Focus 90% Of Your Practise Time On SKILLS and only 10% On Songs... Here's Why

tomhalliwell93

Here's a podcast on why is a skill set and you should put 90% of your time on skills not songs -

Winny_Pooh

I want to find out about these one finger chords, please explain.

tomhalliwell93

Winny_Pooh said:

I want to find out about these one finger chords, please explain.

Hey Winny.. Usually i start my students off with C maj, G7 and G maj.. All of these are 1 finger chords.. Its hard to put in writing but on this video i show you at about the 6 min mark..

Danji

I've had a listen to the podcast, I understand what you mean. For me, music is a language with the end result being able to play and express yourself within certain parameters.  Working on 'skills' rather than songs is not going to get you far. 

tomhalliwell93

Danji said:

I've had a listen to the podcast, I understand what you mean. For me, music is a language with the end result being able to play and express yourself within certain parameters.  Working on 'skills' rather than songs is not going to get you far. 

I agree with you.. However for the complete beginner who has no skill level.. playing songs is frustrating.. Of course Guitar is an ART but you defiantly need to have the skills before you can 'express yourself' ... just like poetry, if i don't have the skill to  speak 'English' then i can't express myself and write a poem using that language... Guitar is the same thing

Danji

Learning about form is incredibly important. I can't tell you the amount of people I've jammed with are unable to understand where the sections are, play additional bars, drop beats etc. 

To further your analogy, the only way to speak English is to get engrossed in it. Repeating arbitrary words without an understanding of syntax and grammar would get you nowhere fast. 

bbill335

If you want to gig, nobody wants to hear skills. They do want to hear songs. The people paying you or looking to scout bands want to hear songs.

Philtre

No rules. No 90/10 this or that. Do what you like, play what you like. Have a good time, all the time.

Danji

Philtre said:

 Have a good time, all the time.

You can't beat a bit of Nigel logic! 

Philtre

Danji said:

Philtre said:

 Have a good time, all the time.

You can't beat a bit of Nigel logic! 

In fact, I play 100% songs and 10% skills. I mean, that's 10% louder, right?

Sporky

90% skills and 10% songs is how stunt guitar happens.

octatonic

tomhalliwell93 said:

Here's a podcast on why is a skill set and you should put 90% of your time on skills not songs -

Other than that I disagree with your basic premise, we don't look that kindly on forum non-participants joining up purely to spam the forum with their wares.

LooseMoose

Or you could my approach:  96% buying guitar tat that I don't need in the hope it'll make me a better player.  3% getting cross that I'm not a better player. 1% playing Sweet Home Alabama for the billionth time.

It's effective.

tone1

LooseMoose said:

Or you could my approach:  96% buying guitar tat that I don't need in the hope it'll make me a better player.  3% getting cross that I'm not a better player. 1% playing Sweet Home Alabama for the billionth time.

It's effective.

Yep... mines much the same but the song's 'Wind Cries Mary' 

Plectrum

Practice? No that would take all the fun out of it when I mess up royally in front of an audience Playing guitar might be art to a few people but most importanly it has to be fun. Happy spamming

bingefeller

Philtre said:

Have a good time, all the time.

Viv Savage!!

Anyway, I disagree with the premise of your video.  That is going to get boring really fast and will do nothing to improve the player's vocabulary.  A player could learn songs that call for certain techniques, like alternate picking, and they could build up their skills works on a particular song.  For example, learning a Fear Factory song is going to give a good alternate picking work out and will beat the hell out of spending hours on scales and patterns against an unmusical click.

octatonic

bingefeller said:

Philtre said:

Have a good time, all the time.

Viv Savage!!

Anyway, I disagree with the premise of your video.  That is going to get boring really fast and will do nothing to improve the player's vocabulary.  A player could learn songs that call for certain techniques, like alternate picking, and they could build up their skills works on a particular song.  For example, learning a Fear Factory song is going to give a good alternate picking work out and will beat the hell out of spending hours on scales and patterns against an unmusical click.

Exactly.
And I'm someone who spent years in a room running all the permutations of finger exercises, arpeggios, scales and such.
That is all good stuff to do but learning songs is more important.

The OP comes across as a recent graduate of a music school- that is all well and good and there is a place for the sort of playing you get taught at music college.
I'd be interested if he thinks the same thing 10 years from now.

Having a fixed idea of what players should spend their time on is a mistake because you don't know the goal of that player.

I probably spend 50% on learning songs and 50% on technique and I consider myself to be a very technique heavy kinda player.

The OP also fails to acknowledge that the most useful skill for a musician is transcription.
If you want to be a shredder then running scales and arpeggios is only part of the work.
The next, more important bit is to find ways to apply that learning and the most efficient way to do this is by transcribing solos.
You learn how to apply thing things you've learned by studying the greats who have come before you.
There is no better way.

antifash

tomhalliwell93 said:

Here's a podcast on why is a skill set and you should put 90% of your time on skills not songs -

WHY IS A SKILL SET?

ThorpyFX

LooseMoose said:

Or you could my approach:  96% buying guitar tat that I don't need in the hope it'll make me a better player.  3% getting cross that I'm not a better player. 1% playing Sweet Home Alabama for the billionth time.

It's effective.

I'd give you a wisdom and a lol for this if I could 

cruxiform

What happened to learning 3 chords, writing a few songs and forming a band?

Philtre

Here's my podcast on how to put 110% into music. OP is full of shirt.