Help Structuring My Practice Time, Use your experience to help me! Options

[Chief Brody]

Hi all,

Now i know this is a pretty common topic but basically i need some help.

First things first, I'm still a beginner (7 months since i started) and am learning both acoustic and electric, i desire nothing more than to be a well-rounded player who can not only transcribe/cover the works of my favourite artists but also be able to create my own jams.

I've progressed a great deal since i came to GMC but I feel i'm not progressing as well as i should be and that this is due to mostly inappropriate allocation of my time and a lack of clear direction/goals.

Dedication isn't a problem, i just don't want my increased resolve to go to waste so i'd much appreciate some guidance.

I'm willing and able to commit 4 hours a day, every day, to my practice. But the main problem i encounter is that there is so much for me to learn that i feel like my brain is "scattered" - Theory, Scales, Chords, Improvisation, Learning songs, Transcribing, Aural training, the innumerable amount of techniques - it's all important to me. But how do i create structure/balance within my schedule so as to include everything and make gains in those areas?

Practice routines are a very individual and personal thing, so i'm not asking for anyone to make one for me, rather i'd like to know what you would do if (or when) you were in my shoes. I appreciate any input as i feel overwhelmed sometimes!

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[Guitar1969]

Hi all,

Now i know this is a pretty common topic but basically i need some help.

First things first, I'm still a beginner (7 months since i started) and am learning both acoustic and electric, i desire nothing more than to be a well-rounded player who can not only transcribe/cover the works of my favourite artists but also be able to create my own jams.

I've progressed a great deal since i came to GMC but I feel i'm not progressing as well as i should be and that this is due to mostly inappropriate allocation of my time and a lack of clear direction/goals.

Dedication isn't a problem, i just don't want my increased resolve to go to waste so i'd much appreciate some guidance.

I'm willing and able to commit 4 hours a day, every day, to my practice. But the main problem i encounter is that there is so much for me to learn that i feel like my brain is "scattered" - Theory, Scales, Chords, Improvisation, Learning songs, Transcribing, Aural training, the innumerable amount of techniques - it's all important to me. But how do i create structure/balance within my schedule so as to include everything and make gains in those areas?

Practice routines are a very individual and personal thing, so i'm not asking for anyone to make one for me, rather i'd like to know what you would do if (or when) you were in my shoes. I appreciate any input as i feel overwhelmed sometimes!

I know how you feel. I have been playing for quite awhile and have bits and piece, but haven't dedicated enough time to getting really good at one thing before moving onto something else, and it has limited me, so I am stepping back the problem is that there are so many lessons and you see one of interest and want ot jump right on it.

You need to remember that you should only choose one or 2 lessons and just work on those for 2 or 3 weeks. Kris has laid out a beginner lesson Plan(called beginner kick off, which is 6 foundational lessons) - I would recommed you start with that and make sure you know it all inside and out. Imagine the video lessons like a 30 minute session with a live instructor - You would normally go to a live lesson once a week, and the rest of the time would be practicing that content till your next meeting. Once you get the beginner kick off done - there are 6 lessons I think, use Kris advice and choose 2 new lessons for your next 2-3 weeks, but keep using tsome of the beginner content for warm up(I use Guitar Exercises, and Scales as a warm up). For your new lessons - search by difficulty level(such as 2). I would recommend something alng the lines of pentatonic lessons).

If you still have difficulty, you can PM me, and I'll share my plan with you which may be similar to where I was at a few weeks back, but you need to start with the beginner kick off and get really good at it so its second nature
Michael

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[Chief Brody]

Thanks for the advice, i do get the feeling that i'm getting too caught up in "advancing" sometimes. Perhaps a step back might be the best way.

Practical application is the area i feel i'm most lacking, I really want to include practicing songs in my routine, as i feel that desire to play the things i love listening to. I figure that's just a simple case of watching as many videos of that song/listening to it and copying? Am i right? But if i can't play those things well then perhaps i should try to be patient and focus on the foundations......

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This post has been edited by Chief Brody: Jul 15 2008, 07:04 AM

[Ivan Milenkovic]

I know it is sometimes hard to be able to practice everything you want and do it right, but hey, we're all humans, if you can't make it to practice this day, you will do it next day etc. Bare in mind that guitar is for life, and nobody can ''learn it'' and that's it. You should play and practice whenever you FEEL confortable it, don't try to make a strict routine, or hour schedule. You should have some sort of system what to practice, but not when. When you have the time - you practice, when you don't - well, you'll find some time, it doesn't have to be 4 hours, maybe 2 horus, maybe 30 minutes. 30 minutes is a very little time when spended practicing, and even taht means a lot in a long run.

