Practice Routine
- Thread starter Matt Erickson
- Start date
Usually, I have my warm up stuff like tuning and stuff. Then I do my hour long jam of my album. Lately I’ve been adding in theory sessions due to this site, but even when you are working on a song you’re technically still working on theory, so you never really stop. Kind of the beauty of it all.
Not a professional, but I have a set schedule of what I practice that usually changes daily. For example, on Mondays I’ll do scales and/or alternate picking, Tuesday may be economy picking and/or sweep picking, and so on, and after each session of practice for the day I’ll jam to songs or try to write. If I’m focusing on something, I’ll do it multiple days in a row usually.
G
Guest
Guest
I find it depends on the role you are applying for. Ive recently just started tutoring and found this requires me to go back and relearn lots of different chords and scales in my routine. Work out every arpeggios, every inversion and various rhythms. I also find Im forever needing to brush up on rhythm and site reading. Currently avoiding technique strictly, and focusing on smaller details of basic foundations.
A full practice is literally just dividing up my time, so I spend about 15 minutes on theory, I then take about 30 minutes on a song, then 30-40 on writing, play around a little to keep it fun, but I don’t really measure time, it’s more I go until I can’t take working on that anymore, basically I get to the point that I almost burn myself out on one specific thing and so I move on to another thing. It’s probably not the way most people do it, but it works for me.
J
Jak Angelescu
Guest
Well, first off I’d like to point out that you’re asking professional musicians how does a “professional musician manage their time to practice”. A professional musician’s job IS to practice, rehearse, write, etc. Someone who makes their money solely off their musical talent makes it a job to get up and put anywhere from 5-10 hours a day in just like a regular job which obviously makes it easier for them to cover a lot more ground. But for those who don’t make their income solely off music, we have about 8-10 hours a day yanked from us and it can make covering that ground a lot harder with so much to learn in so little of time. So I’ll try to give my best advice and I do hope it helps 
….
1. You need to really sit down and ask yourself, “What am I trying to do with this guitar?” Are you wanting to find a band, gig, write songs, become well-known and make money off of it? If that’s the case you are going to have to make sacrifices in your life (such as spending too much time on tv or social media) to ensure your guitar comes first. All of this takes loads of hard work and time. Especially if you want to make money off of it. But that also depends on what kind of band/guitarist you want to be. Do you want to be the next pop punk sensation, session musician for Selena Gomez or orchestral metal virtuoso? All of these require different approaches and practice technique to the guitar.
2. If you find yourself saying, “Oh, I don’t want to do all that, I just want to learn my favorite songs, maybe write and record some things, too.” Then you already have answered your question. If you want to learn your favorite songs and write a few songs, you should make sure you dedicate enough time to that. Don’t force it. Don’t try to “organize” anything. Allow yourself to be inspired! I remember when I read an interview with Jason Becker. He said, “Some people have this strict practice schedule with everything mapped out. Some people function like that but I can’t. I just want to play, and maybe that doesn’t work for everyone. But I know that I just want to pick up the guitar feeling inspired.” That mindframe has helped me a lot. Just allow yourself to do what you’re inspired to do Maybe you start working on a scale and next thing you know you’re jamming on a lick you came up with that’s pretty badass!
3. Let’s say you DO want to know how to manage the time for it. No matter what you’re goal is, I always try to look at guitar like putting myself quite literally through school (but school I actually look forward to and I don’t call in sick every other day). Ultimately, things like practicing technique and exercises are priority because without them, you won’t know how to do what you need to do. But I think the more you apply what you learn, the quicker it’ll sink it. For example, I use to spend an hour a day FOR EACH scale I knew at the time. Next thing I knew, I was playing guitar for 6 hours straight and yet I still couldn’t improv, jam, write good songs, or figure songs out.
Synyster Gates made a great comment in an interview I watched with him. He said something along the lines of, “Jamming along to backing tracks really improved my playing a lot because it sharpened my wits.” So I think the more you apply your techniques instead of practicing them religiously over and over again, they’ll become more second nature quicker and you won’t have to spend as much time on them. Also, please realize things take time. Allow yourself to learn things, practice them and move on while still APPLYING them so that over time they become better and better. I think another interview I read with Syn is that it took him several YEARS to become comfortable with applying economy picking in his playing. And we’re talking about Synyster Gates here So don’t overwhelm yourself with thinking you have to perfect something before you can move on.
I think if I could sum all of this up, you should first ask yourself what you’re trying to accomplish with guitar first, and then it’ll be a lot easier to design your practice regimen. I hope this helps a little
….1. You need to really sit down and ask yourself, “What am I trying to do with this guitar?” Are you wanting to find a band, gig, write songs, become well-known and make money off of it? If that’s the case you are going to have to make sacrifices in your life (such as spending too much time on tv or social media) to ensure your guitar comes first. All of this takes loads of hard work and time. Especially if you want to make money off of it. But that also depends on what kind of band/guitarist you want to be. Do you want to be the next pop punk sensation, session musician for Selena Gomez or orchestral metal virtuoso? All of these require different approaches and practice technique to the guitar.
