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GMC Forum _ PRACTICE ROOM _ How Many Hours A Day Do You Practice?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 6 2013, 01:52 PM
Hello guys! Let's talk a bit about how many time we have to play guitar dialy and how you organize this time. I remember that when I was a teenager I used to play more than 6 hour a day. Nobody taught me to organize time using routines so it was free time working on technique, improvisation, playing a long with songs, learning songs... not very organized, but as I had lots of time it was effective.
So the questions are:
1. How many hours a day do you practice?
2. How do you organize your time?
Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 6 2013, 03:15 PM
Over the years it's changed. In my teens I'd rack up hours daily.. but up until recently I'd barely practise at all.
Lately, I've been practising harder than I have since I can remember.. although I'm having a day off today because my body feels achy 
Posted by: MichaelRdk Dec 6 2013, 03:32 PM
2-3hours a day, sometimes less, sometimes alot more, whenever i don't have something to do i pick up the guitar, have no time routine or time taken out for guitar practice, just do whenever i'm home anyway 
Posted by: Doug Lane Dec 6 2013, 03:47 PM
Most days I'll spend an hour or two playing, but man oh man, it is ON during the weekends and holidays! For the weekends I practice for 1.5-2 hours a day in the video chat with Todd, an hour of dedicated practice on my own routine, and four or five stints of 30 minutes to an hour sets of just unstructured jamming or playing around with new ideas. I try not to just eke in time for guitar, I integrate music into my life as one of my biggest cornerstones.
Posted by: klasaine Dec 6 2013, 04:16 PM
Like a lot of you guys, from the age of about 15 to 28 I 'practiced' probably 2 to 3 hours a day on average but many times that could easily stretch to 6 - 8 hours. I took private lessons once a week, I had music in school, jammed with friends and family, played in a community band one day a week and started to get my first gigs. Because I studied with good teachers I learned to *practice properly early on. Proper warm-up, scales, arps (with metronome), some transcribing, chord voicings, learned my modes, etc. Standard stuff ... which I'm very thankful that I learned in the beginning because now anytime I have an 'issue' with something I know how to approach it.
These days I go in phases. I 'play' a lot. Sometimes all day but that's different than actually practicing i.e., working on new things and improving technically and/or conceptually. When I don't have work (which is now, lol!) the first thing I do is take a break. I have a little repetitive stress syndrome as well as an old injury in my right arm so it's good for me to cool down for a couple/few days. Also mentally I need to get away from it sometimes. Then I'll get the bug and dive in deep for awhile. I have some things I need to and want to work on in the next few weeks. I also want to take some lessons on my new Lap Steel guitar.
As for how I organize my time ... ?
1) I work on things I need to learn for up coming work. That usually entails a lot of memorization and sometimes transcribing. Also, working out parts and sounds. *Many days my practice is exclusively dedicated to finding the right sounds for a gig.
2) When I actually practice for myself I tend to focus on learning tunes that I want to do, improvisation and then some technique. Working on an arrangement of a 'solo' guitar piece. That usually includes some re-harmonization, chord sub's and voicings. I'm obviously not much of a 'chops' player so technique is not a huge component of my practice though I definitely work on achieving the amount of technique I need to realize what I hear in my head.
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 6 2013, 04:30 PM
In my case I study many hours. Monday- Friday around 4-5 hours and in weekend not less than 10 hours. If I work for a collab, competition or I have something harder to work for my mentoring with Darek, very often forget to sleep Never, but never I don't have a day for break. I changed my life very much but I must to recover the years when I was not guitarist
My program of study it's not the same every day. I make the same exercises daily but the time for practice them it's different as needed. Alternate picking, legato, bends, raking, funk 1 hour (for my guitar teacher from my country), improvisation every day alot. I don't look at watch until to finish my practice because if I do that I realise that it's very late and next morning I must go at my normal job.
