So, what to practice every day?

LukeGilmour

LukeGilmour

New member
lately ive quit my guitar teacher, he was feeding me with too much theory, and im gonna need a few weeks or even months to catch up and really absorb all of those notes ive taken.

however, i want to keep practicing and improving meanwhile, and im really not sure what to do

i usually take a jam track and start jamming to it, trying to find new sounds every time
then i try and play new songs every now and then (and this actually adds to my jamming ability)

and also i do a few techique exercises (hammers pull offs, bends, slides, some of them are getting REALLY old, so if you can advice me on some new stuff, youre welcome)

overall, i dont think its enough... and im wondering what else can i do, im willing to stay up for hours if its going to improve my guitar playing, so just fire away.

and, also, how many hours of practice per day? i dont intend to be a speed freak (read vai, gilbert etc), i prefer the more harmonic playing of the likes of david gilmour. (so maybe for getting a solo, should i play it over and over again till it sounds like i want?)


well, ill expand on these when i get some feedback

thanks for your time

EDIT: added mp3, crappy mic, so just ignore the tone and pay attention to the playing!

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=702789

lemme know if it does not work (theres a certain hiss in the hi fi version, so id recommend the lo fi)
 
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Re: So, what to practice every day?

:) I was just kidding lol...

Learn the major/minor/minor pentatonic/major pentatonic ALL OVER the neck....learn positions first and then connect them. Very important thing to learn, and lets you really solo.


Learning songs is good...but scales is where its at. Make that your priority. also very important is learning music theory...I cant stress that enough if you want to be successful. In addition, you will want to learn arpeggios and chords...dont underestimate chods. Learn the CAGED system for chords and go from there with chording. (dont forget basic (first position, etc.) chords if you haven't learned many yet)


hammer ons and pull offs arent super hard to learn...and really shouldnt take up a large percentage of your time. bends though...work on them! Make sure you use the proper technique! Do not use your finger to bend, use your wrist!

also, make sure you bend to pitch. Play a note, then play the note 2 frets down (or whatever) and bend up the the first note. After that you can work on bending with vibrato...

which brings me to...


VIBRATO! Probably the biggest improvement you can do to your playing...it adds so much expression! Make sure you are doing the vibrato correctly though with your wrist, or you will mess up your wrists bad in the long run. Proper technique is ESSENTIAL for success and injury free guitar playing. Otherwise you have a fair chance of getting something like carpal tunnel syndrome.

Practice your vibrato slow, fast, wide, and small.


scales though man...focus on them if you want to be a great guitarist. Later you can learn the modes of the major scale..but right now major/minor/minor pentatonic/major pentatonic will do a LOT for you. find the roots for each scale and memorize WHERE they are so you can target tones better in soloing. Your solos will sound better trust me. You can incorporate hammer ons, pull offs, etc into your scale playing later on, but learn scales really well first. When you learn songs, by satriani or whoever, try and see what scale they are using. for instance, satriani uses major pentatonic in the song "starry night" a lot.
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

I agree somewhat that scales are where it's at. Maj, Min, Pent, Harm Minor, etc...
But I think learning the more popular chord progressions in different inversion forms all over the fingerboard and being able to solo over them is the real ticket!!!
Start with a basic I-IV-V-I
Then start adding some ornaments IMaj7-IVMaj7-Vdom7-IMaj7.
then try it in minor keys.
Maybe try other popular progressions. 16451, 1251 16251.
Work on your solos by sticking to the key the progression is in. Then maybe try using individual arpeggios over each chord to really bring out it's tonality.
Concentrate on voice leading your solos during the chord changes.
Try to find chord tones in both chords that are separated by only a half step and use that as your transition to the new tonality.
If you have access to a pianist, ask them to work on some ear training drills.
Well that's what I do.

I also like to go back to the basics and just learn songs, as I age I'm noticing the need to keep working on my ever fading memory (Should have put that bong down a little earlier).

Sorry for the long reply, I hope it helps at least a tiny bit... good luck!!!
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

how do you bend with your wrist? and where do yo put your thumb when you play?
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

ive been familiar with scales for a while now... tried some of the modes of the major scale too, but i guess just knowing the pattern is never enough, so i just keep practicing it (thats what i do with jams)

i have to confess im kinda fed up the pentatonic sound... which is what i use the most alongside aeolian and minor harmonic.

do you guys find it useful to just practice the pattern over and over again (and i mean that in order) i stopped doing that a long time ago. dont think it has hurt my playing.

im familiar with vibrato too, it comes out naturally at this point
i practice hamms and Po's mostly on string jumps, thats where its kinda harder (mostly when you have to use the pinky)

basically id like to put up a kind of schedule
say, practice this determined excercise type, practice this other thingy for another while.... that would be superb


by the way emilio, i sometimes put it behind the neck and sometimes over it, kinda hendrix like, it depends on what im playing. i havent really paid attention to my bends thou...


