Practice Techniques

[jamescalvin]

Hello, just a quick question regarding practicing. When you guys practice, what exactly do you practice and how long do you usually practice for? Also, when you practice, do you practice certain things for a certain amount of time? I think learning on my own has got my methods of practice a little minimalized and I would really like to better my playing by practicing and I'd just like some ideas on how you guys (and gals) do it.

Thanks
J

[McHack]

Not that anyone should copy this, but, I generally run threw a few scales & arpeggios, & then I just jump right into the songs we've slated for our set list.

I'm sure there's gotta be a better routine, full of exercises & such...

[jamescalvin]

Originally Posted by McHack

Not that anyone should copy this, but, I generally run threw a few scales & arpeggios, & then I just jump right into the songs we've slated for our set list.

I'm sure there's gotta be a better routine, full of exercises & such...

Yeah, I guess I just need to know different kinds of routines that people do. Usually I just run through the songs that my band plays. Of course I get better at those songs but as far as learning to better my own theory and what not, that just doesn't happen. Maybe if I got a book on scales and just practiced different variations of one scale per day or something. Maybe I'll try that for a month and see where it gets me.

[Rob W]

IMO the best way to practice is to first identify what is not going well, try to pinpoint exactly why and work to solve that problem. That will often involving stripping the passage down to bare elements - for example practice only right hand, or isolate a problematic arpeggio and make sure your left hand is arriving in a timely manner, or any number of other solutions.

You don't need to practice what you CAN play and you should not practice your mistakes.

Really, in a nutshell, figure out what is not great, and work on a systematic approach to solving that problem specifically.


In general practice terms, when you practice technical exercises, make sure you are actually working on something . When you play a scale, there are any number of specific areas you can work on such as rhythm, tone, dynamics, left/right hand coordination, etc. NEVER play a scale without thinking about what it is you are trying to achieve that particular time. You will never improve if you don't.