Always when I have a hard day and I'm very tired I make less exercises and I compose something. This it's my way to relax. But in my program when I say improvise I mean not to play something just to wasting time. I record what I play and must have a structure like when composing a song. It's my way to training this skill, to keep the musicality in every little phrase.
Like a conclusion, I'm not nuts because I made for me a crazy program, I just wish with all my heart to became a good guitarist and musician. When I know this thing depend only on me I'm very harsh with myself. I'm not so young and I don't have time to loose but I know what I want for me 
Posted by: metalheadlady Dec 7 2013, 12:28 AM
I unfortunately have no good time set up for practice. I do when I can, which can range from every minute I'm not in school on a given day to absolutely no time. It doesn't help that I have all the seasons of Metalocalypse aside from 1 to watch yet. 
Posted by: Doug Lane Dec 7 2013, 01:58 AM
Try picking out some of the guitar parts while you're watching it!
Posted by: metalheadlady Dec 7 2013, 02:18 AM
You are a genius.
Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 7 2013, 03:01 AM
Never, but never I don't have a day for break. I changed my life very much but I must to recover the years when I was not guitarist My program of study it's not the same every day. I make the same exercises daily but the time for practice them it's different as needed. Alternate picking, legato, bends, raking, funk 1 hour (for my guitar teacher from my country), improvisation every day alot. I don't look at watch until to finish my practice because if I do that I realise that it's very late and next morning I must go at my normal job.
Always when I have a hard day and I'm very tired I make less exercises and I compose something. This it's my way to relax. But in my program when I say improvise I mean not to play something just to wasting time. I record what I play and must have a structure like when composing a song. It's my way to training this skill, to keep the musicality in every little phrase.
Like a conclusion, I'm not nuts because I made for me a crazy program, I just wish with all my heart to became a good guitarist and musician. When I know this thing depend only on me I'm very harsh with myself. I'm not so young and I don't have time to loose but I know what I want for me
let me just say, your intuition is awesome, you need a little cleaning up with timing and bends, but intuition is something you cant really be taught, I have enjoyed your collabs so far and am looking forward to your future work
Posted by: Taka Perry Dec 7 2013, 04:15 AM
While I'm at school, my exams and assignments can take over, but being on holidays right now, what's better to do than play hours of guitar!
Posted by: Monica Gheorghevici Dec 7 2013, 08:42 AM
Thank you, I'm really glad you enjoyed my takes for collabs
Yes, you have right, I have problems and I work to cleaning timing and bends and more other stuff I think you mean about intuition for improvisation. I don't know if this intuition can be taught, because I improvise my first melodic line for my father song when I had 7 year old and nobody told me how to do that. But I know one important thing. I'm not at level with composition that I wish and if I don't train this skill, the level it will be very low. Improvisation is the relaxing part for me. I can do that all day long without feeling tired. But sometimes after I exagerate with this relaxing thing, my nose bleeding......so I guess sometimes my body tell me I'm tired
Posted by: Hajduk Dec 7 2013, 10:36 AM
As of the last few months about 4 hrs a day, have slowed down recently due to Playstation 4 and Christmas time, Bar manager so we get super busy. I find I can get super Obsessive with certain pieces, for instance I really want to be able to sweep pick extremely well and honestly I like slow sweep picking better than when its super fast but really want to be able to do it same as Legato because I love the way Joe satriani does his Legato I obsessively try to do that. Have been really focusing on strumming patterns because I feel I suck at it 
Posted by: Slavenko Erazer Dec 7 2013, 01:16 PM
half an hour per day.
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 7 2013, 03:53 PM
Never, but never I don't have a day for break. I changed my life very much but I must to recover the years when I was not guitarist My program of study it's not the same every day. I make the same exercises daily but the time for practice them it's different as needed. Alternate picking, legato, bends, raking, funk 1 hour (for my guitar teacher from my country), improvisation every day alot. I don't look at watch until to finish my practice because if I do that I realise that it's very late and next morning I must go at my normal job.