ill try and find a mic to put a soundclip in later, thanks everyone.!
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

Well...use your ears...and get a pulse in the playing.
Play along all kinds of music, it will make you more aware of the notes, the time and phrasing, plus your ears will be acustomed to a wider range.
Use stuff that your normally do not hear on an everyday basis.
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

i normally just play a bunch of scales to get my fingers moving.... then just play pretty much anything....
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

Don't learn scale patterns, learn intervals and note positions! If you know intervals then you can easily switch between modes and scales on the fly . . . Want to play Mixolydian, just flatten the 7th of your major scale. If you want to play Dorian, just play a major 6th rather than a minor 6th with a minor scale. Etc. etc. . . .
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

GuitarStv said:
Don't learn scale patterns, learn intervals and note positions! If you know intervals then you can easily switch between modes and scales on the fly . . . Want to play Mixolydian, just flatten the 7th of your major scale. If you want to play Dorian, just play a major 6th rather than a minor 6th with a minor scale. Etc. etc. . . .
Click to expand...

exactly what ive been working on, a pentatonic skeleton, modded to fit the mood.


btw loudriver, great post, ill take that in mind
 
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Re: So, what to practice every day?

I think it depends on what do you want to do better. If you want to solo better work on scales and licks and all of that. But if you're tired of that, two things that might be good for you to do each day 1) practice writing music. Forget the jam tracks for a while. Practice writing pieces of music. Really compose something. 2) practice your listening. Practice listening for different elements in songs. Listen specifically for rhythms. Listen specifically for intervals and chord changes. Listen for moods, etc. etc. etc. Most guitar players I know are not good writers of music or listeners. If you're sick of technique exercises, maybe practicing your writing and listening will help put all that technique stuff into a more rewarding context for you.
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

emilio said:
how do you bend with your wrist? and where do yo put your thumb when you play?
Click to expand...

usually my thumb stays around the center of the neck, a little bit above or whatever but kinda at the center...as for bending and vibrato my thumb is ALWAYS at the top, kinda where the fret markers are, and bending with the wrist means that the movement is kinda like twisting a doorknob as opposed to stretching your fingers...dunno if you understand though...

as for stuff to practice, a routine i always found kinda perfect was steve vai's...he would practice technique, jam along tracks, study theory, compose, listen to music, etcetc...so my suggestion is pretty much try to cover as much terrain as you can every session (meaning instead of just doing technique one day, then studying theory the next one, etc, try to do everything, even just 15 minutes of each thing instead). Technique-wise, work on something more advanced like sweeping and skipping if you think what you're doing is already mastered (which is a lie since i don't think anyone can truly master something). But more importantly, LEARN TO READ AND PLAY,AND TRAIN YOUR EARS!!!! those two things are toooooo important!!!!! and i suck at both so....hahhahh also study your theory THOROUGHLY!!!! and you should also try to work your tone too because every day you might like a different tone
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

i cant stress this enough cause i fell into this trap and it took me forever to get out of it...DO NOT LEARN SCALE PATTERNS as some1 already mentioned. you will find yourself playing the same riffs over and over in different keys and soon it becomes second nature to your fingers and you will have to fight with them to do something else.

If you really want to learn and understand a good basis for soloing, then learn the modes and understand the relationships between the notes.

also, boring as it is, practice chromatic finger drills up and down the fret board.

at the end of the day, you can play almost anything and then completely tie it together with the last note in the phrase once you really understand stuff.

getting back to my 1st point, when i started out i was a huge clapton fan, i still am but thats irrelavant, so of course i learned the minor pentatonic in every key up and down the fretboard. bang, before i knew it i realised everything i was playing was so similar, just in a different key because i was locked into the pattern. im not saying this cant sound good, i mean look at clapton especially, EVERYTHING he plays is the basically the same, he is just really really damn good at it, lol.

But it took me forever to get out of the minor pentatonic "box" i had gotten myself stuck in
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

3nz said:
usually my thumb stays around the center of the neck, a little bit above or whatever but kinda at the center...as for bending and vibrato my thumb is ALWAYS at the top, kinda where the fret markers are, and bending with the wrist means that the movement is kinda like twisting a doorknob as opposed to stretching your fingers...dunno if you understand though...

