Tonedef
When I get home, I either bash together din dins for the wife and kids, or chow if it's already done, then I go grab my noodle and fiddle for an hour or so, at least. If the mood strikes me, I do the same after everyone has gone to bed (blessed is he that hath peace in the lounge). I'm going to try and keep this up every day.
At this point, my chord work is beyond suckage, I can't even gooi an E minor without dislocating my shoulder and causing famine in Eastern Europe. Last night I was particularly tired after a hard graft and staying up very late night before last with the axe. So I just sat and vrotted in front of the TV, with pick in hand and practising up-and-down pickwork. My left hand was just buggering around picking out random phantom chords and pressing hard, the aim being to work on my strength and general muscle control.
My fingertips have taken a real beating, but I'm pleased to report that they have started to develop a pleasant sort of, ahem, comfortable numbness.
And so the row is slowly being hoe'ed. ?
Baby steps!
Seventhson
I play between 2-1 hours everyday. Would play more but I get tired?
Been like that since I started. It has paid off except I am not happy with my solos? learnt the wrong scale?
Tonedef
Seventhson wrote:
except I am not happy with my solos? learnt the wrong scale?
You need to 'asplain this to a noob! :-[
RobK
Don't think it's a regime or routine/whatever, but I play when I have the time. Usually it's 1-2 hours at a time. Not that I'm very good just yet, but my fingertips don't hurt as much and I can strum the Em chord without worrying about causing anyone any ear pain (or famine in Eastern Europe)
For strength try one of these -
http://www.powerballs.com/ - (yes it's a safe for work site) ?
IceCreamMan
i practice about 30 minutes in the morning , couple of scales , mess around with some numbers and the like ....then in the evening i practice at least 30 minutes every evening .....on weekends is when i chill with guitar pro and work on tunes the band want to do ..... sometimes i sit for 4 hours in front of the laptop but then i am checking mail and stuff too. Friday nights i generlly practice a bit , watch a movie or 2 then practice more til the wee hours of hte morning ..
Tonedef
So I read about that Rock Tips stuff, but I heard you can put alcohol on your fingertips as well to do the same job. I have no idea whether this would be rubbing alcohol or ethanol (a potentially very dangerous activity if you have surplus ?). Does anybody have advice regarding this?
RobK
Tonedef wrote:
So I read about that Rock Tips stuff, but I heard you can put alcohol on your fingertips as well to do the same job. I have no idea whether this would be rubbing alcohol or ethanol (a potentially very dangerous activity if you have surplus ?). Does anybody have advice regarding this?
Forget all the namby-pamby wuss fingertip numbing chemicals and take the pain like a man ? , and if you really must have alcohol rather buy the stuff that goes through your mouth into the stomach - that helps a bit with the pain. ?
Tonedef
Thats some advice I could live with! ?
P.S That reminds me. Does anybody here skin up, switch on the sound recorder and then jam, with the (hopefully interesting) results of the fruits of the good tree sampled the next morning?
(If you've got no idea what I'm on about, it's probably just as well ?).
FruitarGeek
Great Topic
My regime has been pumped up lately cause 1) I'm on holiday and 2) Im taking this shiz seriously.
So in the evening from between 8 - 9 I work on my speed for at least an hour with a metronome, just going back and forth the chromatic, Major, Diminshed, Fusion Mixolideon etc, just getting speed. And making sure that the economy of motion is all good. I might do this whilst watching an episode of Dexter too :?
Then I end it off with Theory and Jazz. Im going through a phenomenal Jazz guide book by Jody Fisher, so right now Im learning advanced chords like C6, C9, CM9 etc. Then literally right before I sleep I go over more theory, right now im trying to learn all 12 Major scales off by heart, as well as there relative minors. So like the C major, I learn the notes in it namel C D E F G A B, and then I learn how to spell basic chords. Good fun
Oh and Tonedef, that thing about meths, it does work, what it does really is just dry out the skin but it wont really fix the problem, try it for yourself, but Im with RobK on this one, namely to "take the pain".
@Seventhson - what the heck is the wrong scale? is there such a thing? Or did you learn the fingerings wrong.
CornFlakes
I try practice everyday, but lately I've been slacking and It's haunting me. I think the thing is that I need a new challenge...
My regime or routine, is I do warm-up exercises with a metronome for about 15min then I just play around and learn new songs or whatever. I recon the best way to practice or learn is repetition...
Tonedef
FruitarGeek wrote:
Oh and Tonedef, that thing about meths, it does work, what it does really is just dry out the skin but it wont really fix the problem, try it for yourself, but Im with RobK on this one, namely to "take the pain".
Sure, no probs! The pain isn't much of a problem in any case. I was just under the impression that the alcohol helps with callus building, I guess that ain't the the case.
Dunno if I'm weird, but the pain is sortof enjoyable - it gives a sense of progression, of actually doing something productive for the long run.
Bob-Dubery
TD you often remark on the physical discomfort of playing. Have you had somebody check the action on your guitar?
Hammeron
I like to run through some riffage for say 10 minutes in the morning before I go to school. Often come up with new stuff in the mornings which I put down on tape.
4 times a week the band gets together and we run thru our latest set list if there is an event pending, if not we work on the new stuff. There is always 2-3 new songs in various stages of development. {We have around 20 fully fledged songs at present.}
And any other spare time I get between chilling and homework, I mess about and work on my scales.