Always when I have a hard day and I'm very tired I make less exercises and I compose something. This it's my way to relax. But in my program when I say improvise I mean not to play something just to wasting time. I record what I play and must have a structure like when composing a song. It's my way to training this skill, to keep the musicality in every little phrase.
Like a conclusion, I'm not nuts because I made for me a crazy program, I just wish with all my heart to became a good guitarist and musician. When I know this thing depend only on me I'm very harsh with myself. I'm not so young and I don't have time to loose but I know what I want for me
Very nice post friend. It's very important to never forget to make music, sometimes we can become very obsessive with technique and practice and we forget the most important thing: connect with our individual soul and make music.
Posted by: Slavenko Erazer Dec 7 2013, 07:36 PM
He is Jean-Claude Van-Damme
Posted by: jstcrsn Dec 7 2013, 07:46 PM
I wake up early and try to get 2 hours before work, sometimes after work and on weekends I spend as much as my wife and 8 kids let me
Posted by: wollace03 Dec 7 2013, 08:34 PM
I have 2 to 5 hours a week in a normal week (when I am not travelling for work or doing some additional projects).... around christmas: less than that... I am happy if I find enough time for the rehearsals with the band.
or I have to use the time when my wife and kids are in bed....
but I enjoy every single minute of the time when I have a guitar in my hand...
Posted by: PosterBoy Dec 8 2013, 09:17 AM
My practice is so inconsistent in terms of frequency, duration and content. If I could just discipline myself I would turn into an awesome guitar player
Posted by: MonkeyDAthos Dec 8 2013, 10:02 AM
i do feel the same way
Posted by: Jim Seekford Dec 8 2013, 11:34 PM
Practice for me is sporadic because of business and family. I would say I binge practice. I may not play guitar for a day or two and then play for 6 hours. During those long stretches I will usually get involved in an original song or a video on this site. Sometimes I will get a project in my head and I cant get it out until I work on it. The sad part is sometimes I cant work on the ideas in my head and I will forget them. I record a lot of ideas on my phone and can draw them up later on even though I rarely do.
I know that there are certain areas of my playing that need addressed and I will try to focus on one of them and see where the night goes. I might start with a metronome and end up writing a song. Usually when I learn something new it sparks fire to something Id like to record.
Lastly I have realized that speed is an area that I have struggled and realized that I never learned many rhythm groups outside of 8th notes. Anything that I would play other than that would just fit loosely so Rhythm is main focus currently...
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 9 2013, 12:19 AM
yes, there is no secret, that's all.
Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 9 2013, 09:37 AM
Great term !!
Posted by: klasaine Dec 9 2013, 05:22 PM
I definitely binge practice. Great term indeed!
When I don't work, much of the time I just don't want to play. Especially if I'd been doing a lot. I just finished doing a run of the show 'GREASE' (shows everyday, two weeks, 6 days a week, two shows on the weekends) along with a few other original gigs around it. I'm kinda burnt right now but I do feel a 'binge' coming on. There's some stuff I want to do.
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 9 2013, 07:51 PM
does "binge" mean compulsive? 
Posted by: Todd Simpson Dec 9 2013, 07:58 PM
Quite a bit Since joining GMC as an instructor, I usually spend the most time on Friday evening and Saturday night/Sunday Morning coming up with bits/drills/licks for the Sat and Sunday 2 Hour Metal Meltdown vid chat lessons.
I try to leave a few hours on fri/sat to do something, see a show, meet up with xbox friends online, etc. But the bulk of my weekend is prepping the lessons. The bonus for me is that it forces me to constantly challenge myself creatively trying to add in new bits while repeating important "foundation" bits, and allows me hours and hours of practice time
During the week, If I'm working on a Guest Solo, I might spend each evening with the guitar working on the solo and then base my weekend lessons on that.
