# How to get yourself to practice more?



## Brill (Feb 27, 2013)

i have bass guitar and piano lesspns, but i don't seem to play or practise inbetween them very much, like max 1 hour a day. Any one have some tips on how to practice more?


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## MrPepperoniNipples (Feb 27, 2013)

I think 1 hour a day is fine so long as that practice is real practice,
I don't get more more than 45 minutes during the weekdays now, and on a good day that's about 75 minutes. 
On Mondays my workload is so heavy I hardly even get 30 minutes.

But when I do practice I'm focused and discipline and as a result my technique really hasn't suffered.

The only thing other than that I really can say is you have to want to practice to "really" practice. 

When I was younger I'd pick up the instrument and practice just because I thought that's what I had to and I got nothing out of it, and developed some bad habits because I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing.

It'll be the same way, most likely, if you just kinda force yourself to play.

The only 'solution' I can really think of is to find new music or someone new to inspire you, if your 'heroes' now aren't doing the trick.
I know that every time I watch a Derek Taylor or Derryl Gabel video I want to pick up my instrument immediately


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## redstone (Feb 27, 2013)

^

Don't practice more, focus more. Then you'll eventually develop deeper bonds with the instrument and feel better with longer sessions .. because it'll mean something to you.


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## astralsearcher (Feb 27, 2013)

one thing i remember that made me play more way back when, was getting a guitar stand.


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## Quikblade (Feb 27, 2013)

astralsearcher said:


> one thing i remember that made me play more way back when, was getting a guitar stand.


 
I second this, I find that I practise a lot more if my guitar is right there when i need it instead of out the way in the cuboard.


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## phugoid (Feb 27, 2013)

Loxodrome said:


> i have bass guitar and piano lesspns, but i don't seem to play or practise inbetween them very much, like max 1 hour a day. Any one have some tips on how to practice more?



Assuming you play guitar as well, that's three instruments you're learning?

I'd say focus on one of them until you get quite proficient, then bring other instruments into the mix. Better to do one thing full-on, than three things half-assedly.


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## bondmorkret (Feb 27, 2013)

Schedule your practice sessions at the start of the day, based on how much free time you have, then stick to it. Work on one particular area of playing at any one time!


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## dizzy (Feb 27, 2013)

Don't fall into the trap of thinking that a "good" practice session needs to be long. Very few people can put aside several hours for practicing and it's easy to get into the "I don't have 3 spare hours today so I won't pick up the guitar at all" mindset. Even 5, 10 or 15 minutes of practice is valuable if it's focused and everyone can spare that sort of time. Plus, 5 minutes can easily become 30 or 40 once you hit your stride. 15 minutes of good, focused practice is better than an hour of aimless noodling. Or worse, not picking the guitar up at all and then getting into a cycle of avoiding practice and then feeling bad about it.


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## celticelk (Feb 27, 2013)

+1 on more focused practice, not longer practice. Check out Kenny Werner's advice on practicing (and other things musical) in the videos in this thread: http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/mu...8605-something-every-musician-should-see.html


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## concertjunkie (Feb 27, 2013)

^never heard of kenny werner until i watched 3 of his videos, two of which are posted in that thread. THAT will help put a lot in perspective


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## 80H (Feb 27, 2013)

-Enjoy practice more than the other stuff in life 
-Respect the natural limits of the human hand and brain
-Sit down and do it, even if it doesn't feel right at the time. Expect it to get better after 20-30 minutes because it usually will


My natural limit right now is between four and eight hours per day. That's with about an hour of theory, 1-3 hours of listening and 1-4 hours of technical or improvisational practice. I prefer to get about 3 hours in, but the problem with that is my fingers are usually pretty raw by then, and that carries over to the next day. ~2 is the sweet spot where I can do 2 hours a day for 4-5 days in a row before I need a day off of them, but I almost always need a day off after 4 solid hours in one day. I'm currently experimenting with burning my fingertips with a hot pan on the stove to get my calluses to be more resilient, and it seems to be working. I do not recommend this, and I admittedly feel a little dumb doing it, but hey - if it works 


The other thing that nobody mentioned here is that you need -enough- stuff to practice for a long period of time. I personally develop my own exercises and have more than enough to last me for the next 2-3 years if I were to stop developing them (they come to me naturally), but everyone has a different approach that they prefer. You might just want to learn songs if that's the fastest way for you to learn, you might want to learn theory if you have a heavy inclination towards a composer's mentality or you might just enjoy practice for the sake of practice. 


