts on Stage 04:18 Billy’s Early Years: Playing by Ear 06:10 Hitting a Plateau & Seeking Growth 07:12 From Practice to Performance: The “Escanaba” Story 09:31 Chord Mastery & Playing the Changes 11:12 Robb and Chris Thile Story 12:15 Breaking Out of the Bluegrass Box 14:06 Balancing Jazz, Bach & Tony Rice 15:15 Real Progress: Chord Integration in Old Tunes 18:56 Early Influences: From Hendrix to Doc 21:11 Improvisation, Melody & Staying Connected on Stage 27:24 Playing with Intention & Audience Energy 34:57 Rob & Billy Jam + Practicing What Matters 37:31 Dealing with Success, Doubt & What Comes Next 🎸 Follow Playback Sessions on socials: -Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/playbacksessions/ -Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playbacksessions -YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Playback-Sessions -Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@playbacksessionspodcast -Spotify: @ Playback Sessions Podcast 🎥 Filmed live at Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville, Tennessee. 🎙️Host: Spencer Handley Guest: Billy Strings Executive Producers: Spencer Handley, Ben Montague Camera/Sound: Aly Jordan Editors: Spencer Handley, Clayton Hopkins 🪕 Subscribe for weekly interviews with some of the world’s most inspiring guitar players. #BillyStrings #Guitar #Sonora #RobCappelletto #Bluegrass #GuitarPractice #Improvisation #FretboardFluency #HighwayHypnosis #CarterVintage #Playbacksessions #SpencerHandley