-
Any tips on building mental stamina for long practice sessions.I have the time but i practice wisely and find i go brain dead after 40 minutes due to mental fatigue.I found this article and i tend to agree
You will find that deliberate practice is very draining, given the tremendous amount of energy required to keep one’s full attentional resources on the task at hand. Practicing more than one hour at a time is likely to be unproductive and in all honesty, probably not even mentally or emotionally possible. Even the most dedicated individuals will find it difficult to practice more than four hours a day.
-
02-13-2013 02:13 AM
-
I practice 3-4 hours per day...
One hour....break for as much as 45 minutes...
Another hour....another break...
I sometimes run over an hour when I really get lost in what I am doing...
time on the instrument...
-
Breaks. I usually do 20m on, 5m break, repeat. I also might interrupt my practice with some other thing on my to do list (taking out trash, dishes, etc) just to give my mind - and hands - a break.
I think it's also good to be aware of how mentally and/or physically taxing different practice activities are. I've been trying to practice more lately and Ive noticed some activities seem to really fly by, where others are grueling and 15m seems to take forever.
It's wise, for the health of your body, to get up and move around every 25 minutes rather than sit with the instrument straight through for hours.
-
I'm a psychologist by day, and there are decades' worth of research supporting Pierre's schedule: 40 (or so) minutes of focused work, 15-20 min break. This helps retention of the information, energy, etc. When we blow through 2-3 hours without taking substantial breaks, our retention is significantly less than when we break.
Take a break!
Marc
-
This is how we were taught to practice in the Howard Robert's era at GIT. Howard would add put down the instrument, and drinks some water or something.
Originally Posted by pierre richard
Another part of Howard's program was using timers to limit how long you work on a topic, the time would shorten every couple days and you had to stop when the timer goes off. Over time you learn, to learn faster, you learn to control your focusing on something.
-
I find that if I just enjoy myself and play in "performance" mode, rather than "analyze and think" mode, I lose track of time and 2-3 hours can go by without me even noticing. When in analyze mode yes I do get mentally fatigued faster. It's good to analyze and calculate out things from time to time, but it's also good to practice in performance mode sometimes.
-
It depends what I'm working on, but 40 minutes sounds about right for something that I'm already somewhat familar with. With very new ideas or approaches where you can almost feel your brain creating new pathways, even 10 minutes can be intense and require a break, and other times I can go for over an hour. I generally break after 40 minutes though.
Also, it depends what guitar I'm using. The harder the guitar to play, the shorter the practice periods. Having a timer sounds like a good idea...
-
The Musician's Schedule
10:30--Wake up. Stay in bed and wait for inspiration.
11:30--Breakfast
12:30--Physical Exercise
1:30--Practice a tune
1:00--Meditation
2:00--Lunch
3:00--Nap
4:00--Wake up. Stay in bed and wait for inspiration.
5:00--Listen to music
6:00--Dinner and socializing
10:00--Go to bed (Getting enough sleep is important for artists).
Do this six days a week. Take a break on Sunday.
-
I've read many articles on this in the past year or so... Since then I've managed to get by without procrastinating that much, and managing to improve a bunch, by doing this:
1- Find out what is the amount of time you'll dedicate to studying per day. If you have a lot, figure out what is the time your brain is more productive (mine is in the morning). If your time is scarce, then there's not much to do but to use the little you have.
2- At the beginning of each study session, get a piece of paper and write down you 'script' for the day. Divide it into topics (theory, improv, technique, aural training, etc.), putting the ones you find most difficult at the time of the day your brain works better. Less challenging stuff should be put at the time your brain is more tired.
3- Go through the list, one by one. If you run out of time, don't worry. Save the topic you didn't manage to work on to the next day. Also, if you start getting too tired because of an item, skip it. At the end of the whole session, tick the ones you completed.
4- On the next day, repeat #2, putting the items you couldn't complete on the list and respecting your brain's schedule. Then, repeat #3.
The most important thing you have to remember is that music is a VERY broad topic and you'll always have something else to do. Therefore, you shouldn't be afraid of skipping an item, because the point is for you to spend the biggest amount of time deliberately practicing. So, if your brain is tired of improvising over ii-V-I's, simply open up a book on music theory and start reading (or try something else you put on the list).
After a week, gather all the scripts and check them out to see what you've studied so far. This will help your motivation.
This 'formula' is, without a doubt, the one that worked the better for me. Mainly because it isn't about the time you spend on each topic and it is absolutely personal, you can make it work your own way.
-
I split all my practice up into 45 min sessions, works really well for me. I can practice anything from 3-7 hours a day, depends on my schedule. I wrote a book on practice strategy, its on my site if you're interested
-
- C"mon guys,if you would tell John McLaughlin or Pat Metheny the 15 minutes break theory,
they would probably answer with a wide grin,cause they"re polite people.
Rodney Jones tried to find a way to practice under the shower.
As much as possible,if you enjoy it,science isn"t always right.
Most guitarist we"re talking about in the Player section practised their asses off and doesn"t know the
word "break".
-
- C"mon guys,if you would tell John McLaughlin or Pat Metheny the 15 minutes break theory,they would probably answer with a wide grin,cause they"re polite people.
Rodney Jones tried to find a way to practice under the shower.
As much as possible,if you enjoy it,science isn"t always right.
Most guitarist we"re talking about in the Player section practised their asses off and doesn"t know the
word "break".
