Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: Brent146 Aug 4 2007, 04:55 PM

Hi there, I've seen so many videos and I don't know how to practice guitar. Even not after viewing "how to pratice guitar". I've got some questions:

1. Do I have to use the metronome always? Because Kris talks about choosing a lick with 2 notes for using the metronome(seems like you have to use the metronome for 1 lick) and then he says that you always have to practice with a metronome? It's a bit opposed, isn't it? And using a metronome is very difficult for some licks/songs...

2. Kris is also speaking about practicing 1 lesson about 3 weeks?! I mean practicing 3 weeks the lesson about powerchords. These are just 4 powerchords? Isn't it a bit crazy? That isn't very good for your motivation I think...

3. Finally, he speaks about practicing max. 2 things. But you also have to practice the warm-up and some legato(Kris says that in the 'how to practice guitar' video). If you do that, you're practicing about 4/5 things...

Please help me and give me a clear overview how I have to pratice guitar. I ran out of motivation because this way of practicing is so overwhelming and confusing.

Greets, Brent.

Posted by: The Uncreator Aug 4 2007, 05:19 PM

1. Well, Regarding the metronome, you dont ALWAYS Have to use it, it is however, Highly recommended, as it helps build accuracy, consistency, and especially speed. Basically if your looking at a certain lick, divide it into numbers, like say there is 24 notes in a certain lick, divied those into 4, and you get 6 groups of 4 notes, and you can play them at a slow tempo, and build them up to higher tempos. This is what ive learned from GMC.

2. When he says spend 3 weeks on a lesson, well obvioulsy if you have the lesson down solid, theres no need to right? Well, it still doesn hurt to still practice that lesson, even though you still have it down perfectly. And the 3 week thing usually applies to harder lessons for you, like, i spent 2 or 3 weeks practicing Pavel's "Sweeping Etude" and "Luca Turilli" Lesson, after the first 2 weeks, i had it down and up to speed, but i still practice it today, so technically ive probably been practicing them for over a month!

The idea is, these lessons are designed for you to practice like you would any other way, do it for a set amount of time everyday for as long as you need to, or as long as you want to, 3 weeks is just a guideline i think, i mean, ive spent over 5 months practicing sweeping lessons, i got 3 string sweeps down pretty good, but i still practice them. I think it was Pavel actually who said, practice sweeping one hour a day for a month and youll get alot better, well, if it was him who said that, he was right! Its the consistency of how often you practice a lesson, it builds muscle memory so you always know how to play it.

3. Practicing the 2 things, is a good idea, there is a difference between "Warm-Ups" and "excersies" (exercises referring to those 2 things you should practice), look at it this way.

--Warmp ups are designed to get you ready, loosen your muscles and just get you in the right frame of mind. Basically you are preparing yourself, in a way, for the "Serious" stuff.

--Excersies come after you have warmed up, and are ready to practice a specific thing, like Sweeping, Alternate Picking, Legato or what have you. Warm ups you usually do some basic licks and runs that arent "Technique" specific.

This is just how i view this, and this is what ive taken from GMC, Kris and all the instructors included.
If this helps, here is a normal practice routine for me.

Warm-Ups: 1 hour
Stretch muscles
Play basic scales
simple licks from some songs i know
Get more complex, sneak a bit of sweeping or tapping into a scale

Excercises:3-6 hours
Practice sweeping Etude (Seeping practice, 2-3 hours)
Practice Luca Turilli Lesson (Alternate Picking practice, 2-3 hours)

Ill do that for as long as i need to ( i still do it)
and after that comes for me

Jam Session: As long as i can
I just play anything, improvise, or play along to my favorite songs, just having some fun!

I hope this oversized post help a little atleast

*EDIT*
If you find a metronome boring, don't worry thats normal

Posted by: Brent146 Aug 4 2007, 05:58 PM

OK, and can you also give me some lessons that are good to start with?

Other replies are welcome!

Posted by: The Uncreator Aug 4 2007, 06:26 PM

Where i started:

http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_on_one_pentatonic_scale1.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_on_one_pentatonic_scale2.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_on_one_pentatonic_scale3.htm

Tapping:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_o_one_tapping.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_o_one_tapping2.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_o_one_tapping3.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/One_o_one_tapping4.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/tapping-lesson/index.htm

Alternate Picking:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/alternate-picking1/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/alternate-picking2/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/alternate-picking3/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/neoclassical-3-levels-beginner/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/neoclassical-alternate-picking-etude/index.htm

Sweeping:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/sweep-picking-etude/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/sweeping-basics-lesson/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/sweeping-lesson/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/sweeping-lesson-5string-shapes/index.htm

Mixed Lessons:
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/metalhead-lesson/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/sweeping-alternate-picking-lesson/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/mixed-solo-licks/index.htm
http://www.guitarmasterclass.net/solo-guitar/speed-licks/

There are SO Many more, i also recommend any of the rock and rhythm lesson, by Pavel, Gabriels Blues lessons, any of David Wallimans lessons, Phrygian to Ionian is a good one, Phrygian Dominant Soloing, Mixolydian Pentatonics, just search everywhere!

Posted by: Pavel Aug 4 2007, 06:43 PM

I think other replies are not needed! The Uncreator made a great practicing plan for ya!

