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.

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


📍 Filmed at Carter Vintage Guitars in Nashville, TN.
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