Members Stackabones Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 It's just a word thing, but words have a way of influencing the way we think about things. I don't really think much about "practicing" -- though I do think about "playing." For example, I don't think "I've got to go practice guitar" or "I've got to practice I Got Rhythm." Instead, I think "I've got to go play I Got Rhythm." "Gigging" is not what I mean by "playing." Gigs involve public performance and (preferably) pay. "Practicing" conjures up images of scales and tedium and cloudy days. "Playing" is all about blue skies. How 'bout you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members daklander Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 I just play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members simplygoodmusic Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 The way I see it, when you play with a immediate goal in mind, you are practicing. Otherwise, you are playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RhiaLenee Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 i'm kinda new so i still think i need "practice" but it seems like work so i just "play" with my teacher and it does seem funner^_^ but thats just me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dirtybob Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Practice??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members jamesp Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Having done a fair bit of both, I know I get better with practice. I don't mind the grind beacause it leads to a more enjoyable experience when I play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members 12Pack Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Doctors practice all the time..... perhaps we should stop calling it playing out and call it, Our Practice. I agree with Simplygood, To practice your trying to achieve a goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rjoxyz Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 I mostly just play. That's a partial explanation for my 30 year guitar quagmire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Gawd, if I practiced then I would get better and that would spoil the play.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Minnesota Fats once said that practice is for suckers. I took that to heart and just prefer to focus either on learning songs or noodling aimlessly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rjoxyz Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Minnesota Fats once said that practice is for suckers. I took that to heart and just prefer to focus either on learning songs or noodling aimlessly. "Noodling Aimlessly". Now I know how to answer when people ask what kind of stuff I play. Hell, it could be a concept album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kwakatak Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 "Noodling Aimlessly". Now I know how to answer when people ask what kind of stuff I play. Hell, it could be a concept album. yeah - I learned that term back when I used to worship EVH years and years ago. That was what he called what he did when writing music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gary in NJ Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 As they say in sports, you play as you practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarist21 Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Stack, I'm the same as you here. I never consciously "practiced" guitar until I got to music school and was shown what practicing can mean. For one of my auditions for college, the adjudicators asked me what my practice routine was and I totally blanked. "Um, well, first I sit down... and then I play whatever I feel like..." Its a miracle I got into college at all. Even now, though, I still don't have a true practice routine. I don't do any stretches; I don't warm up with scales. If there's a song I need to memorize or a passage in a song I'm having trouble playing or if I need to come up with a structure for a solo, I'll just play it ad nauseam. And inevitably I get sidetracked and end up playing something else for a while, but eventually play what I sat down to play a couple more times and call it a day. Ellen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members zookie Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 I am a guitar player, meaning, if handed a guitar I can play various songs and progressions that you might recognize as being musical. I rehearse material for public performances, though. A rehearsal isn't playtime and a performance, is, well, work that I really like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sisyphus2 Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 To learn something new i have to engage in a process akin to OCD - playing the same thing over and over until Ive got it. I don't set aside any structured time for this - its more spontaneous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Flintc Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 In my mind, the distinction is very clear. If I'm working on something I can't do, or can't do worth beans, then I'm practicing. If I'm doing something I already know how to do, then I'm playing. Practicing isn't nearly as much fun, but the more I practice, the more fun playing becomes because I can do more things well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 In my mind, the distinction is very clear. If I'm working on something I can't do, or can't do worth beans, then I'm practicing. If I'm doing something I already know how to do, then I'm playing. Practicing isn't nearly as much fun, but the more I practice, the more fun playing becomes because I can do more things well. +1 Ben Harper said in an interview that practicing is trying to learn something you don't know how to play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RhiaLenee Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 i still say that if you practice you get better but i agree with zookie and 12 pack.......rehursal or rehusing does sound more musical related but as for 12 pack yea practice does sound like something a doctor is doing but..... playing is still funner!!!^_^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 Practice? What are we talking about man? Practice! [YOUTUBE]eGDBR2L5kzI[/YOUTUBE] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members RhiaLenee Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 that is a funny video considering what we are talking about....... yea it does sound like practice is a bit funny now but usually it is kinda boring when you don't understand alll of it....lol^_^thats true it does really matter only on stage.....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members gthom Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 I practice. But I don't think of it as a bad thing..."practice" to me doesn't conjure up bad flashbacks to early piano lessons full of scales and drills. It does mean structure, but in a way that I control. Much of my guitar life (going on 20 years) has been unstructured and, as a result, I'm still a better pianist than guitarist even though I've probably spent twice the time screwing around on guitar than piano. To fix that, I'm trying to take a different approach to picking up the guitar. I spend time warming up, I have goals in mind, I use a metronome, I even do some scales. Maybe it's a personality thing, although I'm not at all what you'd call an organization/control-freak. But I'm finding that structuring my playing into "practice" sessions has given me direction and made me enjoy my time with the instrument more. And I can still pick it up during my non-practice times and just strum whenever I feel like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members panhandler Posted March 3, 2008 Members Share Posted March 3, 2008 I just play. Even when it's a new song... I aint practicing... I'm learnin it, by playin it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted March 4, 2008 Members Share Posted March 4, 2008 I've been practice free since 1984. My playing proves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d28andm1911a1 Posted March 4, 2008 Members Share Posted March 4, 2008 I don't do much "practice" as ya'll define it. Some but not much. I think it helps but I gig. 4 gigs last weeks. So I spend my playing time getting ready for gigs. I play anything from kids parties to biker bars and that requires a big gig book. In my case about 250 songs and I try to add a new song a week (true average is about a new song a month) But I was reading a thing on muscle memory abort 9 years ago that said that if you can put 1000 hrs into doing any thing you can improve your performance 1000%. Well I started keeping track of the time I played and if you get a little over 3 hr a day you get a 1000 hrs a year. Now my improvement goal is to always play at least a 1000 hrs a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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