# What should I do with my 20 minutes?



## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

As a beginner guitarist who can play a few songs and simple blues riffs what should I do with my practice time? 

I have 3 young children so lessons are basically out of the question as I cannot commit to a specific practice time, but I do spend on average 2o min a day noodling around the fretboard. 

The problem is that I am not learning anything new, still playing the same old riffs I played in highschool. 

Any suggestions?


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

Learn as much of a song in 20 minutes as you can. Do it each time until you can play the song, then choose another song.


----------



## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

Budda said:


> Learn as much of a song in 20 minutes as you can. Do it each time until you can play the song, then choose another song.


Via tabs? Can't seem to find a legit source. Every web page I go to requires signup with some sort of payment. 

Any decent free tab library's?

Thanks btw!


----------



## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

I practice 20 minutes a day too, not because I don't have the time but If I practice for too long my muscles get stressed and I would have to stop playing for a couple of days. I find more important theory than technique so i only practice the technique that it's required for what I do and spend most of the time trying to memorize the relation between scales and chords instead. One exercise I love is playing diatonic chords using the notes of the scale, other is playing certain scale over the circle of 5th. Sometimes I want to play fast and use a free app named Metronome Beats that gradually changes the speed of the Metronome. That's it, if I remember anything else I do I will post again.


----------



## Budda (May 29, 2007)

vokey design said:


> Via tabs? Can't seem to find a legit source. Every web page I go to requires signup with some sort of payment.
> 
> Any decent free tab library's?
> 
> Thanks btw!


I try to do as much as I possibly can by ear, personally. www.ultimate-guitar.com was the tab place to check back when I was teaching.


----------



## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

amagras said:


> I practice 20 minutes a day too, not because I don't have the time but If I practice for too long my muscles get stressed and I would have to stop playing for a couple of days. I find more important theory than technique so i only practice the technique that it's required for what I do and spend most of the time trying to memorize the relation between scales and chords instead. One exercise I love is playing diatonic chords using the notes of the scale, other is playing certain scale over the circle of 5th. Sometimes I want to play fast and use a free app named Metronome Beats that gradually changes the speed of the Metronome. That's it, if I remember anything else I do I will post again.


This is basically gibberish to me lol. Thanks though.


----------



## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

Budda said:


> I try to do as much as I possibly can by ear, personally. www.ultimate-guitar.com was the tab place to check back when I was teaching.


Thanks


----------



## amagras (Apr 22, 2015)

I can explain if you want and it will be a pleasure, just make sure I'm not going to waste my time


----------



## vokey design (Oct 24, 2006)

amagras said:


> I can explain if you want and it will be a pleasure, just make sure I'm not going to waste my time


If it can be explained so that I can understand it I will use the info. Thank you very much for the reply. 

Josh.


----------



## Jamdog (Mar 9, 2016)

Have you tried youtube? 
Search "[your song] guitar lesson" and see what's in there. There's a lot of crap but once you found a good one play and rewind sections to memorize it. The good ones show tabs too, I've even seen a few that put links to backing tracks in normal and slow speed. 

I use it as a guide and then try to play by myself. 

But that's not a proven method, I've only started to play the guitar a few months ago. Your mileage may vary. (hoping to help)


----------



## GTmaker (Apr 24, 2006)

I would certainly agree about learning songs....
You'll be amazed how much theory you learn just by playing a song correctly.

Go to a Long and Mcquade store. They all have a pretty good song book selection.
Pick out one that you like and learn your songs from there.
Most books are very good for providing correct chord changes and most will show you how to play all the chords.

Whats most important right now is that you keep playing. 
Learning songs is a great way to keep you at it cause you can see the results and your friends will soon think your a rock star.

Keep on rockin
G.


----------



## Guest (May 3, 2016)

vokey design said:


> Via tabs? Can't seem to find a legit source. Every web page I go to requires signup with some sort of payment.
> 
> Any decent free tab library's?
> 
> Thanks btw!





vokey design said:


> This is basically gibberish to me lol. Thanks though.


As Jamdog says,
Go to YT and search 'how to play (song title) on guitar'.
I find this much easier than tabs.


----------



## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

I find it much easier to learn within a context. So, I learn songs. A valuable part of the learning process, to me, is figuring out when some dummy posts the wrong chord in a chord chart online.

