All The Things You Practice Are

[whatswisdom]

Warm Up: CHROMATIC SCALE FROM LOW E TO THE HIGHEST NOTE ON FB. ENTIRE RANGE OF GUITAR (WARM UP). (Got the fingerings from Aaron Shearer's Method Vol. III.) Fast. Slow, while naming each note--#,s going up; b,s going down. Cool FB recognition drill.

Warm Up: OCTAVES: Gb major scale in 1st position range. From root up to 9th & down to the 7th. Stepwise; in thirds, etc. Fast and slow. Super-Slow-Mo: Holding each octave grip for several seconds has worked wonders for my left hand! (I think of it as "hanging out" on the grip). Use metronome to keep track...

Theory: Arps. Major 1 - 3 - 5 - 7 - 11 - 13 (All Keys all over the FB up & down) Name each note.

Theory: Randy Vincent's Drop 2 book, Chapter 1. Bebop scale in Shearing-Style Block Chords.

Tunes: Blue Bossa (application from the Drop 2 book)

What's your current routine?

[coolvinny]

I'd definitely practice the arp's in the context of a tune - in fact, that's what I do. I used to practice arp's in a vacuum, but it got me nowhere in terms of actual playing ability unless I was playing over a one or two chord vamp.

Maybe a middle ground would be to practice arp's of a 2-5-1 progression, and cycle through different keys. That would be a lot more realistic than just doing them in isolation.

[whatswisdom]

Originally Posted by coolvinny

Maybe a middle ground would be to practice arp's of a 2-5-1 progression, and cycle through different keys.

Thanks for the suggestion, CV. (Taking note.) I thought it would be interesting to have folks chime in with a description of current activity. Thread on "just want to play" got me curious. How do your practice habits change over time? Are you progressing? What's working for you? What's been cast aside? There's so much knowledge on this site. (Trying to sharpen my focus and utilize time & resources better.) Working on trying to organize a regular jam with like-minded JG cats...

[pauln]

When I play the guitar:

1] I may be relaxing, randomly exploring, hunting to discover something new, usually sounds like I'm lost and confused until I run across something interesting.

2] I may be playing for the sake of playing, usually just improvising for a few hours and loving my guitar.

3] I may be "practicing", which to me means developing technique. These are the drills and routines that most associate with "practice", then I just play some specific things that are difficult in order to test how well I can do them, improve them.

4] I may be preparing for a rehearsal or concert, in which case I will be studying particular songs, their structure, the nature of the guitar parts, especially solos and concept for solos. These techniques may include non-musical things that have to do with managing the instrument (settings and changes) for performance on stage.

5] I may be playing at rehearsal - I learn much more about a song while playing it with others than when looking at it alone. Hearing what everyone else is doing guides my insights.

6] I may be on stage - most of the best things I have actually learned have happened while playing in concert. My musical mind seems to be most "open" when I'm performing. And the presence of an audience generates a kind of deep focused energy that allows me to attempt and surprise myself with execution a bit closer to the edge.

[abracadabra]

I play a 'mode of the day' (today is mixo) in the context of the kind of base "shape" of that mode (starting on the 6th string 1st or 2nd finger), up and down several times, in thirds, in groups of three and four. and then I play the m7, Dom7, maj7, m7b5, and m7 off the natural minor within that "shape". so during a week I play all the modes and all the arps which fit into these base "shapes", and cover the whole fretboard.

then I play all the basic chords and inversions associated with that mode (so today would be dom7th chords) for 6432, 5432, 5321, and 4321 string sets. and also jam a little within that mode over a vamp (in this case based on a dom 7th chord)

most of this is to keep my fretboard knowledge up while I work on whatever part of the Jimmy Bruno course I happen to be focussing on at the time (at the moment it's b9 and #9 for me), and work that through several tunes.

it's a practice regime which is working well for me.

I should say, before anyone else does, that these "shapes" I'm referring to are from the method Jimmy Bruno teaches and I recognise that "shapes" have no basis in music. they are just a system for learning the fretboard, and I do understand how modes work.

[Nuff Said]

I prefer to practice scales, arps, intervals within a Song context.

I find this helps my improvisations when I play the songs.
Nuff

[whatswisdom]

Originally Posted by abracadabra

...most of this is to keep my fretboard knowledge up while I work on whatever part of the Jimmy Bruno course I happen to be focussing on at the time (at the moment it's b9 and #9 for me)...

Thanks for sharing your routine. I think it's very interesting to find out the actual content of a player's practice session. I suggest you work on some of (quoted above) this without your instrument. I'm getting a lot of benefit out of my "mental fretboard" at the moment. Visualizing arps on the FB, note-naming, arp/chord spelling, etc. FB is all about shapes which can be visualized easily if you practice. Great way to put your "in-between time" to work. Learning on the go...

[abracadabra]

Originally Posted by whatswisdom

Thanks for sharing your routine. I think it's very interesting to find out the actual content of a player's practice session. I suggest you work on some of (quoted above) this without your instrument. I'm getting a lot of benefit out of my "mental fretboard" at the moment. Visualizing arps on the FB, note-naming, arp/chord spelling, etc. FB is all about shapes which can be visualized easily if you practice. Great way to put your "in-between time" to work. Learning on the go...

I agree, loads of stuff! never-ending practice time.

[dkleijn]

Im trying to post some of the stuff I've practiced on my website...
Guitaristix | Daan Kleijn

there isn't much right now but ill post more in the coming weeks... perhaps it helps!