as for stuff to practice, a routine i always found kinda perfect was steve vai's...he would practice technique, jam along tracks, study theory, compose, listen to music, etcetc...so my suggestion is pretty much try to cover as much terrain as you can every session (meaning instead of just doing technique one day, then studying theory the next one, etc, try to do everything, even just 15 minutes of each thing instead). Technique-wise, work on something more advanced like sweeping and skipping if you think what you're doing is already mastered (which is a lie since i don't think anyone can truly master something). But more importantly, LEARN TO READ AND PLAY,AND TRAIN YOUR EARS!!!! those two things are toooooo important!!!!! and i suck at both so....hahhahh also study your theory THOROUGHLY!!!! and you should also try to work your tone too because every day you might like a different tone
Click to expand...

thanks man.
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

scottish said:
i cant stress this enough cause i fell into this trap and it took me forever to get out of it...DO NOT LEARN SCALE PATTERNS as some1 already mentioned. you will find yourself playing the same riffs over and over in different keys and soon it becomes second nature to your fingers and you will have to fight with them to do something else.

If you really want to learn and understand a good basis for soloing, then learn the modes and understand the relationships between the notes.

also, boring as it is, practice chromatic finger drills up and down the fret board.

at the end of the day, you can play almost anything and then completely tie it together with the last note in the phrase once you really understand stuff.

getting back to my 1st point, when i started out i was a huge clapton fan, i still am but thats irrelavant, so of course i learned the minor pentatonic in every key up and down the fretboard. bang, before i knew it i realised everything i was playing was so similar, just in a different key because i was locked into the pattern. im not saying this cant sound good, i mean look at clapton especially, EVERYTHING he plays is the basically the same, he is just really really damn good at it, lol.

But it took me forever to get out of the minor pentatonic "box" i had gotten myself stuck in
Click to expand...

i know what you mean. i'm also stuck with the minor pentantonic scale.
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

emilio said:
i know what you mean. i'm also stuck with the minor pentantonic scale.
Click to expand...

its not easy to get out of that box bro. my best advice is to start adding in notes you wouldnt normally play. its gonna be hard and sound like crap at first because you are going to have to think about it whereas right now ill bet your fingers just kind of dance around the minor pent scale.

also, practice variations on what you play right now, some really cool things can be done with the minor pentatonic pattern with some simple variations. try listening to some different styles of music than what you are used to to get new ideas and then try and reproduce those ideas. lots of things i could show you in person but are just too hard to type out and explain well. find someone who is much more advanced than you and get them to show you some stuff.
 
Re: So, what to practice every day?

The current state of the art in guitar improvisation is a method that I hear many famous players refer to time and again. Namely, this is the "Horn Method". In other words, after decades of humdrum pentatonic, blues cliche', guitar players have finally come to the following conclusion:

"Horn players, namely saxophonists are some of the most successful improvisors in the world with keyboardists coming in a close second."

So why not do what horn players do? Why not? For one simple reason! Arpeggios! You see? The horn players that great players like Pat Metheny, Allen Holdsworth, and Scott Henderson like to emulate play the living **** out of arpeggios. We're talking about every conceivable inversion of every arpeggio.

Because of the guitar's mechanical layout scales are easy compared to arpeggios. Arps are hell to play masterfully on guitar, requiring all sorts of techniques, like string skipping, string tapping, sweep picking and laggato playing just to name a few. So consequently guitarist have stuck to the study of scales since they better accomodate the mechanical layout of the instrument.

This is one area were I have to give the shredders credit. Although a few old jazz players like Tal Farlow have made some major contributions technique wise. Thanks to them, modern guitarist are starting to reap the benefits of exploring arpeggios over scales.

The good news is once you start inverting arpeggios, then steps rather than leaps start to appear in the lines.

Example:
C E G B is a Cmaj7 arpeggio consisting of consecutive leaps of either maj or min thirds.

G B C E is also a Cmaj7 arpeggeio but it has been inverted based on the 2nd inversion of the chord. Notice the 1/2 step between B and C. This makes the arpeggio easier for the guitarist to play by reducing the number of leaps required in order to play the arp.

Watch what happens when I add a 9th to the arpeggio denoted in ()'s.

C E G B (D) = C Maj 9 arpeggio

Now invert the Cmaj9 arp like this:

G B C D E <-- Now my arp has a 1/2 step and 2 whole steps in it! Easier to play! If we know the notes that make up our chord in arpeggio form and we know which extensions we can add then we can invert our arpeggios to make them more scale-like and therefore easier to play on our instrument based on its mechanics.
 
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Re: So, what to practice every day?

your bends are often off pitch. and either your guitar is out of tune or sometimes you're slightly bending a note when you fret it, so it sounds out of tune. your vibrato sounds good sometimes, but it could be more consistent.

I'm assuming you know all 5 positions of the pentatonic scale. You should learn the 5 positions of the diatonic scale that correspond to the positions of the pentatonic scale. Its really just adding 2 notes to the scales you already know. Then when you play, experiment with adding in those 2 notes and see what chords they sound good over and where they sound like crap.
 
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