Practicing Options

[steve25]

I confess to GMC, i haven't actually "practiced" for about a month now, and the worrying thing is i still don't feel like practicing. I've lost motivation in that department and i'm not sure why. In fact i spend more time editing/making pod tones then i do playing. Main reason is that i'm extremely fussy with tone but it obviously does nothing for playing. And when i do play its usually just random improvisation and maybe a song or a few riffs and thats it.

I want to get better but i just don't feel like practicing. About a month ago i was really into it and i enjoyed practicing and then all of a sudden, i just stopped. Although oddly enough having tried a few of my practice licks the other day i've actually somehow got about 10bpm faster at all of them, they all suddenly seem easier i guess its not all bad after all.

I don't intend to be a shred player UNTIL i become a good player. That is, i'm able to write good riffs/lick/solos without using speed and i'm able to improvise well. Because my theory is if i can do it before i become a shred player by the time i build up the speed i'll bring those skills with me which will stop me being a mindless shredder. So i'm thinking of changing my practice around entirely and i'd like some advice on how i should go about doing it. I know a few things that i really need to practice which is:

- Vibrato. I was doing well with this but now i'm stuck in a rut with it. I'm not improving anymore and my vibrato is the same and it just sounds boring. Any tips on how to make vibrato even better and how you could use different styles?

- Phrasing. Everything basically, i've got to try and improve on this somehow.

- Songwriting. My songwriting is just terrible. I've been playing for over 2 years and i haven't written a single song. EVERYTHING gets thrown out the window eventually nothing seems to be good enough.

- Improvising. This is also terrible, i play the same stuff, the same licks and patterns and all the same ideas it seems i can't break out of it.


There's a few things but of course there's many others as well like riff writing and solo writing which i've never improved on anyway but would like to and ear training. Quite literally, i give up after about 5 minutes and download tab because i get frustrated and put the guitar down. So, any ideas on creating practice schedule maybe thats the main thing i fall back on after all?

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