What to practice?

[Bajazz]

What can I practice? I play acoustic guitar and sing, but there is little stuff/info out there on these things. I'm beyond normal strumming and fingerpicking and would like to develop my guitar playing a bit. Solo's, fills, bass lines, walking chords etc.

 

Should I just sit down with my guitar and noodle away, improvising, or would I spend time on scales, arpeggios, learning new chords? Would I benefit from getting my technique up?

 

I have only about 1 hour a day to spend. I fear that I could easily use that time up with either noodling away or technical excercises that would cause a minimal increase of guitar abilities...?

 

Maybe the time is simply best spent learning new songs?

[rockfan]

Originally posted by Bajazz . . . or would I spend time on scales, arpeggios, learning new chords?. . . Maybe the time is simply best spent learning new songs?

 

 

The way to go is learning scales, arpeggios and new chords.

 

Learning songs is fine, but it won't really improve your skills since you're just learning the chords for that just one song.

[Dave W.]

I have been playing fingerstyle guitar on and off for thirty years. Just recently, after a five year layoff, I got back into it again and found it difficult to learn the type of pieces I want to play. After stumbling across these two practice videos by Pete Huttlinger, I realized that my fundamentals were too weak to pick up the difficult pieces in a reasonable amount of time. So instead of learning songs, I went back to the beginning and have spent the last three months working on basics, using these two videos. I still have a long way to go, but now I can appreciate what my guitar teachers of years ago were trying to tell me. The production of these videos by Homespun is the best by far I have ever seen, and the best money I have spent.

Picking patterns, arpeggios, finger exercises, and scales, all done religiously with a metronome.

http://www.homespuntapes.com/prodpg/prodpg.asp?prodID=1214&prodType=

http://www.homespuntapes.com/prodpg/prodpg.asp?prodID=858&prodType=


Dave

[woodlakesound]

Split your time between technique and music making. Physical mastery will promote better music making and creativity as well. If your technique is poor then focus more on that facet until strength and suppleness are intrinsic.

[JasmineTea]

Play along with satalite radio. You'll never run out of material.

[clef360]

Technique is boring. Grinding it out on scales for hours will just make you lose interest. Maybe spend 10 minutes (or something, as long as it's short enoguh for you to do every day without getting sick of it) working on scales and the lot, and then try to find songs that challenge your ability but aren't totally out of your league. Play songs that you like to listen to. Play what you want to. Play all day every day and enjoy it as much as you possibly can.

[JasmineTea]

Make up a song. Then, make up another song.

[woodlakesound]

Originally posted by clef360 Technique is boring. Grinding it out on scales for hours will just make you lose interest. Maybe spend 10 minutes (or something, as long as it's short enoguh for you to do every day without getting sick of it) working on scales and the lot, and then try to find songs that challenge your ability but aren't totally out of your league. Play songs that you like to listen to. Play what you want to. Play all day every day and enjoy it as much as you possibly can.

 

 

With all do respect, technique encompasses so much more than what you are describing. The inner world of what translates the creative intent to it's physical renderings is what separates the the pros from the amatuers. Fluidity and efficiency of movement can be a rewarding goal quite apart from 'playing what you want'. You will WANT to play more challenging material the better and more intrinsic your technique. Stop grinding and start groovin'.

[Dave W.]

Originally posted by woodlakesound With all do respect, technique encompasses so much more than what you are describing. The inner world of what translates the creative intent to it's physical renderings is what separates the the pros from the amatuers. Fluidity and efficiency of movement can be a rewarding goal quite apart from 'playing what you want'. You will WANT to play more challenging material the better and more intrinsic your technique. Stop grinding and start groovin'.

 

 

Bingo, I think the time I invest in getting proper fundamentals will be gained back by being able to master difficult pieces quicker. Huttlinger stresses quality practice, focused on whatever your particular weak points are. For me that is the ability to move all my fingers on both hands, independently of each other, and the ability to smoothly change from one pattern to another on my right hand. I found that I had a few basic patterns burned into my head, and when I hit a difficult couple of bars, I would default to those patterns without realizing it. Between what he spells out, and what I have come up with on my own, I have about 25 different finger pattern combinations that I randomly move from one to the next every few bars. That alone has made an amazing difference in a couple of months, and after a frustrating week in the beginning, I was surprised at how quickly it became natural. I keep my practice sessions short, but intense. I do not get bored, and the reward is worth the effort. After that, I will just plink around for a while to clear my head, then if I feel like it, do another session. If I am not in the right frame of mind to practice properly, I am better off to skip it for another time. Hope this helps.

 

Dave