Practice Regimen

[Jeff Flowerday]

Let's hear about them?

[Baconator]

Weird - I just made a huge post in another forum about this very topic. Since I'm apparenly the first to see this I'll get the ball rolling with a big tirade :zzz:

I'm back on the regular practicing routine for the first time in . . . . well an awfully long time. I finally got to the point where I figured that I'm tired of sucking at the guitar after playing on and off for a few decades and that if I can't stop this obsession of mine with the instrument then I might as well do something productive about it. Perhaps the best lesson I've learned recently is that to really progress you have to take the time to make sure you have mastered a skill before moving on. I've spent the last 2-3 weeks focusing on learning scales in various positions at slow speeds so I can attempt to perfect my technique. I've also been working on learning the major, minor, diminished and augmented triads in all 4 3-string groupings along with the first and second inversions. Is it boring - somewhat, but when I find I'm really losing focus I move on to some noodling and whatever else I feel like playing at the time. I actually enjoy practicing more now that I have in the past because I can feel that I'm making progress and working towards a greater understanding of the instrument instead of 'just' learning tunes. By this I certainly don't mean to belittle the importance of learning tunes as much as state that the material I'm working on is really helpful in speeding that process along and, at least in my case, really needs to be worked on.

To get back to the original question, I'm generally spending about 1-2 hours on as many days as I can working on scales, triads and related etudes for up to an hour and then noodling afterwards until I have to either go to bed or help out with family obligations.

[mandocaster]

Umm, hate to be a poopyhead spelling & definition cop, but "regiment" is a grouping of military personnel smaller than a division....

I think the word is "regimen", although strictly speaking it's a medical term to do with diet.

There, I'll shut up now.

[Jeff Flowerday]

Umm, hate to be a poopyhead spelling & definition cop, but "regiment" is a grouping of military personnel smaller than a division....

I think the word is "regimen", although strictly speaking it's a medical term to do with diet.

There, I'll shut up now.

Typo yes, definition no.

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/regimen

[fretboard]

Not sure I'd always call it practice, but I tend to sit down with a guitar or bass for a couple hours a day. Most of my time is spent with the recorder running so there's not much scale theory or anything going on, but plenty of time spent with guitars in different tuning working on chord progressions and all those other things that lead to developing songs... Or trying to...

[Hamm Guitars]

I don't really 'practice' anymore.

When I was younger I took conservatory lessons, practiced scales and technique for countless hours on end ant took the whole thing quite seriously.

Now I just play, noodle around, relieve stress and have fun. I play simpler, sloppier and louder with more emphasis on the sounds coming out of my guitar than the actual musical value that it has. I like to play wang guitar more than anything, and it doesn't really require that much practice.:eek:

[Robert1950]

A practice who-what-when-where????? Does this include noodling ????

[Jeremy]

I generally spend 3 or so hours a day practicing, and a 1-2 hours jamming to backing tracks and writing music. That on top of school, homework and my friends always wanting to play games with me over the internet, I'm pretty busy, but it's worth it. On weekends, the practicing is usually the same, if I'm doing something that day, but if I'm not, it's usually 5 hours practicing and 2-3 hours jamming/writing.

[auger]

I would say easily over 1 hour a day...more like 2 or 3...
and have been steady for the last 3 years or so...
most of it playing for the furniture....

Auger

[mandocaster]

Being a pro at crastinating, it takes me a while to get started, but then I get lost in the time spent. A few hours later I snap out of it with a bunch of new muscle memory. The advent of MIDI was best thing in the world....a metronome that actually plays something. You can build precision at a snail's pace then speed it up 10 BPM at a time until you can blaze....

[traynor_garnet]

The advent of MIDI was best thing in the world....a metronome that actually plays something. You can build precision at a snail's pace then speed it up 10 BPM at a time until you can blaze....

Ya know its funny, but I just bought a metrnome this weekend even though I have Cakewalk right here at my finger tips with tons of drum patterns. Why . . .?

1.) I spend way too much time on the computer as is. When I want to relax, practice, etc, I don't want to be stuck in front of the computer again.

2.) When I play with midi tracks I get tempted to use a full drum beat and the next thing you know I am playing rather than practising.

There is just something nice about the metronome's simplicity: turn it on, turn the dial, practice.

TG

[mandocaster]

When I play with midi tracks I get tempted to use a full drum beat and the next thing you know I am playing rather than practising.

And this is bad in what way? :bow:

[Warren]

It's become a real habit for me, I have to have the guitar in my hands while I'm watching TV. I do spend alot of time mapping new concepts on paper. Then when I'm sitting watching TV I'm going over the fretboard maps for riffs, chords, etc.

[traynor_garnet]

And this is bad in what way? :bow:

I don't end up practicing and improving my weaknesses: I end up noodling around and playing my same tired old licks.

