What are you guys practicing?

[DCurtis]

I've been somewhat obsessed with working on playing through the changes to the Allman/T-Bone Walker version

of Stormy Monday.

[Dega500]

I asked our singer to come up with a couple of acoustic songs we could throw in with me on my new Tak! He came up with More Than Words by Extreme.

I didn't even remember the song until I youtubed it. It's kind of a loose, wandering, patternless tune (at least to me it seems that way) but fun to play.

Yes, I know, I know!

[DCurtis]

Lots of metronome work.

 

Do tell my friend. Details, I want details!

 

[Mason Bruce]

Black Dog Live solo - Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden 1973

[gubu]

Old 12 string stoner (dirt simple modal) tunes of mine that I'm planning on re-recording. Trying to get a guitar orchestra thing going, with multiple guitars all playing the same thing in parts, and complementing each other in other parts.

 

My feel was completely different when I was a young stoner, so it's tricky...

[WRGKMC]

Most of my playing involves recording originals, but when I practice I been developing new finger exercises to keep my hands in shape. They are not necessarily melodic or follow scales of any kind. Guess the best way to describe them is geometric finger board patterns that utilize all the fingers. Many of them are real tongue twister, Or I should say finger twisters. Some are designed to work up the neck down the neck and across, Others are finger slide based, hammer on(4 in a row) pull off, 4 in a row, and just about any other combination you can imagine.

 

I may move from there to arpeggio scales that move across the neck starting with one chord moving from low to high strings, then changing chords on the way back over progressing up the neck with two more chords. Its tough stuff because you have to be thinking ahead all the time to get any speed going.

 

After and hour or two of that stuff and much more my hand is usually limber and fully sensitized so they can play anything my mind tells them to without errors. That's usually when I'll take it to the studio and write the leads to the new songs I'm near completing. I keep songs in various states of evolution pretty much all the time. I may track some chords with drums, add bass to songs that have the bass and drums, add vocals to songs that have those three complete, Add leads and keys after that.

 

I'll have half a dozen going in each of those categories, and if I'm in the mood to play bass, I'll finish a stack of those. If I want to throw down some new songs, chords and drums, Etc. Etc.

 

I used to focus on one song at a time, or maybe a couple and run them from beginning to end, often times in a single session. I don't know why it changed over the years but I like to let a piece of work ferment a bit before I take it to the next level. This way it always sounds new and fresh and I'm always inspired to add new parts. 99% of it is written on the spot. I don't run a part over and over till its spotless. I prefer the live writing as it occurs at the moment and the results are nearly always better that way.

 

This is the reason for my practice methods. I don't need to work my mind when I work my hand, and in fact, not thinking about it is a good thing for me. I want to save that mental focus and drive for when I'm creating art.

 

This is pretty much what an athlete does. He may go into a batter cage and do nothing but hit the ball for an hour. He may jog a couple of miles or catch fly balls. No pressure, just physical work so when the games on, his body wont be a hindrance to where his mind wants it to go.

 

Its hard to find other musicians who learned to work that way. You get in these bands that stop and beat every single mistake to death until you begin to hate the song and dread when it comes up in rotation.

 

I have several other musicians I spent years teaching this "other" method. Eventually they "Got It" and it was like freeing their souls to play things thy never imagined they could. When we played covers we took the best of what the original bad did and added our own layer of originality to it. For a drummer it may be an alternate beat, Bass player may change up the riff to match the drums, the rest just fits in based upon what's there.

 

The best part is its a whole lot more fun then doing someone else's interpretation of that song that may or may not fit your style.

I realize this is pretty advanced methodology for many. I did play covers for many decades just like most to build their chops. It just got too old having done it for so long. You eventually adopt new methods of doing things that are different from the way you began. That's the beauty of music. You don't have to do it the same as everyone else, and in fact, people love artists who have unique styles and methods. Just food for thought.

[Idunno]

I just play whatever comes to mind or something that I've ear-marked to learn. Mostly original stuff, I dream it up and get it down. That's the bulk of what I do. Probably an hour a day is spent on the guitar playing routinely and another portion of an hour experimenting before I've had enough. For me, dexterity needs to be challenged every day in the form of new fingerboard and fingerpicking material. If I was in a band setting I'd probably work whatever the list needed working. Above all, if I can't keep it fresh and fun then I'll do something else until the joy returns.