What would you recommend for me for a practice schedule?

[PRSfanboy46]

Hey y'all, practice is um.......... quite minimal for me and I need to start reestablishing a schedule or practice.
My issue is that I don't know what to do! I've taken lessons in the three years I've been playing and I really liked my first instructor but my mom didn't want me going to him since he was always touring. My second one was good but he didn't really teach me what I wanted to learn, just theory. Because of covid, I haven't been able to get lessons since march. During quarantine, I was reading the music lesson by Victor Wooten and Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo and those really gave me a new view on music and I liked them, and I was able to apply some things from The music lesson into my playing.

My big inspirations are Guthrie Govan, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, SRV, Hendrix, Santana and many more. My musical taste is enormous, I love everything from Jazz to Djent metal to classical music and everything in between. I have been looking into more jazz and trying to understand the complexities of some pieces such as "Giant steps". Giant steps doesn't have one defined key and it uses I think every single key in the song. John Coltrane was definitely up their in Jazz as one of the big innovators. My favorite jazz group is the Dave Bruebeck quartet, and Dave Bruebeck was also known for his experimentation, most notably "Take Five" and it's just so interesting to disect these pieces. Jazz can be quite simple, and also be extremely hard.

Personally, I find that books, yes they do help, but I lose interest in them. I personally would enjoy a structured course that I can do on my own time, learning theory, exercises and all that jazz. Is there anything from Steve Vai or Joe Satriani that they have made a course for music?

I have also wanted to look into Tyler Larson's (music is win) course of music and that looks extremely appealing.

Thanks!

 

[bodia]

Check out Trufire. You can run it on your PC or IPad. Tons of course to choose from. Go at your own pace.

 

[PRSfanboy46]

Check out Trufire. You can run it on your PC or IPad. Tons of course to choose from. Go at your own pace.

I looked into Tyler Larsons course and oh my god! It's 10 dollars a month for NINE subjects, all the way from theory to jazz to technique. I honestly think I will do that to be honest. What books would you recommend? I've always wanted Steve Vai's new theory book.

 

[jak3af3r]

What you need to do is listen to those people you like. Then you need to find who they listened to and their influences. What you listen to regularly will have a big impact on what you sound like down the road.

When you practice, it needs to be intentional and focused. You also need to understand a lot of time in learning a new skill is spent in the plateau phase where you don't seem to get any better and you can't let that get you down.

If you have questions about theory or need to dive deeper in the academics of music, let me know, I have a degree in guitar performance.

 

[PRSfanboy46]

What you need to do is listen to those people you like. Then you need to find who they listened to and their influences. What you listen to regularly will have a big impact on what you sound like down the road.

When you practice, it needs to be intentional and focused. You also need to understand a lot of time in learning a new skill is spent in the plateau phase where you don't seem to get any better and you can't let that get you down.

If you have questions about theory or need to dive deeper in the academics of music, let me know, I have a degree in guitar performance.

Well one thing thats always contradicted me when learning theory is that why is something like the c major scale equally important as knowing a b diminished flat 9 with a rooted 3rd in a c flat mixolydian? It just seems ridiculous

 

[jak3af3r]

Well one thing thats always contradicted me when learning theory is that why is something like the c major scale equally important as knowing a b diminished flat 9 with a rooted 3rd in a c flat mixolydian? It just seems ridiculous

Because you can't call something sharp/flat without having a reference point.

If you don't know the parent scale, you might be tempted to try and distinguish a particular chord whose extensions eliminate it from existing in its enharmonic mode.

 

[CandidPicker]

Check out Trufire. You can run it on your PC or IPad. Tons of course to choose. Go at your own pace.

I looked into Tyler Larsons course and oh my god! It's 10 dollars a month for NINE subjects, all the way theory to jazz to technique. I honestly think I will do that to be honest. What books would you recommend? I've always wanted Steve Vai's new theory book.

PFB,

Will 2nd @bodia's suggestions for TrueFire. The video selection is vast and teaches much of what you need to learn guitar, and learn it well.

My suggestion is to begin with blues and work your way towards other genres of music. The videos I'd strongly suggest you view is Josh Smith's Blues Highway, and Blues Highway Roadmaps.

Josh is not new to the business and knows his way around a fretboard and then some. A good teacher who can show you the basics and build on that...starting with beginner moving up to advanced. Not only does Josh pay homage to his mentors, but tells you how to think of what type of rhythm or solo you'd need for any given tempo, beat, or genre.

The TrueFire videos cost anywhere $19 upwards for comprehensive studies. Josh's were somewhere's around $35 for a good couple of hours of video lessons. Much more cost-effective than paying $50 for a half hour of personal lessons that you'd hear once and need to learn then.

Only thing required is a computer with plenty of hard drive to which you can download videos. TrueFire provides a free download of their version of a video player app, videos you can either download and keep on your hard drive once paid, or use an internet connection to stream the videos. You can also track your progress as you learn and designate whether you've completed a lesson or not, or might need to review.

TrueFire is also available for Apple TV in case you'd like to Family Share your computer downloads and view them on a wide screen TV.

Best wishes.

