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Post by Phil on Sept 20, 2014 11:15:53 GMT -6
A few people here have been uploading some very impressive recordings of themselves, and showing some significant improvement in their playing skills. So, I want to ask the following questions: 1) How many days per week and how many hours do you average during each practice session? Total that into a weekly average. 2) What does a typical practice session look like? Break it down to what you do to warm-up, any exercises or scales, and that kind of thing. 3) Do you keep a practice log?
I'll start this off.
1) My minimum goal is 45 mins.per day and 4 days per week. I've actually been averaging a little over 1 hour per day, 6 days a week.
2) My goal is a 15 min. warmup, and not 1 minute more. I use a timer. I'll do a minimum of 3 mins. if I'm short on time. I don't like "exercises." I'm not talking about scale exercises. I'm talking about non-musical exercises to strengthen fingers, improve alternate picking, hammer-on pick-off, you know, the finger gymnastic type of thing. These may be very valuable to do. However, I don't have the time or self-discipline to do them. Except for one - the "Spider."
I've been doing the spider for 3 minutes every practice session for several months now. Sometimes that's my only warm-up. If you are not familiar with the spider, google it or go to Justin Sandercoe's page where he gives a video explanation. This is the most useful exercise I've encountered (at least for me). It really developes coordination of the fretting fingers and between the fretting hand and picking hand.I also practice the "light touch" and alternate picking while doing it. You could also use it to practice sweep picking or any other type picking, but it is primarily a fret hand exercise.
In addition to the spider I'll do various scale/chord progession exercises from BYCU and MBYCU. This is my warm up and I never go more than 15 minutes.
Next I'll spend 20 - 45 mins on the study I'm currently working on. This time limitation is new. I just started doing it a couple of weeks ago - 20 mins. minimum and 45 max.
So, it's warm-up, work on a BYCU study and then whatever. Working towards my goal come 1st and then I pursue other things. That's why I put a time limit on the MBYCU studies. I discovered that trying to learn and perfect a study can easily consume all of my time.
3) I keep a practice log. Nothing elaborate, it's just something to keep me on track and working with a focus. I also might make a note on what I want to focus on during the next practice session. It's a good way to really see how much time I'm actually practicing and not just noodling around.
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 20, 2014 14:13:48 GMT -6
1) It's hard to say how much I practice with all the breaks and interruptions. I'd guess it averages out to a couple hours a day, 7 days a week. 2) I start out with 10 - 20 minutes of improvising along with these backing tracks: www.yourbackingtracks.com/ They're in all keys, but I don't consciously try to rotate through them, just pick one at random. I'll mostly play pentatonic minor, or major if it sounds good. Today I went to Youtube and did a search for "Pink Floyd backing track" and found one that sounded great with the natural minor scale played over it. That's my favorite way to warm up because when I first pick up a guitar, I tend to play nice slow melodies and I think that's really good practice. Then I'll just start working on the two songs I've usually got going in the books. When I start a song I import the CD track into Reaper, slow it down and play through it a bunch of times. Within a day or two I like to get my own drum machine track laid down and the bass line figured out and recorded so I can practice along with my own backing track. I practice along with the CD just about every day to make sure I've got the timing / phrasing correct, the bends somewhere in the ballpark of being to pitch, and John always plays with a lot of energy - if I don't play along with the CD track for a few days, my own version starts getting too laid back. But I like to spend most of my time playing along with my own backing track as there's no other lead guitar there to cover up my mistakes, and I have to get the phrasing right without anyone there to follow along with. I don't do any exercises - though in the past I did that spider exercise a ton along with a metronome. Great for getting that alternate picking technique going. I don't time anything. I work on one song for about an hour, then the next one. Might work on the lead, the rhythm, or both. When I get burned out on guitar I pick up my bass and work through some blues standards if I feel like it. 3) I don't keep a log or anything. I just work on whichever song I'm in the mood for, try to spend some time with both, or if I'm not in the mood, maybe it would be a good day for a long bass practice session. |
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Post by blackcountrymick on Sept 20, 2014 14:55:02 GMT -6
Time wise I generally have between 1 and 2 hours a day to play but not necessarily practice. I don't have a strict practice regime as such but I do tend to have a couple or three things on the go at the same time, this could be a study piece, alternating picking exercise, acoustic or bass tunes, but regarding the YCU books there is usually enough study, theory and practice material to keep me occupied without straying to much to other material. This week for instance I just solely worked on lesson 1 R&B and never felt the need once for more material and I absolutely loved it  , thanks John!!! What I think I have benefited from and shown some progress from the last few months is using John's books as the core of my practice, and persevering with the difficult bits instead of sidestepping to something else. I am very guilty of having quite a pile of tuition material that I have started and run out of steam with very quickly. |
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Post by Phil on Sept 20, 2014 14:58:32 GMT -6
1) It's hard to say how much I practice with all the breaks and interruptions. I'd guess it averages out to a couple hours a day, 7 days a week. Jack, Among the people that regularly post their recordings on this forum, it's my opinion that you are currently the best of the group, and you continue to improve. So, let me see - your the best guitarist here and you practice a couple of hours a day 7 days a week. I can't help but think there is some connection between these 2 things.  Thanks for sharing that with us. Now we all know your secret. I wonder if that would work for the rest of us?  |
