Your Guitar Practice Schedules

**joe2758** · 03-31-2016, 08:26 AM

Graham, I'm curious because I really like your playing and I think I've seen you say you began with classical guitar like I did: What was your jazz playing ability like those 25 years ago? Was it close to how you can play now? I ask because I entered that phase of family life a few years ago with very little practice time and I'm trying to gauge if there's still hope! haha

**grahambop** · 03-31-2016, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by joe2758

Graham, I'm curious because I really like your playing and I think I've seen you say you began with classical guitar like I did: What was your jazz playing ability like those 25 years ago? Was it close to how you can play now? I ask because I entered that phase of family life a few years ago with very little practice time and I'm trying to gauge if there's still hope! haha

Thanks Joe, that's a very good question. It's kind of hard to remember actually! I guess before I got married I was practising jazz guitar 2, maybe 3 hours a day for about 8 years. (Before that I had done about 10 years of classical guitar and rock guitar).

During those 8 years all I practised from a purely technical aspect were some scale and arp studies out of an old Ivor Mairants book, plus I learned my chords from the Joe Pass chord book. Most of the time I was just learning tunes and chord progressions from records, copying phrases from guys like Wes, Joe Pass, Dexter Gordon etc. I only transcribed about a dozen solos. I have always been much faster at learning stuff by ear than from books or theory.

I remember the speed and dexterity of jazz was a challenge, especially with my 'rock guitar' picking technique. But I didn't really do anything special to address it other than copying stuff and playing those arp studies, over time my technique just sort of evolved by doing it. (My picking technique is basically alternate but with quite a lot of left-hand slurs/hammer-ons, I think this evolved from listening to Wes and also trying to emulate horn players).

In terms of my playing at the end of those 8 years, I have got a couple of recordings I made then. From those I would say that my sound was ok, but my time was quite sloppy, and I was not very accurate playing over chord changes. My speed was probably not too bad, but I have never been very interested in speed for its own sake really.

Really all I have done since then is just keep playing, keep developing, and all these areas seem to have improved gradually. I would say that I have been "reasonably satisfied" with my playing for about the last 10 years. (But I would stress that I am very self-critical and I am never truly satisfied, so that is a very relative term!)

It's funny, when I started learning jazz, I did it purely for fun and because I liked the music so much. I honestly did not believe I would ever be able to play it very well, EVER! I thought it was that far beyond me.

**joe2758** · 03-31-2016, 10:01 AM

awesome post, thanks for taking the time to write that up

**mr. beaumont** · 03-31-2016, 10:26 AM

My practice schedule is a mess...I carve out time wherever I can.

I do try and take an actual lunch break once or twice a week and practice.

So a 45 minute session would be:

1. Play through a melody, by ear, slowly, expressively (got this from an Aebersold book years ago)

2. Pick a tune, play through, melody, chords, with "rhythm section in my head", improvise

3. isolate tricky section of tune, go over and over, look for all possibilities

4. Sight read something, or read down a tune and sing melodic rhythm, etc...

5. Have a sandwich.

**grahambop** · 03-31-2016, 11:18 AM

Haha, just realised the OP was talking about classical guitar (and the thread is in the CG section)!

All I can say about that is that back in the day, I used to practise the CG scales as little as I could get away with, and I just used to play the actual pieces a lot.

A few years ago I did do some regular tremolo practice, that's about the only time I've done that kind of specific technical practice for CG. (my tremolo is still not much good though!)

**grahambop** · 03-31-2016, 11:43 AM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

My practice schedule is a mess...I carve out time wherever I can.

I do try and take an actual lunch break once or twice a week and practice.

So a 45 minute session would be:

1. Play through a melody, by ear, slowly, expressively (got this from an Aebersold book years ago)

2. Pick a tune, play through, melody, chords, with "rhythm section in my head", improvise

3. isolate tricky section of tune, go over and over, look for all possibilities

4. Sight read something, or read down a tune and sing melodic rhythm, etc...

5. Have a sandwich.

I would have put number 5 first, but I guess everyone has their own method.

**yaclaus** · 04-01-2016, 07:39 AM

Hey Graham. You might be the best sounding "amateur" I've ever heard. You are really playing language! I only heard Round Midnight and it sounds like you really understand Wes for what it's worth. During the weekend I'll listen to every one of your tracks!