If I only had 20 minutes I would either...
1) Learn the skeleton of a new song and then learn the finer points in the coming days' 20 minutes, or
2) Play 4 or 5 songs I already know in a small mini-set.

As far as learning sources are concerned, I simply can't tolerate tab. After about 60 seconds looking at the page it just becomes a bunch of black marks on a white page. Gobbledeygook.

I'm a more visual/auditory person.

I start with trying to find a decent chord chart, just to give me an idea of where the song is coming and going and to check for any weird altered chords or whatever that I might be unfamiliar with. The trick here is, you've gotta have enough knowledge to know when the chord chart is wrong. You don't have to know what's right, just that the one you're looking at isn't. A common thing I find are capo songs without the capo noted in the chart...effectively making the chart in a different key than the song. Personally I've found E-Chords to have a higher percentage of correct charts, although a smaller library.

Once I have the chart and I've played through a couple times while watching/listening to the song on YT, if I get stuck, then I search "insert song name here" lesson. Mostly, I use this for songs that stump me. Sure I'm playing the right chords, but it just doesn't sound right, or there's a little transition I can't figure out etc.


----------



## Guest (May 3, 2016)

JBFairthorne said:


> After about 60 seconds looking at the page it just becomes a bunch of black marks on a white page. Gobbledeygook.


----------



## JBFairthorne (Oct 11, 2014)

Awww....you even found a silly vid...with a lefty. I'm touched...in the head.


----------



## Moosehead (Jan 6, 2011)

justinguitar.com has good lessons as well. He talks a lot so there is some fast forwarding required but his lessons are pretty good and can range from beginner to int/adv.

In all honesty if you're just starting out I'd take the 20 mins and learn piano instead. Guitar players are a dime a dozen, learn how to play piano and you're set. You'll learn the theory and any tunes you learn you can then learn on guitar. Then you can teach the kids!


----------



## bw66 (Dec 17, 2009)

Moosehead said:


> In all honesty if you're just starting out I'd take the 20 mins and learn piano instead. Guitar players are a dime a dozen, learn how to play piano and you're set. You'll learn the theory and any tunes you learn you can then learn on guitar. Then you can teach the kids!


Depends on your goals...

If you want to be in a band, then yes, learns piano (or drums or bass). If you want to play around the campfire, then the guitar is it. (Maybe banjo.)


----------



## Jamdog (Mar 9, 2016)

I recently got an app that permits to playback at slower speed, so I can now use backing tracks with appropriate speed for learning up. 

So from either tabs or youtube videos, into slow backing tracks, into faster speed, it works out OK.


----------



## purpleplexi (Nov 5, 2014)

vokey design said:


> As a beginner guitarist who can play a few songs and simple blues riffs what should I do with my practice time?
> 
> I have 3 young children so lessons are basically out of the question as I cannot commit to a specific practice time, but I do spend on average 2o min a day noodling around the fretboard.
> 
> ...


I'd pick a song you like, look it up on Youtube (there are tons of lessons that cover entire songs) and try to learn on song a week or something. Lean the solo as well. Or take Skype lessons from me.


----------



## Dorian2 (Jun 9, 2015)

I think that the idea of learning a song off of you tube is both good and bad. For a couple of reasons.

Maybe a couple of things to think about when or if you go this route.....

- Make sure whoever is giving the lesson is teaching it to YOUR level....ie. beginner. I recently went on to find out how to play a more advanced song (Gallows Pole), and saw a number of different takes, tunings, and keys on how to play it. Usually comes down to your comfort level. 

- Even if you're a beginner, you may be the type to want to put your own dig into the song. By way of many reasons. Maybe you aren't at the point to play it note for note. Perhaps you prefer not to do things "their way" and wish to do it "Your way". Although as a beginner, I 'll assume you have not reached a base point for "your way" yet. That idea may be for the future.

- This is all assuming you want to spend your 20 minutes a day on song. Maybe you want to focus on technique, style, and composition. I haven't a clue TBO. It's something you have to ask yourself.

I suppose to get right to the point of your question, just make the most of the limited time you have. I know it's tough with the kids, but if you can find a half hour every day at the same time (like when everyone is in bed), that may work for you as well.

I've been playing for longer than you've been alive most likely, and I still struggle with making the most of the limited practice time that is available, and what to focus on. You'll figure out what works. The key is to do it every day without large lapses.


----------