TG

[traynor_garnet]

I find that and hour with the TV on is equivalent to about 5 minutes with it off. TV is just a distraction and I find real practice involves concentration.

TG



It's become a real habit for me, I have to have the guitar in my hands while I'm watching TV. I do spend alot of time mapping new concepts on paper. Then when I'm sitting watching TV I'm going over the fretboard maps for riffs, chords, etc.

[violation]

No less than 5 hours a day... if I can't make atleast 5 hours I don't sleep until I do (true story). I usually work in about 7-11 though... what can I say? I want to be good.

I leave the TV on while I practice, not to watch but because there will be distractions playing live, so I'm trying to learn not to get bothered by them. Now I can play while my brother is downstairs screaming or when people are hammerin' fixin' the house, hah.

[Warren]

I find that and hour with the TV on is equivalent to about 5 minutes with it off. TV is just a distraction and I find real practice involves concentration.

TG

You're right, I wouldn't recommend practicing in front of the TV, but, for me, it works. Being the oldest of a large busy family growing up and now with 2 young boys I never got or get 5 minutes without distraction (but, I wouldn't want to change that) so I'm quite happy about the fact that I've developed the ability to sort of semi-tune out and concentrate on what I'm doing.

[Warren]

I leave the TV on while I practice, not to watch but because there will be distractions playing live, so I'm trying to learn not to get bothered by them. Now I can play while my brother is downstairs screaming or when people are hammerin' fixin' the house, hah.

My experience totally, except, I don't find it helps for playing live, playing live is a totally different distraction.

[JSD's Guitar Shack]

I don't end up practicing and improving my weaknesses: I end up noodling around and playing my same tired old licks.

TG

Me too....:rockon2:

[Metal#J#]

I've got 2 kids (3 and 4). This = no sleep, no money and no time to practice.:frown:

[violation]

My experience totally, except, I don't find it helps for playing live, playing live is a totally different distraction.
Good point, I worded that bad... it was more like a step up from just playing in silence.

I've only been playing a tiny bit, 2 days over 11 months. I've played infront of a crowd of people twice and I was still pretty shakey, haha.

[mandocaster]

I don't end up practicing and improving my weaknesses: I end up noodling around and playing my same tired old licks.

TG

I hear ya! Remember how long it took to figure out those now-tired licks? I must admit to running to the shelter of these old riffs more often than I care to admit...

...time to learn some new signature twiddlings.

[Warren]

I've played infront of a crowd of people twice and I was still pretty shakey, haha.

And, that's the rush, isn't it?? Makes you want to do it more!!!!????

[violation]

Oh definetly! I can't wait until the next time I get to.

[PaulS]

I guess I noodle more than practise although I do get a couple hours every week in a live situation and have learned to deal with whatever you can throw at me to a certain degree. When I noodle I look for new, to me, licks that can expand my style. Lately I picked up a Boomerang and it makes noodling a whole new ball game. I don't expect to be going on tour or getting into the studio to cut a new CD at any point, I just like playing...... It can be very relaxing to me most of the time. :rockon:

[lolligagger]

I have been playing with a lot more regularity this year...must be the Bran Flakes. I have had a several 7 to 10 day stretches since January when I haven't even looked at a guitar due to work or travel or family obligations, but when I do sit down to practice, I have been pretty disciplined.

I start with some scales, then work through various flatpicking pieces I am working on, then over to various different licks. Some of the flatpicking tunes I have up to speed, and some not so much. I try to make a point to begin working on a new flatpicking tune probably once every 3 - 4 weeks just to keep pushing myself. If there is nobody else in the house, I work in a few strumming/singing tunes. Not all of my family appreciates my high lonesome sound.

I have a couple of different CD's to strum and pick along with, but as useful as these tools can be, they are no substitute to jamming and practicing the tunes with a real person. I find it easy to get distracted when playing with others so this type of practice really helps me...I have the attention span of a hamster.

[rippinglickfest]

I've got 2 kids (3 and 4). This = no sleep, no money and no time to practice.:frown:
I've got six kids..Four teenagers and two little ones 5 and 3.....I'm in school full time .....but its for music so I'm playing all the time........I try to get loose everyday.....no specifics I just play. If i dont have time I make time. As far as money, thats tight for sure but I still manage to buy things...........used gear is the way to go for me.

[Tomfoolery]

I find that it comes in waves where I am inspired and time permitting able to practice for hours on end. I tend to bounce from "noodle" to some sort of actual scale/mode practice. Its gotta stay fun and fresh or what is the point in my opinion and situation. Maybe after an hour or so I will learn a tune or do some home recording to see what comes out. It all really just depends on the day, I don't force it !!:DevilGuitar:

[The Tourist]

I used to play at least an hour a day in high school, but now I'm in university..not so much. I voted for the first option.

