Ah HAH! Practice Structure precisely defined

[EllaMom]

So I started a thread here not too long ago asking about the most strategic components of good lessons and effective practice sessions. I got lots of great responses. tbeltrans provided me with a great structure, which I've begun using every day.

I also ran across a webpage which captures the essence of what tbeltrans suggested to me. I like how this is laid out, and the suggested amount of time over the course of an hour to devote to each component. Not written in stone, obviously. I can and will modify according to time constrictions, and areas that need more focus. But THIS is the kind of thing I find really helpful. And no teacher I've had ever covered this so comprehensively.

Anyway, here's the link: http://www.guitarhabits.com/1-hour-e...ctice-workout/

As you can see, there are links from here to go deeper into each component.

[Pitar]

Glad you found something tangible to your sense of learning through structure.

Everyone is different, I think. Mine was a simple succession of learning how to play songs, fingerpicked, and nothing else. I suppose it was a structured progression but I never thought of it that way. It just organically happened.

[rick-slo]

Most everyone will get "better" if they keep at it. Structure, provided by outside sources and/or playing music (with some self analysis) are viable. Main thing for most people to keeping at it is motivation usually provided by keeping things fun and entertaining.

[dkstott]

Only suggestion that I'd add is;. Make sure that you spend time reinforcing the songs that you know. Sometimes we get fixated on learning new things & lose our repertoire.

[fazool]

I am against structured practices, in general so I looked at this with skepticism and I really liked it!

I loved his opening line : "If you have only one hour to play over the entire week, it is better to practice every day for 5 to 10 minutes than get it all done in one hour on a Saturday morning." which I've been a lifelong advocate for (and this tentacles out to a discussion of keeping your guitars out at all times).

I also use his strategy of "By starting your workout with practicing scales you’re opening two locks with one key. You’re working on the memorisation and dexterity of your scales and warming up at the same time. An effective time saver."


I like what he said a lot. And I was a skeptic.

[EllaMom]

Fazool, many seasoned players here seem to not always understand the value of structure and a focus on the foundational elements of guitar playing for those of us who are less seasoned. I am not adhering to the suggested structure exactly, but what I AM doing is paying more attention to the time spent on each thing I practice. Otherwise....."squirrel".....I get all distracted and spend too much time on things I do well, not enough time on things I don't, and everything in between. Structure really helps me.

[Grinning Boy]

Originally Posted by EllaMom

So I started a thread here not too long ago asking about the most strategic components of good lessons and effective practice sessions. I got lots of great responses. tbeltrans provided me with a great structure, which I've begun using every day.

I also ran across a webpage which captures the essence of what tbeltrans suggested to me. I like how this is laid out, and the suggested amount of time over the course of an hour to devote to each component. Not written in stone, obviously. I can and will modify according to time constrictions, and areas that need more focus. But THIS is the kind of thing I find really helpful. And no teacher I've had ever covered this so comprehensively.

Anyway, here's the link: http://www.guitarhabits.com/1-hour-e...ctice-workout/

As you can see, there are links from here to go deeper into each component.

I think this looks really great Carol. I noticed it's basically a 10 minute warm up with scales, and then the next 40 minutes is spent on your project, chords and theory. Essentially this is what I learned to do for myself after many years of going down alternate routes. If your personal project is learning an instrumental song, and then incorporating new chords etc, that teach you theory, this is what I like to do every day myself.

I'm not sure about the "ear training" aspect. I think you develop that automatically as you play and when you're away from the guitar. Does anyone else hear the song you're presently working on swirling in your head all day?

Anyway this looks great! Good luck with it!

[tbeltrans]

I am against practicing at all.

Tony

[EllaMom]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

I am against practicing at all.

Tony

Must be some exotic allergy you have there!

