help in guitar routine schedule

[Ricardo Lopes]

Hello Everyone,

I would like to ask you for some advices and tips please.

I'm in the beginners section and I wrote a guitar routine schedule to organize myself in guitar practice but I don't know if it will be the most productive to improve.

My guitar routine schedule is:

15min major and c major scale.
15min strumming and tik tok motion.
15min chords E and Am.
15min just for fun

What do you think of the guitar routine schedule what should I improve?

In the beginners section there are seven sub sections.
How long should I practice in each section?

When did you start learning guitar what kind of guitar routine schedule did you have?

How to be more organized at the beginning of the guitar?


Thank you

 

[Lindsey]

Your schedule looks great, it's what many people recommend. My own planned schedules are structured the same but I honestly don't follow them. Instead I made a practice sheet with exercises and parts from songs with techniques I want to practice. It switches between left and right hand focus. It works for me but I'll have to take some extra minutes on the side for theory.
I've been playing for what I guess ~12 years. Maybe a few years more serious, I didn't have a schedule, practice routine or anything alike in the first years. If you don't like the routine you wrote down here you can make small changes and find something that works best for you along the way. For now it looks as organised as it can be.
You're doing great, keep going!

 

[Jacques]

Starting out i was no where near as structured as this, so i would say what you have set up for yourself so far is awesome! If you have the time i would make that just for fun time slot 30 minutes instead of 15, its so important to have fun with it along the way while learning tons of new stuff.

As far as how long you should practice in each section. I would say enough to where you fully understand the concept of each section, i like to read the "syn's tips" along with each lesson to make sure im on the same page with what is being taught in each lesson. And of course you will want to try and play along with everything comfortably too.

 

[Sayonil Mitra]

I like your schedule. I will add only 1 thing. So when you are practicing c major scale in your 1st 15 min (or any scale), don't just stick to the usual pattern of going up and down the scale. Even though you are learning a new scale, try to feel why each note is there in the scale and whats its purpose (I am not talking about music theory). These are not my words. I will link Guthrie Govan's video here.

 

[Ricardo Lopes]

Your schedule looks great, it's what many people recommend. My own planned schedules are structured the same but I honestly don't follow them. Instead I made a practice sheet with exercises and parts from songs with techniques I want to practice. It switches between left and right hand focus. It works for me but I'll have to take some extra minutes on the side for theory.
I've been playing for what I guess ~12 years. Maybe a few years more serious, I didn't have a schedule, practice routine or anything alike in the first years. If you don't like the routine you wrote down here you can make small changes and find something that works best for you along the way. For now it looks as organised as it can be.
You're doing great, keep going!

Thank you Lindsey for sharing your knowledge and thanks again for the words of motivation.

Cheers

 

[Ricardo Lopes]

Starting out i was no where near as structured as this, so i would say what you have set up for yourself so far is awesome! If you have the time i would make that just for fun time slot 30 minutes instead of 15, its so important to have fun with it along the way while learning tons of new stuff.

As far as how long you should practice in each section. I would say enough to where you fully understand the concept of each section, i like to read the "syn's tips" along with each lesson to make sure im on the same page with what is being taught in each lesson. And of course you will want to try and play along with everything comfortably too.

Thank you Jacques.

I'll see if I can put 30 min for just for fun .

Thanks again for the advices.

Cheers

 

[Ricardo Lopes]

I like your schedule. I will add only 1 thing. So when you are practicing c major scale in your 1st 15 min (or any scale), don't just stick to the usual pattern of going up and down the scale. Even though you are learning a new scale, try to feel why each note is there in the scale and whats its purpose (I am not talking about music theory). These are not my words. I will link Guthrie Govan's video here.

Thank you Sayonil Mitra, next time I practice I will do it differently.
Thanks again for the advices.

cheers

 

[Mariler]

your routine looks good to me, but as @Jacques said, I would extended the time for fun to 30 minutes at least, and read carefully syn's tips, they are really helpful. Be flexible in your routine too and if you are having fun with something go for it. Your learning will be better if you are enjoying it.

I have been playing for 2 years and a half and at the beginning I became an expert in skipping my routine , but I found out that learning songs I like and using them to learn certain techniques or concepts better for me than adjusting strictly to the lessons. If you are learning E and Am chords, you can find easy songs that use those chords and strum them along with the song and this way you'll work your ear too.

Also, when I want to learn a song I like but that is a little bit out of my reach, I find some easy tutorial explaining how to play it, how this song is built, the chords, and everything else and try to understand the parts of the song and practice along with it. And always learn full songs because at the end of the day it's much more rewarding to be able to play one song, even if it took a full month to learn it, better than knowing some scattered exercises that can be boring. At the beginning learning anything on guitar can take forever, but over time you reach your goals faster.

