Practice Routine

Hi everyone,[br]I did not see any up to date topic on this so I open a new thread. [br]I'm at a point where I'm logging in to the site but unable to make up a proper practice routine with all the wonderful lessons here.[br]Can anyone suggest me some possible practice routine layouts?[br]Also, I'd be happy to have some possible topics progressions... [br]For example, now I'm practicing major/minor scale possitions as well as some songs which help me practicing my finger/pick picking. I'd like to know what the progression I can do from here on, which scales should I learn next, which songs/licks can help with the scales practices... etc. [br][br]For now I'm focusing on learning some new songs from start to finish ("Take on me", "Wish you were here", "simple man") and getting familiar with the fretboard using scales. [br][br]Thanks, [br]Sergey.[br][br][br]

Hi newb1e,

This tends to very greatly from person to person, depending on your skill level, individual areas of difficult (and ease!), and interests. I am sure someone else will have more concrete advice, but here are some TIPS I have picked up over the years that help me:

1. Practice in ~45 minute chunks with a break of ~15 minutes. I think Cal Newport says that ~45 minutes is an optimim chunk of focus and anything longer than that without a break (getting up and walking around, stretching, take a drink of water) can lead to diminishing returns.

2. I hear it said that shorter daily practice is better than, for instance, a single practice that is 8 hours long in one day once a week. :) That seems reasonable to me.

3. It's important to work on things that inspire you to keep at it. If at some point you get stuck and don't feel like you're making any progress on a certain area after several weeks (Thing A), set it aside and come back to it. Move on to another song or scale or technique (Thing B). You might find that after some time of focusing on Thing B, Thing A will suddenly be easier.

4. Set easy, attainable goals. For instance, you could start your practice session with the goal of "I want to be able to play Thing A, starting at 80 bpm and increase it to 100 bpm and still have it feel good and solid." If you do this repeatedly and keep increasing slowly, you'll be surprised at how much progress you make over time. AND you'll be succeeding at goals constantly. This always feels good.

5. Try to also work in some practice that is just light-hearted and enjoyable. The other day I set up some backing tracks and just improvised at random in scale shapes. All I did was determine the key and go for it. By the time I looked up, an hour had gone by and my hands had gotten a great workout.

If I think of any other practice tips I'll share them, too.

-Carl.

Thanks Carl, [br]I'll use these tips in the future for sure. [br]What I was looking for on the site is something like the "Guitar fundamentals" paths. [br]Something I can follow along but for more advanced topics or some built in routines that can be followed.

I started the blues and rock style paths but felt like I do not have strong enough fundamentals.

[br]As you said, it depends greatly on the person and tend to change with the mood an so on. [br]But an adviced practice routine from experianced teachers and players is better than no routine at all. This way I might start from something "built in" and move to routines suitable for my preferences, time and skill level. [br][br][br]

Hi newb1e, I've just signed up for the trial and will likely pay for the subscription. There is a lot of great content here and it is well structured. I'm self-taught and have been very poor at practice with structure, so I am seraching for a 'path' too. One thing I think is important is to understand scales and chords and how they work together, so look at content that helps you understand the scales (as all chords are formed from the scale notes). Then a few songs that you really want to learn well, I recommend picking something simple to start with, as Carl said - if you reach goals it will inspire you to keep going, if you don't manage to reach goals it can have the opposite effect. And jam, play along to as many backing tracks as you can as this will help with timing, strumming/picking and the 'feel' and sound of the music that you are making. All the best on your Guitar journey

Originally Posted by: newb1e

Thanks Carl, [br]I'll use these tips in the future for sure. [br]What I was looking for on the site is something like the "Guitar fundamentals" paths. [br]Something I can follow along but for more advanced topics or some built in routines that can be followed.

I started the blues and rock style paths but felt like I do not have strong enough fundamentals.

[br]As you said, it depends greatly on the person and tend to change with the mood an so on. [br]But an adviced practice routine from experianced teachers and players is better than no routine at all. This way I might start from something "built in" and move to routines suitable for my preferences, time and skill level. [br][br]

This would be very valuable, I agree! I am sure Christopher Schlegel would have some ideas for you, and maybe in the future we can come up with a hierarchical structure for practice routines.

My own suggestion off the top of my head is to divide your time between the major areas. For example, you could do:

1. Theory & Reading

2. Technique

3. Learning Popular Songs

4. Improvisation / Soloing

5. Creativity / Songwriting

If you've got 5 days a week or 5 hours a day, you can easily slot those in and focus intensely on each one at a time. During each time slot, just try to get super focused on getting into that uncomfortable zone where you're pushing yourself a little bit on each -- rather than just repeating things you already know. Have a clear goal to improve. Write it down. "Today I want to go from 80 bpm to 100 bpm today." Or "I want to memorize the 5 patterns of the Pentatonic scale." Whatever it is, just be clear so you're not noodling and wasting time. Clear goal: "I want to know these 3 songs and be able to play them at normal tempo in 3 months." Then you work backwards from the goal -- OK, I should master one of them per month, and each week I will have to learn a section of the song. Just break it down systematically, whatever you're trying to learn.

For the time being, I think you might benefit from taking a One-On-One with either Dave Celentano or Mike Olekshy, as they have a lot of experience in designing personalized practice routines for students, and they can assess where you are.

https://www.guitartricks.com/pro/

-Carl.

By the way -- this is exactly what it was like for me in music school.

We'd jump between all the major areas throughout the day / week. Learning theory, learning our instrument, playing in an ensemble, basic keyboard skills, music history, etc. You end up with a balance of skill and knowledge in all these areas because you're on a routine and hitting all of them repeatedly on schedule.

It is not too difficult to design your own plan (much like going to college) with an instructor helping you.

-Carl.

Originally Posted by: newb1e

What I was looking for on the site is something like the "Guitar fundamentals" paths.[/quote][p]Have you worked through the GF courses?

[br]

Originally Posted by: newb1eSomething I can follow along but for more advanced topics or some built in routines that can be followed.

I started the blues and rock style paths but felt like I do not have strong enough fundamentals.

[p]Do you mean the style courses are too hard for you currently?

[quote=newb1e]But an adviced practice routine from experianced teachers and players is better than no routine at all. This way I might start from something "built in" and move to routines suitable for my preferences, time and skill level.

What is your skill level? What style of music do you want to play? What can you do? What can't you do yet that you want to do?

Thank you for the tips. I remember going to music school. But after a while I quit. To be honest I regret it.