Exercising my right to axe questions!

[Maladee]

I know that periodically in the lesson modules, David gives specific things you should be practicing (as a beginner). When talking about chord changes you struggle with or adding new chords, he says to do the changes 10 times. He keeps talking about 5, 10 or 15 minutes a day practicing...

Well, we all know that people tend to "practice" the things they're good at, right? I'm guilty of this too, so I'm trying to find a way to keep myself honest!

So here's the sitch: I have several hours a day to donate to practicing, so time itself is not a factor...but efficiency is! I learn/improve best with something structured and I'm at that plateau right now and could use a bit of whip cracking! Do any of you folks have a specific routine that you go through each day? Feel free to include specific exercises as well!

For example:

5 min warmup: finger/hand stretches, chromatic scale in quarter notes

5 min warmup 2: major scales in 8th notes, etc

10 min chords: DT's open chord practice progressions with strums and a metronome.

10 min: practice progression w/ arpeggiated strums


blah blah blah...you get the picture, right? I struggle a bit with open to movable barre chord shapes still, but the "regular" chords are easy, so I find myself futzing with them most often so I feel like I'm accomplishing something, even though I know that sort of thing won't...dare I say it? PUSH ME TO THE NEXT LEVEL!

I need a regimented regimen! So who's got a specific(ish) routine on how they practice? I'll use the silly egg timer to keep me honest, but I don't know how much time needs to be spent on each thing to keep pushing myself.


I know some of you folks might think it's a silly question, but remember: I'm slightly OCD and that means I will drive myself nutso if I can't "organize" my practice. Actually playing music is a different story, of course...but pure practice is a struggle without specific guidelines. You wouldn't want me to go insane, would you? I'm a German-Irish redhead and that means I'm crazy enough already, friends! :p

Thanks in advance!

[barockeva]

I too am a lazy practicer, time is no problem for me. (unemployed and out of school, I've got 18 hours a day free!) Unfortunatly, I'm broke so I cant subscribe :(

[NickTGS]

I practice open --> barre chord changes to warm up. I've gotten them pretty much down, but I keep doing them because they aren't 100% smooth (I'd say 90%) and they get the joints moving, so to speak. Give it ten to fifteen minutes. Don't rush. If you feel good after five minutes, move on. Just make sure you do things right -- don't hurry up to get to more interesting stuff.

After that, I do metronome practice with scales and finger exercises, as well as barre chord progressions and open chord progressions DT gives you in the latter beginner lessons. The finger exercises are crucial for making you pick faster and improving fret hand accuracy. I cycle through from playing barre chords to open to finger exercises and back for around ten to twenty minutes. You can do it for hours, of course, but I get bored -- your mileage may vary. The more you do these exercises right, the better you'll get.

Next, I'll try to learn something new (not always) -- a new lick, a new strum pattern, a new chord etc. Try to watch a video to give myself a break from actual playing, and just listen and think about guitar for a little bit. Ten minutes or so.

Finally, I finish up with some songs I've been working on; in my case, "Santeria" (solo, it's still whipping my ass, heh) "Snow" and "Under the Bridge." I listen to the songs I'm working on, try to play along with them, and really try to lend my ear to the guitar part (while keeping my own guitar tacet). I don't use the metronome here because it drives me nuts -- the real song is just as good, provided you are willing to dissect the guitar part by ear (the rhythm, at least -- I still use tabs for most stuff) and be prepared for many rewinds. =) I also try to learn a new song using a technique I just learned -- I learned "Betterman" by Pearl Jam the other day to help out with my finger picking (I practice "Scar Tissue" sometimes, but it's good to have other songs to mix it up/learn new patterns). Can last for five minutes, can last for hours. The most entertaining part, but also useful. See if you can analyze the music you're playing -- start with as simple an observation as "Under the Bridge" is in the style of "Little Wing." Maybe research why that's the case (it sounds like rhythm + lead together, created by chords followed by individual "fragments" of the same chord playing quickly behind the ringing chord), what that means, and experiment with your own pseudo "Little Wing" style. If you're more a southern rock man (I don't know, just throwing stuff out there), look at Sweet Home Alabama and see if you can't find parallels between it and, say, Simple Man. Or the Allman Brothers Band. Or .38 Special. And on and onwards...

Occasionally (2-3 times a day) I'll just pick up the guitar and noodle about, hitting random notes or playing songs that I know. Or just strumming chords. You know, while reading some online stories or checking my email. I figured out "Happy Birthday" today by ear. That was kind of cool. Heh.

And then I try to put down the guitar, and start the whole practice routine over later in the day. Once I've mastered the chord changes and progressions (really mastered -- I can do them cleanly etc. but I feel like they still have something to offer at this point), I'll probably switch over to some new progressions. When I'm not playing, I try to listen closely to music and the underlying guitar part; I was amazed to find, today, for example, that "Like a Stone" had an incredibly easy sounding guitar part (that was amazing). And hell, I've listened to that song over a hundred times before.

I did this over the past week or so (took a break the past two days -- been working, sadly), and noticed a steady improvement in my playing.

[screamin eagle]

Yeah know, obviously you are going to be better faster if you stick to a strict routine, however it may take some of the 'fun' and enjoyment out of it for you.

If you find yourself just noodling around often, but are having fun then I don't see that that is too much of a problem, unless you want to be the next guitar hero in a year.

The thing is, if you keep your hands on the fingerboard, things will start to come together for you--you may be struggling over this or over that, and maybe you tend to focus on the things that you are already good at with only throwing in the more difficult things in a little, but it will all come together. For some it may take a month, for others 6 months, if you aren't practicing every day then it may take you a year--but you will get there.

IF you are having fun and enjoying the journey than don't worry about it--it is all about the journey.

When I get to a plateau in my playing it's usually because I am doing the same things all the time and getting a little bored with it, so I try to learn some new techniques and a new song or two.

A good, easy song that will get you feeling rhythm and using some barre chords with open chords is "Oh Darling" by the Beatles.

If you want to step it up you could always give Brian Setzer's version of "Sleepwalk" a try--it really isn't as hard as it seems, once you bite into it.