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Posted by: Blister Feb 17 2012, 04:53 AM

While watching Ivan's http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/ls/Determining-The-Key-Of-A-Song/ lesson (very useful lesson, btw ), I noticed in Lesson 7, his notes said "Work on each of the backing tracks per day (20 mins top)". That's when this question popped into my mind. What is the minimum & maximum time to put into a specific lesson or exercise? Keep in mind, I am not talking about your entire practice time, only the time alotted to the specific lesson or exercise.

Posted by: dark dude Feb 17 2012, 05:16 AM

Honestly, it comes down to two things for me:

1) how much time I have to spare (because the longer you spend doing something right, the better you'll be)
2) how my hands are feeling (i.e. do I feel an injury coming on)

I wouldn't recommend spending longer than an hour of solid practice on a specific thing, as your concentration will fade and you'll get diminishing returns. If you have the time, take a break every so often.

Just make it clear to yourself what your goals are, and split the progression towards those up into much smaller goals. Attaining these goals, no matter how small, will keep your motivation fired -p and ready for the next session.

Lastly, if you don't have much time to play (like most people), then at least try to get a few minutes in DAILY. There's a big difference between only practicing on some days of the week. Saying that, practicing day in and day out sometimes tricks you into thinking you're not improving as much as you should be. The way it works with technique is that you drill the patterns into muscle memory, let your mind and body process it in your sleep / over a few days, and then refine the efficiency of those movements.

Posted by: Ben Higgins Feb 17 2012, 12:07 PM

I can only agree with DD's comments (you've got a habit of this, stop beating me to it !)

Seriously, though.. I totally agree. I stop only if I run out time, get bored or (most commonly) my hands are just too tired.

Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Feb 17 2012, 02:51 PM

I also agree with Dark Dude comments. Those 3 ideas are exactly what you have to have in mind. Total amount of time to practice, hands response and daily practice. This last one is very important, it's much more effective to practice a small amount of time every day than practising a lot of time 2 or 3 days per week.

Posted by: Alex Feather Feb 17 2012, 11:00 PM

It's a good question! I will tell you this 5 minutes of concentrated practicing worth 2 hours of noodling and fooling around!
So even if you have a little time keep it organized and you will be 100% more productive!

Posted by: Sinisa Cekic Feb 17 2012, 11:50 PM

Honestly, I stopped to look at the time of exercise for a long time. It's become more biologically - when I feel the need to play then I take my guitar and inspiration doing the rest.Today 12 hours, tomorrow 2 hours, and so on. It is only important that the cycle moves each day !!

Of course, this is from my standpoint. For guitarists who are still entering into process of introducing the instrument, the scales,progressions, modes,..there should be a plan which will enable the precise time slots for each element separately !

Posted by: Todd Simpson Feb 18 2012, 12:46 AM

Good quuestion! Dark Dude breaks it down nicely. Start with how much time you have in total, try to use some of that for a given bit of work like an example, and use your instincts/overall sense of your hands and how long they can keep this up and you can come up with a rough.

In terms of maximizing your time, you will get to a point in each example when you think. I've got this down, just need some repetition. At that point, repeat it a bit, and move on. Add it back in just for repetition in subsequent lessons during the startup/warmup phase of your practice. You might have several things in this section of your practice time. Things you've learned, you may not need the tab anymore. Just a metronome or backing track and a bit of time.


Most of my first few examples in each lesson are quick/simple/building block type workouts that we combine for the last bits which are harder. So if you were going through my lesson list, you could do any of the first few examples in about 10 minutes each, maybe 20 with repetition.

http://bit.ly/twtgmc

Hope this helps

Todd

Posted by: Michael AC Mar 4 2012, 09:32 PM

This is how I am starting to think...when I feel the need to play, I play and play. Today I did 5 hours. I stopped because my ribs and right hand begin to get tired and I could feel the workout.

Will probably only do 15 to 30 min tomorrow to let muscles rebound and then back at it.

Most of the time today I spent on practicing a specific GMC lesson. Broke into parts and then over and over again until I got bored. Noodled a couple of hours and then back at the lesson again.

I guess practice as much as you can but DO NOT HURT YOURSELF!

Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Mar 4 2012, 10:02 PM

True Ben, have you ever noticed that DD is always there with an answer when you need it? and he is also a veteran in my video chat sessions pretty neat I'd say!

Posted by: Todd Simpson Mar 4 2012, 10:08 PM

This is a very workable approach as well. Some players do better following their instincts essentially and having less structure. Some really to better when following a regular routine. There are as many ways to learn / practice as there are ways to play, which is what makes the study of music so engaging.

Posted by: derper Mar 4 2012, 11:48 PM

DarkDude really did sum it up!


One of my favorite parts, was when he mentioned that you can eventually get "burned out/diminishing returns". For me, I need to recognize that point a little better. I tend to "press on" and start playing the piece even worse, with more practice!! Ick!! There really is an importance to sitting it down, even for 5 mins, then hitting that riff with a fresh mindset!

Posted by: Ben Higgins Mar 5 2012, 10:31 AM

Yes, he's one of my top Ninjas. I send him on most of the high risk assignments !