How do you practice?

[spuds]

Re: How do you practice?

Thanks again for your posts guys.
Will definately be putting your suggestions into my practice routine.

I realised that I have completely plateaued in my playing... in the last year or two, I honestly have not gotten any better and that thought alone really frustrates me.

Hoping that these practice drills can sharpen me up a bit.

Thanks again.

[spuds]

Re: How do you practice?

Lets see if I can explain 3rds simply. A major scale has 8 tones if you count the octave and is played 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8 and back down again.

Thirds would be 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5-7-6-8-7-9-8. You play the note of a scale and then the third above it, the next note in the scale and the third above that next.

Triad studies are this: 1-3-5-2-4-6-3-5-7-4-6-8-5-7-9-6-8-10-7-9-11-8.

Play all your major scales through all the modes in all the keys up and down. Play the thirds in all the majors in all the modes and then the triads in all the majors and all the modes. If you can do that in one sitting without stopping or having your hands fall off, then you are ready to leave the temple.

Do it right and you'll have killer technique and endurance.

Oh, alternate pick that whole mess as well.

Thanks robert... just did a practice session with what you wrote and quite enjoyed it. It felt quite beneficial.

Out of interest, why do you practice thrids? Is it because of its melodic potential? Or is it just for the sake of finger drills?

[Robert S.]

Re: How do you practice?

Because they are a pain in the hands.

If you were to play the 3rds through all the modes of any major key you'll soon see that it creates places where you need to cover 5 frets and training your ear and hands to memorize what that sounds and feels like is important if you want to be able to play the entire neck without thinking about where you are at. It is as much an ear training exercise as it is a muscle and technique drill.

Triads expand on that and some of the transitions in some of the modes are quite tricky. It forces you to do things with your hands that straight scales and pentitonics do not.

Instead of seeing where you should put your fingers you start to hear where you should put your fingers and that movement is translated into muscle memory. Once your hands know where to go to recreate the sounds in your head playing becomes intuitive.

There are many variations on these exercises and instead of triads you can stack a 2nd on top of a fourth or any two intervals and really expand your understanding of the neck. You can also ascend then decend. An example would be this.

1-3-5-6-4-2-3-5-7-8-6-4-5-7-9-10-8-6 ect......

Its all about having a grasp and control of the entire neck and all the modes as well as developing killer strength and technique.

[Robbiedbee]

Re: How do you practice?

Awesome posts Robert. Thanks!

[spuds]

Re: How do you practice?

Yep, cheers robert!

[BluesGuyJ]

Re: How do you practice?

I usually spend the first two hours doing scale runs with the metronome as well as simple chord progressions. I play the minor pentatonic scale in every key, starting with a down pick and then with an up, and starting from the high E as well as the low E. Chromatic runs are also thrown in there. Once my fingers are really warmed up, my practicing goes much better. But if I just jump into soloing along with SRV for instance, it doesn't go as well. I've really been studying a lot of his stuff lately and flow is a big key in his playing, he doesn't miss a single beat.