Members Artmonix Posted May 31, 2007 Members Posted May 31, 2007 I'm looking for a practice routiene, cause mine sucks the big one:confused: I'm not gonna get better by sticking to it any suggestions? Thanx.
Members Virgman Posted May 31, 2007 Members Posted May 31, 2007 What kind of music do you like to play?
Members UnderTheGroove Posted May 31, 2007 Members Posted May 31, 2007 What are you trying to work on? The first step is to think about what things you want/need to improve. Some general tips:Pick a time that you can dedicate to practicing every day. Consistency is one of the most important aspects to improvement. Set a goal for a realistic amount of practice time. A half hour to an hour a day is realistic for most people. Find a quiet spot (no TV, no cell phone, etc) where you have all of your practice material set up. Have your metronome, books, backing tracks, etc ready to go. Get yourself a glass of water and get to work.
Members captain average Posted May 31, 2007 Members Posted May 31, 2007 we're not machines, so i figure play what i know by heart, add to it what i know in my head... n try new things. pick something n try to tackle it. even if you fail, you'll probably be motivated enough to try something else to approach it at a different angle, and after a while, you'll find a sort of enjoyment in just finding new things to do on the guitar.or, you know, scales, chords, rhythms, sounds, ideas, concepts, whatever.
Members Kindras Posted May 31, 2007 Members Posted May 31, 2007 I'll show you what i do,maybe that will give you some insight Start with this:1) Warm up (10-15 minutes) - Do simple exercises without your metronome dont go too fast, your fingers should feel "Warm" when doing this.(take for example your legs feel like they burn when you randomly sprint for 5 minutes).2) Turn Metronome On . Play warm-up and technique exercises in time with your metronome. This is the perfect time to practice techniques. (Do this for as long as you can stand playing with your metronome) 3) Scales and Theory exercises. Once again with metronome. (ie walking through modes. Doing scales. Putting chord progressions together) 4) Proceed to either Learning Songs by Ear, or learning songs you don't know yet. Starting out Slowly, and in time bring things up to speed. 5) Finish up your practice session with a performance style Jam session, i try to play songs i haven't done in a while.(Or play your own stuff) This is very close to what i aim for when i practice. I'll sometimes skip things, or i'll spend lots of time on one section. Its usually never perfect.
Members astring Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 My practice is like 90% working on tunes, it seems like I can make everything else relevant to learning tunes (but that is just me).
Members Kindras Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 My practice is like 90% working on tunes, it seems like I can make everything else relevant to learning tunes (but that is just me). I think my approach needs more of this. If you do it properly you can learn so much.
Members Terje Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 Discipline is meaningless. Urge and desire are much stronger motivators. Find out what drives you. Find out what in music you can't stay away from. The things that are so much fun to do that the discipline is rather to stop doing it from time to time in order to maintain a social life. I mainly work on tunes. For this I basically have only one principle and that is if I like the tune I'll try to learn it. I don't care what kind of tune it is or what future use I may or may not have of it, if it's a childrens song, tune from a commercial, jazz standard, classical piece, folk music... anything that I like, that's all. My recent list of tunes that I've learnt: Three songs out of The Junglebook (The Bare Necessities, I Wanna Be Like You and My Own Home), two tunes from a swedish cartoon, an old childrens song, Darth Vader's Theme from Star Wars, the not so often played verse to All The Things You Are... The good part of this is that once I get going I'll have a hard time stopping and I lose track of time. I also end up doing a lot of technical exerscices in order to better play the song, without really thinking about it. That's how you know you're practicing the right thing, you lose track of time. I have such bad focus that I think I might have ADD. The thing is that if I see a list of 100 things I need to do I'll end up paralyzed. If I do something too small it doesn't seem to lead anywhere and I'll get bored. A tune is a simple unit that I can focus on. Once learned it's useful right away. Go where your passion leads you, follow your heart. That's what we wanna hear when you play for us anyway. Otherwise you could be doing something productive at work and earn some money
Members Dimebag666 Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 urge and desire are great motivators but some people (like myself) really need discipline. I find that time flies a lot quicker too when I'm actually focused rather than random noodling. I think you should set up a long term goal and a short term goal. Say your long term goal is to be able to do some uber shredding or whatever. Find the things in your playing that needs working on and make them your short term goals focusing on one at a time. Say you have two hours to practice a night. For the sake of an example I'll pretend your short term goal is to work on your alt picking. Warmup (say 15 mins): vital for productive session. Just play some chromatics and pther excercises you know. Excercises to focus on you short term goal (45-1hour): whip out the metronome and start practicing. find/create some exercises specifically to tackle the problem. Keep a chart on excel or written down of your progress and try and push a little further each day. The last 45-1 hour break up into the few other things you like doing or want to work on. Maybe learn new songs, do some imrpoving to a backing track, work on your sight reading, writing whatever. You can be as disciplined as you like. Personally being strict and starting and finishing on the times i've decided on is something i follow pretty stringently. Just make sure you find whats right for you. Try different routines and suggestions and find the style you like.
