The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Hey all I think I see the value of taking breaks during practicing. I read its not so much the practicing that improves one's playing but rather the breaks in between them. The brain apparantedly runs through the practice session during breaks much more quickly and more times than actually physically working through it. So this leads me to wonder what is the ideal practice to break ratio? Unfortunatedly theres not much info on the web regarding that. There is the pomodoro technique and the 52/17 rule but not sure if those are scientifically backed. There is also the physicality of the hands, supposedly every 20 minutes of working through the fingers the lubricating oil (that facilitates finger movement) inside the wrists runs out and causes problems in the long run if one persists on without stopping (such as tendonitis and symptoms of carpal tunnel). Though in 5 minutes of break time the sheath tunnel inside the wrist gets all of the oil back and so one can have another 20 minute practice session.

    So yeah.. looks like I'm going for the 20/5 way when practicing. Better to be safe than sorry. What has worked for you guys? Breaks? No breaks? 24/7 practice? 1 minute practice?

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  3. #2

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    When I am getting serious I go about 45 mins and then 15 or 20 minute break. 20 minutes then a break seems more oriented towards someone just getting started where hand strength, and chops, aren't going to take up the same amount of time. At 20 minutes I'm just getting started.

  4. #3

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    Forgot to mention there is also the performance aspect. I don't think 20/5 is going to fly at most gigging places, more like 45/10 or something.

  5. #4

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    Cognitively, 40/20 helps us retain information better.
    I'm not sure about physically.

  6. #5

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    I usually set a number of "tasks" (a scale, a tune, chords, etc.) before each practice session, take one task at the time and take breaks in between. I usually won't stop until I'm done with one assignment... no break until I have thoroughly absorbed something I'd set out to learn. That said, I do take breaks (usually 10 to 20 minutes) and do a little muscle stretching (or, anyway, take my attention away from the practice agenda). Any hint of pain in my hands/wrists, at any point during practice, is a signal for me to immediately interrupt the session, no matter what.

  7. #6

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    Quote Originally Posted by jazznylon
    Forgot to mention there is also the performance aspect. I don't think 20/5 is going to fly at most gigging places, more like 45/10 or something.
    My first set is 2 hours. If the money is flying around my first set will potentially be longer. Nothing makes a gig feel like it lasts all night like taking breaks every 45 minutes. By the time slacker musicians make it back to the stage it's been 25 mins and a whole bunch of tips, and crowd, has been lost.

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by DawgBone
    My first set is 2 hours. If the money is flying around my first set will potentially be longer. Nothing makes a gig feel like it lasts all night like taking breaks every 45 minutes. By the time slacker musicians make it back to the stage it's been 25 mins and a whole bunch of tips, and crowd, has been lost.
    I'm going to start shifting to this. I think 2 90 minute sets are better than 3 45 minute ones.

    To OP, I do 45 and then stretch for a couple minutes. My low back was getting pretty messed up sitting hunched over for 2-3 hours at a time. And I probably only practice for 90 minutes a day now that my technical skills are up to comfortably playing along to Parkers Billie's Bounce level.

    I also found going for a walk or light jog and listening to jazz will help me more than playing the same scales 1 tick higher on a metronome.

  9. #8

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    I see. Walking outside sounds ideal but unfortunatedly I live in florida so its either raining or the sun is blasting its rays at us. But yeah.. I'm thinking of possibly naps might do for breaks. Can't get any more breaky than that though its easy to overdo since the bed is so comfy...

  10. #9

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    Exercise helps the body and the mind.

  11. #10

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    Quote Originally Posted by jazznylon
    I see. Walking outside sounds ideal but unfortunatedly I live in florida so its either raining or the sun is blasting its rays at us. But yeah.. I'm thinking of possibly naps might do for breaks. Can't get any more breaky than that though its easy to overdo since the bed is so comfy...
    I love the heat and I especially love the heat and humidity. I loved not wearing a shirt for anything except going to the store. FL man style! Unfortunately my ears can't do the humidity, but I used to love taking my morning runs in St. Pete. I have found some slow pushups really build the chest and forearms making string bending and general guitar olympics endurance contests much easier.

  12. #11

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    Playing at home, I don't schedule the period, I just explore until I learn something new. That always happens inside of and hour, then I play with the new thing for a while so I remember... home playing always tends to about 90 continuous minutes, but it's never stressy. Rehearsals are scheduled two hours and we break about 2/3 the way through for a few minutes. Shows are tightly regimented for start, breaks, stop... sets 45/15, final set 60 (I wear an old watch made for timing the three five-minute flags for starting sailboat races). I'm one of those that starts playing instantly without warm-up, but feel like I'm just warming up after 20-30 minutes of continuous playing.

    As far as what's best for the mental and physical aspects, that is extremely subject to variation in how (and how fast) people conceive music and how much they attend to posture and form. I'm sure we have all encountered guitarists that need more effort to grasp musical things (more playing exposure to get it) and some whose physical style of playing could be described as potentially traumatic. Fortunately in the jazz world I think we naturally tend to uphold the mental side and show due care for the physical side, perhaps more so than most other types of guitar playing (second to CG).

  13. #12

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    Explore the great Howard Roberts approach to practice. Repetitive things need to be done over and over again to get up the muscle memory, but cognitive work has to be focus but not of great duration. I teach that way and try to practice that way. If you get sloppy and tired and start making mistakes you have to take break. If you are focusing on learning a turn and memorizing chords and the like, then you can only go so long. For me that part can be as little as 20 minutes to as much as almost an hour. It varies by the day.

    Playing the guitar is a physical experience and requires the same type of work that a sport might require. Great power hitters take batting practice, but they also realize when it is counterproductive. If i play for 2 hours straight and no breaks it can be demanding and possible not productive.

  14. #13

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    How about maintaining the flow for longer periods? I was able to keep up for a long while today with some breaks here and there but there just comes a point where my mind slows down to a crawl hence the mistakes and general forgetfulness. Soon after that I stopped practicing and so then I feel like I'm pretty much done for today. Maybe its the beer

  15. #14

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    It's the beer.

  16. #15

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    I often use a sort of pomodoro technique kind of system when practicing, but I shorten the pause to just a couple of minutes to get up and do a few stretches.

    There is a lot of research that show that if you switch focus to something else, it can take as much as half an hour before your brain is fully focused again. So I try to avoid taking breaks where I do something completely unrelated to practicing. So no checking the news or social media and such when taking breaks, only short breaks to do some stretches and movements to loosen up before I continue.