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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ What Kind Of Practice To Do While Away From The Guitar?
Posted by: leonard478 Feb 4 2013, 08:09 PM
So ive been practicing legato like crazy this whole week, and ive been getting a tiny bit of pain and a lot of tight feelings just in the back of my left hand, my fingers and my wrist and my forearm are all fine so thats a good sign, anyways my teacher said i should stop for a few days completely. and i feel like crap when i stop because i feel like im regressing, ( super motivated at the moment)
So what kind of things should i practice whilst away from the guitar??
I'm already doing plenty of ear training, sight singing, and rhythm clapping exercises
Posted by: The Professor Feb 4 2013, 08:12 PM
Rough man, hope the hand gets better soon!
one thing you could do, that I used to do on the Subway to school, was run through chords in the cycle of 5ths to work on theory knowledge.
So something like saying the notes in your head for major triads through the cycle
CEG, FAC, BbDF, EbGBb, AbCEb etc. for all the chords.
Then repeat the exercise with minor triads, diminished triads, augmented triads, then 7th, maj7, m7, dim7, m7b5 etc chords as well.
Good exercise to keep your theory chops sharp away from the guitar.
Posted by: leonard478 Feb 4 2013, 08:14 PM
yeah i do that all the time, actually i stole that idea from your website long ago, but i tend to write all of them out as quick as i can rather than say them in my head, thanks a lot Matt!, Your site has helped me a great deal
one thing you could do, that I used to do on the Subway to school, was run through chords in the cycle of 5ths to work on theory knowledge.
So something like saying the notes in your head for major triads through the cycle
CEG, FAC, BbDF, EbGBb, AbCEb etc. for all the chords.
Then repeat the exercise with minor triads, diminished triads, augmented triads, then 7th, maj7, m7, dim7, m7b5 etc chords as well.
Good exercise to keep your theory chops sharp away from the guitar.
Posted by: klasaine Feb 4 2013, 08:18 PM
'Actively' listen to music.
No email, no internet, no reading, no talking, no socializing, no eating - just listening.
Posted by: The Professor Feb 4 2013, 08:47 PM
Cool, yeah maybe switch to reciting them from memory, might be a good change. Glad you dig the site, thanks for checking it out!
Posted by: Jonas Tamas Feb 4 2013, 09:16 PM
So what kind of things should i practice whilst away from the guitar??
I'm already doing plenty of ear training, sight singing, and rhythm clapping exercises
Besides doing the fretboard and triads etc. practicing in your head, you could do a lot of visualizations. Imagine your hands playing all the legato lines effortlessly, or you can even imagine a cool gig when you play at the top of your game, and all the audience is cheering and having fun. Visualizing is a key component, many musicians, and almost all top athletes are doing it.
Posted by: Sollesnes Feb 4 2013, 10:25 PM
Theory of course as people have already said. Another thing you can work on is ear training. Assuming you know how to read and write notation, try to transcribe things by ear only. No clicking on instruments to see if it's correct or not. Give it a go, and you'll be hooked when you see how fast you progress 
Posted by: leonard478 Feb 4 2013, 10:49 PM
Thanks!, already doing that:) will try more of the visualization thing though
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 5 2013, 10:38 AM
In order to save some time and if your schedule allows it, fill your audio player with ear training exercises and walk your way towards the locations where your business takes you. Not only that walking will preserve a great shape for your body, but you will have the time to listen to music/ ear training exercises or phrases of your choice which you would like your ears to grow accustomed to.
For instance, you can record various phrases in a particular scale, over various chord vamps as the guys stated above - it's important to know how a scale sounds agains a certain chord and place them all in your player
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 5 2013, 11:36 AM
I think that the key is each of the things listed previously by everybody. Practising patterns, combining them, practising triads, arpeggios, scales, ear training, jamming over songs, over the radio, over the tv, learning licks, solos, everything helps in on way or another.
Here you will find a very good article about improvisation:
http://www.guitarhabits.com/10-essentials-on-guitar-improvisation/
No email, no internet, no reading, no talking, no socializing, no eating - just listening.
hahaha the first part is ok! but don't stop eating and socializing guys!
Posted by: klasaine Feb 5 2013, 06:00 PM
no eating or socializing WHILE actively (as in studying) listening. Yes, please no 'hunger strike' guitarists.
Posted by: ConnorGilks Feb 5 2013, 08:23 PM
No email, no internet, no reading, no talking, no socializing, no eating - just listening.
I'd also like to add no walking! I listen to music on the way to school and such all the time, which does help me a bit, but I'm usually so focused on other things that I still am not as focused as I'd like to be. Go to your room, bust out your iPod/computer and just listen! Do nothing else.
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Feb 6 2013, 09:07 AM
Well, I don't know if it goes for anyone, but I have transformed walking into a personal moment during which I usually listen to music actively, even though I keep an eye towards what's going on around me - I don't want to end up hit by a truck just because I was enjoying the way in which some voices were harmonizing one another
On the other hand, I can vividly remember myself listening to music in my room when I was a kid and my mom coming in and asking me what I was doing - I told her I was listening to music and she felt like I can't be sitting there doing nothing - but I told her I am listening to music Not everyone would understand this seemingly simple activity on the outside.
Another great way would be to record various scales in your DAW write their names on a piece of paper and the next day, listen to them and try to recognize them by ear. If you get them all right (you have the paper to confirm that) try and re-record them a second time, but now, record them as a phrase having the notes played randomly See if you can nail them this time around as well
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