# How to make most of practice time.



## Pepper_Roni (May 29, 2008)

I started playing guitar back in July, and I have been practicing seriously since November. I can play seek and destroy (excluding solo) by metallica with only 1 miss hap here and there. I am dedicated to practicing an hour a day. The problem is that there is no music teacher close by, and I don't feel I am getting much out of my practicing. All I do right now is goof off trying to play a few songs and try to switch be between cords a once and a while. What can I do to make the most of my time?


----------



## Guest (Jan 26, 2009)

Back when I was way more disciplined I'd breakit down in to smaller chunks. If I had an hour it'd be:

5m - warm up, stretching exercises
10m - modes, scale runs (try to work in things like string skipping)
15m - chords, inversions, arpeggios
15m - sight reading (I'll pick a new chart from the Real Book)
10m - general wanking
5m - musical meditation (listen to something new, play blindfolded...something to connect the soul to the music)

Always with a metronome all of it. HTH!


----------



## MustEnjoyPie (Jan 28, 2009)

iaresee said:


> Back when I was way more disciplined I'd breakit down in to smaller chunks. If I had an hour it'd be:
> 
> 5m - warm up, stretching exercises
> 10m - modes, scale runs (try to work in things like string skipping)
> ...


Haha, wow I really like this, I might just use it. Thanks


----------



## DMac604 (Jul 8, 2007)

time to try out the thanks


----------



## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Always with a metronome all of it. HTH!



That is priceless info !!!! I wish someone had said that to me oh so long ago.
To play in time is VERY important !!!! and......extremely difficult to learn down the road (I know). 
Ian's list there is a great one to go by. I could only add....put more time into it if you can.

cheers
pete


----------



## kat_ (Jan 11, 2007)

Since there isn't a music teacher near you try some online lessons when you want more direction. There are a few different sites out there. Justinguitar.com is one of the more popular but there are many. That could get you doing different stuff instead of just working on tunes.


----------



## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

I find the tick-tock of a metronome really anoying. I learned by playing along with records. I like a loose/rubatto feel when I play alone, but when you get together with other players (drummers especially), playing in time is more important then having great chops. Most fellow musicians will appreciate you playing with them in time, rather than playing cool licks and being all over the place timing wise. That being said, Willie Nelson, B.B.King and Mr. Hendrix, to name a few, were criticized by fellow musicians early on for their "bad" or "ape$hit" timing. I think it's equally important to follow your instincts or your "heart" if you hear music a certain way. Willie Nelson is a fantastic guitar player, but in Nashville they wouldn't let him near a guitar. He plays abouit as far behind the beat as you can before it falls apart that's _his_ sound.

Shawn


----------



## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

What a sheltered, uninformed place the guitar world is! It's amazing how often this topic comes up, and it's another indication how little serious music education matters to the public education system and society in general.

Off soapbox. 

Good music education has virtually always dictated, all for good reasons, the practice regime that *iaresee* suggests. It allows for some variation and other requirements, but it's got the basics. If you don't like a metronome, use a drum machine, backing tracks, or a recording, but don't trust yourself too much with tempo and rhythm issues, especially if you're a beginning musician.

Add tuning the instrument, ear training exercises, theory as required.

Sometimes some self-psychology helps, ie, alternate jamming/wanking or known pieces with new stuff so that your confidence level doesn't drop. A couple of short sessions can be much better than one long one, learning fatigue being an issue for many folks.

Peace, Mooh.


----------



## Guest (Feb 12, 2009)

Rugburn said:


> I find the tick-tock of a metronome really anoying. I learned by playing along with records.


It's next to impossible to truly understand beat if you don't use a metronome. That bland, sterile tock is precise and short for reason: it helps you truly grasp what it means to play on the beat, behind the beat and ahead of the beat. It allows you to hear if your note attack and volume is perfectly consistent. If you're playing along to full drum tracks the empty space between the beats is too cluttered to make much sense of things. When it comes to practice time, time spent with a metronome is more valuable than time spent with a drum machine IMNSHO (assuming you're not just using a simple snare hit or a hi-hat hit, but rather practicing to a full kit groove). There's plenty of time outside that hour to get yer rocks off with the full backing band.