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by EllaMom

Fazool, many seasoned players here seem to not always understand the value of structure and a focus on the foundational elements of guitar playing for those of us who are less seasoned. I am not adhering to the suggested structure exactly, but what I AM doing is paying more attention to the time spent on each thing I practice. Otherwise....."squirrel".....I get all distracted and spend too much time on things I do well, not enough time on things I don't, and everything in between. Structure really helps me.

We all went through it. Personally I started at an early age on piano with formal lessons with some music theory along the way. BTW IMO the piano keyboard is a much more helpful visual aide to understanding the basics of music theory than is a fretboard. I am not that deep into music theory as beyond some of the basics I don't think for most people it is very helpful to their actually playing stuff (perhaps even a negative given there is only so much time in the day). However "Music Theory For Dummies" is a good book to read for an introduction (and a little beyond) to useable theory. The guitar music theory books I have looked at tend to go off in various tangents related specifically to the guitar and that can muddy up the understanding of the basic concepts of music theory.

Listen to a lot of music. Try to hear the basics of how each piece of music is put together. Do the same analysis of the music you do play so that it becomes more than a somewhat mysterious collection of notes. Over short order music become much more logical, and even predictable, when you do that.

Technical skills come from doing things over and over. I basically do that from playing tunes over and over until I play them accurately and cleanly.
Of course you have to pick the right tunes and challenge yourself with new material from time to time - it takes work not to become stale.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

We all went through it. Personally I started at an early age on piano with formal lessons with some music theory along the way. BTW IMO the piano keyboard is a much more helpful visual aide to understanding the basics of music theory than is a fretboard. I am not that deep into music theory as beyond some of the basics I don't think for most people it is very helpful to their actually playing stuff (perhaps even a negative given there is only so much time in the day). However "Music Theory For Dummies" is a good book to read for an introduction (and a little beyond) to useable theory. The guitar music theory books I have looked at tend to go off in various tangents related specifically to the guitar and that can muddy up the understanding of the basic concepts of music theory.

Listen to a lot of music. Try to hear the basics of how each piece of music is put together. Do the same analysis of the music you do play so that it becomes more than a somewhat mysterious collection of notes. Over short order music become much more logical, and even predictable, when you do that.

Technical skills come from doing things over and over. I basically do that from playing tunes over and over until I play them accurately and cleanly.
Of course you have to pick the right tunes and challenge yourself with new material from time to time - it takes work not to become stale.

Thanks Derek. Nice post!

Regarding the piano, I have read on several occasions that most of the well known jazz players of any instrument, also have at least a passing acquaintance with the piano. I have a CD by Stephane Greppelli (the jazz violinist) that is all solo piano, playing standards. It is called "My Other Love". In an interview in Down Beat magazine, Earl Klugh once said that he works out a lot of his stuff on piano first.

So, I got myself a piano and have been teaching myself to play it. I am not interested in classical piano, but instead cocktail stylings and that sort of thing where you build your chords under the melody.

Compared to the guitar, the mechanics of building an arrangement are easier to wrap my head around than on the guitar. that isn't to say playing piano is easier, but instead agreeing with your statement about the visual aspect of seeing the theory on the piano.

I have just started working through Jeffrey McFadden's book "Fretboard Harmony", in which he says that he hopes this book will allow guitar players to do everything on the guitar, rather than having to go to the keyboard to work things out. It will be interesting to see over time if that becomes reality for me. I just know I am really deficient in that area and could benefit from a structured study of the subject of fretboard harmony for my arranging efforts. We each have to choose our own path and then run with it. Studying a book like this might completely kill somebody else's interest in playing guitar. For me, these kinds of pursuits open new doors.

Tony

[Pitar]

Everyone has his/her respective time period of influence as a listener. This influence is the blueprint we bring to learning to play music.

Mine was a series of pieces that were all basically of a style and technique that my self-teaching was built upon. Call it familiarity.

Method.