Members Knottyhed Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 Having no idea where you're at and what you need to work on it's impossible to tell you what to practice... if you don't have a teacher you're going to have to figure it out yourself, but I'd say you basically divide practice into 4 areas: 1.) Technique (alt picking, metronome stuff, strumming etc.)2.) Theory/Improvisation/Composition (they all tie in)3.) Ear training 4.) Repetoire The relative importance you give each one depends on your goals and what you're good at now. I'd suggest work out what percentage of time you want to spend on those things for the next 3 months. One thing to note is there's some cross-over in these areas. Ear training can become part of Repetoire if you're working songs out by ear, repetoire can become part of your theory practice if you apply your theory knowledge to understanding what you're playing etc. etc. After that you've got to figure out how much time you can spend practicing - get a realistic figure and try your hardest to stick to it. Keep a note and if you fall short one day try and make it up on the weekend etc. ONe really important thing is to keep challenging yourself, don't sit there playing the same old licks/songs at the same tempo. If you do the same thing every day you will not get better. I'd also recommend recording yourself, do it at the start of your 3 months and again at the end. You'll probably be surprised how much you've improved if you stick to practicing. It'll act as a motivator, and if you can't hear much improvement then you know you need to change something about the way you practice.
Members Knottyhed Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 urge and desire are great motivators but some people (like myself) really need discipline. I find that time flies a lot quicker too when I'm actually focused rather than random noodling. Yep - i agree, whilst nobody can give you the desire to play and practice, if you don't have a sense of discipline you'lll just practice what you already know and won't push your boundries.
Members Artmonix Posted June 1, 2007 Author Members Posted June 1, 2007 What kind of music do you like to play? I'm mostly into classic rock, but I like Jazz, blues, some sherdstick stuff like Satriani, and Rock'a Billy every once in a while. I just want to be a better more well rounded player:thu:
Members Artmonix Posted June 1, 2007 Author Members Posted June 1, 2007 Thanx for the advice I'll put it to good use
Members Virgman Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 I have a list of things I'm working on. Mostly songs but a few technique things too. I make a list. Every week I bump up the drum machine a couple beats for each item. When I reach my target bpm I stop there but continue to play the song whenever I practice. I work on Jazz one day, rock/blues the other day. Keeps me from getting bored.
Members Dubb Posted June 1, 2007 Members Posted June 1, 2007 ONe really important thing is to keep challenging yourself, don't sit there playing the same old licks/songs at the same tempo. If you do the same thing every day you will not get better.'Nuff said.
Members Terje Posted June 2, 2007 Members Posted June 2, 2007 urge and desire are great motivators but some people (like myself) really need discipline. I find that time flies a lot quicker too when I'm actually focused rather than random noodling. You are missing my point completely. I was not talking about "random noodling". I was talking about taking the time to figure out exactly what it is in music that drives you nuts, what it is that you simply can't resist. Start there and let it drive you. I gave tunes as an example of what often works for me. Let me give you an example. Let's say I realize I need to practice more scales and arpeggios. The thought of sitting down ad go through them on my instrument in a systematical way bores me even as a thought. It wouldn't be very productive. I would be unfocused if I practiced in this mood. Instead I find a tune I really love. Let's pretend it's Yesterday by The Beatles. Maybe I get the sheet music too. I go through it and learn the melody, analyze the piano part, learn the chords. Then I realize that if I wanted to improvise on this tune I'd better learn the arpeggios and because I am so interested in the tune I do. Besides, there aren't that many chords in this song so what's the big deal, right? A few days later when I play this with a friend who is a singer it turns out though that the key is wrong for her. I know the song well now so I transpose it fairly quickly and when I get home I get the idea that why the hell not learn the arpeggios in this new key as well... and while I'm at it that night I learn it in all 12 keys because once the first step is taken it turns out to be fairly easy. A lot of actual practicing done without really thinking about it and without having to be disciplined for even one second. If tunes isn't what drives you then find whatever it is that does. Some people really like sitting down and learn all the arpeggios on their instrument in a systematic fashion.
