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How do you split your practice time?

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(@apache)
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How do you keep your practice fresh? I usually try and start with 10mins on scales, but I've got really bored with them...

I also went through a phase of using stuff from the "10 min guitar workout", but again after a while found it a little repetitive, and recently because I know my rhythm has been a bit lacking I've been using exercises from "A step by step guide to understanding rhythm for guitar"..

Now I know it is no pain no gain, and I really need to focus on the exercises to improve my technique, which will (hopefully!) improve my general playing, but I find it difficult to keep it interesting - and wondered what you all did?

Thanks


   
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 Nuno
(@nuno)
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It depends on the free time but I usually follow a similar pattern. I also start with scales and arpeggios. I start slowly and I go faster after my hands are warmed. I always use metronome or rhythm box. Try to play them using "patterns", it is better than playing them up and down. For example, "in groups of four", c-d-e-f - d-e-f-g - e-f-g-a, or play in "thirds", "fourths", etc. There are many ways to practice them.

Then, I practice and learn the new stuff: songs, solos, chords progressions, etudes, etc. it depends on the week, I try to keep different "types" of new stuff.

Next, the developing material. It is the stuff I already started to learn. Usually it is in that level until I am able to play on time and I can play enough well.

I have a fourth level, the performance material. It has two parts: "recording" and "memory maintaining". In the first one, I practice the stuff for recording myself. Sometimes I upload it for hearing feedback or if it is a collaboration with other members. I usually try to keep fresh all the stuff I play and I like and that is the stuff I practice in the other part.

I also consider practice time some ear training in which I try to learn some songs by ear, if I watch a lesson on youtube or when I write scores.

I define this 'homework' for every week. If I am not able to finish some task, simply I move it to the next week. I always try to have fun even when I am playing those weird four finger chords. I leave the "no pain no gain" part for running* :mrgreen:

I am following this scheme for two months. I got the ideas from The Musician's Way. I found a recommendation to this book in the main site.

* Not exactly.


   
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(@apache)
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Topic starter  

Thanks Nuno, that's really interesting, I've also had a look at the link too - some good reading there too, so that has been bookmarked :D


   
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(@anonymous)
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it's good to learn scales and theory and practice them, but if they're boring, then you're not getting anything out of it anymore and you need to change your approach to keep it fresh. if you're playing scales straight up and down, start to play within the scales. instead of cdefgabc, try skipping notes, like cedfegfagbac and all the other permutations you can think of. make melodies within the scales. form chords within the scales. play the scale in every position on the neck, and move between positions fluidly. play all the different modes of the same scale (C maj and A min use the same notes but sound different, because you approach it differently. you can do this with every note of the scale). play scales just on one string, then on two. play two notes at a time, three, etc. keep a riff going and play fills between the riff. write a song using a scale. modulate between two scales. play a scale leaving out a note. add a note and try to make it sound musical. you can play all day on just one scale or one mode or one idea, as long as you keep it creative.


   
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(@vic-lewis-vl)
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I don't really practise scales, or arpeggios, or riffs - I practise songs. Songs I already know, songs I want to learn, songs I want to get better at - there's usually enough in the riffs, fills, solos, picking patterns etc to keep me honest and keep my interest.

Working out songs for myself from scratch, using my ears, is hard work - but enjoyable, there's always the thrill of accomplishment - then adapting it to my particular style is another challenge.

That's what I practise, anyway.....

:D :D :D

Vic

"Sometimes the beauty of music can help us all find strength to deal with all the curves life can throw us." (D. Hodge.)


   
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(@apache)
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Topic starter  

Thanks Jason & Vic,

More excellent ideas, Jason - I like the idea of mixing the scales up - I hadn't thought of that :-)

Vic - in one of my recent lessons we started attempting to work out songs, I've managed God Save the queen and Twinkle twinkle little star so far (the big league!) LOL I really need to do some more on that.

Thanks again for your input


   
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 Nuno
(@nuno)
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Twinkle, Twinkle is a cool song! When you finish with it in the 'normal' way, try to play it in a minor key.

This is a video with an exercise for that I said. It is for bass but the idea is the same for guitar. Also he uses minor pentatonic but you can apply to all the scales. He has another video where he shows another ways to practice scales as Jason and I said but I don't find it...


   
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(@notes_norton)
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At home and on stage ;-)

But seriously.

I try to split the practice between fundamentals and fun stuff. As guitar is my 7th instrument, I know that the fundamentals (scales, chords, modes, reading) will make the fun stuff easier to play. I also know that if I don't play any fun stuff I will get bored with it.

So I start with fundamentals and do that as long as I can, then play some fun stuff. The ratio depends on the day and how I feel, I have no strict routine.

Fun stuff for me is improvising a solo over a chord progression, so I turn on Band-in-a-Box and have some fun.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton

Owner, Norton Music http://www.nortonmusic.com Add-on Styles for Band-in-a-Box and Microsoft SongSmith

The Sophisticats http://www.s-cats.com >^. .^< >^. .^<


   
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(@noteboat)
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I've got a structure to my practice, but I do change it up from time to time. I set minimum amounts of time to work on each part of it - if it's going well and I'm having fun, I may spend more time on that part, sometimes twice (or more) what I've allocated. But I make sure I hit each part with at least the amount of time in my plan.