There are people who can't get enough blues and this is a perfect example. As a genre, the music basically follows in succession a progression that varies usually to a lesser than greater extent, yet just enough to provide the riffs that make the distinctions interesting enough to stay with it. That keeps the interest and needed familiarity to easily build one's own chops upon and, especially with this genre, being able to play one is basically assurance of being able to play them all.

Repetition.

Those familiar influences everyone caters to provide the repetition that develops the hand/eye coordination while the ear, typically in subordination, eventually knows where the notes (by sound alone) can be found on the board. But, it's limited by the genre.

Changing tastes.

Obviously, experimenting through curiosity begets new chops, riffs and ultimately the melodies that take us to other music outside our comfort zones. This leads to a change in tastes or, minimally, a period of study outside those original zones before we return to them feeling fresh and reinvigorated. If experienced, it broadens the musical palette and skills.

Eclectic

Self explanatory, this is the pinnacle of playing music, or self-actualization, when it's all good. Not many people arrive at this destination, or even strive to get there at all, and it stands as the mark of a true person of music. I'm not one of them.

[Nailpicker]

Originally Posted by rick-slo

Most everyone will get "better" if they keep at it. Structure, provided by outside sources and/or playing music (with some self analysis) are viable. Main thing for most people to keeping at it is motivation usually provided by keeping things fun and entertaining.

Originally Posted by rick-slo

We all went through it. Personally I started at an early age on piano with formal lessons with some music theory along the way. BTW IMO the piano keyboard is a much more helpful visual aide to understanding the basics of music theory than is a fretboard. I am not that deep into music theory as beyond some of the basics I don't think for most people it is very helpful to their actually playing stuff (perhaps even a negative given there is only so much time in the day). However "Music Theory For Dummies" is a good book to read for an introduction (and a little beyond) to useable theory. The guitar music theory books I have looked at tend to go off in various tangents related specifically to the guitar and that can muddy up the understanding of the basic concepts of music theory.

Listen to a lot of music. Try to hear the basics of how each piece of music is put together. Do the same analysis of the music you do play so that it becomes more than a somewhat mysterious collection of notes. Over short order music become much more logical, and even predictable, when you do that.

Technical skills come from doing things over and over. I basically do that from playing tunes over and over until I play them accurately and cleanly.
Of course you have to pick the right tunes and challenge yourself with new material from time to time - it takes work not to become stale.

Yet again, I think r-s is right on in his comments. Only thing I differ in is that I never learned piano. My loss. I started right out at an early age with guitar. He's nonetheless a better guitar player than I am.

I'll add all three of my long term guitar teachers over the years seemed to have focused more on learning structure than practice structure, if that makes sense.

[EllaMom]

Thanks, Nailpicker and R-S. R-S, you said to listen to the music to see how it's put together. OK...and tell me more about that. I understand the sentence, but not the application. If that makes sense. When I am listening to music most of the time, I'm not actively "dissecting" it (my term) and am wondering what it might mean to listen to music to see how it's put together. What does one listen for, exactly?

I know I've been trying to pay more attention...wondering paying attention to harmonics, palm mutes, etc. What else?

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by EllaMom

Thanks, Nailpicker and R-S. R-S, you said to listen to the music to see how it's put together. OK...and tell me more about that. I understand the sentence, but not the application. If that makes sense. When I am listening to music most of the time, I'm not actively "dissecting" it (my term) and am wondering what it might mean to listen to music to see how it's put together. What does one listen for, exactly?

I know I've been trying to pay more attention...wondering paying attention to harmonics, palm mutes, etc. What else?

All of it: Key, chord progressions, intro (if any), short and long melodic phrasing, motifs, main melodic notes versus embellishments, rhythm, accents, tension and release, harmonizing, repetition and variation used with repetitions, additional sections (e.g. A-B-A-C-A). Most fingerstyle tunes and pop music are usually pretty straight forward. Listen to get the gist of some or all of the above and then work on the technical mechanics of playing it - usually measure by measure, or more often phrase by phrase.