# calling all newbies, veterans welcome



## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

so, I've been in a bit of a rut lately with my practicing. 

just curious what everyone's practice routine entails.

I've just been practicing my scales and then moving onto learning covers.

Having a bit of a tough time improvising stuff, as it all sounds the same.

as well, I have no idea how to practice with a metronome and this is by far my weakest skill. any tips on using a metronome? should i set it on 80 or whatever and just play beat for beat while doing my scales? then bump it, rinse and repeat?

thanks.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## BIGDC (Aug 16, 2011)

When practicing a scale for speed and accuracy I've found a metronome to be extremely useful, used in the manner you described. My progress has been slow but steady but its hard sometimes to see any improvement. If you keep a record of your metronome BPM count you'll be able to track your speed increase over the months which encourages you to continue practicing.
I'm also just venturing into the wonderful world of arpeggio's. I posted a more detailed decription of my practice regimen here:
http://www.guitarscanada.com/theory-technique/4423-practice-regimen-9.html


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

thanks for the tips guys. I'd love more if anyone else has input.



nkjanssen said:


> How do you learn covers? Totally by ear or by using tabs? You should learn totally by ear to the extent you can. And when learning solos, pay close attention to what notes are being played over what chords. Try to figure out what the player was thinking when playing that solo. Does it seem like he was using scales that fit within the changes, or was he playing chord tones over the changes? How does he use chromatics and passing notes? If you can figure out how your favourite players _think_, then you can start to apply those concepts to your own playing. That kind of analytical approach is much more time consuming than just learning to play the song, but it's totally worth it in the long run and actually quite fun when you have little revelations along the way - "Wait! I know exactly what's going on here and why this part of the song sounds so cool!!"
> 
> Oh, and if you're not doing it already, you should play with others at your own level of skill (or slightly above, if possible) as often as you can.
> 
> ...just my take.


 I use both tab and sheet music, as I can't figure anything out by ear whatsoever, I've tried and failed miserably every time. i can however, read a tab, try it and say, no wait this tab is wrong. However, ever since learning scales, I've found playing riffs and solos a lot easier for the reason you mentioned. sometimes i quickly pick up what scale he is playing and sometimes not, but my knowledge of the scale helps me eliminate notes that shouldn't be played and I can somewhat play bits and pieces without relying on the sheet/tab.

as for playing with others, unfortunately I currently know no one in my skill level or even remotely close. mostly anyone I've talked to or know that plays, plays in a band or stopped playing after a month of trying.


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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

nkjanssen said:


> I've also ascribed to the idea that you shouldn't spend time practicing anything "unmusical". Simply running up and down scales with no musical context would be a waste of time for me. I'll freely admit that it might be a valuable exercise for someone wanting to be a "shredder" in that it can help with speed and dexterity. For most players, though, I think practice time is better spent learning which notes sound good where.
> 
> ...again, just my take.


This is actually what my guitar teacher said. ( I took a couple of months of lessons a couple months ago to help with my lead ) he said instead of running up and down the scale, warm up with it and then put on a backing track and "improvise" and find out what you feel sounds best to your playing style and what works where. this actually helped me immensely with learning the scale. but i ran into the problem where i was doign similar riffs over and over and unable to improvise new stuff.

for what it's worth I'll be back into lessons next month when my schedule settles down.


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## 4345567 (Jun 26, 2008)

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## blam (Feb 18, 2011)

I'll give it another try when I pick up a new song and see what happens. but you're absolutely right. there definitely was not as many sources for tabs/sheets as there is now.


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## BIGDC (Aug 16, 2011)

nkjanssen;Simply running up and down scales with no musical context would be a waste of time for me.
...again said:


> I agree entirely, thats just a technique excercise for left/right hand co-ordination using alterate picking. I also spend time practicing 3 or 4 in a line, playing a scale in 3rd's, 4th's, 5th's and playing over backing tracks to try and make it sound good. But while doing that specific excercise I feel a metronome is a useful tool.
> And I'm too damn old to be a shredder .... I grew up in Liverpool when the Beatles were a bar band !!


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## cheezyridr (Jun 8, 2009)

i have 2 practice routines. one for when people are doing things at home that don't allow me to concentrate as i would like, and one for when i have the house to myself. 

when people are home and need to disturb me, i practice what i know, but haven't worked on lately. i warm up with about 5 min of finger excersize, and then it's about 20 min of improv over some blues backing tracks. after that i do guitar karoke to whatever bands i haven't played lately. i don't copy or play note for note. i try to strike a balance between what i feel and what i hear. at the end i try to write a few riffs just to spend time creating, instead of just emulating.

if i have the house to myself, i do the same routine but instead of guitar karoke, i pick 2 things i want to learn, whether it's a technique or a song or whatever, and i work on those for a couple hours. i'm usually unable to play during the week because of family and work, so on the weekends, or layoff days, i try to play for 3-4 hours minimum, fri sat and sunday.

when i learn a new song i rarely use tabs. i play by ear and by feel. sometimes i get stuck and i'll use tabs for a section, until i understand what they are doing. truth is, i don't alway wish to learn an entire song. sometimes i just learn the part i like to play, and not the rest.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

My take is that playing scales helps you infuse the slight variation of sounds of the notes into your brain. Not that I play alot of them on guitar. When I got serious about trombone a couple of years ago I really found this to true. 

As far as picking up stuff by ear it takes practice .. and practice and practice ...


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## jeremy_green (Nov 10, 2010)

There are so many ways to go... All different for each individual. 
The two most important things to focus on no mater your level (in order of importance).

1. Have fun - always.
2. Use your ears to figure out LOTS of songs - at least one or two new songs every week.

You do these 2 things and all the rest will snap into place as you grow and seek it out.


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