I tell my students that a practice routine should include five parts:

1. Warm-up. Whatever it is that gets your fingers limbered up, and tells your mind it's time to focus and get to work. That can be scales, arpeggios, finger drills, or anything else that fits the bill. (For me right now, that's mostly scales and finger drills)

2. Review. If you don't use it, it gets rusty. On a typical day, about half of my practice time is spent reviewing things I haven't played in a while.

3. New stuff. That's whatever it is you're working on learning.

4. Study pieces. These are things you can already play (you get the right notes in the right places), but you're trying to perfect it in some way - working on the phrasing, dynamics, interpretation... the stuff that makes it less mechanical and more musical.

5. PLAY TIME! This is whatever you find really fun to play. If you want to get the most out of your practice time, find some way to incorporate the techniques or material from the 'new stuff' part into playtime.

#1 has to be done first... and if you don't save #5 for dessert, you may find you've run out of time for the rest. But #2-4 can be done in any order, and you can skip around between them if you'd like.

Guitar teacher offering lessons in Plainfield IL


   
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(@apache)
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Topic starter  

Thanks again everyone for all your input, its been very useful :)


   
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(@aragorn)
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It depends on the free time but I usually follow a similar pattern. I also start with scales and arpeggios. I start slowly and I go faster after my hands are warmed. I always use metronome or rhythm box. Try to play them using "patterns", it is better than playing them up and down. For example, "in groups of four", c-d-e-f - d-e-f-g - e-f-g-a, or play in "thirds", "fourths", etc. There are many ways to practice them.

I have a similar question as the original one. After some trial and error, I've found that the best practice for me as a beginner is to sit down for a half hour and practice scales for the first half of that time then work on one of the songs in the "easy songs" lessons for the rest.

I'm using the "turning scales into solos" lessons to learn the different scales, and as of now when I practice go through major and major pentatonic scale patterns. I find this helps a lot to develop some skill and also become familiar with where the various notes are.

I tried the "groups of four" patterns you mention above and found it added a lot to my practice. Are there any online resources that outline recommended lesson plans for practicing scales? I poked around on this site and didn't see anything.


   
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(@scrybe)
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For some reason (and it wasn't always this way, I can vouch for that!!!) I can practice in a disciplined way with little trouble.

Noteboat is spot on about the need to review. The most frustrating thing is having to relearn stuff you only half-assimilated weeks ago and then left. I can't always practice the same amount per day, so I split my practices up some. I also vary the amount of time I do on each thing, depending on how much time I have that day, but......

I always do some ear training (using software these days, as I'm injured so can't always play guitar for hours), and some sight reading. I also do my work for my lessons with Mike - he started me off just doing major scales in all keys, just in the first five frets and no open strings, then got me to switch between them (e.g. go from F major to Csharp major with no pauses), then got me doing arpeggios over some jazz standards plus some other stuff. As I pay and travel a fair way for these lessons, that's key.

I generally warm up with some chromatic exercises - I've collected a few over the years, but I also devise my own (e.g. I noticed on big stretches if I was going from one string to the next, my tone suffered, so I devised one that focuses purely on that and on string skipping, to eradicate that problem).

I also do some acoustics stuff - I mostly work from the Ralph Towner book on improvising on acoustic guitar, but I also throw in some stuff from Eric Roche's Bible for Acoustic Guitar Playing. I've decided to learn the pieces included in the Roche and record them - eventually I'm going to play them at open mics and (more importantly) record them as youtube videos (as I've never done that before, plus it means mastering them so they sound good! heh heh).

Beyond that, I do some daily chord stuff - sometimes working on increasing my vocabulary, other days working on rhythm techniques and patterns, other days trying to improvise chord progressions on the fly. I also give some time to practicing improvising and learning composition. Oh, and repertoire practice. But It's not like I always do everything on this list every day for hours at a time - I aim to do about 30 mins on each, give or take, and rarely hit every section every day. That's why I split it into "must do's" and "should do's". :roll: And, bear in mind, my practice routine is gonna be a bit intense, since I want to teach and play music for a career, and I want to play both acoustic and electric jazz guitar well, so I'm not just doing it for fun (although it is hella fun, too!).

I think that's mostly it. But, as Noteboat said, review is key, so I do about 3 days, then have a day with limited practice where I just play for pleasure, do my necessary daily stuff, like sight reading, and then review any new material and plan the next few days and/or longer goals.

To keep scales fresh - +1 to jason's comments. Also, try doing groups of 3, 4, 5 etc (e.g. in C major - CDE, DEF, EFG, FGA, etc, then CDEF, DEFG, EFGA, etc., then do the arpeggios within each scale - CEG, DFA, EGB, etc for C major and, if you want to go all out, do them in reverse - GEC, AFD, BGE, etc in C major)

Ra Er Ga.

Ninjazz have SuperChops.

http://www.blipfoto.com/Scrybe


   
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 Nuno
(@nuno)
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I tried the "groups of four" patterns you mention above and found it added a lot to my practice. Are there any online resources that outline recommended lesson plans for practicing scales? I poked around on this site and didn't see anything.
Sorry, I wasn't reading the forums these days.

Try this http://learningbass.wordpress.com/2010/08/14/patrones-melodicos/ and search for "melodic patterns" (I put a link in that text). Forget the Spanish and use the table, you only need to know that "patrón" means "pattern" (or use Google Translator although...).

I compiled those patterns from a Jody Fisher book. He introduces a new pattern (or sometimes two) in each lesson but I wanted to have all the patterns together.


   
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