# What’s your practice routine ?



## Derek_T (10 mo ago)

… if any . Just curious to see what’s out there.


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## Guncho (Jun 16, 2015)

Play random chord sequence on guitar, loop that, maybe add another layer, solo over that. Repeat.


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## greco (Jul 15, 2007)

Timely thread! Thanks. I will be following with interest.
I just asked my guitar teacher and he suggested keeping a written log of what I have done at each practice.
I have divided the topics to practice into groups (e.g., songs, rhythm patterns, scales) and have detailed subgroups for each group (e.g, descending and ascending alternate picking with a metronome).


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## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Routine is a strong word. 

When there are no gigs in the immediate future, I work on new stuff. When there are gigs in the next week or so I work through the setlist(s) to see what I've forgotten. Usually any gaps in memory fill in by the next day.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I play along with songs. I spend extra time on the elements that aren’t up to snuff. I’m a big believer in practicing within a context.


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## Dru Edwards (9 mo ago)

Whenever I plug in my electric, the first 2 minutes consists of me playing an improve blues based pentatonic solo, the opening Master of Puppets riff and the opening Back in the Village riff (Iron Maiden). I don't consider that practice though, just playing and having fun.


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## mawmow (Nov 14, 2017)

I begin with fingers only, watching my wrist in straight posture :
Fingering from seventh to tenth fret from first string to sixth string.
(This replaced A pentatonic/Blues scales I used to do)

Then, scales C, E, F and G up and down in open position.

Then, the thumb : a Spanish classical and a Boogie in G (G-C-D)

That's it !


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## Sketchy Jeff (Jan 12, 2019)

when there's performance on the horizon it's pretty consistent with some scales, then fretting and picking and right hand exercise about 15 minutes. then play through whatever song i'm working on that day front to back or as much as I can. then work on rough spots, breaks, intro and outro carefully up to three songs per practice but best if it sticks to 2. Not more than 3 if I try more than that per practice session it glazes over there's no benefit and i forget anything i learn or the songs blend together in my head which is even worse. then i chug for fun through a couple of things I know well to decompress. then take a break do something else and come back to it later in the day maybe another two or three times. so once in the morning a couple times in the evening on a good day and throw in an extra round after work if the gig is less than a week away and during that extra round i'll try to run through the whole set start to finish and get transitions and breaks and capo/amp setting/instrument changes smoothed out

but when there's no performance on the horizon it falls pretty quickly into aimless wandering about usually on acoustic. sometimes that's good i've gotten good new ideas that way when my brain floats off somewhere else and my fingers find their own way around, so it can sometimes be creative or good arrangements of existing things can come of it but it's rarely practice as far as improved playing on anything i wish i was better at

i haven't taken lessons in years but would like to get back into it maybe once a month. it would be good for me to have somebody kick my ass some days and encourage me on others

it's been several months since i played a full set for an audience - November actually - and I've gotten really sloppy with practice and it's not fun. I need a peformance coming up or everything loses focus. I thought after public health orders lifted things would rush in and there would be music everywhere so I quit being organized about planning stuff and it turns out that other responsibilities rushed in instead and i've needed to refuse a few gigs and haven't planned other ones I was intending to do so I'm on the verge of becoming a guy who used to 
j


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## KapnKrunch (Jul 13, 2016)

Gotta have a job to do. 

Can't do exercises in a gym... gotta be working on a job. 

Can't do exercises on a guitar... gotta be working on a song.

Writing my own stuff is my top priority. I practice whatever is required to accomplish what I need in that song. And nothing more. Then it's on to the next idea.


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## FatStrat2 (Apr 7, 2021)

Routine:

I wash my fingertips w/ dishwashing liquid to get rid of the oil
Get my Jim Dunlop .88 and scrape it some on some concrete to rough it up a bit
Warm up the tubes & play chords & scales to limber up the fingers for 15
With more flexible fingers, fall upon a melody I might like, if so record it w/ drums & bass
Power down and wipe down the guitar w/ a microfiber cloth
Go online and look for another American hardtail Strat


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

I finally have to admit after submitting topics to the contrary, I dont practice.

