Too many techniques to practice: how to stay on top of it all

[funkapus]

I'm (I think) an advanced beginner. I'm taking lessons. I've done a workshop or two. And from that, I have a ton of different things to work on:

• finger dexterity exercises;
• scales: diatonic major/minor, major and minor pentatonic;
• working on doing a better job of making, and cleaning changing into/out of, barre chords;
• improving my ability to change into/out of B7, Cadd9, four-fingered G, and other four-finger chords I'm weak with now;
• working on learning the locations of notes on the fretboard (I know where all the Es are!);
• flatpicked blues progressions;
• developing an unconscious facility with alternating-thumb bass for fingerstyle;
• learning some bass runs;
• playing some songs/tunes enough to learn to play them well (I tend to drop songs as soon as I've more-or-less figured them out, so I don't have much of a repertoire).

So, I've got lots to work on; and I've got two problems with doing so.

1. I've got more stuff to practice than I've got practice time. If I hit each of the things that I've got to work on for 5-10 minutes each, that's hours of practicing each night; and I desperately wish I had that kind of free time.

2. I feel like I desperately need to "retire" some of the things I'm working on -- I need to get good enough at them that I won't need to practice them anymore. Intermediate and advanced players don't practice pentatonic scales each night, do they? There's stuff I want to work on but I feel like I can't because I've already got too many things to work on given my practice time; but that sucks.

How do/did you deal with this?

[Paikon]

you don't have a teacher do you?

[funkapus]

Originally Posted by Paikon

you don't have a teacher do you?

I do; but what we do seems disorganized to me. I go in and show him what I've been doing; we work on something I'm struggling with, or he gives me something new.

[walternewton]

Some dedicated practice of fundamentals is fine and maybe necessary at times, but since you admit that after spending so much effort working on all this "stuff" you "don't have much of a repertoire" I'd suggest you give a lot more focus to learning SONGS/TUNES - they will naturally provide scale/chord/technique practice (since, after all, that's what they're composed of - and of course nobody is interested in listening to scales/chords/techniques in a non-song context!)

[Bruze]

Originally Posted by walternewton

Some dedicated practice of fundamentals is fine and maybe necessary at times, but since you admit that after spending so much effort working on all this "stuff" you "don't have much of a repertoire" I'd suggest you give a lot more focus to learning SONGS/TUNES - they will naturally provide scale/chord/technique practice (since, after all, that's what they're composed of - and of course nobody is interested in listening to scales/chords/techniques in a non-song context!)

Very true, although I've never really thought about it much -- now I am! I rarely practice drills (never, really), but I'm always messing around trying to apply new techniques to old, worn, songs that I've been playing for decades. The effect, it would seem to me, would be to (hopefully) make ALL my music sound better. And it's FUN! I couldn't imagine sitting around playing scales, licks, runs, etc. They only become fun when I apply them to actual songs.

A new GF, who had never heard me play, came over last week. She asked me to play so I did. I played several variations of "Faded Love" and she remarked, "how long did it take to me learn THAT song?"

I thought about it for a moment; I've never heard anyone say that before.

I said something like "I don't know, it not so much the song, it's the technique that I learned."

[rick-slo]

Most all of what appear to be separate elements fall in place and make sense in time. Then you can start enjoying it more.

[JohnW63]

That list is a LOT to cover. It could be workable, if you were a student in a music school, but rather deep if you have a real life.

The thing I have found is practicing techniques for their sake is really boring. Doing the same thing because it lets you PLAY a song or a new style of music is much more entertaining. It's a goal oriented way rather than a "master these skills" approach.

[Paikon]

this thread is like a student of elementary school who doesn't know the alphabet says: "when will i become a nuclear scientist"?
who asks that?
well, the student who doesn't want to learn the alphabet!
its a theoretical thread with no use in the real world

[815C]

The end goal is to play songs.

Here's how I approach trying to cover several areas with my practice time.

In the mornings before work, I get about an hour in working on fingerstyle arrangements of songs.

During my lunch hour, you'll find me in an unused stairwell in a parking garage with an unplugged solid body electric practicing improvisation. I'll work on songs my band is playing and go over ideas for soloing over the more challenging tunes.