We don't do covers so I've stopped using guitar pro. {I used it a lot in the early days.}
Twice a week I have a half hour lesson at school. 8)
Tonedef
X-rated Bob wrote:
TD you often remark on the physical discomfort of playing. Have you had somebody check the action on your guitar?
No, not yet. I only got my guitar on Monday afternoon, and I've really been hammering HARD, intentionally, with my left hand fingers.
Seventhson
FruitarGeek wrote:
Great Topic
My regime has been pumped up lately cause 1) I'm on holiday and 2) Im taking this shiz seriously.
So in the evening from between 8 - 9 I work on my speed for at least an hour with a metronome, just going back and forth the chromatic, Major, Diminshed, Fusion Mixolideon etc, just getting speed. And making sure that the economy of motion is all good. I might do this whilst watching an episode of Dexter too :?
Then I end it off with Theory and Jazz. Im going through a phenomenal Jazz guide book by Jody Fisher, so right now Im learning advanced chords like C6, C9, CM9 etc. Then literally right before I sleep I go over more theory, right now im trying to learn all 12 Major scales off by heart, as well as there relative minors. So like the C major, I learn the notes in it namel C D E F G A B, and then I learn how to spell basic chords. Good fun
Oh and Tonedef, that thing about meths, it does work, what it does really is just dry out the skin but it wont really fix the problem, try it for yourself, but Im with RobK on this one, namely to "take the pain".
@Seventhson - what the heck is the wrong scale? is there such a thing? Or did you learn the fingerings wrong.
Because it sounds to happy for metal songs?
I lied about it being every day since the beginning. No no 10 hours a day for a year I use to play every day. Thats when I had nothing better to do.
Oh how my fingers where so sore every day. They had such blisters but I stilled played. even cut the top of my picking fingers. Blood all over my guitar before I realised what was going on?
arjunmenon
5 days a week from 5:30 - 6:30 PM and 7:30 - 8:30 PM. I usually plan in advance what i want to accomplish from the practise session.
I use a timer and a metronome. Saturday morning, i pick 1 song that i like and slowly start chipping away at it. I stick with it till i've learnt it.
Saturday afternoon, i work on some of my solo stuff.
First hour:
0 - 10 mins : Stretches with various extended voicings @ 90 bpm
10 - 20 mins : Chromatic exercises using various fingering patterns and combinations of string-skipping etc (starting at 90 bpm and i work my way up to about 220 bpm). I also work on various note groupings (3s, 4s, 5s, 6s & 7s)
20 - 30 mins: Focus on reading music.
30 - 60 mins : Start working on a scale that i'm unfamiliar with (I usually refer to Adam Kadmon's Guitar Grimoire). Understand the formula. Start with a 3 notes per string pattern and then try and play it in as many different ways as possible to help the ear understand the tonality.
Second hour:
0 - 20 mins: Build chords using the scale i've been going over. Try different voicings etc.
20 - 40 mins: Write out a progression and try to play through the changes etc. Here's where i focus on my phrasing, note groupings, tempo changes, whammy bar usage etc.
40 - 60 mins: Focus on a technique that i'm unfamiliar with (Of late, it's been Carl Verheyen's use of artificial harmonics to create a cascading sort of sound)
I also spend about half an hour most days listening to music that makes me want to play and also catch up on reading music related or inspirational stuff.
Tonedef
???
☹ :'( ☹ :'( :sorry:
RobK
Arjun Menon wrote:
5 days a week from 5:30 - 6:30 PM and 7:30 - 8:30 PM. I usually plan in advance what i want to accomplish from the practise session.
I use a timer and a metronome. Saturday morning, i pick 1 song that i like and slowly start chipping away at it. I stick with it till i've learnt it.
Saturday afternoon, i work on some of my solo stuff.
First hour:
0 - 10 mins : Stretches with various extended voicings @ 90 bpm
10 - 20 mins : Chromatic exercises using various fingering patterns and combinations of string-skipping etc (starting at 90 bpm and i work my way up to about 220 bpm). I also work on various note groupings (3s, 4s, 5s, 6s & 7s)
20 - 30 mins: Focus on reading music.
30 - 60 mins : Start working on a scale that i'm unfamiliar with (I usually refer to Adam Kadmon's Guitar Grimoire). Understand the formula. Start with a 3 notes per string pattern and then try and play it in as many different ways as possible to help the ear understand the tonality.
Second hour:
0 - 20 mins: Build chords using the scale i've been going over. Try different voicings etc.
20 - 40 mins: Write out a progression and try to play through the changes etc. Here's where i focus on my phrasing, note groupings, tempo changes, whammy bar usage etc.
40 - 60 mins: Focus on a technique that i'm unfamiliar with (Of late, it's been Carl Verheyen's use of artificial harmonics to create a cascading sort of sound)
I also spend about half an hour most days listening to music that makes me want to play and also catch up on reading music related or inspirational stuff.
I just got tired reading all that ?
I think that's , in general, what a practice routine should look like.
Hammeron
learnt the wrong scale?
I am a die hard headbanger and these are the scales I use:
Pentatonics
7th Pentatonic
Eastern in E
Dorian
Aeolian
Seventhson
Hammeron wrote:
learnt the wrong scale?
I am a die hard headbanger and these are the scales I use:
Pentatonics
7th Pentatonic
Eastern in E
Dorian
Aeolian
Good stuff. I learnt pentatonics the other day.