As Doug Lane said (wise beyond his years and possessing musical ability beyond them as well) I try to integrate practice/music in to daily life so that it's less of a separate activity and just something I do every day as part of life. My guitars are right next to me and my recording setup loads as soon as I fire up the computer so it's just waiting on on me
Todd
So the questions are:
1. How many hours a day do you practice?
2. How do you organize your time?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 9 2013, 08:15 PM
Since joining GMC as an instructor, I usually spend the most time on Friday evening and Saturday night/Sunday Morning coming up with bits/drills/licks for the Sat and Sunday 2 Hour Metal Meltdown vid chat lessons. I try to leave a few hours on fri/sat to do something, see a show, meet up with xbox friends online, etc. But the bulk of my weekend is prepping the lessons. The bonus for me is that it forces me to constantly challenge myself creatively trying to add in new bits while repeating important "foundation" bits, and allows me hours and hours of practice time
During the week, If I'm working on a Guest Solo, I might spend each evening with the guitar working on the solo and then base my weekend lessons on that.
As Doug Lane said (wise beyond his years and possessing musical ability beyond them as well) I try to integrate practice/music in to daily life so that it's less of a separate activity and just something I do every day as part of life. My guitars are right next to me and my recording setup loads as soon as I fire up the computer so it's just waiting on on me
Todd
Your lasts sentences share a very important tip for becoming a more productive musician. Having your set up always ready to start. It should take less than a minute since you say, I will record or play something until you do it.
Posted by: Fayeed Tan Dec 13 2013, 07:48 AM
On a normal day I would practice like every chance I get off work. Like on a break time, lunch break, coffee break. I would grab my guitar & just practice my ass off. Especially after work, so that's like 3 1/2 hours or 4 hours everyday.
But there are times when I feel like I'm repeating the same stuff over and over again then I just put the guitar down and do other things for a week. Then when I go back to the guitar, new ideas start coming out.
Yeah burning your fingers on the fretboard is good but sometimes it can also be the thing that will hurt you or slow your progress down. It's always good to rest every once in a while. In my humble opinion But then that's just me.
Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 13 2013, 10:18 AM
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/binge
It's like people who don't drink alcohol all week then go crazy at weekend. They're called binge drinkers. A binge is a period of doing a lot of something at once
Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Dec 13 2013, 10:35 AM
It's like people who don't drink alcohol all week then go crazy at weekend. They're called binge drinkers. A binge is a period of doing a lot of something at once
I'm a binge cake eater
Posted by: Fayeed Tan Dec 13 2013, 11:07 AM
It's like people who don't drink alcohol all week then go crazy at weekend. They're called binge drinkers. A binge is a period of doing a lot of something at once
Ben you and me will get along just fine
Posted by: Bogdan Radovic Dec 13 2013, 11:21 AM
I do this too!
What I have also noticed is that sometimes I feel like I'm making progress even when I'm not really playing the instrument. What happens is that when I'm surrounded by musicians, do a lot of recording/mixing, read theory or do any other music related stuff that it helps me learn passively. So sometimes when I make a break from playing, I'm thinking - oh man, now I'll need to get my fingers going again - but they just work when I pick up the instrument and I try exploring stuff I learned "passively" which feels really weird as I didn't actually play it on the instrument before (rather just in my head), yet it feels kinda familiar.
Posted by: Ben Higgins Dec 13 2013, 11:25 AM
and proud !
I'll be 'round yours in a few hours ok ??
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Dec 13 2013, 04:01 PM
But there are times when I feel like I'm repeating the same stuff over and over again then I just put the guitar down and do other things for a week. Then when I go back to the guitar, new ideas start coming out.
Yeah burning your fingers on the fretboard is good but sometimes it can also be the thing that will hurt you or slow your progress down. It's always good to rest every once in a while. In my humble opinion
But then that's just me.This is a very nice post mate. You are talking about creativity, quality over quantity.
