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Post by thecorner on Mar 26, 2013 22:07:15 GMT
Following on from Keith's/Ross's thoughts in the general section on re-generated threads, how much/often do you practice/play for enjoyment/play for preparing for gigs etc. It would be interesting to hear how people balance out their "guitar time".
For me, I would say that I tend to spend maybe up to an hour / hour and a half each day with my guitar, some days that is almost exclusively allocated to trying to learn new stuff, some days just playing old comfortable pieces and noodling around. Occasionally I put on a good acoustic based CD and play along for the enjoyment of doing it. I don't know if any of this will ever really move my playing forward very much, but the main thrust is to get real enjoyment out of my guitar.
Hows about the rest of you??
Eric
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Mar 26, 2013 22:59:14 GMT
For warming up before playing properly, I like to run through some simpler (ha!) stuff first. Similarly if watching telly or reading forums I like to just mess around. Practising for me is learning new songs or tunes, and I spend at least half of my total playing time doing this. I don't bother with exercises or scales, but if a section of what I'm learning requires a new technique, I will happily play that particular part over and over again for hours to get it right, so I suppose that is really practising. It all has to be with the aim of learning a new piece, otherwise I lose interest and just begin messing around again
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brianr2
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Post by brianr2 on Mar 26, 2013 23:20:05 GMT
I am very much like Martin (!! ?) I play fingerstyle tunes, new and old, from a wide range of tab books. As I cycle through these books, I have a go at most things and will work on tricky stuff but not get hung up about it. For me, variety is important. I do not have the patience or the years (as a very late starter) to repeat scales etc. Having the memory and attention span of a senile goldfish does not help... I try to play for 2 hours a day and this time flies for me. Over my couple of years of playing since retiring from the futility of gainful employment, I think I have made considerable - but not rapid - gains. For me, progress seems to come in erratic hops, rather than big leaps or steady growth. Perhaps a more systematic approach may have been more effective but I suspect boredom would have kicked in and turned me off altogether. It seems you can teach an old dog new tricks, providing you give it plenty of treats!
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Post by Deleted on Mar 27, 2013 12:46:26 GMT
I've been doing fingerstyle stuff for many years but now am wanting to get into soloing as the dark side looms...therefore practice time is split into scales first, published pieces of music next followed by my own feeble compositions. Time scale is when I can fit it in! I try to aim for an hour a day but sometimes it can be 15 mins
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leoroberts
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Post by leoroberts on Mar 27, 2013 12:54:53 GMT
It will come as no surprise that I do hardly any practice at all... I might spend a while learning a new song but I've never understood music theory, can't read the dot things, can just about interpret TAB (as long as there is an accompanying CD) and, consequently, I don't think my abilities have moved on much in the past few (25ish) years. Basically, whilst i have the desire; I don't have the patience and I'm too lazy to put in the effort. Nor do i really have the motivation - I'm hoping to retire before arthritis bites and then I'll do some proper work on developing my technique, until then there's little point in me practicing when everything I do has only 4 chords anyway
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andrewjw
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Post by andrewjw on Mar 27, 2013 19:59:10 GMT
Good question... When I'm playing I'm practising and vica versa... Practising for playing "out" ..gigs ..etc is different. Then familiarity is the key....if you can't play it to yourself at home you'll never be able to be play it in front of others when you are feeling [naturally] nervous...etc etc etc. I don't have a guitar time...some days it is a couple of hours...other days zilch...new material makes the former more likely...spending time here makes it less!
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Post by thecorner on Mar 27, 2013 20:57:26 GMT
...spending time here makes it less! and from Leo.... " I'm hoping to retire before arthritis bites and then I'll do some proper work on developing my technique " Have to agree with that one, Andrew.!!! And Leo, that was also my idea when I retired a few years ago, and although I still have the desire, the time just seems to vanish!! Ah well, I'm sure I'll get round to it sometime! Eric
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 28, 2013 20:08:58 GMT
I'm in the lazy camp I'm afraid. Much of the time I just mess around. I'll put a bit more effort in if I'm writing a tune or working out an arrangement, but even then I tend not to spend long on it - they seem to either appear fairly quickly, or go through a long gestation period and finish up rather different from how they started out. I have two main goals at present though i) to (re)learn more of my fingerstyle pieces so I can play more of them reasonably well without thinking. ii) to learn the words properly to at least some of the songs I enjoy singing. and iii)...... ....I have three main goals at present i) to (re)learn more of my fingerstyle pieces so I can play reasonably well them without thinking. ii) to learn the words properly to at least some of the songs I enjoy singing. iii) to work harder at my mandolin tune playing and iv)... No, actually there isn't a iv). Even i), ii) and iii) is too much - stops me concentrating on any particular one, so I mess about a lot.... did I mention that? Etc. Keith
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Post by thecorner on Mar 28, 2013 22:12:15 GMT
very Monty Python - almost the Spanish Inquisition!!!
Eric
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 28, 2013 23:13:33 GMT
very Monty Python - almost the Spanish Inquisition!!! Eric I didn't expect the.... Keith
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