Keep your time keeper's tone short and precise is what I'm advocating here.

You hear that sound? I _love_ the woody tock of an old school metronome in the morning. It sounds like..._victory_.


----------



## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

Well what can I say. I think it depends on what your after. I hope my post wasn't taken as a "metronomes suck" thing, they just kill me. I must say though, as soon as someone implies there's only one right way to do things in music, I get suspicious. I know many players who've gone about it many different ways, and we'd be hard pressed to say which of them learned/studied using what methodology. Eventually , if they're worth their salt they all end up sounding like themselves.

Shawn :food-smiley-004:


----------



## Guest (Feb 12, 2009)

Rugburn said:


> Well what can I say. I think it depends on what your after. I hope my post wasn't taken as a "metronomes suck" thing, they just kill me. I must say though, as soon as someone implies there's only one right way to do things in music, I get suspicious. I know many players who've gone about it many different ways, and we'd be hard pressed to say which of them learned/studied using what methodology. Eventually , if they're worth their salt they all end up sounding like themselves.
> 
> Shawn :food-smiley-004:


I re-read my post and I want to apologize if that came across as an attack at you. Not at all what I had intended. You are correct: you can learn guitar any way you feel comfortable.

But I disagree that there's more than _right_ way to do it. Or that all paths to musical knowledge and proficiency with your instrument are equally great.

Certainly one can get great following the uncommon path, meandering hear (pun intended) and there, picking things up along the way. But there are long established educational routes that apply to _all_ musical instruments and the practice-with-a-metronome idiom figures heavily in all of them. Be it guitar, piano, violin, cello or the accordion -- if you go to school to learn music you will be practicing with a metronome. Why? Because it is the best way to practice. It is the best way to set your practice pace, learn tempo, beat and note placement. It is an educational aid who's value has been proven many times over for hundreds of years when it comes to learning how to play an instrument.

Sure, it's not rock an f'in roll to whip out your metronome. But your band mates don't need to know _everything_ you do in the privacy of your own bedroom.

:food-smiley-004:


----------



## Rugburn (Jan 14, 2009)

I never meant to stiir the pot. Your right, when it comes down to it. I just love it all ..musically.

sdsre


----------



## Pighawker (Feb 28, 2009)

iaresee said:


> Back when I was way more disciplined I'd breakit down in to smaller chunks. If I had an hour it'd be:
> 
> 5m - warm up, stretching exercises
> 10m - modes, scale runs (try to work in things like string skipping)
> ...


Sounds good, I'll give that a shot and I believe exercises dealing with each section can be found at ultimate-guitar, or am I mistaken?


----------



## Guest (Jan 6, 2010)

Pighawker said:


> Sounds good, I'll give that a shot and I believe exercises dealing with each section can be found at ultimate-guitar, or am I mistaken?


Maybe. I don't know that site. I got this stuff from teachers over the years. When I was taking heavy amounts of lessons the internet came into my house via 1200 bps modem and TTY terminal. Man, those were the days... :smile:


----------



## Steadfastly (Nov 14, 2008)

Pepper_Roni said:


> I started playing guitar back in July, and I have been practicing seriously since November. I can play seek and destroy (excluding solo) by metallica with only 1 miss hap here and there. I am dedicated to practicing an hour a day. The problem is that there is no music teacher close by, and I don't feel I am getting much out of my practicing. All I do right now is goof off trying to play a few songs and try to switch be between cords a once and a while. What can I do to make the most of my time?


Pepper: I have been using this for awhile now and from what I have researched it is the next best thing to a teacher. I've also shown it to my brother-in-law is is a very good player and has taken lessons for a few years now for flamenco as well. He said it was very professional and a well thought out course. What I like about it, other than just the teaching is the structure of the course and how it takes you from a beginner to a very competent player.

You can get it on eBay quite often for under $100.00. I hope this is of some help. Regards, Flip.


----------