I'm an open book if you have any more questions. I also have a free book that I'm releasing in the spring which is dedicated to maximizing growth via healthy practice.


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

Watch a film while you are doing tedious exercises. 

2 hours of mode and arpeggio practice will just fly by. 

I do agree that short, focused practice is great, but if you want to get really good then you need to practice for many hours a day. 

There are so many different things to work on that 1 hour a day will never be enough to learn it all. No matter how focused you are.


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## troyguitar (Feb 27, 2013)

I don't, haven't practiced for real in years and it shows in my playing


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## groverj3 (Feb 27, 2013)

I've recently gotten myself on a pseudo "schedule." It's not strict in any sense of the word but it's helped me focus on the things I need to.

After I became proficient enough to play some of the things I like, for a long time I didn't really "practice," I played. Or, I learned songs. I didn't develop technique outside of that kind of context. This obviously doesn't work if you want to improve.

Recently I've decided that since after work each day I don't really have the time to sit around and learn songs. It would be more beneficial if I spent ~2hrs each week night working on technique and fretboard knowledge (scales, etc). Which basically means sitting around with a metronome for long periods of time or extending scales all over the neck. After 5 days of this I'll play songs on the weekends.

After doing this for about a month I've been making some real strides in accuracy and consistency. Those improvements have been enough to motivate myself to continue with this strategy.


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## celticelk (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> I do agree that short, focused practice is great, but if you want to get really good then you need to practice for many hours a day.



Bullshit. David Fiuczynski said it best: "I practiced fourteen hours a day every day for three months, and all it got me was tendonitis." Practice smarter, not harder.


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## EcoliUVA (Feb 27, 2013)

While I'm not sure that 10 to 15 minutes of practice a day is "enough" to make good progress, even that EVERY DAY is better than nothing on weekdays and a gorgefest on the weekend.

_Every day is everything_, when it comes to practice. And as others have said, focus is HUGE. I disagree with playing while watching TV, though if you MUST watch TV, I suppose it's better than not practicing at all.


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

Bullshit? Really?

Okay go practice for an hour, work on the following:
alternate picking
legato
tapping
sweep picking
major modes and arpeggios
harmonic minor modes and arpeggios
melodic minor modes and arpeggios
pentatonic scales
arpeggio and chord inversions
jazz and blues comping
phrasing
learning songs
playing over backing tracks

Practicing smart for 8 hours a day will always be better than practicing smart for 15 minutes day.


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## InfinityCollision (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> Watch a film while you are doing tedious exercises.
> 
> 2 hours of mode and arpeggio practice will just fly by.
> 
> ...



I can't disagree with this post enough. Distracted practice will at best build muscle memory, and it's not even going to be clean. If you find your exercises tedious, get better exercises. All aspects of practice can and should be musical, not just mechanical.



> Practicing smart for 8 hours a day will always be better than practicing smart for 15 minutes day.


Provided it does not lead to injury or other undue results, yes. Bear in mind however that your advocation for hours of practice was preceded without qualification by advocation for unfocused practice.


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

I am not saying watch porn for 8 hours while shredding. 

If you want to build picking endurance for example, you NEED to pick for a long time. This is a mechanical exercise, but it serves a purpose. 

Only a small part of your practice should be mechanical/working on weaker areas of technique, but it should be done. 

The rest should be FOCUSED AND FUN practice.


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## InfinityCollision (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> If you want to build picking endurance for example, you NEED to pick for a long time. This is a mechanical exercise, but it serves a purpose.



And it can be done in a musical manner, potentially even killing two birds with one stone by incorporating other aspects you seek to improve on.

