The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Here’s my question – is it necessarily counter-productive to practice with the tv on? My practice space happens to be in one corner of our family room with the tv at the other end. Often, even if I’m by myself, I’ll turn on Law & Order to satisfy my serious L&O addiction before settling in to practice.

    I know it takes away from my full concentration on whatever I’m working on but sometimes I feel like I need to work at filtering out distractions when I’m playing to replicate a live situation where distractions abound. At the local jam session, the tv’s above the bar are always on and there are always a variety of other things to take my mind off the changes. Does it make sense to try to replicate this at home?

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  3. #2

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    Only if you ignore the TV!

  4. #3

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    Practice things that don't take much concentration, like muscle memory exercises.

    Or, do ear training by mimicking what's on the TV... jam with the TV.

    But no TV is better.

  5. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by Solo Flight
    – is it necessarily counter-productive to practice with the tv on?
    Yes.

  6. #5

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    It's certainly better than not picking up your guitar. I've known some really good players who practiced in front of the TV working on chops and technical things et.,. guitar playing is part physical so you can get some work done on the couch. I personally do not like the distraction and there are some things where it has to be shut off because you need to concentrate.

  7. #6

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    itzhak perlman has said that he watches baseball with the sound off while practicing...i have practiced with tv on much in my many years playing...that said, mindful practice is ALWAYS better, even for purely mechanical exercises (which one ought strive to play as music, not calisthenics)...

  8. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by randalljazz
    itzhak perlman has said that he watches baseball with the sound off while practicing...i have practiced with tv on much in my many years playing...that said, mindful practice is ALWAYS better, even for purely mechanical exercises (which one ought strive to play as music, not calisthenics)...
    That's funny, I heard Stevie Ray Vaughan did that too...I remember in an interview, he said something about watching sports like baseball, even wrestling.

    Mindful practice has always gotten me further, but I do like to practice stuff once I've got it down in an atmosphere with distractions. I often try to find a coffeehouse gig to "publicly practice" at before I have a paying gig.

    WHich isn't too often recently...but I digress....

  9. #8

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    I play with the TV on and with a recorder on. What surprised me was that if I started just improvising and winging it, I often played more interesting (to me) phrases and ideas when my conscious mind (and perhaps my inner critic) was distracted by the TV.

    Certainly having the TV on isn't a regular part of a practice routine, but I did surprise myself a couple of times with ideas that I didn't even remember playing.

    Playing along with commercials and background music is great ear training.

    Also I do record everything every time I pick up the guitar.

  10. #9

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    I think the mere act of turning the TV on is a waste of time.

  11. #10

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    No TV.

  12. #11

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    Rumor has it Freddie Green would watch baseball - on the gig.

    I don't have a strong opinion on this subject but wanted to add a few things:

    1. Any response to this issue is just an opinion. There are no hard facts about this.

    2. I personally feel that practicing to reach my personal goals requires full attention. Sometimes I enjoy half practicing/half noodling, where I watch tv and maybe work on a physical mechanic with the guitar just to have something to do with my hands. I see it as barely more useful than not playing at all.

    3. I find the issue interesting because it brings up important questions like: What are your* practice goals? How conscious of what you're playing do you want to be? (Is it better to have less awareness to an extent, and therefore less self-criticism and over-analysis in the moment of improvisation?) How much of your practice do you devote to rote technical/physical work? How relevant is improved technique to your goals as a player? How helpful is rote mechanical work anyway?

    4. Also, I think having the TV on can be used for two almost opposite purposes. In one, you're simply relaxing with a guitar in your hands and whatever happens, happens. In another, more like the OP, you can turn it on to intentionally distract you as an exercise in focus. I heard of an exercise (never tried it myself) where you turn on as many radios and TVs as you can and turn up the volume all the way, and then try to play a tune, in time, amid the chaos.

    *your, my, our, whatever, not intended towards anyone specifically.

  13. #12

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    TV or no TV? That is the question...whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of misinformation...or take arms against a sea of commericals...and by opposing, zap them... In other words: Kill Your TV. Play guitar and live longer

  14. #13

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    I practice every single night in my bedroom with the tv on. It can be my favorite show, it does not matter. I do not even hear it. I go into my own world of concentration. I learned a long time ago how to tune everything out but the music. But I never watch it while playing. That would be the difference. If I did it would be totally distracting.

    So the question in my mind is not "is playing with the tv on a detriment", but is watching tv while practicing a detriment?

    Watching tv while practicing...... BAD

    Practicing with it on?? What tv??
    Last edited by brwnhornet59; 10-13-2011 at 11:25 AM.

  15. #14

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    Thanks for all the replies - they do make me reevaluate my practice goals and methods. I think I agree that mindful practice is generally more productive. I do need to practice concentrating on things like not losing the form in my head during a drum solo - I'm not sure if setting up intentional distractions is the way to go. But thanks for all the thoughts on the issue.

  16. #15

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    For years I was anti-TV so it wasn't an issue. Then I started using TV time to run scales and rote-learn difficult progressions and fingerings - as someone stated previously, muscle-memory exercises. I still do and I also try to learn whatever is on TV. There is some good ear training material there: themes from Law + Order (about 5 variations), the Simpsons, Family Guy, etc.

  17. #16

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    No TV is surely much better. No doubt about it. Practice is supposed to be (mentally) difficult.

  18. #17

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    Quote Originally Posted by coolvinny
    No TV is surely much better. No doubt about it. Practice is supposed to be (mentally) difficult.
    NO! - some practice is purely physical. Obviously it depends on what you like to learn, but if there are things that need thousands of repetitions to "get under your fingers", then mindless rote learning in front of TV is totally fine. For all the other stuff that involves conceptual thinking the less distractions the better, but there again you could filter out distractions if you focussed well enough.

    Remember folks, we gotta live too! TV can make those long nightly practice sessions a little less lonely....

  19. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by princeplanet
    NO! - some practice is purely physical. Obviously it depends on what you like to learn, but if there are things that need thousands of repetitions to "get under your fingers", then mindless rote learning in front of TV is totally fine. For all the other stuff that involves conceptual thinking the less distractions the better, but there again you could filter out distractions if you focussed well enough.

    Remember folks, we gotta live too! TV can make those long nightly practice sessions a little less lonely....
    We will have to agree to disagree. I think it is a myth that some things take thousands of repetitions to get under one's fingers. In my experience, when one concentrates and approaches new chords/patters etc deliberately (without distractions), actually it does not take that many repetitions. If one is mindless about the reps, then yup...it may well take thousands of em...

  20. #19

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    Quote Originally Posted by coolvinny
    We will have to agree to disagree. I think it is a myth that some things take thousands of repetitions to get under one's fingers. In my experience, when one concentrates and approaches new chords/patters etc deliberately (without distractions), actually it does not take that many repetitions. If one is mindless about the reps, then yup...it may well take thousands of em...
    Maybe, but when I mean "under the fingers", I mean for life! For me at least, that seems to take thousands of repetitions over a 3 week period.
    Whatever blows yer hair back I suppose...

  21. #20

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    I'm with the 'No TV while practicing' crowd. The less distractions the better in my experience.