|
Post by pickindablues on Apr 23, 2014 14:03:36 GMT -6
Wondering what others do for new versus old studies as far as how much time they devote. I am up to Study 7, Bending the Blues, and if I practice all the studies, scales and chords up to this point at say 10 minutes a piece I am looking at around 2 to 3 hours of playing. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but I don't have that much time. So I am guessing the tunes I already "know" I can cut back to playing say for 3' to 5' and concentrate more time on learning the fingerings/picking on those studies I do not know yet. I have been thinking I have to get the earlier tunes sounding "great" before moving on, but with that as a criteria I will be at this a very long time....:-)
|
|
|
Post by Phil on Apr 23, 2014 14:52:35 GMT -6
Pickin, I understand exactly what you are talking about. I've been very lax about playing previous studies once I get one down well enough to record and post. Recently I've been dedicating some time once every week or 2 to playing the older ones. You can't possibly play everything you've learned up to this point at every practice session unless you are an absolute beginner and what you know won't take much time to run through. You'll take too much time away from learning new material. You might consider reviewing 1 or 2 older studies at each practice, and rotate through them. (Hey, that's a good idea, I think I might start doing that myself ). Thanks for bringing this up. Phil
|
|
|
Post by bluesbruce on Apr 23, 2014 18:29:33 GMT -6
Good question! and also welcome to the forum. I know I don't have 2-3 hours a day to practice. I think you've just got to decide your priorities. I think you reach a point of diminishing returns playing a piece over and over - you may get really good at that piece, but I'm not sure you improve your guitar or music skills that much. On the other hand, trying to learn to play something new probably pays bigger dividends in this regard. Now if you're practicing up to perform, you may want to "over learn" your pieces. I guess it all comes down to what your goals are. If you're wanting to have fun, it may be more fun to play pieces you can play well. I think you have to divide up your time based on all these (and probably other factors).
Bruce
|
|
|
Post by joachim on Apr 24, 2014 0:09:14 GMT -6
In other forums, I've read recommendations of only practicing the same thing for, say 5 minutes. I practice things for a longer durations (maybe 15-20 mins), but after awhile I lose concentration and start to make all sorts of mistakes, and then it helps me to move on - perhaps do a technical exercise and then move to another BYCU/BRYCU study. This goes well with what Bruce writes - don't drill the same things over and over again (I tend to, but try to break that habit).
|
|
|
Post by pickindablues on Apr 24, 2014 11:38:03 GMT -6
All very good suggestions, got something from all of them, thanks. I do need to move on, I was knocking out a Study per week until I hit Bending the Blues, and have been stuck there for almost a month. I keep trying to get it "just right", but that may be a long time coming, should probably move on and come back to it say every other day instead of every day and throw in the others less frequently. Appreciate the responses, look forward to participating in this forum.
|
|
|
Post by bluesbruce on Apr 24, 2014 16:20:33 GMT -6
If bending is a new skill, even a month or more isn't enough to "get it just right" - you might spend the rest of your life trying to do that! Pretty much all the further studies continue to work on bending.
Bruce
|
|
|
Post by Phil on Apr 24, 2014 16:56:36 GMT -6
Pickin, I agree with Bruce about bending. I'd say, move on, but keep practicing the specific measures in "Bending" that are giving you problems a few minutes every practice session. You can really get bogged on one study and it will consume all of your time. I don't think it's necessary to get a study down perfectly before moving on to the next one. Once you've got it down fairly well you can work on perfecting it while starting in on another study. I know some people don't agree with that, but it has worked for me. Phil
|
|
|
Post by pickindablues on Apr 24, 2014 18:47:31 GMT -6
Bruce, Excellent observation! Don't know what I was thinking getting bending under control in a week or two.... Thanks. Phil, Good suggestion, thanks for sharing your experience. I could have very easily continued playing "Bending the Blues" for another month or two, or three....or forever.....
|
|