How many hours a day do you practice? - Guitars101

cormack · 05-09-2005, 08:11 PM

i kinda wonder this because i think im getting a little out of practice.. i think im gonna put more time toward jamming with a metranome. another thing is after jammin and practicing with this band im in my fingertips start to feel kind of painful.. guess im not use to playing for that many hours

**nroberts** · 05-09-2005, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cormack

i kinda wonder this because i think im getting a little out of practice.. i think im gonna put more time toward jamming with a metranome. another thing is after jammin and practicing with this band im in my fingertips start to feel kind of painful.. guess im not use to playing for that many hours

Well I guess you would have to answer the question, "What is practice?" first. If you mean going over scales or working with a metronome then I hardly practice at all. But if just jamming to jam tracks is practicing I put in an average of 5 hours a week...sometimes more, sometimes a lot less....sometimes none.

I do feel I need to do more structured practice though...but I am a lazy dumnass.

It has been said, and it is probably true, that 15 - 20 minutes every day is better than 4 hours one day and then none for a day or two. So if you can just get in 15-20 minutes of good practice per day you will probably still gain ground, but if you practice to hell on the weekends and then not again until Fri. night you probably won't. Often times that is what I do...and I don't feel like I improve fast enough either.

DannyBoy · 05-09-2005, 08:31 PM

im with roberts . i dont "practice" in the sense of sitting going over scales with metronome etc . but i probably "play" as in sit and just jam out ... for between 2 - 8 hours a day . it varies but i usually play more than a couple hours a day .

**nroberts** · 05-09-2005, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dannyboy

im with roberts . i dont "practice" in the sense of sitting going over scales with metronome etc . but i probably "play" as in sit and just jam out ... for between 2 - 8 hours a day . it varies but i usually play more than a couple hours a day .

Are you feeling like you are making progress though? I feel like I am improving a bit, especially in the improv. area, but technically I think I have a lot I need to work on that isn't getting worked on by just jamming.

cormack · 05-09-2005, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nroberts

It has been said, and it is probably true, that 15 - 20 minutes every day is better than 4 hours one day and then none for a day or two. So if you can just get in 15-20 minutes of good practice per day you will probably still gain ground, but if you practice to hell on the weekends and then not again until Fri. night you probably won't. Often times that is what I do...and I don't feel like I improve fast enough either.

yeah i feel what i do is mostly sit around and noodle the same licks.. then when i play with the band and try do something different it isnt completley developed or i run out of ideas..

i play in a trio starring me on lead guitar, with other guys on bass and drums. i think part of the thing might be that id rather have someone else on lead and me on rythym or backup.. i dunno..

trey85stang · 05-09-2005, 08:50 PM

Ok, during the week.. I 'play' for roughly 30-45 minutes each day. On the weekend.. I play for a good 7-8 hours. Over the weekend I try and learn some solos or something that is difficult for me to play by sightreading. (generally megadeth stuff) I really like mart friedmans phrasing so I try and stick with his harder solos from Rust in Piece. I usually dont get very far with them but I get good chunks of them down.

I do feel I make progress in my playing though. I like playing rythem mostly but I do like leads as well. I do tend to stick with rythem playing

cormack · 05-09-2005, 08:51 PM

so i guess the thing is not only do i gotta practice at least 15 -20 minutes a day, but i gotta figure out new ideas. i guess thats the other side of it

**rjfoster** · 05-09-2005, 09:39 PM

Me? I havent been learning / practicing things like scales and such as I probably SHOULD, but I usually play daily for an hour or so. To me learning usually revovles around picking up the guitar bits from new songs. For instance a few months ago I learned how to play all of the rhythms for Van Halens 5150 - it was a good workout that took me a few days to perfect, but I learned some new tricks. Power Tab and the associated tablature files are GREAT for this - look up power tab on the web and grab a copy - its great! (and free)

Now for you hard core folks out there - I found a link to Steve Vai's 10 hour workout - lemme know when you have it done hehehe

Vais 10 Hr Workout

Rj

**nroberts** · 05-09-2005, 10:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cormack

i play in a trio starring me on lead guitar, with other guys on bass and drums.

Well I got something you can work on. Play rythm and lead at the same time. Don't go rythm, and then lead for a second, and then rythm....do them both at the same time. Put a melody on the top of your chord work.

It isn't exactly something I can do, but there you go...something to play with that can benefit you in your situation.

It is really tough work to pull off the single guitarist gig. You are basically the entire top section of the music.

**nroberts** · 05-09-2005, 10:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rjfoster

Vais 10 Hr Workout

Rj

What is an '.art' file? What did you open those in?

Goport · 05-09-2005, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nroberts

Are you feeling like you are making progress though? I feel like I am improving a bit, especially in the improv. area, but technically I think I have a lot I need to work on that isn't getting worked on by just jamming.

Believe me DB has improved a lot

When I first used the site he was good but the progress he has made in less than a year is quite amazing.

I rarely do exercises but I do play regularly. I guess I am doing something like orthodox practice with the bass guitar at the moment but that is because it is new and I am trying to get my technique clean enough to record with. I suppose I do practice on guitar because I often write parts for my songs that I can't play easily so I work on those but I do do half an hour of scales/chord changes etc.

cormack · 05-09-2005, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nroberts

Well I got something you can work on. Play rythm and lead at the same time. Don't go rythm, and then lead for a second, and then rythm....do them both at the same time. Put a melody on the top of your chord work.
.

then id have become a fingerstylist and not a flatpicker.. if i understand you correctly. I mean your talking about simotaneosly playing a lead and rythym together right? im not sure i can do that..

cormack · 05-09-2005, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Goport

I rarely do exercises but I do play regularly. I guess I am doing something like orthodox practice with the bass guitar at the moment but that is because it is new and I am trying to get my technique clean enough to record with. .

i remember when i first bought a bass a couple years ago and it being a awkward switch.. now that i got a better hang on it i actually enjoy playing bass more than guitar

**nroberts** · 05-09-2005, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cormack

then id have become a fingerstylist and not a flatpicker.. if i understand you correctly. I mean your talking about simotaneosly playing a lead and rythym together right? im not sure i can do that..

Well there are otherways to do it, you don't necissarily have to fingerpick or even hybrid pick though you will probably find more available if you hybrid.

strat78 · 05-10-2005, 05:11 AM

Jeez, I wish I had time to practice. However in some respects you can hinder your playing by cluttering up your mind with too many scales and carefully worked out sequences, patterns and machine like picking techniques. A little ear training seems to help the most.