Solo guitarists: how do you organize your practice?

[TF]

I performed solo guitar for two hours last Saturday and it went very well. The positive audience response makes me want to continue and improve my solo playing.

But I find it difficult to organize my practicing and set lists for maximum progress. Some questions for the solo guitarists:

1) How many tunes do you try to keep well-practiced and current at once? 10, 20, 50, 100, or - ?

2) Assuming I have, say, two to three hours a day I can practice: should I focus on one tune for the full practice time, or go up and down a list of 20 or more tunes, working on each one for a short time? Obviously there is little need to work on tunes I know well.

3) Do you keep a journal or record of your practices, day by day? In what form: paper, computer spreadsheet, or - ?

I find these questions to be at least as difficult as music playing itself! I've played for many years but always had trouble with organization. Thanks for any replies.

[bako]

Are you playing set arrangements, improvised or somewhere in between?
Each approach will likely engender a different set of preparation strategies.

[AllanAllen]

I have a notebook where I keep track of what I practiced. I also have lists, so many lists, future exercises, tunes I know, tunes I want to know, tunes I need to learn for a gig.

If I'm running a set I'll make sure I can play 3 rounds of each tune, melody, comping then improvisation, one chorus each. If I'm crunching I'll skip the improvisation, I can always embellish the melody and it'll sound fine, honestly that probably sounds better than my improvisation at this point, but it's still good to practice it.

This way I can get through an hour set in about 15-20 minutes.

I would say I keep a nights music well practiced and current. I'm a hobbyist who gigs, I have a regular job, kids in elementary school and don't give lessons, so I just do what I can.

If I don't have a gig coming up I learn things I want to learn, and I try to learn it all by ear. And right now, it's slow, very slow, like 20 minutes to get a head, not even a hard one, but like Take the A Train. But a month ago it took me 20 minutes to get a few bars of anything.

This is all what works for me though. When is your next gig? That should dictate what and how you are practicing.

[TF]

Thanks for the replies!

I have a repertoire of basic arrangements of a few standards and some very old pop tunes. I am able to rhythmically groove on these tunes, which is a good thing. I can improvise simple chordal patterns in swing and/or reggae rhythms. Pretty chords in a toe-tapping rhythm make people smile, which is good.

The solo thing is fairly new to me, though I have a background in bar bands, wedding combos, and vocal/guitar duo. My recent gig was at an art gallery, so I was lo-volume "wallpaper", which suits me fine.

AllanAllen, thanks for the excellent suggestions re notebook entries. No gigs lined up yet, but I think there is potential.

[Liarspoker]

Sounds like you are where I am with 2 hour solo gigs. I play a bit of everything. Jazz, pop, folk, Irish, classical etc. I play in time with very little rubato. I like to see toe tapping too especially if I can busk as well as getting paid.

I haven't gigged in a year as I spend last summer setting up the MGH website and my hands were at me ( thankfully all sorted now).

I'll be back gigging in the spring so the first round of practice is playing tunes enough to be very familiar with them. Busking is good for this. Not really paid practise but sort of

Once I have the tunes under my fingers I just try to find variations.

Can't wait to get back to it especially in the places that pay well.

Ps I tried notebooks and practise diaries but all I use these days is a song list. Look out spring