[Coustfan'01]

I play about a hour everyday , maybe a bit more . I don't practice all that much , but I learn hard songs and try to learn songs from different genre , and understand what I'm playing . I also play my own songs a good bit .

[Bevo]

My routine has changed since I picked up the Bass and had a few lessons.
Now I start with scales and whatever the teacher left me with, I try for at least an hour every day. Once I get that done then its just play time.

One other thing I also did was to learn one song at a time, I was all over the place and new riffs but no songs.

If I do get a few min I will also pick it up and just hammer off fast scales with the metronome..Kinda fun to try and keep up. Found even 10 min helps and always puts a grin on my face!

[AJ6stringsting]

Since I work ten hours a day, I have to kill my hands just to keep them up to spects:banana:

[chaoscypher]

I practice more than an hour every day, though usually I don't do much exercises or scale-work and mostly just practice my own songs and songs that I know. Some days I become absolutely inseparable from my guitar, though. Could mean an entire afternoon/evening of messing around.

I find the best practice to be learning a song outside of your skill level; it opens up new playing styles to you.

[ENDITOL]

I play every day...pretty much have to, or I lose the 'chops'. Wish I could focus and practice more these days, the 'business' aspect of being in a band sometimes gets overwhelming and unfortunately overshadows the writing, learning new techniques etc. It's all a balancing act I suppose...:banana:

[washburned]

1. Wait for wife to leave house
2. power up Koch
3. turn all knobs to 10
4. pick guitar
5. rock out until:
a. wife's car comes into driveway
b. police car comes into driveway
c. ears bleed
6. turn off amp
7. put guitar away.

[Renvas]

i just play when i feel like it or when im in the mood to play...

maybee this is why im not getting any better? :D

[I_cant_play]

I tend to play as long as I can every day considering studying is priority, I also like to go out with friends once in a while, play sports. Having said that, I don't watch TV, other than the news, I don't surf the web or use facebook or anything like that so all the other available time I have left, I pretty much play guitar non stop. It can vary from hours upon hours in a day to none on days I have lots of studying to do.

I don't have a practice routine but I constantly find some new techniques or some licks that give me trouble and repeat them again and again. I also tend to improvise a lot. Unfortunately even having played about 5 years now, and I'm a fairly decent player, I've still never played in a band. I've only jammed with people a handful of times and I really feel this is holding me back. I keep hoping to find someone as interested in playing for excessive hours as me but in vancouver it seems it's a fat chance. :mad:

[stratovani]

When I practice I usually take an hour and divide it up into blocks of 10, 20, and 30 minutes. The 10 minute block is for warming up, running a few scales and licks and stuff like that, the 20 minute block is for studying and practicing to whatever learning material I happen to have at the time, and the 30 minute block is for playing to backing tracks. I'll follow this routine maybe 3 or 4 times a week. At other times I'll just get on the guitar and wank my heart out! Nothing wrong with a structured routine but you've got to break it up at times in order to keep things interesting.

[esp_dsp]

as soon as i get up grab the guitar till i get bored or have to do something else... other then that.... its all day non stop:rockon2:

[jane]

I try to practice at least an hour everyday... I find it hard to start playing (and stop surfing the 'net or watching the tv or reading) but when I start, I usually don't put the guitar down until my fingers hurt. I usually practice scales, then some easy exercises, then some harder ones, then practice the song(s) that I'm currently working and then I just play whatever I feel like. At least, I try to do that.............

(I usually just end up playing whatever after the first 20 minutes or so)

[NB-SK]

It varies. I did about 4 hours yesterday, an hour or two the day before, and nothing for the 3 days before that. It's too darn hot to go to the gym, so I figured I might as well spend the extra time doing something productive. I've been trying to build up dexterity in my left and right hand, so I've been focusing on exercises during the last couple of weeks. I've made significant progress, especially in the last 2 days.

[david henman]

...can't do it. i may have tried many years ago, i don't remember, but i doubt it.

however, i am seriously thinking of picking up some instructional dvds, just for fun, maybe even learn something!

that said, i do play every day. weeknights i work on my songwriting, on guitar, for at least an hour every night, usually two.

weekends my band goes into marathon rehearsals, usually totalling about twenty hours.

so, i never, ever "practice", but i play a lot.

-dh

[zinga]

I go for 3 to 4 hours a day, 2 hours of scales etc, then 2 of noodling or backing tracks ect. :banana:

[zontar]

One piece of advice I got years ago on practicing that I use, and that I passed on to students when I was teaching is this.

