johnyere

I want to be a little more organized when practicing guitar as i find i practicing inconsistently throughout the day... my guitar teacher recommended that i practice in 15 minute portions twice a day, so i'll incorporate that in my routine below... in addition he said that 30-40 minutes is really all i need for now...

Right now im thinking a good practice routine for me would look something like this:

Scales 5min
Chord progressions 5min
Sight reading 5min

Repertoire (learning songs) 10-15min
Free play - unlimited

what do you think?

ciano16

practice sight reading until you start messing up. thats how you know it has become counterproductive.
for me, its like 10-20 minutes. repertoire is the same. if it gets the slightest bit frustrating, its time to stop.
id say the others are pretty good times though.

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Bad Kharmel

If you really want to get good, use that type of practice, but then also when you aren't doing anything or are just watching TV, just mess around with the guitar, and try to use techniques you haven't quite mastered, if you play half-an-hour a day of serious stuff, then another hour or two of nothing but technique/screwing around you'll get really good really fast

Fenderexpx50

I think you might be onto something with the 5 minute increments. What I've found is that when I do smaller segments, I tend to remember what I've done a bit better. You might try to dedicate more time to learning songs.

I use my Ipod and listen to parts, play them, pull it back, then play along. If I get it, great. If I don't, I get kind of obsessive and have to do it until I get it right. That's usually not a problem, but when you're learning something complex it gets old. I get mad at myself a lot in that respect.

johnyere

yea, my guitar teacher said that giving your full attention to something for 5 minutes is better that half-assing it for 10...

Fenderexpx50

That is what I've always told people too. Even when I learn a song, it's in parts usually. That method has been good to me and those I've taught over the years.

johnyere

@Fednderexpx50, what are you referring to?

James Donovan

To make a perfect routine I think such kind of schedule is necessary. Highly appreciative.

Syndromed

I give you my routine, surely not the best, but maybe you'll find something interesting :
- 10 mn warm up
- 40 mn practice a lick I like (with a "aim tempo", when I reach the "aim tempo", I change the lick)
- 1 hour practice a classical piece (very hard, good to practice arpeggios, strings skipping/crossing and most of all : sounds good/not boring)
- 30 mn actual song (a whole song, different style)

I'm in a musical school, so for theory and things like that, I learn it in my class.

I think you have to find your aim, then build up a routine about your aim.

Hope it helps!

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johnyere

Thank for the input, i realize that a practice routine is very unique from person to person, and that i got to customize it to reach MY goals

Syndromed

Exactly

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Fenderexpx50

In regard to the practice in smaller time increments.

Liquid_Tongue

I have no set plan for a practice routine. It pretty much includes a lot of these:

+ Noodle around for an hour mindlessly playing in any key with fast moving around the neck and heavy, heavy use of vibrato so I could feel comfortable playing anything I want

+ Learn a solo no matter easy or hard with only ear. Get it down note for note and dynamics

+ Learn a song no matter what genre

+ Work on songs

+ Work on rap songs

Since I never bothered to learn the name of the notes and music theory I actually play good for some reason.

maria.cute

i practice guitar whenever i got free my routine work..... guitar is a good tool to get rid of bored life.... love to play guitar over and over....

johnyere

bump

johnyere

i thought i might gives you guys a quick update...

currently, my practice "routine" looks something like this:

15 minutes sight reading (do this first to get it out of the way)
10 minutes with scales
20 minutes of practicing songs/ learning songs/ improvising etc..

later on im going to get into theory with my guitar teacher (which will be added to my routine) but for now he wants me to build a solid repertoire of songs and solos...

Shredx

My main bit of advice is get a diary, and write down exactly what practice you do each day. Make sure you do it 5 days a week minimum aswell. Stick to the routine for a week-a month depending on speed, your accuracy and difficulty.

Then you get into the habit of practising more as you will feel bad for leaving too many blank spaces in the diary.

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