Example: I've been working on improving my rest stroke speed recently. The most mechanical part of this is probably improving the speed of the "set" where the next finger moves to the string before plucking it. I do this in various finger patterns, etc. Why not incorporate some music into it? If I'm watching tv, I'm not paying attention to the motion of my fingers, their efficiency, how well they're doing that which I'm trying to improve. By playing lines I'm already familiar with in an extremely staccato style (my high school band conductor called it "bopping"), I retain an element of musicality and can potentially incorporate scalar run practice.


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

I do agree with that, but that depends what technique you are working on. 

If you are a beginner and just starting to work on alternate picking, your best bet is to focus purely on that technique until you are comfortable with it. Then incorporate the other hand and make it musical. Eventually you could work on riffs, etudes etc that will kill two birds with one stone as you say. 

My opinion of course, but I have used these methods to teach plenty of people with great results.


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## celticelk (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> Bullshit? Really?
> 
> Okay go practice for an hour, work on the following:
> alternate picking
> ...



If you get tendonitis from that 8 hr/day, I think it would be objectively worse. You're also making a whole lot of assumptions about what one needs to know or be able to do in order to be "really good" on guitar, as well as assuming that working on everything every day is necessary to advance. What if you actually progressed faster by focusing intently on one thing for 15 minutes instead of trying to do everything in 8 hours?

(And who the hell has 8 hours a day to practice? Some of us have to make a living, you know.)


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

Well 8 hours was just a number picked at random. Although lots of young guys do seem to manage these sort of hours for daily practice. 

"Really good" is a matter of opinion, therefore this is a pointless discussion. In my opinion, if you want to be a good all rounder, you need to have a grasp of 80% of that stuff I mentioned. 

What does making a living have to do with it? Stupid comment.


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## 80H (Feb 27, 2013)

Hey guys, calm down. The answer is somewhere in the middle. Everyone has differences and the human body has its limits. Yes, there is an impossibly long list of things to practice, but there is also a natural upper limit to the amount of work that the human body can do. 

Yes, tendonitis sucks the hugest, cheesiest dick on the planet. No, it should not stop you from doing the best that you can and want to do within reason and with respect to your body. 


Efficiency of practice is the great equalizer, but even efficient practice has its limits. There is no way to conquer every piece of music on the planet if you lived a thousand times over and played music every moment of every day. You could always just cut the tempo in half and change a few notes of any song. 


I believe that I get more per minute out of practice than 9/10 people in the world, and I'm practicing 4-5x as much as them to boot. That is -NOT- an accident. I have already had the argument with myself that you two are having now, and both of you are choosing either black or white without recognizing that they are both aspects of growth. 

Take a step back and think about it. Do you want to work hard, do you want to work smart or do you want to do both?


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

That's what I am saying. 

Smart, fun, long practice is better than smart, fun, short practice. 

I don't see why some people need to get angry about this? It's not a competition.


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## guitareben (Feb 27, 2013)

Loxodrome said:


> i have bass guitar and piano lesspns, but i don't seem to play or practise inbetween them very much, like max 1 hour a day. Any one have some tips on how to practice more?



Sit down and do it.


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## InfinityCollision (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> What does making a living have to do with it? Stupid comment.


The need to make a living generally imposes a limit on the amount of free time a given person has in a day. Not a universal consideration, but that would be the reasoning behind it.



Maniacal said:


> That's what I am saying.
> 
> Smart, fun, long practice is better than smart, fun, short practice.
> 
> I don't see why some people need to get angry about this? It's not a competition.



Because that's not the root of my disagreement, as I'm sure you're aware but unwilling to acknowledge. You advocated unsmart practices, then advocated long practice, _without_ any qualifying statements attached to the latter until after the fact. Practicing smart should take priority over practicing for an extended period of time, with a combination of the two obviously being ideal if it does not cause any issues.


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## celticelk (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> That's what I am saying.
> 
> Smart, fun, long practice is better than smart, fun, short practice.
> 
> I don't see why some people need to get angry about this? It's not a competition.



In my case, I'm objecting to your blanket statement that to be "really good" you need to (a) practice 8 hrs/day and (b) work on all the stuff you mentioned. I see that you're trying to walk it back by saying "to be a good all rounder," and if that's what it means to be "really good" to you, then I hope that's working out for you. I personally think it's a ridiculously narrow definition. Being "really good" to me means exactly one thing: when you play, it moves someone. I could go on at length naming really good guitarists that didn't know 90% of the stuff on your list, and I've heard a few guys who obviously know all of it whose playing is utterly uninteresting to me.


