Practice Routines

**tev77** · 08-20-2008, 06:22 AM

Thought it would be interesting to see what other peoples practice routines are like. Do you have set times when you practice guitar or do you just pick it up when you feel like it or have a spare moment. Do you plan out your practice or just play whatever you feel like.

Personally my schedule is quite varied so I don't really have a set practice time, however I'm trying to get out of bad time wasting habbits (such as TV) and whenever I have some spare time and not doing anything else important I try to put that time to use with playing guitar.

I don't have a set practice routine but I find that having a goal (to get through a Truefire course) helps me to stay and track (most of the time) and do things that help me get better as opposed to doing things which I already know and don't achieve anything. At the moment my practice time usually consists of getting on the computer and jamming along to some of the jam tracks of CAGED Cracked or doing another lesson in the Fingerstyle Blues Handbooks.

I would like to be a bit more structured and organized but every time I've tried that it lasts about a week and then I give up. Is there anyone who has got good routines? Whats your secret?

Bekaybe · 08-20-2008, 09:48 AM

I have no set schedule either, but try to work it in to the day as often as possible. I usually get a good hour in on Saturday and Sunday, and then can do sometimes 3 hours on Monday's and Wednesdays.

As for how I practice, sometimes I work on technique and theory (that is, concentrate on what I'm playing, and why, doing finger exercisizes, etc.) and othe times I jam along with some CDs or Jam tracks... other times, I just noodle around with whatever groove comes out of my guitar, and other times I work on learning new songs... and I do work quite a bit on keeping the songs our band does fresh in my head by playing through them. Sometimes a little quickly... I mean, I know some of the songs like the back of my hand by now so I really don't need to do much more than a riff or two to remember how it goes... Ironically, one song - Fire by Hendrix - which I felt was in the "back of my hand" category I completely forgot how to play the last time we played it.

**Josh Gibson** · 08-20-2008, 11:07 AM

I pick up a guitar any chance I get! Seriously. Depending on how much time I have, I can either be very particular about what I play, or just grab it and have fun for a few minutes (or hours!). I'm not very organized when it comes to time management, so it depends on what else is going on around here.

I've found that starting out with 10 minutes of warmup can really set the tone of a longer practice session. Staying loose is paramount. This has helped me get more consistent results and I'm more likely to at least feel OK about my playing, even when I'm struggling with something really tough....jumping in sans warm-up can often lead to frustration, especially when you're working on demanding stuff.

RIGHT HAND:

Being a huge fan of Gypsy Jazz, I'll start out playing some Gypsy style Rhythm through a tune or 2 to get everything moving. A half-dozen 30-60 second bursts of Tremolo on a few chords close this out nicely and really help the right hand.

LEFT HAND:

For my left hand, I'll start with a few minutes of single note lines - a great chance to work through Arp/Scale forms - but I do it in a way that's at least somewhat musical....pick a position and with minimal shifting, play the prevailing arp/scale through a progression, (Blues, Standard Tune, Cycle of 4ths, Cycle of 5ths, Ascend/Descend by predetermined interval). Then I'll try a new position....on really productive days, I'll cover the entire neck before moving on....sometimes with multiple tunes/progressions.

From there, I could go in a bunch of different directions:

Play with CD's/Jam Tracks/BIAB
Work up a chord melody/fingerstyle tune from a fake book/chart/CD
Work on improv over a certain chord type
Work on improv over a certain chord change
Work on improv over a certain chord progression
Practice singing and playing

As for studying theory, that's a constant. It's one of the easiest topics to work on away from your instrument....in fact, I'm of the opinion that most theory should be learned (at least initially) with a pencil in hand, not a guitar. Not as much fun, but nothing good comes easy!

Rather than hijack this thread, I'll start some others addressing specific examples and the challenges they present.

Josh

**slasner** · 08-20-2008, 11:54 AM

I am very weak and unstructured in my practice!

when I was a kid I often practiced while watching TV, copying Tommy Tedesco, Glen Campbell, Roy Clark and all the other greats of the 60s and 70s!!