Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

[Kamanda~SD]

Okay, It's summer and I plan on playing ALOT of guitar. I am working on a solid practice routine building on a whole bunch of things.
I so far have these, which I will split into time within 2 hours, although I plan on playing 6+ a day:

• Lesson book (reading music)
• Picking exercises (improving speed)
• Scales (location of roots, patterns, applications etc.)
• Lesson from Magazine/ other instructional book
• Jamming with CD/ Learning a new song
• Free Time (writing own music etc.)

Do you guys have any suggestions on ways to make it mroe effective, things to add on. I plan on doing both rythm and lead oriented lesson kinda things. Any input on building a routine would be great...thanks.

[Cuthbert]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

Do you guys have any suggestions on ways to make it mroe effective

Yea, cut off 4 hours from your practice schedule everyday!

Unless you're *really* that dedicated and you're absolutely sure that you can practice 6 hours a day without giving up, dont' even try. Chances are, you won't be able to do any serious work after an hour or 2 anyways - I know I can't. 6 hours of practice = 1 hour of practice and 5 of noodling around.

Gutiar practice should never be tedious, and should never feel like homework - of course, the more you practice the better you get, and tedious work is fundamental, but if you overwork yourself for 3 weeks and leave the gutiar for the next 3 weeks, you've just done more harm than good - both to your playing ability and to your interest in guitar.

That being said, I do hope you can do it You have a lot more dedication than I've ever had towards the guitar.

[shreder75]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

Unless you're *really* that dedicated and you're absolutely sure that you can practice 6 hours a day without giving up, dont' even try. Chances are, you won't be able to do any serious work after an hour or 2 anyways - I know I can't. 6 hours of practice = 1 hour of practice and 5 of noodling around.

yep, that sounds just like me when I was taking lessons..lol...

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

Hmmm, thanks guys, I'm really inspired right now to learn, learn and learn, but I have been known to do that whole practice, the nfind myself noodling. Thanks for your advice. I plan on starting on Monday...

[y2stevo]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

Last summer i managed to get a good 8-10 mabye 12 hours some days, everyday of practise, but i found the ehardest stuff was where you had to REALLY concentrate, like trying to learn theory etc reading music. Im finally finished school and I plan to go on the the guitar institute in england in a year or 2 but first i gotta get better lol.
As of late tho i cannot motivate myself for more than a few hours but i have this guitar workshop thing coming up that my guitar teacher is doing so hopefully that will get me back on track

Good luck man!

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

10-12 eh?? Good thing this isn't a competition, hahahha. We'll see how the first week goes.

[y2stevo]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

10-12 eh?? Good thing this isn't a competition, hahahha. We'll see how the first week goes.

lol. you gotta workk your way up to it tho..At first 3 hours seemed like a freakin marathon

[Rotten Guitar String]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

I can't even remember the last time I sat down for disciplined practice!

Just don't bore yourself - allow yourself some time to just noodle about

[shreder75]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

same here RGS...I haven't really 'practiced' in the strictest sense of the word in probably 11 years..when I stopped taking lessons...yeah, I 'work' on things, and songs, now that I'm in a coverband, but mostly, I just friggin' play play play play...

since this is kinda on topic, is it just me or did it seem, at one point in your playing careers, that one day it's just like BAM, I'm better???

at first it was a steady progression..but when I look back, I remember being ****ty....then I remember in the period of a day or two that I was just so much better than before...

maybe I'm not making sense..lol...hard to explain, but this has happened to me a few times...

[slash857]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

since this is kinda on topic, is it just me or did it seem, at one point in your playing careers, that one day it's just like BAM, I'm better???

yeah i kno exactly wat u mean. i felt the same way. i felt like i sucked then i made like exponential progress. now i feel like ive plateaued and i really have to practice and work at it to get better.

[Rotten Guitar String]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

since this is kinda on topic, is it just me or did it seem, at one point in your playing careers, that one day it's just like BAM, I'm better???

at first it was a steady progression..but when I look back, I remember being ****ty....then I remember in the period of a day or two that I was just so much better than before...

I know exactly what you mean, that happened to me recently

[Cuthbert]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

I know exactly what you mean, that happened to me recently

That hasn't happened to me in the longest time! =P I don't feel I'm any better now than last year.

[felipe_alonso_ruiz]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

I´ve done this all my life, been playing since i was 12,im 17 right now, and i play absolutley everything, from jazz, to neo, classical, rock, etc, etc. I never said ¨ok ill practice at least4 hourss¨. I never do that, just play as much as u can, and i never organized what i was going to learn, and now i have great first sight reading, improvise on all the fretboard, picking, sweeps, tapping, jazz improvistion, modes, ear training, and as i studied a lot of harmony i compose orchestrated music whether classical or for a jazz big band. So i suggest play as much as u can, and when ur fingers get tired, transcribe a solo on music notation, then, read a harmony book, etc.
GOOD LUCK!!!!!

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Practice routine help. --HELP!!!--

Thanks, I just want to improve my chops like mad and I'm really motivated to do so. Also, there was the one time a little while back where I thought I wasn't improving at all, then I listened to a recording of a Jam and WOW, I realized how much I've improved.