I couldn't agree more with you, man! From Jazz to Rock (Jimi was one of those... Some say he didn't even stop to shower sometimes...), the greats were all avid for training and improving! It is important to know playing, plain and simple, isn't all there is to do when it comes to music though...
-
I do 3-4 hours everyday, most days. Sometimes 2 and a half and often not 4. I generally do it all at once. Sometimes I break for breakfast, but that's dangerous because sometimes I don't return.
Much of my practice are exercises that don't require a LOT of concentration. Increasingly it's playing of tunes and improv so that often doesn't require a lot of concentration. Maybe my practice sessions would be shorter if I concentrated more!
I had to work up to practicing that much all at once. You can hurt your hand if you suddenly started practicing 3-6 hours when you were used to doing none to an hour a day.
-
It's funny how it's right when it agrees with your preconceived beliefs. Originally Posted by MackBolan
-
It's funny how EVERYTHING is right when it agrees with ones point of view.
-
“The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it.”*
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
-
There is another method of practice that I use--without the guitar. When going to bed, I work on visualizing and working out various chords and intervals. I did this for a few months and found it a big help in learning the neck without using the actual note names such as a C or Eb.
For example, given any random fret and string, where is the sixth above and below it. Work out all intervals.
From any random fret and string, choose a chord, select any note in it, tonic or flat five eg., and work out the rest of the chord. Then choose another note in the chord and in the same location, work out the same chord.
Maybe this was a good method for me when I was a bass player. I did not think first of the name of a note but of its relationship to the location of the tonic.
Pick a tune and play the whole thing in your head without the guitar. I find that I can come up with ideas better this way than with the guitar in my hands.
I was lucky to work as bass man with the a guitar player who was with Louis Prima and Keely Smith in the old days in Vegas.
I know that I will never be as good as most of those who write here, but I get a lot of enjoyment from guitar.
OldPlayer
-
Originally Posted by marcwhy
Howard Roberts was plugged in to the psychology of music and learning in a big way. The things we were taught at GIT worked then and they work now. Originally Posted by docbop
No, Science isn't always right. Science is a method that tries to explain how things work in our universe. Science tries to gather facts to arrive at truths. And .... it beats the heck out of the alternative. Originally Posted by MackBolan
For those of you who are interested and inquisitive, I highly recommend Willpower by Roy F. Baumeister and John Tierney. It's an easy read and doesn't get bogged down in a lot of psychobabble. It does an excellent job of explaining the physical and psychological nature (and limits) of focus, concentration and willpower.
Last edited by monk; 02-20-2013 at 01:47 PM.
-
A lot of interesting stuff in this thread. I practice for 4-3 hours every day. I wish I didn't have a full-time job and could spend more. I haven't ever really experienced the "mental fatigue" thing, outside of days when I'm really tired. Back when I was a student I'd spend 8-10 hrs on some days, easy, if you include jamming with friends, etc.
I separate everything into blocks of focus, and spend 30-40 minutes on each. I don't take breaks, per se, but I've found that just shifting focus to something knew is important and keeps me from getting bored or exhausted.
- Theory/Composition - usually an hour during lunch
Then as one block:
- Piano/Applied Theory ~40 mins
- Ear Training ~30-40 mins
- Voice Training ~40 mins
- Guitar Technique basics ~30 mins
- Reading ~30 mins
- Working on new concepts ~30 mins
- Learning songs for voice, piano & guitar ~ 30 mins
- Performance practice ~30 mins
Transcription comes up a lot in this as well in different parts. The most important part is the last one. I've found that it's super important to actually perform 2-3 songs as though I'm in a performance setting every night. That means, no stopping to correct errors, using the amp settings I would at a gig, etc. It's like gigging every night, even if it's in my own bedroom.
Btw each subject I take a super fast (1-2 min) micro-break to get up, stretch, drink some water, log my progress. Then it's back at it. Seems to be working for me.
Just my thoughts for anyone who is struggling with breaking up practice.
-
Ecj - I think that your comment on performance is key. There's a really good Gary Burton Improv Master class where he goes on to state the he needs to visualize an audience listening and even dancing to the music he's making. I find this helps make everything you play sound a lot tighter, more polished and relative to the song. It's quite a useful approach when considering how much benefit you gain vs the minimal amount of effort you need to put in.
as for the comments about visualization - a great device. Bergonzi's books recommend this, as do many others. I try to visualize a guitar neck and improv in my head or sing the tones as I imagine playing them on guitar. Or you could try to play with your eyes closed. This immediately shows you what you struggle with and aren't comfortable with. When playing over a tune you should know he changes and the guitar well enough to do this or be striving towards doing so
as for mental concentration. make practicing more fun. I try to do all exercises and work with a drum machine or metronome on 2 & 4, and try to get so into it that I almost feel like dancing. Other than ambient sounds, you're always going to be playing in time, hopefully. Even if it's a double whole note, I find I have way more fun practicing when it's to a groove, which in turn allows me to concentrate longer since I'm having fun.
Sadly, for a long time I was getting bogged down by the studying aspect and even though I was doing it everyday, I wasn't enjoying practicing as much. So now I even do my ear training in time. after all, that was my whole purpose of beginning to play music. To play, to have fun. Having fun impacts you're retention big time
+1 on ending the routine with a performance. That's what the practice is for, to make your performances better!Last edited by euterpe; 03-01-2013 at 03:27 AM.
Reply With Quote
“Shearing style”
Today, 05:26 PM in Comping, Chords & Chord Progressions