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## Maniacal (Feb 27, 2013)

I agree with you regarding being "really good". I am a working guitarist though, so it is important to me that I can play whatever style is thrown at me. 

And yes, just because someone can play every style/chord known to man does not mean they "moving".


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## Idontpersonally (Feb 27, 2013)

Coffee and cigarettes have been working for me lately. But now im addicted to both, but playing too sooo..idk


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## groovemasta (Feb 27, 2013)

Not trying to further an argument but I don't really see how you can oppose manaical.

Assuming you are focusing on technique practise, it's really going to a take a very long time to shred if that's your goal if you don't put in long sessions.

Do olympic athletes train one 'focused' hour a day?


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## Handbanana (Feb 27, 2013)

Quit my job and get a divorce.


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## celticelk (Feb 27, 2013)

groovemasta said:


> Not trying to further an argument but I don't really see how you can oppose manaical.
> 
> Assuming you are focusing on technique practise, it's really going to a take a very long time to shred if that's your goal if you don't put in long sessions.
> 
> Do olympic athletes train one 'focused' hour a day?



First: yes. The first runner to break a four-minute mile ran an hour a day. There are significant studies showing that you can get an equivalent amount of fitness-building from a very short period of intense training as from a longer period of less intense training.

Second: if he'd said "to shred," I might not have objected so strongly. What he said was "to be really good" which is a much different proposition.


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## InfinityCollision (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> I agree with you regarding being "really good". I am a working guitarist though, so it is important to me that I can play whatever style is thrown at me.
> 
> And yes, just because someone can play every style/chord known to man does not mean they "moving".


How's your rasgueado?  I kid. I'd debate the importance of some of the things you listed, but I think our approaches to music as a whole, nevermind guitar, are sufficiently different that we'd almost be speaking different languages.



groovemasta said:


> Not trying to further an argument but I don't really see how you can oppose manaical.
> 
> Assuming you are focusing on technique practise, it's really going to a take a very long time to shred if that's your goal if you don't put in long sessions.
> 
> Do olympic athletes train one 'focused' hour a day?


Off the top of my head, this has been covered at least twice already by both myself and Celticelk with our respective disagreements on the issue.


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## Brill (Feb 27, 2013)

Maniacal said:


> Bullshit? Really?
> 
> Okay go practice for an hour, work on the following:
> alternate picking
> ...


 


phugoid said:


> Assuming you play guitar as well, that's three instruments you're learning?
> 
> I'd say focus on one of them until you get quite proficient, then bring other instruments into the mix. Better to do one thing full-on, than three things half-assedly.


 
I'm actually just learning bass and piano. No guitar.


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## phugoid (Feb 28, 2013)

Another aspect I haven't seen discussed here is raw talent. Some people might be able to progress with one hour per day, but I don't think I can. 

If I put in 100 hours, what I get out depends a lot on my natural aptitude/talent. Talent is a multiplier of your efforts.


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## guitarguyMT (Feb 28, 2013)

Loxodrome said:


> ...Any one have some tips on how to practice more?



I play guitar, not bass or keys, but I imagine this works the same with any instrument you could play. About two or three months ago recently was wondering the same thing about practicing more myself. Outside of rehearsing with my band once a week, I was averaging 30 to 40 minutes a day, every other day, with an occasional Sunday where I got an hour or two in. It was really pissing me off how stagnant my progress had become. Like quitting cigarettes, I quit wasting time cold turkey.

I essential forced myself to practice whenever I wasn't doing something important, even when I didn't want to. For instance, instead of surfing the internet or watching TV for a little while before bed/work/etc, I played guitar. Just finished class and have 30 minutes before work? Guitar. Not out with friends and don't wanna go to bed for a few hours, play guitar. Even though there's a "Star Trek Marathon" on the BBC, guitar; asking myself which is more important to me, The Federation's shenanigans or mastering a new riff? The choice is easy.