At night when things are winding down in the house, I get about an hour in working on acoustic flatpicking.

On the weekends when if I'm home alone and choreless, I go thru this mega scale/mode/arpeggio exercise that takes about an hour.

In all the scenarios above, I'm focusing on technique - good light relaxed fingering on the fretting hand, strong but relaxed picking hand, timing (usually have a metronome going), etc.

[HHP]

Are you learning to play guitar or learning to play music?

[tbeltrans]

I can definitely relate to what the OP is taking about. For some reason the advice that David Sudnow gave in his self-teaching piano course years ago (and still available today) was difficult for me to accept at the time. His advice was to learn everything in the context of the song. In other words, learn songs and if you need a technique or bit of theory knowledge to be able to play that song, then learn what you need to know at the time you need to know it. Half the battle is knowing what questions to ask. In my personal experience, it seems natural to want to ask about everything, and then spend all my time practicing stuff that will very eventually allow me to play a song. If there ever was a more difficult way to stay motivated, I don't know what that would be.

I have worked with Robert Conti's chord melody materials, and his approach is similar. Rather than being anti-theory, he says to learn the tunes and then, in that context, learn to understand what is going on. His "The Formula' really explains what is going on. His approach is "no scales, no modes", and his focus is on playing music as the vehicle to learning to play jazz. He and Sudnow have (had in Sudnow's case) a lot in common in that regard.

Several months ago, I saw a post in the chord melody forum on the jazz guitar site in which a guy who was in his 60s talked about how playing through the Barry Galbraith arrangements was a form of "therapy" for his arthritic hands. He went on to talk about how much joy he derived from working through these a tune at a time, a bit of it every day. I started doing that and, though I don't have the arthritus, I am really enjoying the experience of learning these tunes. Conti's "The Formula" provides me a means for being able to understand what Galbraith is doing, so that I can begin to apply his harmonic ideas to my own playing. In other words, instead of going completely the other direction, I am learning tunes AND deriving practical concepts from real-life application for my own arranging efforts.

Another thing that Sudnow talked about is how, in the context of learning entire tunes, we are learning vocabulary, phrasing, and a host of techniques as our hands "learn the shape" of our instrument in the context of playing the music we want to play.

I am not saying that the OP should play the Galbraith chord melody arrangements, but that he might consider playing the songs that he wants to learn and the techniques in the context of improving his playing of those tunes. Each tune becomes easier, and more interesting as his "toolbox" for presenting these tunes grows.

One final comment - a good "cure" for GAS is to be fruitfully engaged with the instrument(s) we have on a daily basis, and playing songs is an excellent way to do that.

Tony

[edman]

You are approaching playing guitar like cramming for an exam.

You are going to burn yourself out long before you are able to play like you want to.

My suggestion is to take a break from lessons - you already know your weaknesses - and focus on learning songs.

[JanVigne]

"So, I've got lots to work on; and I've got two problems with doing so.

1. I've got more stuff to practice than I've got practice time. If I hit each of the things that I've got to work on for 5-10 minutes each, that's hours of practicing each night; and I desperately wish I had that kind of free time.

2. I feel like I desperately need to "retire" some of the things I'm working on -- I need to get good enough at them that I won't need to practice them anymore. Intermediate and advanced players don't practice pentatonic scales each night, do they? There's stuff I want to work on but I feel like I can't because I've already got too many things to work on given my practice time; but that sucks.

How do/did you deal with this?"




Advanced players and professionals practice what they feel is needed to perform well. As I read it, Clapton plays a few hundred times a year for several hours each performance yet before each performance he has a warm up period in which he checks his string bends. Hitting each bend at just the right point is to Clapton just as important as another player running through a few scales. If your technique isn't up to snuff, then your playing won't be either.

So, why are you running through pentatonics each practice session? Because they're not in your muscle memory yet? Or, not in your musical memory? Once you have mastered a skill set you don't have to repeat the same drills every time you pick up the instrument. But once you have really, really mastered the skill set, you should be wanting to progress to where you are using those skills in a more advanced way. I'd say there's a large difference between a student who doesn't want to learn the basic alphabet and a student who doesn't understand how to make those individual letters form a cohesive sentence.