ANohter important thing is that guitar progress is very very relative, today you may think that you are not progressing at all, tomorrow that you are progressing fast, and overall feeling is that you are always progressing too slow. But in the end if you practice every day, and work as much as you feel like it, you will become a good player.

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[kjutte]

Read andrew's part on basic scales and chords, and you'll be able to jam.
for jamming you need either a good ear, or theory knowledge about scales. Preferably both though, to make it interesting, but don't mind that.

Thanks for the advice, i do get the feeling that i'm getting too caught up in "advancing" sometimes. Perhaps a step back might be the best way.

Practical application is the area i feel i'm most lacking, I really want to include practicing songs in my routine, as i feel that desire to play the things i love listening to. I figure that's just a simple case of watching as many videos of that song/listening to it and copying? Am i right? But if i can't play those things well then perhaps i should try to be patient and focus on the foundations......

And practise make perfect man, no doubt. Don't worry if the licks are TOO hard. Play them anyway, and eventually you'll do it just as fast and flawless. Practise practise practise!

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[Chief Brody]

Cheers guys, this is really helping me out. Sometimes i just lose focus of what's important because i become hung up on things like this.

I'll freely admit that i'm a big fan of your style Ivan so hearing your advice is especially inspiring!.

Thanks kjutte, i'm gonna dive into some cover-song practice from now on and yeah, so what if it's difficult, as long as i practice it right i'll get there.

This is why i love GMC, such a great community!

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[kjutte]

Cheers guys, this is really helping me out. Sometimes i just lose focus of what's important because i become hung up on things like this.

I'll freely admit that i'm a big fan of your style Ivan so hearing your advice is especially inspiring!.

Thanks kjutte, i'm gonna dive into some cover-song practice from now on and yeah, so what if it's difficult, as long as i practice it right i'll get there.

This is why i love GMC, such a great community!

That's the spirit man! Good luck!

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[Ivan Milenkovic]

Cheers guys, this is really helping me out. Sometimes i just lose focus of what's important because i become hung up on things like this.

I'll freely admit that i'm a big fan of your style Ivan so hearing your advice is especially inspiring!.

Thanks kjutte, i'm gonna dive into some cover-song practice from now on and yeah, so what if it's difficult, as long as i practice it right i'll get there.

This is why i love GMC, such a great community!

Thanks man, I'm glad to help in any way I can

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[Scott Gentzen]

well, you'll find some time, it doesn't have to be 4 hours, maybe 2 horus, maybe 30 minutes. 30 minutes is a very little time when spended practicing, and even taht means a lot in a long run.

When I started getting in-person guitar lessons, I was amazed about how short 30 minutes is.

I can definitely say that I make a lot more progress spending 30 focused minutes a day than spending 3 hours once a week noodling around.

I benefit a lot from having a local live teacher because it forces me to focus. I leave my lesson with new material to learn and I know that in 7 days I'm going to be back and I really don't want to have to say that I still don't know the new stuff and haven't improved on the old stuff because I didn't take the time during the week to figure it out. There's only so much grief I can get from anyone on here if I'm not getting things done.

I'm trying to maintain that kind of focus for my GMC lessons too. Pick a lesson and say that I'm going to be able to remember all the notes/chords by a certain day. Stuff like that. I find that I get really distracted if I don't have solid goals set before I start.

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[Ivan Milenkovic]

I find myself distracted even when I have solid goals

WHat I do then is consider a practice like some sort of pleasure, an interesting thing, and then I can practice all night long if I don't get too sleepy

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[Guitar1969]

Read andrew's part on basic scales and chords, and you'll be able to jam.

Which lesson would that be , as Andrews got over 2 pages of lessons on the Theory board, but none of them under that title, so it must be included under a different heading.

Thnaks,
mh

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[Xose Pineda]

Which lesson would that be , as Andrews got over 2 pages of lessons on the Theory board, but none of them under that title, so it must be included under a different heading.

Thnaks,
mh

I think kjutte means the beginner lessons... not just one. I think he talks about the 5 or 6 in the beginning...

I'm trying to make a practice scheledule for myself... but I'm pretty new. I'll use some of the advices posted here.

Cheers mate!!

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