adr1aan wrote:
I sometimes wonder about that, what is the right stuff to practice?
Someone like Joe Satriani might say practising your scales in every key and every position BUT in a relaxed, musical way.
ie: No constant quarter-notes. Instead, mix it up. Take as long as you like on each note. Pick however feels natural. Let it flow.
A metronome is still important to help keep you "on the beat".
For this example, the goal is to get your ear used to the sounds of the scales and how they work in a musical context.
So that's one example.
For me, this all came together when I went to my guitar teacher (Meit Taitz - 084 666 6609) and he looked at what I could do and then said, "Okay here's what you're good at and here's what you need to improve on."
And that was incredibly helpful to me as a beginner.
As an "intermediate" player, now I'd first decide what I wanna play, and who are my influences, and then work my way back to fill in the gaps between where I am now and where I wanna be.
So if I wanted to play more like Joe Satriani, I'd work a heckuva lot more on fluid picking (where you can hardly hear the pick), legato, etc.
If I wanted to write rock songs, I'd focus on basic song theory and practise recording.
If I wanted to play for my friends around the braai, I'd learn different strumming techniques and some popular songs.
Once you know WHAT you want to do, the HOW starts to reveal itself. But if you don't have a clear idea of where you wanna be in a year, you might find it a lot more difficult to figure out how to practise to get you there.