And that's what music is about, making a language you can speak using the individual notes, chords and scales you have learned and drilled and practiced until they become second nature to you. Backwards, forwards and stopping each fourth fret to play something in between. You have to have the desire to want to learn how that happens and you have to have someone who can provide some direction to your learning. From what you've described as your "lesson plan" there seems to be a disconnect in your case. Maybe your instructor isn't able to latch onto your specific need for how to learn. Or maybe you're not able to fit together the pieces of information you've been given to form a cohesive sentence because you see another goal that is not what your instructor sees ahead. If what you say is true and the lesson plan seems disorganized, then I would suggest you simply sit down and say to the teacher how disorganized you feel this has been. You are paying for these lessons, no? Even if you're not, you deserve not to waste the instructor's time or your own. If you're not getting out what you expected when you went in, then you are like the patient who keeps going to the same doctor but never feels better. The problem is likely to be either in your understanding of what it takes to become a simply adequate guitarist or in your teacher's ability to understand your needs and to provide an education which benefits you. Possibly, this could mean nothing more than talking to another student who has gone through the same process you're experiencing and discussing with them just how they reached the level of skills they presently have.

However, if you truly have the desire to play and you are honestly committed to the effort, you have to have the motivation to begin putting those individual notes and scales into use. That doesn't mean just learning the tab for a favorite song. You know, if you've learned the alphabet but you don't use the word "dissemblance" often, you'll forget how to spell the word correctly. So the issue becomes, do you know the correct spelling of the word or do you know how to find the correct spelling of the word or do you not know how to even use the word in the context of a cohesive sentence? If you aren't finding ways to get the rules in your memory, then you'll never be able to make good use of the word in a sentence. The same applies to your playing, rules make techniques and combined techniques eventually make a language. If you spoke in a slow monotone, no one would understand whether you're making a statement or asking a question. It would be impossible to tell whether you are excited or drawing your last. In short, no one would care what you have to say. You have to have the basics under your fingers before you can make use of them. If you don't understand how to make a good marinara, you'll never create a decent Italian style meal. If you don't understand how to use a router, you'll never build a chair anyone wants to sit in. Techniques are there for a reason.

If you're frustrated that your lessons aren't getting you there, say so to the person who is responsible for providing you the proper understanding of the techniques and how they fit together to make sentences. You're paying for these lessons, right? Don't be intimidated by your instructor. Explain what you want and understand what the instructor has to give. And, if those two don't jibe, it's not like anyone never switched instructors before.

[CaliforniaJed]

Originally Posted by tbeltrans

...a good "cure" for GAS is to be fruitfully engaged with the instrument(s) we have on a daily basis, and playing songs is an excellent way to do that.

Tony, you speak the truth! Hello, all. First post here. The question Funkapus poses in this thread is very familiar to me. I have been a (bad) guitar hack for years, but I am now trying in earnest to learn and improve. His list of things to practice is very similar to mine, and just last night I came to the conclusion that, yes, I have a lot to learn about music, but I really need to learn more songs, too. I am glad to hear others suggest that learning songs as a way to learn music is okay. THANKS!

[JanVigne]

"2009 Baden A-Style Spruce/Maple
Gwaltney OOO Lutz Spruce/Tasmanian Blackwood
2011 Fender Am Std Telecaster Ash/Maple
2009 Rickenbacker 330/12"



Why so many guitars? Not criticizing, we are all guilty of not needing another guitar. And I went to the guitar show last week and bought another little Stella to fool around with. But as a beginner, what were you thinking when you picked up your fourth instrument? I sold high end audio gear for decades and I met many "audiophiles" who were far more desirous of the thrill of a new sound than they were of the music they coud extract from the new amp or speaker. They were looking for a new fix is how I saw it because they had become addicted not to the music but to the gear.

So you've got a lot to learn and not much time to learn it from what you say, but what do the various instruments have to do with your end goals? What are you searching for with each new purchase? Have you given this any thought?


Oh, and your local guitar shop says to thank you.