 

[veinbuster]

Practice schedule:
Allocate blocks of time each week, and follow through. As a teenager, I probably practiced 15-25 hours a week. Shows I played were on top of that.

I spent about half of my time on specific skills: triplets, off beat, slides, hammers/pull offs, scales. Sometimes the skill was more complicated like mimicking the phrasing of someone I liked: BB King, Clapton...I literally put hundreds of hours into each of these things.

About half of the rest, I spent learning songs. Often not guitar specific songs.

The remainder I spent playing things I liked.

If your original schedule was impractical, change it to suit you, but don’t cheat. The only way to get better is to put in the time.

 

[Frank McNerney]

Hey y'all, practice is um.......... quite minimal for me and I need to start reestablishing a schedule or practice.
My issue is that I don't know what to do! I've taken lessons in the three years I've been playing and I really liked my first instructor but my mom didn't want me going to him since he was always touring. My second one was good but he didn't really teach me what I wanted to learn, just theory. Because of covid, I haven't been able to get lessons since march. During quarantine, I was reading the music lesson by Victor Wooten and Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo and those really gave me a new view on music and I liked them, and I was able to apply some things from The music lesson into my playing.

My big inspirations are Guthrie Govan, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, SRV, Hendrix, Santana and many more. My musical taste is enormous, I love everything from Jazz to Djent metal to classical music and everything in between. I have been looking into more jazz and trying to understand the complexities of some pieces such as "Giant steps". Giant steps doesn't have one defined key and it uses I think every single key in the song. John Coltrane was definitely up their in Jazz as one of the big innovators. My favorite jazz group is the Dave Bruebeck quartet, and Dave Bruebeck was also known for his experimentation, most notably "Take Five" and it's just so interesting to disect these pieces. Jazz can be quite simple, and also be extremely hard.

Personally, I find that books, yes they do help, but I lose interest in them. I personally would enjoy a structured course that I can do on my own time, learning theory, exercises and all that jazz. Is there anything from Steve Vai or Joe Satriani that they have made a course for music?

I have also wanted to look into Tyler Larson's (music is win) course of music and that looks extremely appealing.

Thanks!

I'd suggest taking a look at Justin Guitar. It's got everything you are looking for and then a lot more. It's free - but (IMO) if you use It a lot you should at least send him a donation.

 

[Nice F Holes]

I suggest finding a teacher you can relate to - who speaks your language - and follow their practice recommendation.

I found someone I liked on YouTube, and they have Udemy courses, so I signed up for them and am following along.

 

[Stephen J.]

You have a few things going on here. Education of theory, improving technique, and the integration of the two.
Here are a few recommendations:

• If you are in a school with a music program, get involved. At this point, you might not be able to change your classes around, but go to the instructors and ask how you can be active in what they have to offer. It may be that what they are doing doesn't interest you much, but it is an opportunity to be around others who have interest in music and you will learn.
• Make friends with other musicians.
  • Play with other people. Play with those better than you and you will progress (be a sponge, not a leach). Play with people you can teach a little of what you know and you will solidify your knowledge in sharing it with others.
• Always have a guitar out of the case. You might not want your most precious prized instrument out, but have something good to play at the ready. Pick it up often and review what you have been working on or just see what happens. When practicing, several 15 minute intervals will do more for you than one long session. There is nothing wrong with playing long sessions, but for learning something new, the frequent short intervals will help you learn faster.

 

[AP515]

Trufire is indeed good. All of the suggestions here have been on point. All of it will help you be a better player.

My suggestion is a little different. Try just picking a song you really like and take a solo or riff from it and just try to play it by ear. It's hard, it takes forever, and you'll probably get it wrong, but it will reward you immensely. Nothing will pay off more than training your ear. Yes you need techniques, and theory, and developed skills, but IMO what you need most is ear training. When your fingers will respond to what your ear hears, you will have a skill that will reward you for the rest of your life.

 

[Stephen J.]

Trufire is indeed good. All of the suggestions here have been on point. All of it will help you be a better player.

My suggestion is a little different. Try just picking a song you really like and take a solo or riff from it and just try to play it by ear. It's hard, it takes forever, and you'll probably get it wrong, but it will reward you immensely. Nothing will pay off more than training your ear. Yes you need techniques, and theory, and developed skills, but IMO what you need most is ear training. When your fingers will respond to what your ear hears, you will have a skill that will reward you for the rest of your life.

 

[CandidPicker]

Trufire is indeed good. All of the suggestions here have been on point. All of it will help you be a better player.

My suggestion is a little different. Try just picking a song you really like and take a solo or riff from it and just try to play it by ear. It's hard, it takes forever, and you'll probably get it wrong, but it will reward you immensely. Nothing will pay off more than training your ear. Yes you need techniques, and theory, and developed skills, but IMO what you need most is ear training. When your fingers will respond to what your ear hears, you will have a skill that will reward you for the rest of your life.

Added to ear training is being able to play what you're hearing in your own head and how to use your vocabulary, techniques, everything that teachers can describe, but only you can put the time in with practice. This was why I suggested Josh Smith. Josh starts with the basics and builds so that your songs not only have context, but tell a story. The purpose of not only playing music, but playing for the song, which is a vitally important part of musicianship.