Home › Forums › Guitar Techniques and General Discussions › What is your practice routine? Here is mine
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March 11, 2020 at 4:38 am #163434
Hey everyone,
I generally try and get at least 1/2 hour of practice each day.
I start with scales
Then with chords
Then a few songs
and then another instrument.
What have you found works? for you?
Cheers**//James//**
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March 11, 2020 at 9:43 am #163446
James,
I’ve never had a practice routine but I am trying to become more disciplined. I think it would entail triads, arpeggios, running through the major scale in all keys in one position on the fretboard and some speed exercises. Setting small achievable short term goals would be a good idea. For the most part I’ve just gone with interests me at the moment.
John -
March 11, 2020 at 2:16 pm #163463
Hi John
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I must look into triads and arpeggios,
Cheers**//James//**
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March 11, 2020 at 2:19 pm #163464
I try to play for at least an hour every day, but some days (when work interferes, which is not too often) I don’t practice at all, and other days I may sit and get deep into music for 6 – 8 hours. During the past year, I’ve started binge-learning on different styles or artists. Right now I’m onto the Allman Brothers. Next I’m thinking of studying Jerry Garcia’s style, if that’s even possible. Also, I try to alternate between acoustic and electric. To me, sitting outside with an acoustic guitar is as good as it gets, and the summer is the best time to do that. So I tend to have acoustic summers and electric winters.
Sunjamr Steve
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March 11, 2020 at 2:29 pm #163465
Steve
Very envious. 1 hour a day is a great goal. Interesting I prefer the acoustic for casual playing and often practice that for songs.
Thanks for the reply.**//James//**
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March 11, 2020 at 3:20 pm #163467
I now find that I listen to a lot more music but generally practice guitar less and less, preferring these days to concentrate on learning something for a specific finished product. I don’t play every day but if I hear something which inspires me I’ll quickly focus my attention on learning the rhythm, chord sequence and melody, and like Steve, I do enjoy playing outside during the warmer weather, particularly in the evenings.
Richard
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March 11, 2020 at 4:16 pm #163471
Hi, Richard,
thanks for sharing, my goals are slightly different but the same, for me I want to be able to play different types of music and so I have to force myself to do scales and other practice. But in the end, like you, I want to play songs. Your comment has reminded me to enjoy the journey. Cheers**//James//**
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March 11, 2020 at 5:11 pm #163474
I have a few things I try to work on each week, and I try to get to four of them each day. They are:
Technique (right now triads with moving lines in one voice)
Reading (Bach Violin Partitas now)
Arranging or Learning Arrangements (Honeysuckle Rose and Get Back)
Transcribing (Miles solo on All Blues)
Improvising (to Body and Soul)
Drumming Rhythm exercise (using my Cajon, I hand drum and sing together)
Review songs and arrangementsTime can vary from 45 minutes to several hours, but I try to get 4 of the 7 in each day.
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March 12, 2020 at 3:29 pm #163529
I have a few things I try to work on each week, and I try to get to four of them each day. They are:
Technique (right now triads with moving lines in one voice)
Reading (Bach Violin Partitas now)
Arranging or Learning Arrangements (Honeysuckle Rose and Get Back)
Transcribing (Miles solo on All Blues)
Improvising (to Body and Soul)
Drumming Rhythm exercise (using my Cajon, I hand drum and sing together)
Review songs and arrangementsTime can vary from 45 minutes to several hours, but I try to get 4 of the 7 in each day.
Wow, Duffy – that’s an admirable schedule filled with admirable goals. I’m afraid I’d have to spend a lot more than 45 minutes a day to achieve such goals.
Sunjamr Steve
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February 7, 2021 at 12:54 pm #234205
Regarding Practice Routine—I’ve been thinking and working on this for awhile. It’s very interesting to see these other approaches.
Here is where I’ve landed (at least for now):
Play at least 30 minutes every day…(this seems to go VERY quickly)
Three areas of work:
1. Ear training…I’ve found some mobile apps, as well as other resources on the web…right now I’m working through the very basic approach/lessons from Justin Guitar (my favorite online teach after Brian). Right now these are 5 minute, very easy exercises.
2. Technique/theory… digging into scales, arpeggios, etc. are the plan here. I’ve been fussing with the pentatonic patterns for a long while, so I pick one pattern each day and not only learn the pattern, but understand the scale positions, relationships to chord shapes (per Brian’s lessons), etc.
3. Play..”be musical”… this would be the current EP lesson from Brian, as well as favorite popular songs I’m trying to learn, and improvisation practice/jamming. I might take 2 or 3 weeks on an EP lesson…I’ve found that often I cannot become proficient in a week on some lessons…plus I find that re-reviewing the lessons I always pick up something new, so I go through them many times. He’s an awesome teacher!
I outline a plan for the week every Sunday, and then set/update detailed goals for the next day after each practice session…it might be simple like working on major pent pattern 1 on Monday, work in pattern 2 on Tuesday…or it might be to focus on a particular riff or difficult spots on the Active Melody lesson I’m working on.
I keep reading about practice approaches, setting goals, and so forth. I’m trying to make my plan flexible, but specific, and not too complex.
I feel like I enjoy so many different things about guitar it’s been difficult to define a really good “goal”. I’d love to hear what others have set as an annual goal for 2021 as well as practice plans.
Cheers
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February 8, 2021 at 4:03 pm #234361
Its interesting listening to how all of you approach this. As a classical guitarist I really should play to a plan and I had that imposed on me by teachers for many years.
My problem is, firstly, I am not disciplined and I absolutely hate playing scales and excercises. If something doesn’t inspire me, I have a very tough time doing it. These days, I just hear something I figure I want to play and I do it – not the best way to improve but I have to stay motivated somehow.
Lately I have been managing close to two hours a day because I try to keep up my classical and the stuff I am learning on the Active Melody site but it’s not been very structured. I tend to feel a lot of the classical studies I work on keep me limber but I should do more with scales (yuk!).
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February 16, 2021 at 5:16 am #235185
scales, modes- and some technique practice( trills , bends hammer’s & pulls)
then a quick run over the notes of the fret board( still working on memorizing them) then I work on several songs I am learning. and I do a few songs i know just to keep up on them ( 1-2 hours per day on average )
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