Eventually, practicing guitar just became what I did whenever I was at home, without thinking about it. It became equally an impulse and a force of habit. So much so even I was choosing sober weekend nights alone just to fit in a couple more hours of practice, without hesitation. My level of progress is faster and more rewarding than it has been in the last 4 years.

Also... just purchasing and using a metronome at all times forces you to practice more. Forces you to want to be more accurate, even when just noodling around.


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## leoseanster12 (Feb 28, 2013)

Find a facet about your guitar/bass/piano playing that inspires you, dig down to that inspiration and structure a practice regiment based on _your_ goals and _your_ available time.

It helps that the guys on here are suggesting things for you. In the end though, if you want it bad enough you will do it; those practice hours will just fly by.


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## redstone (Mar 1, 2013)

groovemasta said:


> Do olympic athletes train one 'focused' hour a day?



According to some studies, it takes at least 15m to be focused, the focus lasts about 50m, and the minimal rest time is 10m before starting a new cycle.


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## MeriTone Music (Mar 11, 2013)

Loxodrome said:


> i have bass guitar and piano lesspns, but i don't seem to play or practise inbetween them very much, like max 1 hour a day. Any one have some tips on how to practice more?



two words... BE INSPIRED.

Whatever you need to do to get inspired... that's it


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## Rizzo (Mar 11, 2013)

Here's my 2 cents:

1. Always minimize the setup time, or you'll get bored! Keep your rig always as "ready to go" as possible.
2. Focus. "Less and better" will always beat "more and in a hurry".
3. Have fun, explore new ways!
4. Just ask yourself "did I learn anything new this (week)?". AKA, take note of your progress. It will keep your motivation up, trust me.



Remember, as i read somewhere, that talent doesn't exist: "talent is just the result of repeated actions". I'm done with talking...


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## Konfyouzd (Mar 11, 2013)

Writing and recording is what makes me want to play more. Thinking about everything I play in the context of a song, even if it doesn't sound very good currently, helps to guide my playing to something that *does* sound good to me.

For instance sometimes I'll just bang around on one chord for a while... Add notes... Take notes out... Hammering/pulling off notes mid chord... And eventually I just hear something that catches my attention and I just base everything off that for a while and even if it sounds like jibberish to others, I get enough out of it to form useable ideas.

From there it's off to the computer so I don't forget it.

Once it's recorded... Well now I can hear it over and over and over again without havig to play it. My mind is freed up to allow me to play even more and the more I do this the more it begins to sound like a song.

At the same time, I've practiced several things:
-Ear training (figuring out what I need to do to get what I hear in my head recorded; maybe you call it something else)
-Slight interval training (figuring out what intervals I want to harmonize on for a given section of the song)
-Reinforcing previously established technique
-Writing 
-Etc...


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## VBCheeseGrater (Mar 11, 2013)

Join a cover band. You'll have fun and be forced to learn songs you would never normally consider learning. My best periods of progress have always been playing in a good cover band.

Example - We decided to play "Bat Country" - had to learn the solo - i was never a sweep guy - now i'm getting decent with sweeps.

I do agree both everyday practice and at least an hour or so is important. If i'm working on something mechanically difficult and keep at it, towards the end of my session i can normally see progress after some serious time put in (in the same session) repeating the same motion.


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## Konfyouzd (Mar 11, 2013)

VBCheeseGrater said:


> If i'm working on something mechanically difficult and keep at it, towards the end of my session i can normally see progress after some serious time put in (in the same session) repeating the same motion.


 


Sometimes much sooner than you expect too I bet.


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## ohoolahan (Mar 11, 2013)

buying new guitars 

the most important thing for me is to have fun when i play. i get really frustrated and bored when i have to play / learn something what i won't play right now. sometimes i like to learn some sweep picking, but when i feel " no i would like to play some songs" i play them...


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## Solodini (Mar 12, 2013)

Ave obligation to others, be that someone expecting you to record a part for them and needing to have it prepared or jamming with someone, coming up with something cool but challenging that you struggled to play in the jam so that when you arrive home, despite the ache, you want to keep working on it because it sounds cool and sounds better the more you play it. 

