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Post by coolniblet on Feb 24, 2019 10:46:50 GMT -6
Anyone willing to share your practice routine for the BYCU series.
I have BYCU 1 & 2 and the Chord book.
I’m trying to dive deep, but sometimes have a lot of time and sometimes 15 minutes for the day.
Any suggestions?
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Post by Phil on Feb 24, 2019 11:28:30 GMT -6
Anyone willing to share your practice routine for the BYCU series. I have BYCU 1 & 2 and the Chord book. I’m trying to dive deep, but sometimes have a lot of time and sometimes 15 minutes for the day. Any suggestions? Welcome to the forum. Since I'm retired and have a lot of time I spend way too much of it on the Internet. The #1 question everywhere I go is on how to practice. And there's never a clear answer. Well, here's my answer. You don't have to get a headache trying to figure out a practice routine if you're working on BYCU. 1. Put More Blues You Can Use back on your bookshelf. 2. Focus on BYCU. Don't move to the next lesson until you're fairly comfortable playing the study in the lesson you're working on. It doesn't have to be perfect, but you do have to be able to play it in time with a backing track. Don't skip the exercises. They are important. 3. Dig out the BYCU Chord book. Go directly to the exercise section. The 1st section can (and should) be read and studied. You can do that without a guitar in your hand. The 2nd section is just a reference guide. Skip it. Don't waste time learning chords out of context. The chord shapes you need are given again in the exercises. That's it. Your practice routine is set up for you by these books. You don't have to work on both books every practice session if you don't have time. Alternate them throughout the week. The most important thing is to be consistent and practice on as many days as possible even if it's only for 15 minutes. Allow yourself some time to just noodle around, explore, figure stuff out on your own, start seeing relationships and patterns, and play stuff you already know. Just don't let the noodling consume all your time. Spend 1 day a week with no books, for example. This is the way I'd do it if I could start all over again.
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Post by cunningr on Feb 24, 2019 11:32:18 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum.
I am in the same boat tricks is to focus on small bites during your 15 minute session focus on one thing you need to improve on. On the longer times divide the time but stay focused maybe 5 minutes warming up 10 to 15 minutes focused on a skill. And take time to just play something fun. Phil or some of the other guys can give more tips.
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Post by joachim on Feb 24, 2019 12:16:40 GMT -6
Welcome to the forum!
Since you're asking for practice advice for the first book, it sounds like you are at a beginner or intermediate level? You should consider taking lesson, e.g., Skype lesson with John Ganapes, at least for a couple of months to get an idea of how an experienced player practices. I guess everyone at this forum (who all mostly practice without a teacher) were extremely complacement with their recordings at first, and later cringed over them. Having a teacher early on will probably change to way you practice these studies.
But one thing is for certain, though. If you practice, you get better - so stick at it. And have fun every time you play!
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Post by bluesbruce on Feb 24, 2019 12:59:19 GMT -6
Some really good advice here, Coolniblet. You definitely need a defined regimen that you're going to work on for those 15 minute days. This could be something like two of the BYCU chapter exercises you're working on for 3 minutes each, then three studies you're working on for 3 minutes each. Set a timer on your cell phone. One other piece of advice I'd offer is SLOW things down to where you can play them without mistakes. Take a measure or two out of a study that gives you trouble, and slow it down, and play it over and over, then slowly increase the speed. On the days where you've got more time, you don't have to be so regimented. You definitely want to have fun with this!
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Post by grampalerxst on Feb 25, 2019 7:30:25 GMT -6
Welcome.
Any sort of routine should be predicated on where you are starting.
When I first got started w/the first book, I had a lot of trouble maintaining rhythmic accuracy, so I put a lot of emphasis on using a metronome and supplemented the book with a lot of metronome-supported rhythmic exercise. Now my emphasis is shifting more towards articulation so I've started playing along with the demo tracks (rather than the backing tracks I focused on in the past).
On days you have only a short time I'd suggest focusing exclusively on one very short section of whatever you are currently working on that is giving you the most trouble and try to improve it a little.
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JohnG
Full Member
Posts: 193
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Post by JohnG on Feb 28, 2019 19:00:03 GMT -6
Phil nailed it very well. All of the ideas posted here are good.
I would only add that on those days you only have 15 minutes, spend it on one thing, every time. Most of my students spend more time on the studies than anything else. That makes sense - they're musical, and you first picked up the guitar to play music.
Some people like to play scales daily. Whatever you choose, the work you do on it will actually help all aspects of your paying.
Daily or near daily practice is the key - even for 15 minutes.
Have fun.
JG
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