It's like people who don't drink alcohol all week then go crazy at weekend. They're called binge drinkers. A binge is a period of doing a lot of something at once
hehehe clear now! Thanks mate.
What I have also noticed is that sometimes I feel like I'm making progress even when I'm not really playing the instrument. What happens is that when I'm surrounded by musicians, do a lot of recording/mixing, read theory or do any other music related stuff that it helps me learn passively. So sometimes when I make a break from playing, I'm thinking - oh man, now I'll need to get my fingers going again - but they just work when I pick up the instrument and I try exploring stuff I learned "passively" which feels really weird as I didn't actually play it on the instrument before (rather just in my head), yet it feels kinda familiar.
This is so true... real experience, connecting with other people, living the life, add to us an artist much more than 2 hours of repetitive chromatic exercises. It's very important (and difficult) to find a good balance.
Posted by: tflava Jan 1 2014, 01:04 PM
So you guys all play a lot.
I wish i could play for 4 hours a day.
I also play almost every day for 2 hours but sometimes there is a day i have no time.
If i dont have to work the i sometimes play 4 to 5 hours.
But i'm Always buissy with work and i also doing school next to my regular job. And i sport 2 times a week.
If i practice then sometimes i'm learning new songs, most of the time repeating lessons.
And sometimes i come to a friend and we listen to backing tracks and improvise over it.
But at the end i really like to play!
grtzz tim
Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 3 2014, 09:14 AM
That makes two of us
Frankly, last year has been very hectic to me and I didn't have enough brain energy to practice as productively as I wished.. There are times and times and we all know that. This year, I am really looking forward to working a lot more for myself in terms of musical development, but for that I need to slowly get into the right mindset. Martial arts have helped me a lot with regaining my focus and discipline as there have been a lot of let's say 'bad thoughts' bombarding my spiritual peace.
I'm striving for 3-4 hours of solid practice daily. Not that I didn't have them till now, but I simply didn't feel myself there - it's like I had no purpose with the guitar. Crazy and hard to believe, huh?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 3 2014, 03:10 PM
I wish i could play for 4 hours a day.
I also play almost every day for 2 hours but sometimes there is a day i have no time.
If i dont have to work the i sometimes play 4 to 5 hours.
But i'm Always buissy with work and i also doing school next to my regular job. And i sport 2 times a week.
If i practice then sometimes i'm learning new songs, most of the time repeating lessons.
And sometimes i come to a friend and we listen to backing tracks and improvise over it.
But at the end i really like to play!
grtzz tim
I think that it's ok if you practice 2 hours in a very effective and focused way. And let me say that jamming with your friend is as important as practicing. Your are on the right track mate.
Frankly, last year has been very hectic to me and I didn't have enough brain energy to practice as productively as I wished.. There are times and times and we all know that. This year, I am really looking forward to working a lot more for myself in terms of musical development, but for that I need to slowly get into the right mindset. Martial arts have helped me a lot with regaining my focus and discipline as there have been a lot of let's say 'bad thoughts' bombarding my spiritual peace.
I'm striving for 3-4 hours of solid practice daily. Not that I didn't have them till now, but I simply didn't feel myself there - it's like I had no purpose with the guitar. Crazy and hard to believe, huh?
Interesting mate! How are you going to organize your practice? What things would you like to cover?
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Jan 3 2014, 03:15 PM
When I rejoined GMC back in September I think it was, I started practicing something like 2 hours a day for a while. Now it's back to my average of something like 10 minutes a day or even less at times!
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 3 2014, 03:41 PM
Too much work?
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Jan 3 2014, 04:17 PM
Can't say it is. I'm without a job at the moment, so I have all the time in the world. I think I just need to get back in the saddle. I think I sort of lose motivation and dedication when I begin to not see any progress. But then... who would see progress with so little practice? The mind works in mysterious ways, doesn't it?