Sound is the driving factor, I find. Most things I can practise don't FEEL interesting or cool. I feel good ONCE I'm better at it but that doesn't drive me so much to keep going: I don't feel like I've achieved something by doing so, but honed the tools I use TO achieve things, musically. As said above, if I want to work on something technically then I'll come up with something which sounds interesting, which I want to sound better by being well played and be able to show people and see their enjoyment at how cool it sounds. These musical exercises are generally a bit more difficult than just straight arpeggios and the like but the interest makes me work at them bit by bit to piece them together. 

I was jamming along to Stevie Wonder's Superstition at the weekend, which was easy but allowed me to try out subtle variations in my approach. I didn't mind playing through the song 10 times and the half hour flew by because I was interacting with music i enjoyed hearing and I was contributing to it, in a way. 

These sort of things inspire me to practise: sharing in music with others.


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## bondmorkret (Mar 13, 2013)

Make yourself a practice regime written down on paper and hold yourself accountable if you don't do it.


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## Sephael (Mar 13, 2013)

Anytime you sit down to watch TV have your bass (or a little keyboard) with you, as soon as a commercial starts pick it up and start practicing. No need to plug in, and even if it is just running scales or something 3-4 minutes at a time before the next commercial. Watching a 2 hour movie with commercials would give you like half an hour of practice.


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## guitarguyMT (Mar 13, 2013)

Sephael said:


> Anytime you sit down to watch TV have your bass (or a little keyboard) with you, as soon as a commercial starts pick it up and start practicing. No need to plug in, and even if it is just running scales or something 3-4 minutes at a time before the next commercial. Watching a 2 hour movie with commercials would give you like half an hour of practice.



I have the same routine. I actually get really fidgety and uncomfortable when watching TV without my guitar now . I would strongly suggest still plugging in if you're playing during commercials or lame spots during a movie or whatever, especially if you're by yourself and not annoying a room mate or someone. I think it's important to be able to hear how you're playing what you are playing. Drilling scales and interval exercises is great for SO MANY reasons, but if you're not careful, you can easily pick up a bad habit. Hearing just the clacking of strings, fret buzz, and a really quiet twangy note without hearing the clarity or timing between the two hands or how the way you're picking or fingering the strings affects the tone might bet a two steps forward one step back sort of situation. I would also recommend not just laying back on the couch or whatever while doing this, and sit up right and play the instrument with proper form, then relax again when commercials are done. Like I see people say everywhere on this forum, a little bit of focused practice is a lot better than a lot of mindless practice.


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## groovemasta (Mar 13, 2013)

Well.. you just stop asking questions like this and literally sit down and do it.


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## Mehnike (Mar 13, 2013)

15 minutes minimum intensive practice per day, every day. If you can play longer, play longer. Even on late nights after busy days where you are much too lazy to pick up a guitar, take 15 serious minutes. Do it all to a metronome so you can actually gauge your improvement. You will see improvement in whatever you are focusing on. Get as good as you want and move on.

The whole 'no major time commitment' makes it much easier to improve with a busy school/work schedule when 3 hours of practice is 3 hours you need to make it through the next day.

And if you have an iPhone, get the free metronome app "Silver Dial" . It is a full fledged metronome with timer.


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## DrZoidberg (Mar 13, 2013)

Practice doesn't even necessarily mean playing the guitar. You can go over things mentally while at work or stuck in traffic or whatever. Visualize the neck, maybe think of a scale you'd like to work on and mentally map out what notes are in the scale and apply that to the fretboard. Just thinking about the guitar more might help you when you actually sit down with the guitar to practice.


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## guitarguyMT (Mar 13, 2013)

DrZoidberg said:


> Practice doesn't even necessarily mean playing the guitar. You can go over things mentally while at work or stuck in traffic or whatever. Visualize the neck, maybe think of a scale you'd like to work on and mentally map out what notes are in the scale and apply that to the fretboard. Just thinking about the guitar more might help you when you actually sit down with the guitar to practice.



All of the time back in highschool, and even to this day with more exotic scales, instead of taking notes during class I would to draw a fretboard and shade in the pattern of every scale I could remember starting on different notes to help memorize the patterns or learn new ones. Once I could visualize and recreate them without much thought it got really easy to play through them when I was able to pick the guitar up, and really helped bouncing around with intervals. I absolutely count that as practice.


