• From: Toronto Via Los Angeles
  • Registered: 2007-04-25
  • Posts: 57

Topic: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

I'm sure there's a few guitar players on this forum - this question really goes out to them.

I've been playing for a long time now - about 41 of my 53 years - and I've never figured out how to consistently get the most out of those times when I'm able to sit down and practice. Alot of the time, I'll just revert to playing licks and songs that I've played a thousand times before and could do in my sleep - or I'll get bored and turn the tv on - plug my guitar into my line 6 POD and just fool around going up and down the neck - just playing lots of notes without any purpose or direction.

And when my wife and young son come home - and those precious two hours to myself are over, I just feel like I've squandered a chance to really get some serious preactice in. And I don't feel like I've progressed at all.

The one bright spot right now is that I'm waiting for my Joe Bonamassa cd's to arrive from Amazon. com (after hearing him for the first time a week ago, I immediately ordered ALL of his cd's) so I'm going to enjoy playing them and trying to figure out alot of those licks over the next few months/ years.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Any problem you can't solve with a good guitar, is either, unsolvable or isn't a problem.

Mark
  • From: Salem MA
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 15

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

"Chop Builder" DVD by Frank Gambale-

When time is precious I find this to be a useful way to get in good practice.
It's not a master class or anything. It pretty much does what is says. You basically play along with excercises like a workout
video. There are even cheesey dancing girls reminiscent of ANDY Live.

There are no "lessons." No theory or technique breakdowns. You literally play along from beginning to end. But it is a nice spectrum of excersizes. It may take a little while to get the excercises down. Most of them are pretty simple. The tough part is keeping up from one excercise to another. Remembering which one comes next (It's all in a tab book). Once memorized it's a fun challenge to keep up. I have yet to play it flawlessly from beginning to end without pause. And I've been using it on and off for over 2 years.

I've been playing for 35 yrs. And I found this DVD to be a useful challenge. It didn't teach me much, but it really sharpens the chops. If you are doing it right you'll "feel the burn." Great for strength and accuracy. You'll know you've been practicing. And you will notice improvement in you playing after a few sessions.

I gig mostly on weekends a couple of times a month. My weekdays are quite full with a demanding day job. When life gets busy I try to sit with this DVD for 30-40 mis 2 or 3 times a week. It keeps me in gigable shape at all times. Even better when you can give it the full hour 2-3 times a week.  It does live up to it's title.

Good luck.

db

doren's Website

  • Registered: 2006-09-13
  • Posts: 441

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

Hi Mark,

"Budda" started this theory/technique thread about a month ago.  There are some great ideas for practicing.  Check it out.  When Connor talks about his practice routine it could be my own . . .

http://www.jbonamassa.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1778

"There is nothing to it.  You only have to hit the right notes at the right time and the instrument plays itself."---Johann Sebastian Bach
  • From: Toronto Via Los Angeles
  • Registered: 2007-04-25
  • Posts: 57

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

Doren / Fretwork:

Thanks for the suggestions.

Despite the fact that I've been playing for alot of years, I've never taken a guitar lesson so that is something I'm considering right now too.

I also have more guitar magazines than "heinz" has pickles - incluidng every issue of an English magazine called Guitar Technique, which I think is the best on the market. It provides various columns lessons every month on alot of different styles, which is something I should be doing more often.

I might check out the Gambale DVD if it's as good as you say it is.

Fretwork, the thread you pointed me too looks great. I like the idea of learning to play the same licks anywhere on the neck as well. There's a couple of other ideas there that I'm going to try out later this evening.

I'd like to try and figure out a couple of great warm up exercises as well for those times when I put the guitar down and I don't pick it up for a few days.

Thanks again guys.

Any problem you can't solve with a good guitar, is either, unsolvable or isn't a problem.

Mark
  • Jess
  • Platinum
  • Offline
  • Registered: 2006-04-21
  • Posts: 312

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

I have the same problem alot of the time. Recently i was thinking about how my favourite guitarists back in the day would have learnt. They didnt have all these instructional videos or youtube etc. the way clapton, hendrix etc learnt was by learning stuff off the records, by ear. they'd slow it down and play it over and over till they were able to work it out on the guitar. i feel that when you learn something in this way it becomes more a part of your playing than it does if you learn it from a tab.

what ive been doing when practising is using a program to slow down the tracks i want to learn and working on them one lick at a time and at a slower speed until i have learnt the whole thing. if i try to listen to something at full speed and the whole thing rather than little chunks its really easy to get overwhelmed.

-Jess
Check out my band Beth and The Black Cat Bones http://www.myspace.com/bethandtheblackcatbones
Also my own page for my guitar playing http://www.myspace.com/jesszub
  • From: South England
  • Registered: 2009-04-23
  • Posts: 154

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

Jess wrote:

I have the same problem alot of the time. Recently i was thinking about how my favourite guitarists back in the day would have learnt. They didnt have all these instructional videos or youtube etc. the way clapton, hendrix etc learnt was by learning stuff off the records, by ear. they'd slow it down and play it over and over till they were able to work it out on the guitar. i feel that when you learn something in this way it becomes more a part of your playing than it does if you learn it from a tab.

what ive been doing when practising is using a program to slow down the tracks i want to learn and working on them one lick at a time and at a slower speed until i have learnt the whole thing. if i try to listen to something at full speed and the whole thing rather than little chunks its really easy to get overwhelmed.

This is exactly the way I learn stuff too, a great program for slowing tracks down and changing their pitch is Audacity. It's totally free and open source, just be careful where you download it from.

You don't want to know how long it took me to learn Freebird...

7 Reply by phelps (edited by phelps 2011-02-05 02:30:43)

  • Registered: 2010-11-06
  • Posts: 1

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

first of all i have appreciate you guys for discussion on such a good topic Guitar Practice. you know i am very keen to learn playing guitar and for that i just surf different pages and website for having a good guideline about that. i really love to go through any article about guitar. i have gone through the whole post here and the discussion gonna help me a lot. i hope you will be sharing some more discussion and guidelines about the same topic. anyway thank you very much for the discussion.


live sports

live sports
  • From: The Netherlands
  • Registered: 2010-02-14
  • Posts: 318

Re: Guitar Practice - Suggestions..??

I usually work on my technique, trying to search out chords, where the chords come from and what I like the most to do is to search out a pentatonic scale, and try to play in every position of the guitar. Then I just work that way so I can play in every key on the whole neck. Hope that helped....

Rick

I don't charge for mistakes. - Joe Bonamassa