Posted by: Darius Wave Jan 3 2014, 10:32 PM
The mind works correct but we often deny the thought's it gives. If want a summary Ben...here You go:
1. You're a very talented player with huge potential
2. You don't need to much of phrasing support - You got nice feel and You are a right person to say what fit's or what doesn't
3. You need to sit down and ask Yourself a few very detailed questions. What do You want to become? If the answer is "a better player" then that's no answear. You need to focus what's exactly the problem...and search for very tiny issues instead of describing whole playing as a "need a fix".
4. Practice? Yep...nothing will happen without
5. Motivation? Choose a target and make it done...but choose the short distance - little steps, not something huge
Overall Your playing needs some precision and ability to say "I iknow exaclty what I play" whyen it comes to rhythm analysis". But as a musician You are already complete. Those are my thoughts.
Posted by: tonyk Jan 3 2014, 11:30 PM
I practise approx 4 hrs a day unless particularly long work day or surf good. Unfortunately I dont progress as quickly as Id expect for this amount of effort.
Posted by: DeGroot Jan 3 2014, 11:45 PM
I usually practice for about a half hour a day during the week. The weekend I have more time and I'll play anywhere between an hour or two. I'd like to pratice even more but things get too busy with work and family.
Posted by: Caelumamittendum Jan 4 2014, 02:37 AM
1. You're a very talented player with huge potential
2. You don't need to much of phrasing support - You got nice feel and You are a right person to say what fit's or what doesn't
3. You need to sit down and ask Yourself a few very detailed questions. What do You want to become? If the answer is "a better player" then that's no answear. You need to focus what's exactly the problem...and search for very tiny issues instead of describing whole playing as a "need a fix".
4. Practice? Yep...nothing will happen without
5. Motivation? Choose a target and make it done...but choose the short distance - little steps, not something huge
Overall Your playing needs some precision and ability to say "I iknow exaclty what I play" whyen it comes to rhythm analysis". But as a musician You are already complete. Those are my thoughts.
Woah, man! Those are the nicest words I've ever heard about my playing, and you are right that I need to take small steps and focus on specific targets. I keep thinking I should practice 20 minutes of alternate picking, then 20 minutes of sweep picking, then 20 minutes of this and that, but in the end I get nothing done. Maybe I improvise a little, but I'm not seeing the technical progress I would like to see. Being able to play faster. Not for speed itself, but my barrier is around 130-140 bpm with 16th notes at the minute, and that's not quite satisfactory.
I agree completely with the rhythm analysis. That's one of many things anyway. I always felt the rhythm would come the more you play, but of course it can be specifically practiced as well.
For now though I would like to find the focus and motivation to sit down and just maybe practice for half an hour. I'm not entirely sure what is keeping me from doing that. Any tips?
Posted by: Gabriel Leopardi Jan 4 2014, 04:15 PM
I agree completely with the rhythm analysis. That's one of many things anyway. I always felt the rhythm would come the more you play, but of course it can be specifically practiced as well.
For now though I would like to find the focus and motivation to sit down and just maybe practice for half an hour. I'm not entirely sure what is keeping me from doing that. Any tips?
And what about a real music project? Maybe planning to compose and record an EP or some singles could be a good motivation. Sometimes just practicing can make us feeling that has no sense if we don't create music. (and let me say that the feeling is right!, after all we are here because we like music, not exercises
).Posted by: Cosmin Lupu Jan 4 2014, 04:48 PM
I agree completely with the rhythm analysis. That's one of many things anyway. I always felt the rhythm would come the more you play, but of course it can be specifically practiced as well.
For now though I would like to find the focus and motivation to sit down and just maybe practice for half an hour. I'm not entirely sure what is keeping me from doing that. Any tips?
Hey Ben
Instead of thinking what's keeping you from doing something, I'd choose something I want to learn and go for it It's as Darius very well says 'choosing a short distance'. I think you are the one holding yourself down and only you know what's going on in your soul, man All we can do is take wild guesses..
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