Practice schedules. I pracetice many hours a day, but I try never to spend much more than an hour on one topic. Often I'll jump between 3 subjects so my mind doesn't get numb from over focusing

**grahambop** · 04-01-2016, 09:28 AM

Thanks very much yaclaus!

I guess I used to spend literally hours listening to Wes, Dexter Gordon, etc. etc. so some of that language rubbed off on me. I think I must always have had good ears and picked things up quickly. As it happens I only ever learned one whole solo by Wes, it was too long to write out so I memorised it. (took me weeks!) It was 'Summertime' from Live at Jorgies, I know I got tons of Wes phrasing from that one solo.

I know when I used to have classical guitar lessons at school, I struggled with sight-reading so my teacher would play a tricky passage to show me what it should sound like. I only had to hear it once then I could virtually play it. He thought I was sight-reading it from that point, but really I was largely playing by ear and memory. I guess when it came to jazz, this ability was an advantage.

**mississippi** · 08-11-2016, 11:55 PM

Originally Posted by Moonray

Here is an approach that might be of interest.

"Interleaved practicing" .....a flash name for a very simple but potentially effective
way to practice individual aspects.
Here is a brief talk with Troy Grady, the picking guy about interleaved practice.

.....and Noa Kageyama teaches courses at Julliard on effective practice and performance skills.
He has a blog that I enjoy .....usually one post per week .....try see :

The Blog - The Bulletproof Musician

Thanks for posting it.

**Thumpalumpacus** · 08-12-2016, 02:18 AM

I play a hell of a lot, but I don't practice as much as I should.

**christianm77** · 08-12-2016, 05:11 AM

Hal Galper's argument against being too wedded to a practice schedule:

**Nate Miller** · 08-12-2016, 08:34 AM

I can tell you that once you start performing there's what you would like to practice, and then what you have to practice.

I'm accompanying a singer at a recital this weekend, and so for the last 4 or 5 weeks, that material has been priority #1.

I was asked to play one of my arrangements of the old Gregorian hymns (I played Adoro Te) a couple weeks ago as a prelude to all the Sunday Masses at our parish, so the stuff for the recital took a backseat for that weekend

I'd like to say that I start every practice with technique, but that's not true either.

The spirituals I'm accompanying on this weekend are programmed last at the recital, so I'm preparing to have to play cold.

So every day, first thing when I pick up my guitar, is to play our first number. I've found that is about the best way to simulate having to perform stone cold.

so my practice schedule is something that is driven by what am I on the hook to play next

but after this weekend, I do get a few weeks to play whatever I feel like

**Thumpalumpacus** · 08-13-2016, 05:28 AM

I'm a terribly undisciplined guitarist. I don't map out learning goals. Sometimes I think, "gosh, I need to work on this", and then I do. Other times, I put on a CD and make myself play straight through, no redos. And then other times, like tonight, I simply read something from another guitarist, get a little inspired, and allow that to color me in.

No doubt I'd be a better guitarist if I sorted my playing-time more efficiently,

**audlegend** · 12-09-2016, 09:09 AM

Originally Posted by platt

Hi Liarspoker and everyone else, a friend of mine wrote this post on practicing and balancing the various aspects of learning, including busy schedules. you can find it here and maybe it will give you some ideas: The Trifecta ? Enhance Your Practice Routine | NYEC

One of the things he points out is how he used to break down his practicing schedule to maximize it.

A schedule is a schedule. If your friend knows this rule, he should stick to it no matter what. Breaking down practicing schedule even how busy his day could be depends on him.

**Skip Ellis** · 01-02-2017, 07:20 PM

Can't stand schedules and only practice when I need to learn a new tune for a gig. I've found that, after 50+ years of playing, if I learn something for my own amusement, I can't remember it if I don't go out and play it for an audience. Same with art; I was an illustrator for the U.S. Army and went to a prestigious art school afterwards and to this day, I cannot enjoy doing art for art's sake - I have to have an 'assignment' to get anything done. I guess I'm just wired different......

**Thumpalumpacus** · 01-02-2017, 09:30 PM

I spent two hours today on my flat-top going through old originals, nice to get them under my fingers again after a few years of not playing these particular songs.