Always try to keep a consistent practice every day, and if you only have a few minutes focus on something in which you are more interested to work at that moment.

I don't know if what I said is gonna be helpful in your case, because all of us are different from each other and there is not only one way to learn guitar, but here is just another point of view, just in case.

Enjoy!

 

[Alicia Willis]

Okay, I’m going to be the oddball here.
I am a beginner as well, and I tried a super strict schedule to begin with and for me it didn’t work.
I have to be in the mindset to play. If I force myself to practice x amount of minutes or certain things daily I get super frustrated and it feels like a chore to me.
so, for ME, what works best is playing when I feel inspired. When I actually want to..... which typically is every day even if I’m just strumming some chords, doing one lesson on the school, doing a few minutes on some scales, or learning a little piece of a song I love etc.

 

[Ricardo Lopes]

your routine looks good to me, but as @Jacques said, I would extended the time for fun to 30 minutes at least, and read carefully syn's tips, they are really helpful. Be flexible in your routine too and if you are having fun with something go for it. Your learning will be better if you are enjoying it.

I have been playing for 2 years and a half and at the beginning I became an expert in skipping my routine , but I found out that learning songs I like and using them to learn certain techniques or concepts better for me than adjusting strictly to the lessons. If you are learning E and Am chords, you can find easy songs that use those chords and strum them along with the song and this way you'll work your ear too.

Also, when I want to learn a song I like but that is a little bit out of my reach, I find some easy tutorial explaining how to play it, how this song is built, the chords, and everything else and try to understand the parts of the song and practice along with it. And always learn full songs because at the end of the day it's much more rewarding to be able to play one song, even if it took a full month to learn it, better than knowing some scattered exercises that can be boring. At the beginning learning anything on guitar can take forever, but over time you reach your goals faster.

Always try to keep a consistent practice every day, and if you only have a few minutes focus on something in which you are more interested to work at that moment.

I don't know if what I said is gonna be helpful in your case, because all of us are different from each other and there is not only one way to learn guitar, but here is just another point of view, just in case.

Enjoy!

I know exactly what that is, skipping routines, I'm still trying to figure out my routines which will work best.

Thanks for the advices Mariler

cheers

 

[Ricardo Lopes]

Okay, I’m going to be the oddball here.
I am a beginner as well, and I tried a super strict schedule to begin with and for me it didn’t work.
I have to be in the mindset to play. If I force myself to practice x amount of minutes or certain things daily I get super frustrated and it feels like a chore to me.
so, for ME, what works best is playing when I feel inspired. When I actually want to..... which typically is every day even if I’m just strumming some chords, doing one lesson on the school, doing a few minutes on some scales, or learning a little piece of a song I love etc.

I also sometimes get frustrated with some exercises, for example at this moment I am learning the G chord, my fingers play on the other strings and it sounds bad.
When this happens, I put the guitar down and take a short break and then start practicing again.

Thank you Alicia

Cheers

 

[Ben newton]

With regards to structure and routine, don't feel so strict that you must only do set amount of practice on a certain topic.

If you find yourself frustrated with any topic or exercise, take a break from that topic but maybe use the break to try a new chord?

Keep it varied. If you stick with a routine, maybe try a routine where every practice session has some variation. This could involve playing scales in different sequences, practice scales using legato instead of picking, practice chords one day, then maybe their relative arpeggios the next.

I think everyone has a different approach, what works for some doesn't work for others, so try to vary and experiment with different techniques

 

[carlosmqr]

Okay, I’m going to be the oddball here.
I am a beginner as well, and I tried a super strict schedule to begin with and for me it didn’t work.
I have to be in the mindset to play. If I force myself to practice x amount of minutes or certain things daily I get super frustrated and it feels like a chore to me.
so, for ME, what works best is playing when I feel inspired. When I actually want to..... which typically is every day even if I’m just strumming some chords, doing one lesson on the school, doing a few minutes on some scales, or learning a little piece of a song I love etc.

Exactly the same to me!

 

[Ricardo Lopes]

With regards to structure and routine, don't feel so strict that you must only do set amount of practice on a certain topic.

If you find yourself frustrated with any topic or exercise, take a break from that topic but maybe use the break to try a new chord?

Keep it varied. If you stick with a routine, maybe try a routine where every practice session has some variation. This could involve playing scales in different sequences, practice scales using legato instead of picking, practice chords one day, then maybe their relative arpeggios the next.

I think everyone has a different approach, what works for some doesn't work for others, so try to vary and experiment with different techniques

Ben, you gave me an idea for my routine.
I will alternate the topics in the beginners section in my routine to be more varied.

Thanks Ben for the advices

Cheers