If you play electric guitar, spend some of your practice time with the electric not plugged in at all. You can still hear the notes, and you don't have the amplifier or effects to cover up your playing. It helps in working on a clean technique, and in adding expression. Even going through an amp dry colours your sound to some degree. Of course if you use a effects you may need to practice how using them affects your playing, and also using effects can inspire new ideas. Plus it's fun. So by all means practice plugged in as well. But it's valuable to spend some time without being plugged in as well.

[wnpgguy]

Latley I have been playing guitar like it is my religion, so much that my wrists and fingers are soar. I'm also getting back aches from sitting so long.

"uhnnnn, my back"-- thats me..


My practice regimine could use work though. I am looking to find a solid practice regimine because I feel as if I have plataue'd. I want to advance, so I've started learning the fretboard/scales. eg 1st 3rds and 5ths. I find trying to play a song you already know, taking the choards and trying them out someplace else on the fretboard is a new challange that is helping me learn.

[rhh7]

One piece of advice I got years ago on practicing that I use, and that I passed on to students when I was teaching is this.

If you play electric guitar, spend some of your practice time with the electric not plugged in at all. You can still hear the notes, and you don't have the amplifier or effects to cover up your playing. It helps in working on a clean technique, and in adding expression.


Great advice! After being without a guitar for the past six years, I just bought a Strat and have no money for an amp. So I will be practicing as you recommend for a while.

[violation]

Latley I have been playing guitar like it is my religion, so much that my wrists and fingers are soar. I'm also getting back aches from sitting so long.

"uhnnnn, my back"-- thats me..
Stretches and massages stop that from happening. Grab a copy of Petrucci's Rock Discipline... he has a bunch that'll not only solve aching problems but make your practice session a lot more productive.

I sit and play for atleast 6 hours daily and never get sore. Petrucci's warm up = no injuries. I even add some stretches that I steal from P90X (bad ass work out regimen by the way) that help the shoulders and back.

[Greg Ellis]

I play about an hour and a half or maybe two hours each day, at least five days a week. It's a bit longer on weekends, and a bit shorter on weeknights.

I have about 4 hours of music (mp3s) on my playlist, and I try to get through a couple of sets (30 to 40 minutes each) every time I play. I'll stop and rewind and go back over things a couple of times if I mess them up.

It's not so much practise as it is "playing", I guess.

I've tried working on scales and such, several times in the past. Maybe I'm just too lazy, but I can't do it. It's just too mind-numbingly boring. I'd rather be playing songs.

Once in a while I'll sit and noodle quietly, by myself, working out bits and pieces of things. And once in a while I'll play through a few songs (unplugged) without the backing tracks, just to make sure I know them.

But most of the time I'm playing entire songs; several of them, actually, strung together into a sort of a "set".

[I_cant_play]

I really can't afford to have a set regimen. I'm currently studying at university so as a result there are weeks when I'm completely swamped and there are weeks when I have surprising amounts of time. Therefore, how much I practice can vary from nothing to 4-5 hours on a weekday or maybe 8 hours on a weekend. I also try to practice a little bit of everything but I usually just end up practicing technique the whole time. This is due to me usually being tired from school or whatever and learning new songs requires more brain power than just practicing scales, rhythm patterns etc..

[wnpgguy]

Thats just like me. I play alot of scales and other random lead pattens when I get the chance. My brain is just not up for new song learning playage if you know what I mean.

[devnulljp]

Umm, hate to be a poopyhead spelling & definition cop, but "regiment" is a grouping of military personnel smaller than a division....

I think the word is "regimen", although strictly speaking it's a medical term to do with diet.

There, I'll shut up now.

And "everyday" is an adjective. You want "every day" (with a space).
As far as the poll, I'd say ideally you want at least 1/2 an hour a day of tech warm up, exercises, scales, patterns, whatever. Not playing, practice.
Then there's playing practice, which needs to be daily and at least an hour.
Then there's theory too, which I was never very good at.

I've done this kind of thing, and it's great.

Unfortunately, now I'm lucky to get my guitar out once a week for a noodle fro 20 min, and that sucks.

[Mooh]

I often do warmup drills with my students, plus accompany them and demonstrate for them, so with that alone I'm playing more than an hour per day (I teach at least 6 hours a day), five days a week. Then there's a weekly practice with the band. On my own I generally practice like a lesson progresses, warmups, scales, exercises, old tunes, new tunes, improvisation.

Make music, not war.

Peace, Mooh.

[geezer]

I wonder how many people spend more time on forums talking about
playing than actually picking up a guitar and playing.

[Paul]

I wonder how many people spend more time on forums talking about
playing than actually picking up a guitar and playing.

Starting with me.....

at least one.

Many of my playing jobs involve more driving, set up and tear-down time than actual playing.

[greco]

Starting with me.....

at least one.

Make that two.

We often work in the evening...so the forum is about all I have the energy for, by the time we are finished.

Peace

Dave