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Post by Phil on Sept 20, 2014 15:06:23 GMT -6
What I think I have benefited from and shown some progress from the last few months is using John's books as the core of my practice, and persevering with the difficult bits instead of sidestepping to something else. I am very guilty of having quite a pile of tuition material that I have started and run out of steam with very quickly. Wow, another good guitarist who practices regularly, has a core focus, struggles through the difficult material and doesn't skip it. I'm starting to see a pattern here. That last sentence probably describes most of us. BYCU is the only book or course that I have completed. |
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Post by bluesbruce on Sept 20, 2014 15:07:11 GMT -6
persevering with the difficult bits instead of sidestepping to something else. I am very guilty of having quite a pile of tuition material that I have started and run out of steam with very quickly. Wow, Mick, that hits kind of a personal note, here... I'm guilty as charged! I don't have any set practice regimen, either. My "music" time seems to fluctuate wildly. Family, work, etc. can just "take over" all my time for weeks on end, it seems. I'm not really at a life position where I can just say "TO 7734 with all that stuff". I'm convinced I would make more progress with my guitar if I DID have a more dedicated practice schedule, though. Bruce |
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Post by Phil on Sept 20, 2014 15:25:09 GMT -6
I don't have any set practice regimen, either. My "music" time seems to fluctuate wildly. Family, work, etc. can just "take over" all my time for weeks on end, it seems. I'm not really at a life position where I can just say "TO 7734 with all that stuff". I'm convinced I would make more progress with my guitar if I DID have a more dedicated practice schedule, though. Bruce Everybody has to set their priorities, and real life does often get in the way of what we want to do. After all this guitar playing is just a hobby. I guess if we were pros we wouldn't be here. I hope my witty (or maybe they were just 1/2 witty) responses above didn't imply that if you can't spend a couple of hours a day practicing that you can't make progress. I've been reading a lot lately of the benefit of regular practice even if it's for a short period of time. 20-30 minutes daily appears to get better results than 4 hours once a week on Saturday morning. |
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Post by Phil on Sept 20, 2014 15:32:01 GMT -6
Good article, T-Bone. That Joy-Skill graph with the plateaus of mediocrity is right on the money, whether your talking about strength training with weights or playing the guitar. |
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Post by jack1982 on Sept 20, 2014 16:15:04 GMT -6
1) It's hard to say how much I practice with all the breaks and interruptions. I'd guess it averages out to a couple hours a day, 7 days a week. Jack, Among the people that regularly post their recordings on this forum, it's my opinion that you are currently the best of the group, and you continue to improve. So, let me see - your the best guitarist here and you practice a couple of hours a day 7 days a week. I can't help but think there is some connection between these 2 things. Thanks for sharing that with us. Now we all know your secret. I wonder if that would work for the rest of us? Well that and I um...sold my soul to the devil |
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Post by cunningr on Sept 20, 2014 17:17:42 GMT -6
Hi All,
It's hard to say exactly how much I practice also, but normally I will play a minimum of 30 minutes to 1 hour almost everyday. On days I am just too tired I will normally get 10 or 15 minutes just working the 5 scale patterns. I would mention that I am not including time where I just grab my guitar for 5 or 6 minutes which I do a lot since I bought a stand and park my guitar in the family room for quick access. On the weekends I normally get at least 2 z2 hour sessions in.
Warm up it usually do some pentatonic runs. Practice normally consist of working on my BYCU study I am on with the practice tract switching to the backing track. I lately I have added working on actual songs right now I have helping the poor rhythm down pretty good.
I have also added working on blues rhythms you can use, and try to get at least 5 or 10 minutes working the first lesson.
If I ask my wife she' says I touch the guitar more than her.
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Post by joachim on Sept 21, 2014 0:23:54 GMT -6
I also spend around 2 hours a day, almost every day. My kids are tugged in early, so it gives me couple of hours without interruptions...
Not sure how useful my practice routine is since I started from square one... I used to start my practice with technique and scale exercises, around 30 mins a day or more; now I have a better grasp of those things so I've toned it down to just 10 mins.
Next I spend around 1-1.5 hours rehersing with BUCY and BRUCY; I just started over on BUCY and BRUCY, and my focus this time is to be able to play more fluently, and to understand the material better. When I can play a study reasonable well, I include the next one into my practice routine, but I keep practicing all the studies - it's beginning to be a lot of studies to play, but the early studies I just play through once or twice. My goal is to be able to just pick up any study in BUCY and play it, without dropping my guitar, my pick, or needing 25 takes to get a half-way decent version.
I wrap up with 30 mins of practicing material from my class (we've started with "Killing Floor"), playing along Band In A Box, trying improvisation, etc.
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, thanks John!!! What I think I have benefited from and shown some progress from the last few months is using John's books as the core of my practice, and persevering with the difficult bits instead of sidestepping to something else. I am very guilty of having quite a pile of tuition material that I have started and run out of steam with very quickly.
