What's the most hours per day you can practice for sustained periods?

[TBman]

I play 1 to 2 hours a day and right now I'm cycling through about 6 tunes, all instrumentals. Some I have previously recorded, others not. I used to practice 1 tune to get it to a decent point so I could record and share it here. That was my routine. Tunes were like crossword puzzles to me, something to be finished and then move on to the next one.

Now I want to get a few tunes stuck in my memory and be able to have tunes that I'm comfortable playing all the time, not just for the microphone and then forget. So I'm not constantly changing tunings, I'm in CGDGAD and I'll stay there for a while. I have a DADGAD tune that I want to finish and also relearn a few others, but I want to get further along with the current 6 tunes.

I think at some point I will have different tunings assigned to different days. DADGAD on Mon, Wed, Fri and Sundays and CGDGAD and Orkney on Tue, Thur, Sat and Sun (more time on Sundays to play )

[815C]

Many moons ago when I was in college I did NCAA swimming. We'd workout like crazy Mon - Fri (swimming 6 - 8 miles a day with intense 2-a-day workouts). We'd lift weights on Mon, Wed, and Fri, as the body needed to recover from weight lifting and doing it on consecutive days was counter productive. On Saturdays we'd only have 1 workout and on Sundays we'd rest. Before a swim meet we would "taper" for a day or two which meant we'd roll off the distances we did in our workouts. At the end of the season we'd do a slow taper for a couple weeks to try to hit out fastest times for the NCAA finals.

I've often wondered if these same principles could be applied to guitar playing. I'm talking about playing that requires pretty advanced technique which takes years to develop and many hours a day to maintain (e.g. fast bluegrass flatpicking, gypsy jazz, difficult fingerstyle/classical playing, etc.).

For instance, for a player like me who does both flatpicking and fingerstyle, would it be beneficial to alternate days (Mon = flatpicking, Tues = Fingerstyle, Wed = Flatpicking, etc.) to allow the muscles used for each technique to recover and build?

Tommy Emmanual, who is one of the best guitarists alive today practices almost every waking hour, and while his approach may be strategically thought out and planned, it reminds me of the intense workouts I did in college swimming back in the 1970's. These days swimmers are faster than we were, but work out smarter vs. harder. They go less distance than we did back in the day, but have a smarter, better thought out approach than just the shear massive effort we did 45 years ago. Today it is quality vs. quantity. Would that same principle hold true for guitar practicing? It seems that it would.

I think this would be a great Ph.D. dissertation topic for someone studying/researching physical training. "The Optimal Practice Approach For Musicians Playing Stringed Instruments".

[EZYPIKINS]

Once or twice a week. I like to treat my practice like a gig. I'll do sets. About an hour each. Each song one time. Start to finish. Make a mistake, improvise and get through it. You wouldn't stop a song in the middle of a gig would you? Doing two or three sets. Keeps you fresh on all your songs. Keeps you from making stupid mistakes when it counts.

[steveh]

Around an hour, sustained, every day is all I could tolerate. Maybe not even that.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to practice up to 8 hours a day if I wished: I tried real hard but just couldn't do it. Rapidly lost interest, mind wandering etc.
That's why I will never be a professional muscian - different mindset and application I'm afraid.

In contrast, my own occupation - concentrating 8 hours a day and far more; no problem.

Cheers,
Steve

[OKCtodd71]

Originally Posted by 815C

I've been putting in 8-10 hours a day most days since being laid off 5 months ago.

I run thru about 40 tunes and a bunch of scales/arpeggios and repeat as I can during the day.

I have to really focus on proper technique and taking breaks as my 61 year old hands can't take the abuse my hands could handle when I was a young man playing all day & night.

DUDE! Sorry about your job, but You GO Man!!!
I have read that Segovia practiced in only 45 minute segments, 8 segments per day. Also read that at a master class he questioned a student on how many hours a day he was practicing. When the student replied (something along the lines of) 10 to 12 hours, Segovia replied "you're either a liar or a monkey". His implication being that no one could focus at the level necessary for 12 hours a day. I certainly find that when I get less than sufficient sleep that I will come to a point in practicing where I catch myself stuck on one thing and not making any kind of progress, sometimes for an embarrassing amount of time. I put it away when I hit that point.

[agfsteve]

Originally Posted by 815C

I've been putting in 8-10 hours a day most days since being laid off 5 months ago.

I run thru about 40 tunes and a bunch of scales/arpeggios and repeat as I can during the day.

I have to really focus on proper technique and taking breaks as my 61 year old hands can't take the abuse my hands could handle when I was a young man playing all day & night.

I was laid off nine months ago, but since then I've been playing less than when I worked full-time, due to being miserable about not having an income.

[OKCtodd71]

Pat Metheny:
"Because for as much as I can stand here and claim to be a successful player, with Grammy awards and winning polls and now honorary degrees and all that stuff; one very fundamental thing has not changed, and I realized that it will never change, and that is this—that the main thing in my life, even as I stand here right now, right this second, is that I really need to go home and practice".

[donlyn]

What's the most hours per day you can practice for sustained periods?

I find an hour is about ideal for practice/playing time. Given the vagaries of life, sometimes I steal a few minutes here or there when I don't have an hour. If I'm on a roll, then I don't look at a clock and am surprised how long I've been playing (2-3 hours).

Originally Posted by EZYPIKINS

Once or twice a week. I like to treat my practice like a gig. I'll do sets. About an hour each. Each song one time. Start to finish. Make a mistake, improvise and get through it. You wouldn't stop a song in the middle of a gig would you? Doing two or three sets. Keeps you fresh on all your songs. Keeps you from making stupid mistakes when it counts.

I also do this, as I find that practicing focus is a key issue. And I like to play different songs for fun. So doing them all the way through as a set is a good form of practice. Mostly done without a specific set list though. And it helps to practice some patter too.

Don
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[EZYPIKINS]

Patter? I use my acoustics like a kick and snare drum. Gotte beat on em

[mawmow]

Two hours, in a single session or for a total of two sessions.
It is a hobby for me.
My teacher used to practise seven hours a day...

[donlyn]

Originally Posted by EZYPIKINS

Patter? I use my acoustics like a kick and snare drum. Gotte beat on em

'Patter' is a little introduction to a song, maybe a tale or two, or a humorous story, maybe relating to a song or experience. You can practice to a pretend audience or better yet, on your unsuspecting friends. If you get a positive reaction from them, you know you are doing OK. Point is, if you practice it, it will be part of the song. Otherwise it could be awkward if messed up or forgotten halfway through. Learn it, it will come out natural. Also helps to connect to the audience.

It is not beating or tapping on your guitar box. That could be a misdemeanor in some states.

Don
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[6L6]

I’ve played nonstop for 4hrs+ at solo gigs in the past with no problem.

I currently have 126 songs in my quiver I can play off the top of my head.