Members Dimebag666 Posted June 3, 2007 Members Posted June 3, 2007 Different strokes for different folks i guess terje. For me, discipline and regimens is something that applies to everything, even just planning what I'm going to do for the day. It all gets blocked out. I'm also pretty OCD in the fact that 90% i start practicing (or doing pretty much anything for that matter) on the hour, and if not, usually the half hour. Its weird but just how i have got used to things. I also really enjoy just sitting with the backing track or metronome and chugging scales or exercises or etudes out bumping up the bpm every so often. Granted i don't really have a large repertoire of songs i know (mostly due to the fact the few i do spend time learning take me forever to learn) and i have a pretty substandard grasp of theory. But i have fun and thats always the main thing.
Members Terje Posted June 4, 2007 Members Posted June 4, 2007 I also really enjoy just sitting with the backing track or metronome and chugging scales or exercises or etudes out bumping up the bpm every so often. Granted i don't really have a large repertoire of songs i know (mostly due to the fact the few i do spend time learning take me forever to learn) and i have a pretty substandard grasp of theory. But i have fun and thats always the main thing. Actually you're following the same principle it's just that you're drawn to other things. You're having fun and that is the main thing.
Members Li Shenron Posted June 4, 2007 Members Posted June 4, 2007 I'm mostly into classic rock, but I like Jazz, blues, some sherdstick stuff like Satriani, and Rock'a Billy every once in a while. I just want to be a better more well rounded player:thu: Some questions for you (multiple answers allowed ): 1. What would you like to be doing a couple of years from now? a) Playing covers b) Improvise/jam c) Write your own songs 2. Are you planning to have a band or would you like to be self-sufficient with your guitar? 3. Do you plan to become a regular performer (i.e. get some concerts in pubs...) at amateur level? Or even try professional? At least these infos can tell me better about you, so that I may suggest different skills you should consider practicing!!
Members Artmonix Posted June 5, 2007 Author Members Posted June 5, 2007 Some questions for you (multiple answers allowed ): 1. What would you like to be doing a couple of years from now? a) Playing covers b) Improvise/jam c) Write your own songs 2. Are you planning to have a band or would you like to be self-sufficient with your guitar? 3. Do you plan to become a regular performer (i.e. get some concerts in pubs...) at amateur level? Or even try professional? At least these infos can tell me better about you, so that I may suggest different skills you should consider practicing!! 1) C 2) I want to play in a steady band no one just jumping in when ever just a solid group of people 3)I would love to go pro but even if that doesn't work out I'd like to at least gig locally
Members Knottyhed Posted June 6, 2007 Members Posted June 6, 2007 1) C2) I want to play in a steady band no one just jumping in when ever just a solid group of people3)I would love to go pro but even if that doesn't work out I'd like to at least gig locally So you've got goals, the thing to do now is work out how to achieve them. Writing songs - a sound knowledge of theory won't go amiss, you'll also want a 'good ear', and a great knowledge of chords. So theory and ear-training should be part of your practice routine. You can get alot of theory hanging around here, buying books, taking lessons - every time you learn something apply it to writing a song/tune, and learn to transcribe those tunes into different keys. Start writing songs now, start trying to form a band now - both of those things in themselves will get you closer to where you want to be. Correct me if I'm wrong but it doesn't sound like technical improvement is a big thing for you? Obviously if you just want to write songs and play in a band you'll want to practice different things compared to someone that wants to play 'shred' lead guitar in a metal/fusion band etc.