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## Najka (Mar 14, 2013)

Just made a thread about this article, I failed to see you guys were one step ahead of me!

Here is a pretty good read about how many hours to spend practicing

How Many Hours a Day Should You Practice?


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## Idontpersonally (Mar 31, 2013)

DrZoidberg said:


> Practice doesn't even necessarily mean playing the guitar. You can go over things mentally while at work or stuck in traffic or whatever. Visualize the neck, maybe think of a scale you'd like to work on and mentally map out what notes are in the scale and apply that to the fretboard. Just thinking about the guitar more might help you when you actually sit down with the guitar to practice.



i think about it all the time


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## Hipster Holocaust (Mar 31, 2013)

"15 minutes extensive practice?" It takes me longer to ---- --- (another activity performed alone with a computer and a roll of Brawny's. Sometimes 2 rolls of Brawny's).


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## AlexRuger (Mar 31, 2013)

If you need to make your self practice, seriously consider why you're playing music in the first place.


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## Idontpersonally (Apr 1, 2013)

AlexSmith said:


> If you need to make your self practice, seriously consider why you're playing music in the first place.


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## AlexRuger (Apr 2, 2013)

Idontpersonally said:


>




I can't tell if you're disagreeing with me or not, but I don't care because Bill Hicks is a legend.


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## right_to_rage (Apr 14, 2013)

What I like to do is choose from my favourite books I'm using and write out a master list picking my own top five pages or topics from each book to work on for the next month. That way theres a list in front of me physically so theres no questions about what to practice.


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## TravisWright (Apr 17, 2013)

Loxodrome!

Not practicing the right way is DIFFERENT than what you described... you practice but it's like going through the motions. If anything is meaningless, it doesn't last for long.

So if you are having trouble even practicing, is it because you are overwhelmed? Uninspired? Don't know what to practice? 

Maybe the most important question to ask yourself is, what would you need to be able to do musically to make you happy? It's not always getting better that makes us happy... sometimes it's as simple as being able to play for others or to truly write your own song or whatever the reason may be. You just sound uninspired. 

I believe.. if you find your inspiration, what makes you wanna play, the practice will follow. You won't feel you HAVE to practice... you'll be finding you don't have enough time in the day to practice! The others are spot on. Focus. Work smarter. But none of that means anything if you simply don't feel it. Hope this helps...


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## Vaelthunder (May 8, 2013)

But how should one divide its training/playing sessions?
I mean... Let's say I have 1 hour a day and I still have A LOT to learn.

How much time should we dedicate to theory, mechanical exercises, listening to others, covering others, practicing your songs, composing, recording, etc?

My most common issue is that whenever I grab my guitar, I immediately start playing my songs/already learned songs and tend to forget the rest. 

How should I discipline that? Get a schedule or something? How much time for each thing? How do you do it?


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## jarnozz (May 8, 2013)

I practiced 1.5/2 hours a day when I started playing electric guitar. Went from nothing to shred in 6 months. The fact I played classic guitar helped a bit I must admit. I made sure I practiced every scale imaginable, up to speed and memorizing it. Not only playing but a lot of theory as well. That really pays of on the long run


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## Rosal76 (May 8, 2013)

You guys have to remember that not only that everyone has a different schedule on what they practice and how much time they spend on it but also, the amount of talent they already have. Dream Theater guitarist, John Petrucci, claims that he only practices 2 hours a day. Steve Vai claims that he sometimes practices for 9. I don't believe there should be a "concrete, set in stone format" of how much time you should spend on whatever technique. I would just tell you to focus on your weaknesses and spend whatever free time you have in the day to develop it.


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## ElRay (May 8, 2013)

Rizzo said:


> 1. Always minimize the setup time, or you'll get bored! Keep your rig always as "ready to go" as possible.





bondmorkret said:


> Make yourself a practice regime written down on paper and hold yourself accountable if you don't do it.


+1  to both of these. That's what I've got set-up for my daughter. 

Another thing is to find your "commodity". For my daughter, it's stickers and fancy pencils. She gets a sticker each time she completes an item on her practice sheet, and if she gets over 50 stickers in a period, she gets to pick one of the shiny/sparkly pencils from "The Stash".