I just fool around and see what music comes out today.


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Lately if it's electric I start riffin around the Toy Caldwell lead parts from Can't You See. I like all the honk notes and long sustain bends it that one. Then riff around on some jazz stuff and maybe then play through a few verses of the songs that do on electric.

Pretty much the same thing for acoustic; riff on some blugrass runs and work through a few songs.

Haven't played anywhere in awhile but if I was I'd be running through songs to remember the words and whatever structures, progressions etc for guitar. Also try finding new licks for songs or improve the ones I'm using.

I don't really practice so much as sit on the couch playing for hours on end since I have fuck all else to do when I come home and haven't watched television in 20 years.

The view from the couch … lol


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## 2manyGuitars (Jul 6, 2009)

End of band practice... "Let's pick some songs to have ready for next week"
Next day, someone sends a list of 6 to 8 songs.
Trip over guitar sitting in case on the floor for the next 5 days
Night before next rehearsal, spend a couple hours going over tunes before bed.
Next day, show up at rehearsal with my shit together.

Fuck, I need to practice more.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

greco said:


> I just asked my guitar teacher and he suggested keeping a written log of what I have done at each practice.
> I have divided the topics to practice into groups (e.g., songs, rhythm patterns, scales)


That's good advice. I did something similar and mapped out how much time I should spend on each for a practice session. It's a great way to make progress on all fronts evenly and stay consistent.

Now that I'm more self-guided (and self-indulgent), I tend to focus on specific things rather than a bit of everything. I'm not terribly alert at the end of the day, so it's easier for me to just pick up those few things that I'm working on.

I've been woodshedding things to play over dominant chords, so a lot of V-I stuff. (Clusters of arpeggios within the altered scale all over the neck, integrating it with scale-based lines.) Mostly memory work, getting it under my fingers.

For technique work, I'm mostly working on developing my legato playing. (I still try to integrate it with the V-I stuff. I want to be able to shift in and out seamlessly.) About once or twice a week I work on picking to keep it clean.

If I'm too tired, then I'll try to noodle with purpose, trying to integrate what I've been practicing. 

That's my focus right now, but it'll evolve depending on what I want to work on.


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## Chito (Feb 17, 2006)

Don't really practice much these days. I just try to play everyday for an hour at least to loosen up my arthritic fingers. We've been playing the same 35-40 songs. I just go through the ones where I tend to forget the progressions. Once in a while if I hear a song I like, I start figuring out how it plays and most times I bring it to my sax and singer to see what she thinks and then we present it to the other two guys.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

I think I need to put a practice routine together, I do have some progressions on my looper that I play over. Problem is I just rehash the same old shite. I need to step back and find a new starting point and build off of that. I need to take lessons, Evan if it is just online or Zoom.


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

Me too, or bloody get out and jam with someone. 

..... anyone on Vancouver Island wanna jam?? Gas could hit 4 dollars a litre and I am still down


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## Wardo (Feb 5, 2010)

Mark Brown said:


> ..... anyone on Vancouver Island wanna jam??


Go to that jam at the Surf Pub on Gabriola and tell Kootie I sent ya .. lol


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

There is a jam just down the street every sunday at the pub but it has been so long I am terrified of making a fool of myself.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Mark Brown said:


> There is a jam just down the street every sunday at the pub but it has been so long I am terrified of making a fool of myself.


Fanny Bay Inn?


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

MarkM said:


> Fanny Bay Inn?


That one too, but the crown and anchor is much closer.


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## Kerry Brown (Mar 31, 2014)

In November we started a new band. I got nominated to play bass. Played a lot of root/fifths as I was figuring things out. I watch a lot of bass covers and look at tabs. We’ve got 30 songs down tight with another ten in the hopper. We want to have 80 by the end of the summer. Most of the 30 I can play the cover well enough to play with them a bit and still sound good. All of my practice time goes into perfecting our set list and learning new songs on bass. When I play guitar I just play some of my originals or try to improvise to backing tracks in genres that are out of my comfort zone. I try to participate in a weekly improv challenge on a Strat oriented forum. Playing out of my comfort zone forces me to really think about the fret board and chord tones.

