Effective practice . . . . . . some advice please

octatonic

ChrisMusic said:

What a great phrase "I have no idea what condition my condition is in", thanks @octatonic

I have to say that I identify totally with all of that, sometimes it is a blessing, and sometimes not.

edit: tried to sort quote formatting - to no avail

It is a quote from a song by Mickey Newbury- used in the Big Lebowski.

ChrisMusic

Thanks to both @Clarky and @Phil_aka_Pip for the scheduling tips at the top of the page. Interesting, and slightly different approaches over block time to get more in depth vs smaller sections to cover more aspects.  Consolidation certainly makes sense to me too.

Phil - how do you manage to stick to 3mins on one thing then rigidly move on?  There always seems so much more to do on whatever it is I have focused on, that I have difficulty going to the next thing till I feel I have finished with the current one.  Inevitably I then run out of time without covering other the aspects, then either dip into a few later, or catch up another day, and indulge in whatever that is.

Great food for thought guys, I'll probably try a bit of both approaches.

One definite area of consensus though …

get the volume up, rock out and have a ball, you must end on a high.

&

finally - a wigout! have some fun and annoy the neighbours. reward yourself.

great advice, well said, I'm enjoying myself more already

Phil_aka_Pip

@ChrisMusic I use a mechanical pinger-type egg timer. It is shaped like a large tomato. When it pings you have to be disciplined enough to move on to the next practice item. Leave yourself wanting more. If you bore yourself with an item today the chances are you won't practice it tomorrow. The important thing is the daily repetition, not the huge amount of time spent on one day.

clare_bear

ChrisMusic;16673" said:

@clare_bear - take a look at the video posted by SpaceCadet (half way down page 1).  It may be a bit high powered in the ambition stakes for you, but it is truly inspirational and motivational too.  I think it may help to watch through occasionally?

There are some interesting videos on visualisation (nearer the beginning) posted by Catthan, both that and finger exercises to improve dexterity can be practiced away from the guitar in any spare moment, anywhere.  I truly believe that would help too.

edit: posting correction

Thanks @ChrisMusic, I'll take a look.

ChrisMusic

octatonic said:

...metronomes are fast.

Drum machines require more fiddly.

Thanks @octatonic, that was why I was unsure about drum machines, and getting one, and I know from my "previous life" that the fiddle factor with gear can be a massive distraction.

Is there any way of "humanising" the metronome, or any that give a drum feel, or even better, a human type groove.  Or am I somehow just not "getting it" ?

Anything else you can add here would be gratefully accepted, I would love this discussion to become a good future resource for the community here.

steamabacus

ChrisMusic said:

@Clarky  - I saw something a while back, I think it was with Oliver Sacks the neurologist, and the guy playing the piano was just phenomenal.

We have so little understanding of the human condition, and what makes us "tick".

Whether it is a side-effect or a gift may be open to conjecture, but we all need a safe haven sometimes, what ever our psychological / physiological makeup.

Music is a fantastic outlet, whether listening or creating. It has the ability to heal, and to reach across all the boundaries of language and culture and communicate directly with the emotions.

I would wholeheartedly recommend Oliver Sacks' book 'Musicophilia'. Inspirational stuff for any aspiring 'musician'.

octatonic

ChrisMusic said:

Thanks @octatonic, that was why I was unsure about drum machines, and getting one, and I know from my "previous life" that the fiddle factor with gear can be a massive distraction.

Is there any way of "humanising" the metronome, or any that give a drum feel, or even better, a human type groove.  Or am I somehow just not "getting it" ?

Anything else you can add here would be gratefully accepted, I would love this discussion to become a good future resource for the community here.

Hmmmm.... I just go with the metronome- you kinda want the strictness of the metronome when working things up to tempo.

If you want to humanise your playing then make sure you play with a lot of people.

I treat them as separate things.

I don't try to get the metronome to be a replacement for jamming with mates- you should still jam with lots of people.

There is a lot of stuff I can suggest but so much of it is dependent upon where you are at right now.

The main thing is to get very involved in your playing and your study.

Treat it like study- plan your time and leave the mindless widdling for the end of a playing session.

Yes, it is fun and music should be fun, but if you want to improve at an optimum rate then you have to take it seriously.

It won't happen by accident & you have to be methodical.

Also, define what sort of player you want to be.

If you want to be a shredder- then study the stuff that you need to study- scales, arpeggios and transcribe the *important pieces in the genre*.

If you want to be an experimental or free improviser then transcribe that stuff.

If you want to be a pop player then transcribe that stuff.

Also- and this might sound a bit of a contradiction to what I just said- don't completely lock yourself into being this or that and I really discourage people from dedicating themselves to playing in the style of a particular player in the early days.

I've see WAAAY too many Petrucci wannabe's (with his sig guitar) in my time.

Try to be the best version of *YOU* that you can possibly be and work hard at doing that.

This shouldn't be an afterthought- I probably should have mentioned it right of the bat.

Being the *best version of you* isn't something that will happen without work.

Without work you'll be a perfectly good *you, the person* but a pretty average *you, the musician*.

First define what that is, then map out what you need to learn- if you don't know then ask people who are further along the path- but take anything anyone says with a grain of salt (except me of course!).

