Quality Practice - Page 2

TBman · #16 10-19-2021, 08:03 PM

My idea of a quality practice session is to go through a couple of tunes at 75%-90% of performance speed without mistakes several times each. Nothing locks in muscle memory and builds confidence better than zero mistakes. Moving up to performance speed is much easier then because you KNOW you can play it, its just becomes a matter of tempo.

capefisherman · #17 10-20-2021, 06:04 AM

Many great answers here and I agree with almost all of them. Over the course of teaching guitar for 50 years, primarily acoustic styles, I can add one basic thing: In the end, playing any musical instrument is EXERCISE, plain and simple. To progress - as with all exercise - doing a moderate amount on a frequent basis yields much better results compared to doing a lot on an infrequent basis.

Keeping your guitar out (on a sturdy, safe stand of course) rather than in its case will inspire more practice - the old "out of sight, out of mind" adage applies!

If you have trouble carving out a substantial chunk of time, try doing relatively short sessions a couple times a day. This has worked well for a LOT of my students over the years.

Force yourself to not just automatically play the same chord sequence or riff in the first moments after you pick up your guitar. This is something the great bluegrass/newgrass guitarist David Grier said when I saw him at a local house concert recently. I have been doing this for about a month now and the results have been great! In short, you are immediately tapping into the more creative part of you "musical brain." You will be PREDICTING what will be coming out of your guitar, rather than just listening to it, and that is a vital part of learning to play regardless of a player's ability level.

Hope this helps and I wish you great success and satisfaction in your guitar journey!

Gene

Rudy4 · #18 10-20-2021, 06:39 AM

Depending on how "new" a player you are, playing to a backup recording (there are many videos on Youtube that can serve as backing tracks) or making your own using a looper.

I'm a well-seasoned player, but I get a lot of enjoyment by working on my own material or simply playing other material by using a simple looping setup.

Mr. Jelly · #19 10-20-2021, 10:28 AM

To me quality practice is focusing on what I don't know and I am trying to learn. Or doing whole songs to smooth them out. The rest is maintenance and or play and fun. When doing a quality practice don't try and learn everything at once. Learn bit by bit of things you feel you have a shot at getting down.

hatamoto · #20 10-20-2021, 09:45 PM

The end goal is playing and making music so centre your practice time around that.

If your goal is to play covers, then there are lots of great suggestions here such as slowing it down, playing in tempo etc. Once you're done with the song, I would take it further and add your own embellishments to make it your own. I honestly think playing pure covers is boring. You need to somehow add your own flair to it and have some original pieces.

Exercises are also great, but they are a means to an end. You have to find ways to incorporate those exercises into making music or applying it somehow in a real life scenario.

So for me, quality practice has to always be applicable to real life scenarios and they can be just about anything from practicing scales deliberately in time, playing covers, composing, knowing your chords and arpeggios etc.

For example, one shouldn't just learn how to transition smoothly between chords, but they should also seek to understand what's behind the harmony of those chords and why those chords are specifically chosen.

Always ask yourself, "once I learn this, then what?" and you'll find the answers for yourself.

If it's taking you out of your comfort zone, then you're on to something.

Oh, and don't forget, it's all about music so you can practice even without the guitar!

tbirdman · #21 10-21-2021, 09:08 AM

Since I've been playing 1.5 years I've learned a few things about practice.

1. Practice what you are not good at, not what you already are good at
2. Practice slow without mistakes, not fast with mistakes
3. Have practice goals
4. It's OK to play songs that you know after you practice as that will keep you enjoying the music to continue to practice.
5. Resign yourself that you will not be good at something new at first, but gradually you will get better.
6. Practice things in small increments i.e. don't try to play something over an dover again. Make it short and sweet and focus on the area where you have difficulties.