P.S. I don’t own a Strat but there are some very good players in the challenges. It’s fun to hear the many different approaches to the same track.


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## Robhotdad (Oct 27, 2016)

Mark Brown said:


> There is a jam just down the street every sunday at the pub but it has been so long I am terrified of making a fool of myself.





Mark Brown said:


> There is a jam just down the street every sunday at the pub but it has been so long I am terrified of making a fool of myself.


Go make a fool of yourself and get over it. You will never get good if you don't hang with cats with chops, if you don't experiment. I am a terrible player, I always have been. Do you know how many times people have come up to me and praised me for my playing. It's absolutely bewildering. But, I keep getting better, more confident and you my friend will too. Go play man. You'll walk and trip and then you'll run. Go play and forget the failures. You must make mistakes to grow. The stage is the best school around. Forget fear, forget shame, go play, you're going to be great.


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

Since my last band fell apart, I do not practice. I commit the worst offence in guitar playing. If I have a guitar in my hands... at all, I just noodle.


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## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

SWLABR said:


> Since my last band fell apart, I do not practice. I commit the worst offence in guitar playing. If I have a guitar in my hands... at all, I just noodle.


The first step is admitting that you have a problem…


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## SWLABR (Nov 7, 2017)

JBFairthorne said:


> The first step is admitting that you have a problem…


Ya, no denial from me.


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## guitarman2 (Aug 25, 2006)

Grab n Go said:


> That's good advice. I did something similar and mapped out how much time I should spend on each for a practice session. It's a great way to make progress on all fronts evenly and stay consistent.


Mapping and writing shit down takes too much time out of my practice sessions.


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## Grab n Go (May 1, 2013)

guitarman2 said:


> Mapping and writing shit down takes too much time out of my practice sessions.


It's not too bad if you map it out for a week or more. I did this when I was taking lessons. It helped to make sure I was covering off everything.

It's a bit like putting together a workout/training program with an end goal in mind.


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## Doug Gifford (Jun 8, 2019)




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## BobChuck (Jan 16, 2012)

Alternation between cock pushups and powerslides


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## ga20t (Jul 22, 2010)

I hit record and improvise. When that goes particularly well, I'll lay down another track or two. Sometimes it's just the looper.


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## MarkM (May 23, 2019)

Mark Brown said:


> That one too, but the crown and anchor is much closer.


I need to come back to the FBI to complete my life, that place was so much a part of my life in 80-81! I was underage and nobody cared. I could ski, drink and be free, most of my trips to Forbidden and Washington were in a VW beetle with a gas heater and each of us had a scraper?


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## Mark Brown (Jan 4, 2022)

The place has changed a lot but this area, Fanny Bay to Qualicum Bay kinda feels like the back water the island has always been. If you ever feel the need, ill be here 

Ain't got much to offer, but the door is always open and the hot tub is always clean lol

Sunday at 5 is the FBI jam, get on a plane and let's get this done!


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

I do Classical guitar as warm up. Play rhythm guitar, do string stretching exercises, 8 fingers tapping, speed picking/ legato drills, do some Blues / Funk improv things .
Now, I am trying to relearn the art of minimalism .... back to the egg, as Paul McCarney said.

I'm think about taking guitar lesson from one of those " Chicken Picking Masters " .... nothing more humbling like learning new things .


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## AJ6stringsting (Mar 12, 2006)

I do Classical guitar as warm up. Play rhythm guitar, do string stretching exercises, 8 fingers tapping, speed picking/ legato drills, do some Blues / Funk improv things .
Now, I am trying to relearn the art of minimalism .... back to the egg, as Paul McCarney said.

I'm think about taking guitar lesson from one of those " Chicken Picking Masters " .... nothing more humbling like learning new things


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