Clarky

ChrisMusic said:

Is there any way of "humanising" the metronome, or any that give a drum feel, or even better, a human type groove.  Or am I somehow just not "getting it" ?

there is...

set the metro to half the tempo you want it to be..

on the click start counting from 2 so the clicks are on beats 2 and 4

---- 2-----3-----4-----1-----2-----3-----4-----1-----2-----

--click-------click--------click---------click--------click-- etc..

the clicks effectively become snare hits

now you can "swing" a little but keep time too..

ChrisMusic

steamabacus said:

I would wholeheartedly recommend Oliver Sacks' book 'Musicophilia'. Inspirational stuff for any aspiring 'musician'.

@steamabacus thanks for the recommendation, I'll check the book out.  cheers

Clarky said:

ChrisMusic said:    Is there any way of "humanising" the metronome...

there is...    now you can "swing" a little but keep time too..

Yes that does make sense, thank you @Clarky.  Maybe, along with a little cajoling from octatonic, it's finally time to get a metronome.

mike_l

 @ChrisMusic  A metronome and a tuner are the most important things a guitarist can own Apart from their guitars and amps.....

octatonic

mike_l said:

 @ChrisMusic  A metronome and a tuner are the most important things a guitarist can own Apart from their guitars and amps.....

You forgot 'leather chaps and codpiece'.

mike_l

octatonic said:

mike_l said:

 @ChrisMusic  A metronome and a tuner are the most important things a guitarist can own Apart from their guitars and amps.....

You forgot 'leather chaps and codpiece'.

We can't let him in on everything at the moment.

 

Beside I've not been the same since you sent me those photo's........

Barney

i think  good way is to sit down with a pen and paper and see what you want out of the guitar ....write your goals down ...short term like for instance learn D dorian in all positions ...or right hand picking improvement ...ect...so will end up with a list...

see whats the most important things for you at the time and pick maybe 4..decide how long you can practice everyday and split that time into 4 ...so maybe 2 hours at 30 mins each...

practice thesed everynight...if for some reason you only have 1 hour for a night ..divide into 4 again so you will have 15 mins each...

you will find some things might  happen quicker than others so iff you reach a target with that ...pick another topic from the list and carry on the same way...after a while you will get through everything....time for another list..ect..ect

also its a good idea to start using the things you learn as soon as possible either with a band or backing tracks ...so you are actually using the material...

ChrisMusic

Good advice @Barney, goal oriented, prioritised, reasonable time chunks, and scaleable too. Thank you.

ChrisMusic

mike_l said:

octatonic said:

mike_l said:   A metronome and a tuner are the most important things a guitarist can own Apart from their guitars and amps.....

You forgot 'leather chaps and codpiece'.

We can't let him in on everything at the moment.

@octatonic @mike_l

 

oh come on, I got me a geetar, now you say get an amp, nowz I need me a metro-gnome too, found cheap Tuna in a tin, can't afford me a piece of cod.

ChrisMusic

octatonic said:                             (abridged version - Chris)

I just go with the metronome- you kinda want the strictness of the metronome when working things up to tempo.

If you want to humanise your playing then make sure you play with a lot of people...

There is a lot of stuff I can suggest but so much of it is dependent upon where you are at right now...

Also, define what sort of player you want to be...

Try to be the best version of *YOU* that you can possibly be and work hard at doing that...

Thanks @octatonic, a very detailed and down to earth approach, complete with sage advice.

Demands some thinking through, thank you.

Clarky

I think another thing that is good is [if possible] to have variety in your schedule..

today mine looks like this

Sun / Mon / Wed / Fri - writing

Tue / Thu - practice technique and set for 2 hours then writing

when I'm prepping for a tour it looks more like this:

all week - total time = 4 hours

play set [90 mins], <--- yup... play it from cold.. just as I would have to when I'm out there doing it for real..

address any issues in the set

explore some interesting possibilities regarding my parts [generally in my solos]

technique workout

here's an unusual note: I practice as best I can in gig-ish conditions..

low / coloured lighting, volume up [headphones]

and in the final few weeks of practice I'll set an alarm so that at a random time in the set the alarm goes off..

this signifies a "primary rig failure" so I have to execute my cut-over drill to the secondary rig and get back into the song that's currently playing..

so yes.. part of my practice is "don't panic!!".. or at least try not to...

steamabacus

Clarky said:

in the final few weeks of practice I'll set an alarm so that at a random time in the set the alarm goes off..

this signifies a "primary rig failure" so I have to execute my cut-over drill to the secondary rig and get back into the song that's currently playing

Wow, that's dedication! I agree you have to be prepared, but I've never quite gone to such lengths.

If I'm learning a set, I spend as much time as I can mentally running through playing it  - over and above any practice with a guitar actually in my hands. It's amazing how much this helps.

Clarky

the whole point of that is to be well drilled..

in the event of some agro on stage I don't really want to be working things out.. so you just follow the drill.. auto-pilot mode I guess.. I can switch to my backup rig in the same time it takes to change guitar

and.. I've actually had to switch rigs on stage before [in Naples I think] when a 2120 failed.. I had the backup rig yes.. but I wasn't really prepped to cut-over.. ok so it's not rocket science.. but it's not a nice time to be thinking on your feet, "do this and that and then that..."

it was this [unpleasent] experience that made me decide to create a drill for it that is quick, easy and efficient.. no fumbling around.. no nasty noises coming through my rig.. looks and feels more pro too, which is good for the confidense in such a situation....

mike_l

@Clarky ; Were you in the Scouts? Be prepared and all that....

 

Good advice, as always Sir. Especially the back-up rig