I think a contest on BEST PRACTICING ROUTINE would be nice - so come on guys - keep posting your practicing plans!

Posted by: The Uncreator Aug 4 2007, 06:59 PM

That would be interesting indeed!

Id like to see that one happen

Posted by: Brent146 Aug 4 2007, 09:57 PM

Yes, It's a nice overview. But I mean that additional information and tips are also welcome.

Posted by: shredmandan Aug 4 2007, 10:21 PM

Well i would like to say if you dont want to use a metronome dont.It does inprove your accuracy and timing but so does playing along with a cd of your favorite band. You dont want to get to a point when what your learning on guitar bores you,this will cause you to not really be interested in playing and would just be a waste of your time.You have to find what makes you interested on the guitar and go for it.Guitar is supposed to be fun not something you dred.Al the other advice that was listed on this post is great and will help you get better it's just is it for you?If you want to be the best than you do have to study lots of stuff that may bore you at the time but if your just looking to have fun playing guitar and learn some songs from your favorite bands learn to read tab ,study it listening to the song and get it down.

Shredmandan

Posted by: muris Aug 4 2007, 11:47 PM

Brent

Kris gave us really good starting points regarding to practicing routine.
You just follow those examples, but also feel free to adjust it to your self.
Everyone has his own progress bar,which means that you can change your practicing routine anytime.
This means what?
You can add more time to practicing,or cut it on less.

Posted by: Brent146 Aug 4 2007, 11:53 PM

Yeah, Kris is a great guitar player, but I was a bit confused because It's so much. But now It's all clear. Thank you guys, You rule.

Posted by: muris Aug 5 2007, 12:44 AM

I guess some rules get you confused for sure.
Just find your own way and routine regarding to those rules and you'll be fine.
Anytime

Posted by: Brent146 Aug 5 2007, 02:50 PM

But 1 hour warm-up, 3-6 hours learning stuff (excersizes, ...) and Jamming... Now, that's ok. But when it's school I have max. 1h30/2h time to practice.

Posted by: muris Aug 5 2007, 05:06 PM

I see
Well,my advice is to finish your home work as fast as you can,and then you'd have more time for guitar stuff!!

Posted by: Pavel Aug 5 2007, 05:12 PM

When it's school use those 2 hours this way: 20-30 minutes to get some warm-up (riffs, simple pentatonic runs)
and the rest 1.5 hour practice techniques. Leave jam behind - it's not that important!!

Posted by: Brent146 Aug 5 2007, 09:48 PM

Yeah, that looks ok. You guys have a solution for everything. So when I fail my exams, I tell my parents that it's your fault.

Posted by: muris Aug 5 2007, 09:51 PM

I knew it

Posted by: Pavel Aug 5 2007, 10:43 PM

Ok - i can't get beat up over internet so you can blame us!

Posted by: The Uncreator Aug 6 2007, 03:16 AM

I guess when your in school just cut all the times in half or something, I reccommend still jamming out, its just the funnest thing

Posted by: muris Aug 7 2007, 04:38 AM

Agree

Posted by: JOhn Aug 7 2007, 05:36 AM

i usually try not to jam but its way way to hard because you get bored when practice techniques and you just decided to have some fun then when you check the time its nearly all gone

Posted by: JVM Aug 7 2007, 07:48 AM

My practice routine is the kind of thing you can do in an hour. I do it in an hour, but do it several times a day, its also modular so you can change it up Here goes:

First I start with a warmup. This varies, but for the past few weeks it's involved legato, stretching (I usually don't actually stretch my fingers before I play, maybe I will, but they stretch naturally as I play) and some pinky strengthening. Usually I'll start with the legato, index finger on the second fret of low e, and do a index-middle-pinky legato, going 2-3-5. I go up the strings with that pattern, then back down then I move the index up to the third fret, and do a index-ring-pinky legato on 3-5-6. I go all the way up to the 12th fret, alternating the whole way between legato with my middle and with my ring finger. Or you can use both, it's good to throw it in sometimes to work out the pinky and add some variation. Then I go all the way back down.

Next I do some pinky and alternate picking workout, just chromatic stuff from the 15th fret down to the 12th, using each finger. So AP as fast as possible, 15(pinky)-14(ring)-13(middle)-12(index), up and down the strings, and variations of it.

The main goal of the first two parts is to decide on something, a technique or whatever, that really needs improvement, and devote this section to doing just that for however long it takes.

After that I'll do some scalar stuff. I pick a scale and do each note on the low e string, starting with the open string (unless the scale has no E) and going up as high as I can go, then back down to the first box, where I do the box as fast as possible. I then do the string thing again, and come down to the second box, and so on until I've done all the boxes. Then, I start on the next string up, so I end up doing something like 30 boxes, depending on how many notes the scale has in it, as well as the scale on each string a number of times.

After this, I'll work on any lessons I've been working on lately, usually I just pick an area I know I need improvement in, and work on a lesson that helps with it, as well as any self-made exercises I come up with. The goal of this is just to challenge myself, kind of like the first two parts, but just basically not to do anything thats easy for me.


After that I go through songs I know, then I end with just jamming until I need to put the guitar down. A while later, I pick up and repeat the process