2. If you find yourself saying, “Oh, I don’t want to do all that, I just want to learn my favorite songs, maybe write and record some things, too.” Then you already have answered your question. If you want to learn your favorite songs and write a few songs, you should make sure you dedicate enough time to that. Don’t force it. Don’t try to “organize” anything. Allow yourself to be inspired! I remember when I read an interview with Jason Becker. He said, “Some people have this strict practice schedule with everything mapped out. Some people function like that but I can’t. I just want to play, and maybe that doesn’t work for everyone. But I know that I just want to pick up the guitar feeling inspired.” That mindframe has helped me a lot. Just allow yourself to do what you’re inspired to do
Maybe you start working on a scale and next thing you know you’re jamming on a lick you came up with that’s pretty badass!3. Let’s say you DO want to know how to manage the time for it. No matter what you’re goal is, I always try to look at guitar like putting myself quite literally through school (but school I actually look forward to and I don’t call in sick every other day). Ultimately, things like practicing technique and exercises are priority because without them, you won’t know how to do what you need to do. But I think the more you apply what you learn, the quicker it’ll sink it. For example, I use to spend an hour a day FOR EACH scale I knew at the time. Next thing I knew, I was playing guitar for 6 hours straight and yet I still couldn’t improv, jam, write good songs, or figure songs out.
Synyster Gates made a great comment in an interview I watched with him. He said something along the lines of, “Jamming along to backing tracks really improved my playing a lot because it sharpened my wits.” So I think the more you apply your techniques instead of practicing them religiously over and over again, they’ll become more second nature quicker and you won’t have to spend as much time on them. Also, please realize things take time. Allow yourself to learn things, practice them and move on while still APPLYING them so that over time they become better and better. I think another interview I read with Syn is that it took him several YEARS to become comfortable with applying economy picking in his playing. And we’re talking about Synyster Gates here
So don’t overwhelm yourself with thinking you have to perfect something before you can move on.I think if I could sum all of this up, you should first ask yourself what you’re trying to accomplish with guitar first, and then it’ll be a lot easier to design your practice regimen. I hope this helps a little
I find myself asking this question all the time. As I’ve got older, and now that I live on my own, I don’t have the time I used to, to play and learn. When I was younger I studied music technology at college so I could easily spend 6 hours a day Every day playing. Now I work full time and live alone I don’t have such luxuries. I find what works best for me is working one night on song writing, the next night on theory ect. But when I move on I won’t abandon last night’s work. I might spend 15 20 minutes re visiting what I did the night before so it’s not forgotten. It might be work you writing up a schedule on paper and trying to struck to that. Note down what you’ve practised, maybe even the bpm you were at. Then a week or two goes by look at that and you can tell if you are making any sort of progress.
Even if you’re short of time, like exersising you can always find 15 minutes to sit down. You could always learn a new scale in that time. Any progress is good progress.
Even if you’re short of time, like exersising you can always find 15 minutes to sit down. You could always learn a new scale in that time. Any progress is good progress.
I feel like making a practice schedule always helps with practicing. I don’t always make a practice schedule and when I do make a schedule it seems I practice more compared to when I don’t.
It does take some planning skills(like knowing exactly how much time you habe to practice) and some discipline to do everything you want(for example I’m horroble at getting up in the morning so my practice schedule tends to be f#cked at that point so i just pick the things I feel like are the most important)
It does take some planning skills(like knowing exactly how much time you habe to practice) and some discipline to do everything you want(for example I’m horroble at getting up in the morning so my practice schedule tends to be f#cked at that point so i just pick the things I feel like are the most important)
These are all great answers! Thank you all I guess for me I’m always feeling panicked because I need to learn five sons for this band, write for my own band, practice for lessons, etc etc so for me I just try to always push through it all and sort of triage (idk if I spelled that right) and prioritize what I’m working on. That’s sometimes easier said than done because sometimes something that feels like it should be a priority isn’t always one due to time and vice versa. Thanks for all the great responses! I’m going to try some of them
I guess for me I’m always feeling panicked because I need to learn five sons for this band, write for my own band, practice for lessons, etc etc so for me I just try to always push through it all and sort of triage (idk if I spelled that right) and prioritize what I’m working on. That’s sometimes easier said than done because sometimes something that feels like it should be a priority isn’t always one due to time and vice versa. Thanks for all the great responses! I’m going to try some of them
G
Guest
Guest
Just my opinion really, its good to know goals. Some people work by accurate time management where as some cannot. You know you need to learn 5 songs as well as write for your band and practice for your lessons. Ive tried the detailed and accurate time management way before and it can take the fun out of playing. The only time management rule I apply to my playing is I must play atleast an hour a day – most of the time its more but on very busy days il dedicate an hour at least. View your goals, view your time frame, work out what needs to be done first and go for it.
It might be an unpopular opinion I know, but you could also spend a long time writing up practice diaries and schedules when you could be practicing haha. In your case I would just prioritise what needs to be done the most. I dont know your situation, but you might have a lesson deadline tomorrow morning where as band practice is next Monday.
PS – Absolutely not disagreeing or trying to dispute a routine, cause originally it used to work for me, but just sharing my thoughts!
