We're often told that the best kind of practise regimen is a balanced one. I think most of us would agree with that.
Balanced because guitar playing involves a lot of different elements. Physical dexterity, putting expression into things like bending, vibrato and phrasing. Improving tone. Learning new ideas. Learning songs. Sometimes just picking it up to play it for fun.
There's always something more to be done, more to discover and we can always improve that which we've already learned. It really depends on what you want to get out of it.
When most of us start playing, we don't have any clearly defined goals other than a vague notion of just being able to do cool stuff that we hear other people doing. That's the way it should be too. But the better we get, we eventually start needing to keep things fresh so we always keep moving forward. So, we will usually be working on a number of things in order to keep learning progress going and also to stop getting burnt out on the same kind of licks.
Somebody who practises only speedy technique will find their phrasing and emotive expression lacking. Somebody who only practises the soulful stuff will, at some point, have to push their technical ability a bit more in order to express themselves over anything other than a slow blues. Others need to work more on vibrato, others on composing, others on eliminating string noise, muting and controlling tone.
Sometimes, if we're learning something very new then we might need to work on several of those things at once!
So what is a balanced practise schedule? Most people advocate packing in several different areas of focus in one practise session. It might look something like:
5-10 mins warm up (whatever that involves for you)
15 mins picking exercises
15 mins bending
10 mins vibrato
20 mins jamming
That tackles several areas in concise chunks which ensures you're working on more than one aspect of your guitar playing. A lot of people use this approach.
But how do we define balance in the context of time? One could say that balance can occur over a longer period of time. Let's say that you discover some new lick ideas and decide to immerse yourself in those ideas for 2 weeks. During those 2 weeks you only practise those things but you're really enjoying it and are not getting burnt out or uninspired. After 2 weeks you feel you've got a good handle on these ideas and can actually work them into your own phrasing now.
After those 2 weeks you start focusing on other things again. So, rather than having a balanced practise session every time you pick up the guitar, your practise focus occurs during more of an ongoing cycle. So you might be immersed in one thing for a particular time, then it will be another thing, then another thing, then another. So, although you're not mixing it up every time you play, the overall cycle of your practise interests balances out your playing ability over time.
What do you think? Do you identify with either of those approaches or maybe you veer between both? Or maybe it's neither. Maybe you absorb your practise skills through osmosis if you stand close enough to another player?
"Hey Guthrie, do you mind if we come and stand near you for a while......?"
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