Now I just have to practice what I'm preaching for my own playing.

Ray


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## thesnowdog (May 9, 2013)

ElRay said:


> Now I just have to practice what I'm preaching for my own playing.



The thought of earning sparkly pencils isn't getting you up in the morning?


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## Zedism (May 9, 2013)

I practice at least an hour a day, broken up by "playing" whenever else I can get the chance, often for 4 or 5 hours if I can find that sort of time. If you're not finding the motivation to pick up the instrument, whatever it may be, I'd say you need to re-evaluate the way you're approaching it. Personally I don't need to push myself to pick up my guitar, I crave it because I find it so necessary for my mental well-being. I think of it like smoking cigarettes, only in a good way. It's a therapeutic release, it makes me feel good, gives me confidence and drive, and I see myself improve constantly. 

Get yourself excited to pick up anything that makes sound, condition yourself to crave musical expression, then practice and play will become second nature, it'll just be another regular part of your day, or more if you want it to be. The more you try to force yourself to practice, the more you'll naturally repulse from it. It's the reason I get an off-putting, strange sensation when I play the piano, because I was forced to practice when I was younger and it's left a bad stigma in my mind.


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## ElRay (May 9, 2013)

thesnowdog said:


> The thought of earning sparkly pencils isn't getting you up in the morning?





Well my first choice requires buy-in from my wife. "Hey honey, I've got a full sheet of stickers ..." 

Ray


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## Zedism (May 9, 2013)

ElRay said:


> Well my first choice requires buy-in from my wife. "Hey honey, I've got a full sheet of stickers ..."
> 
> Ray



"Hey honey, I've got a surprise for you in the bedroom... It's not sparkly, but it is sticky, so we're half-way there "


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## Kaickul (Jun 20, 2013)

following a lesson plan has helped discipline me on my playing and the things that i want to accomplish for the session. before i was just constantly learning songs and not focusing on technique which slowed my pace on learning harder songs.


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## ghost_of_karelia (Jun 20, 2013)

A lot of great suggestions here. 

What works for me is if I hide the guitar and tell myself I'm actually not allowed to play it for at least 7 days. Then I watch a shit ton of music videos/studio diaries of bands and guitarists that I'm really into, until I physically cannot sit in my chair anymore and NEED to go and get that guitar in my hands. So I do, and good god do I get a lot done.


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## Enselmis (Jun 21, 2013)

80H said:


> -Enjoy practice more than the other stuff in life
> -Respect the natural limits of the human hand and brain
> -Sit down and do it, even if it doesn't feel right at the time. Expect it to get better after 20-30 minutes because it usually will
> 
> ...




Straight up, if 3 hours kills your fingers then you're doing something wrong. Spend some time trying to use as little pressure as humanly possible to fret every note. It'll make a huuuuuge difference, I swear.


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## Detested (Jun 29, 2013)

Shuffle in and out new gear,pedals,speakers,ect.Explore different tones,always keeps my interest up,when I can afford it,also videos of my fave guitarists makes my mouth water.
Best wishes


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## PyramidSmasher (Jun 29, 2013)

I could see how playing a third instrument could be hard to make time for... but honestly to me it's all about finding that one right excersize that challenges you without being too hard. One that you actually like the results from too, and might use in your playing. For me that's a few different sweep tapping things I play recently.


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## FruitCakeRonin (Jun 29, 2013)

I have my guitar standing next to my computer desk so its always within my reach. And so while im browsing the web or watching a movie I suddenly feel like playing the guitar, and then I just grab it and start playing around. I probably play at least one or two hours each day, but in small segments of 15-20 min. a time. And then every once in a while I play a good 1½-2 hours session.


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## bcolville (Jun 29, 2013)

The funny thing for me was that when I took lessons I never practiced but when I stopped, that's when I really got into playing music


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## Solodini (Jul 1, 2013)

That can often happen. It's easy to feel obligated to practise when you're taking lessons, which makes it undesirable. I always seem to feel inspired after the odd seminar with someone, though.


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## vansinn (Jul 5, 2013)

By wanting it more. Not because others are better, but because I can't play what's inside my twisted head


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