Members Li Shenron Posted June 6, 2007 Members Posted June 6, 2007 So you've got goals, the thing to do now is work out how to achieve them. Writing songs - a sound knowledge of theory won't go amiss, you'll also want a 'good ear', and a great knowledge of chords. So theory and ear-training should be part of your practice routine. You can get alot of theory hanging around here, buying books, taking lessons - every time you learn something apply it to writing a song/tune, and learn to transcribe those tunes into different keys. Start writing songs now, start trying to form a band now - both of those things in themselves will get you closer to where you want to be. Correct me if I'm wrong but it doesn't sound like technical improvement is a big thing for you? Obviously if you just want to write songs and play in a band you'll want to practice different things compared to someone that wants to play 'shred' lead guitar in a metal/fusion band etc. Given your answers Artmonix, this is my conclusion exactly. You certainly shouldn't worry too much about technical prowess or perfection, otherwise this could easily suck up a lot of your time. Of course I don't mean you should accept being limited to being able to strum a few chords and nothing more... although Bob Dylan does just that and see what a successful songwriter he is But in writing your own music you have the advantage that no one is ever going to pretend a specific technique or speed level. It's your music, hence you can just write stuff you can play. If occasionally you have something in mind that sounds cool but you are not skilled enough to play it, but you really want to have it in your song, then you can start practicing that particular thing. One could argue that only if you increase your technique first you will then have lots of more writing possibilities... it is partially true and it mostly applies to some specific genre, but the risks are that (1) you'd really spend much more time doing exercises than writing music and (2) you start writing stuff based on the fact that it is challenging to play and not based on the fact that it is beautiful to listen to.
Members Knottyhed Posted June 6, 2007 Members Posted June 6, 2007 I'd say if song writing is what motivates you, you're probably better off being technically average at several instruments than you are being utterly amazing on one. The bottom line is that you don't need to be a virtuoso to play 90% of popular music.
Members swanusa Posted June 9, 2007 Members Posted June 9, 2007 Hey Terje, you have a very unusual approach to practising. Your own drive is almost visible. :-) Your example in your second post in this thread is excellent. I'm going to try that approach. I kind of do already but still more of tunes playing from now onwards....
Members piesore Posted June 10, 2007 Members Posted June 10, 2007 From my own experience, I really struggled a long time finding what worked for me. I thought if I just learned a lot of difficult songs, I'd eventually become good, but I sunk 5 years into that with little real progress. I'd eventually be able to play really difficult songs, but it would take forever, and I'd be really tense, and all that practicing went out the window when I played with others. So, I eventually learned I was practicing poorly. I had the discipline to get me through all those years of frustration, but I wasn't getting the results I wanted. This book helped me as a starting point:http://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Successful-Practicing-Guitarists/dp/086469377X/ref=sr_1_1/002-6602449-6490419?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1181470943&sr=1-1 I was pretty angry with it at first since it seemed really obvious and simplistic, but I soon realized I wasn't doing most of this stuff, and once I started to apply some of those methods I started to see improvement. The first and hardest barrier for me was to simply relax. I always thought my tension was normal, and it just meant I needed to practice more, but if you ever feel tense, it means you're playing incorrectly. Also, I had this romantic idea of being a self taught player, so I couldn't read music, didn't know theory or even scales and chords. Visiting his website led me to Fretboard Logic, which finally helped me get music theory, and A Modern Method For Guitar, which, now with my knowledge from Fretboard, has helped my playing and brought me closer to being a real musician than any other one thing. I'm not specifically recommending buying those books, since I can only say what worked for me. But what I've learned is I really think you need to learn the basic language of music to be a good guitarist. Without exception, every successful guitarist I've met, or heard about has learned this language, whether they know it or not. This will really open you up to learning songs and then actually getting why the notes fall in the places that they do, or going down a more technical route and bucking down with scale exercises and theory. I try to stay fairly disciplined with guitar, practicing a set amount of time each day, but I backed off that for a while too since I realized I was just filling in the time, instead of really getting what I wanted out of practice. So, now I really think about what I want to play, and that helps the time go by faster. Then throwing in a bit of technical exercises which I got from A Modern Method and applying to the songs I already like really feels more rewarding than just mindlessly practicing exercises. But I need that little push of knowing I should practice each day that gets the guitar in my hands. I also have a 5 minute rule, because a lot of the time I won't actually feel like practicing. I'll just force myself to pick up the guitar and play for 5 minutes, and if I'm still not feeling it, I'll put it back down and try later. But most of the time, that feeling evaporates and I start to get into what I'm playing, whether its songs or exercises. Finally, there's the balance between keeping this varied so you don't get bored, but not taking on so much at once that you don't see progress. I guess what I've finally learned is that guitar is a totally learnable skill, if you're not feeling a decent sense of progress and/or enjoyment when you play, you're doing something wrong and you should keep changing your habits until something clicks. Good luck!
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