to practice.... what would you do.
if you were severely stuck for time and knew you wouldnt have more than 10 minutes a day for practice for the next few weeks, how would you prevent "loosing" the progress you have made over the last few months.
i am assuming there will be a lot of technical exercises suggested, and i am looking forward to hearing them, as i am finding myself in this position lately with my expanding family and immobile wife. :roll:
thanks in advance, AL
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
Favourite pieces from existing repertoire - 5 minutes, doing a different piece each day
Technical stuff like scales and that - 5 minutes per day twice or three times a week
New material - 5 minutes, twice a week
Keeping the repertoire on tickover, playing short versions (one verse, one chorus and maybe the middle eight) - 5 minutes each day for the two or three days left each week.
Sadly, you might have to spend less time here. Good luck
A :-)
"Be good at what you can do" - Fingerbanger"
I have always felt that it is better to do what is beautiful than what is 'right'" - Eliot Fisk
Wedding music and guitar lessons in Essex. Listen at: http://www.rollmopmusic.co.uk
Scales...I don't know them as well as I should.
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
Scales...I don't know them as well as I should.
I ALWAYS think of this scene from one of my favorite movies... :lol:
Wuddaya Playin? Scales?
Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
That's funny!
Whaddaya playin, Motzart? Huh?
Scales.
Scales?? Never head of him.
:lol: :lol:
In Space, no one can hear me sing!
I'd do a few technical studies. Sight read a short piece or two. Play though some chord changes. And play scales (one key per month -- there's 12 months for a reason :) )
Probably once or twice a week I'd take a break from "work" to play a few songs or learn a new one.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." -- HST
I'd learn to read music if you don't already know how (standard notation), buy dozens of fake books, and play music from the fake books every other day. On the day I'm not playing the fake books, I'd work on improvisation using backing tracks and the scales and modes necessary to improvise.
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 >^. .^< >^. .^<
I'd spend the ten minutes watching the football.
After the world cup, I'd do a practice cake. My new found trick (thanks Mike) - you take whatever you need to practice and make a cake giving one 'slice' to each task, then work through it. Say you have 10 'slices' and 10 minutes to practice - you do 1 minute per slice and stick to it. The upside is that if you have one prepped and you get an extra 10 minutes (or 5 minutes or half hour) at any point in the day, you can just dive in and get some practice done.
I wouldn't try to learn any new theory - you don't want to spend the time you have away from the guitar thinking. I'd be more inclined to work on reading or technique - you can just dive in to doing physical drills much more easily than trying to remember the structure of a lydian b2 scale and what chords can be harmonised from it.
In other words, perfect the stuff you've already learned, rather than trying to absorb new concepts.
thanks guys, some exellent tips, i have been concentrating more on the technical stuff, but within songs that i need to keep sharpe - for example i find it difficult to keep up on the fast run in the sweet child of mine solo, so most of my practice time is taken up just playing that over and over to keep the tempo up.
notes, that is a good tip about learning to read music and i have started, when i do the night feeds i open up the internet and have been making some progress - i never would have thought of that, but i am enjoying it so thanks.
scrybe, i have eaten lots of cake - while i practice, does that count?? :D
it turns out i am able to fit in 10 minute slots throughout the day so i guess im getting closer to 40 minutes, which is way more than i thought, but i just guess i need to keep the sessions as focussed as possible because 10 minutes at a time flies by. :oops:
"I like to play that guitar. I have to stare at it while I'm playing it because I'm not very good at playing it."
Noel Gallagher (who took the words right out of my mouth)
i'd just play. same as now.