It might be an unpopular opinion I know, but you could also spend a long time writing up practice diaries and schedules when you could be practicing haha. In your case I would just prioritise what needs to be done the most. I dont know your situation, but you might have a lesson deadline tomorrow morning where as band practice is next Monday.
PS – Absolutely not disagreeing or trying to dispute a routine, cause originally it used to work for me, but just sharing my thoughts!
When I was younger, even when it was cold out, I could just jump right in and go – I’d play a few songs I knew, then sit down and learn some songs I wanted to. There wasn’t much outside help beyond that – there was no internet, no YouTube, or anything.
As I’m older now, I find that I really need to warm up – sometimes a LOT – to be ready to go.
1. Using position 4 of the Pentatonic scale at the 10th position, I alternate-pick each note 4x up and down the scale (starting at high E 12th fret), probably a dozen times, at varying speeds, first starting with a downstroke, then doing the whole thing over again starting with upstrokes. This takes about six minutes.
2. Fret hand warmup starts with a simple trilling bit on the 7th fret of the B string (sometimes I start on 11th fret of G string for “variety” – it really doesn’t matter). I do 7-8|7-8|7-8|7-8 as 8th notes with 1-2 fingers, then switch to triplets in the same metronome setting 7-8-7|8-7-8|7-8-7|8-7-8 and then 16th notes 7-8-7-8|7-8-7-8|7-8-7-8|7-8-7-8. Then I move to 7-9 with the same 1-2 fingers, before switching to 7-9 with 1-3 fingers, and so on until I’m doing 7-11 with fingers 1-4. Repeat for 3 minutes.
3. Starting with first fret on low E (or Low D, depending on your tuning), I do 1-2-4 across all strings, up then down, in strict alternate picking, then move up a fret and do 2-4-5 (notice the 1-3-4 fingering – alternate that all the way up). I do this up to the 15th or 17th position, depending on the guitar I’m playing. I have fat-ass fingers. 4 minutes or so.
4. Metalli-picking. I never worked on this when I was younger, and I have regrets. I play some strict downpicked Metallica riffs, or similar of my own, at a tempo I can barely manage. I feel the burn on this, but it warms me up. 4 minutes of that.
Still with me?
5. Some six-note sliding patterns on one string, alt picked. Slower tempo for synchronicity. 6 minutes.
6. Troy Grady’s Pop-tarts lick with ascending metronome speed. Alt-picked. 3 minutes.
By then, if I’m not warmed up, put me in a goddamn coffin made of my guitars.
As I’m older now, I find that I really need to warm up – sometimes a LOT – to be ready to go.
1. Using position 4 of the Pentatonic scale at the 10th position, I alternate-pick each note 4x up and down the scale (starting at high E 12th fret), probably a dozen times, at varying speeds, first starting with a downstroke, then doing the whole thing over again starting with upstrokes. This takes about six minutes.
2. Fret hand warmup starts with a simple trilling bit on the 7th fret of the B string (sometimes I start on 11th fret of G string for “variety” – it really doesn’t matter). I do 7-8|7-8|7-8|7-8 as 8th notes with 1-2 fingers, then switch to triplets in the same metronome setting 7-8-7|8-7-8|7-8-7|8-7-8 and then 16th notes 7-8-7-8|7-8-7-8|7-8-7-8|7-8-7-8. Then I move to 7-9 with the same 1-2 fingers, before switching to 7-9 with 1-3 fingers, and so on until I’m doing 7-11 with fingers 1-4. Repeat for 3 minutes.
3. Starting with first fret on low E (or Low D, depending on your tuning), I do 1-2-4 across all strings, up then down, in strict alternate picking, then move up a fret and do 2-4-5 (notice the 1-3-4 fingering – alternate that all the way up). I do this up to the 15th or 17th position, depending on the guitar I’m playing. I have fat-ass fingers. 4 minutes or so.
4. Metalli-picking. I never worked on this when I was younger, and I have regrets. I play some strict downpicked Metallica riffs, or similar of my own, at a tempo I can barely manage. I feel the burn on this, but it warms me up. 4 minutes of that.
Still with me?
5. Some six-note sliding patterns on one string, alt picked. Slower tempo for synchronicity. 6 minutes.
6. Troy Grady’s Pop-tarts lick with ascending metronome speed. Alt-picked. 3 minutes.
By then, if I’m not warmed up, put me in a goddamn coffin made of my guitars.
Ben, I feel you and that makes sense cuz everyone is different and actually i started keeping a diary of my practice and it has definitely motivated me more. Like “Shit i only practiced this much today? i gotta go more!” and also “holy shit i practiced this much! its a great tool indeed
Ed, I feel you with most of that except honestly the metallic-picking, and the Pop tarts licks…
Also general question to all in this forum: Why alternate pick? Economy seems just so much better and almost makes alternate picking obsolete. I tend to just pick how my hand naturally wants to go.
Ed, I feel you with most of that except honestly the metallic-picking, and the Pop tarts licks…
Also general question to all in this forum: Why alternate pick? Economy seems just so much better and almost makes alternate picking obsolete. I tend to just pick how my hand naturally wants to go.
