Post by cunningr on Sept 24, 2020 11:23:09 GMT -6
I've always thought about sharing how I practice guitar - but worry I'll come accross as condescending or a know-it-all. I'll write it here, if people think there's any value to it, I'll copy-paste it to a full post. So, here goes:
IMPORTANT BASICS
WHERE IS THE FUN WPB?!?
- The guitar is ALWAYS close by! It's either on a stand or on the wall near me.
- I have an app on my phone that allows me to slow down the example/backing track so I can play at various speeds - like 40% of full tempo or 80%, etc.
- Most of my playing is un-plugged. It's just the electric guitar unamped. It allows me to get going quickly and to hear how things sound clean, without distortion/effects masking mistakes. I read this in a book once and thought it was a neat idea.
- I grab every 5 minutes I can! If there's 5 minutes before work, I grab the guitar! If there's 5 minutes before dinner, I grab the guitar. If there's 5 minutes... you get the idea!
- Focussed task! Read on...
FOCUSSED TASK
- I ALWAYS have a "thing" I'm working on. This is my immediate, short-term, goal. At present it is usually one lesson from the AM site. I pick it and endevour to complete it, come what may. I print out the sheets, download the backing tracks and start at bar one!
- Generally, it's one bar at a time, unless it's a phrase that spans 2-4 bars, in which case I learn the phrase. The aim is to play the bar/phrase up-to-tempo, starting wherever I need. I've gone down to 40bpm before moving it 5bpm at a time up to the right tempo which could be 80bpm. I don't mind where I have to start.
Little tip - every now and then up the speed by 5% beyond your ability and try and play it. You'll fail. BUT, when you remove that 5% and immediately try again, the whole section will feel MUCH slower than before you upped it by 5%. It's a trick in your mind but helps with faster segments IMHO - Every time I grab my 5 minutes I know what to work on, it's the bar or phrase I'm currently on. Getting it to tempo. All my 5 minutes are focussed and not noodling.
- When I have more time than 5 minutes I also play the piece through to the bar/phrase I'm up-to, in order to start hearing the piece as a whole and to get the phrases flowing together better. As of late, I've also noticed that it's at these play throughs that MY individuallity starts appearing. I add little bends, slides, or alter the phrases slightly to what sounds nice to me; perhaps I'll hybrid pick the notes, slide into something rather than hammer-on. They're minor, few and far between, but it's what I like to hear.
SECONDARY TASKS
- These are the slower back burners. After the FOCUSSED TASK, if I have time, I hit these.
- The AM monthly challenge is here. This is an item I have 4 weeks to develop and record, so the timescale is longer.
- Another example could be a phrase that is 100bpm 16th notes and will take me a while to get to tempo. This is usually a bar/phrase in the FOCUSSED TASK piece. This piece now gets shelved as a whole, I keep the difficult phrase as a SECONDARY TASK, and select a new FOCUSSED TASK.
HOWEVER - when the phrase is achieved, the piece that was shelved is then pulled back to the FOCUSSED TASK at the next opportunity.
EXTRA FREE TIME
- This is pure enjoyment time. This happens usually over the weekend as they're additional tasks. This is also where the AMP comes out and the sound gets real. I'll certainly go through the piece with the amp at least once before other tasks. I'll start to dial in a tone, effects, etc. Gearing up for the next stage...
- Record a piece that is finished. Setup and recording takes time - and the red-light-nerves make things even worse, so I need more time here!
- Grab the guitar and play through some of the completed pieces - keep them fresh in mind and the techniques in practice. Pieces that are done that I'm not fond of will get dropped off here - they'll vanish into obscurity in my mind as I don't desire to play them in EXTRA FREE TIME. I'm ok with this, I can't expect to remember everything I learn forever, and I'll always have the recording to look back on!
- Most recently I played one of the fastest pieces in memory at 105% of speed (yes, faster than needed) and I was able. Weird to think I once was struggling with it at 85% of speed!
- Just hold the guitar and make things up - play a blues rhythm, noodle, try silly things out. Waste time having fun!
WHERE IS THE FUN WPB?!?
Looking back at what I've written I would understand if you asked where the fun is at - it just looks like endless work for the majority of the time. But what's weird, is it doesn't feel like that. What keeps me going is the run-throughs up to the bar I'm at and thinking "cool, that's upto bar 22 cleanly done, 9 bars left and it's finished!" This really motivates me, especially when I finally start playing through the tough bars/phrases that I struggled with.
When you finally play the whole piece, up-to-tempo, fluidly and comfortably, all the way through, it's a great feeling. That's where I get a sense of achievement and accomplishment. Task finished and abilities gained along the way!
Great tips! Reading through this I was surprised to find many things that I do as well.