half diminished
Senior Member
- 1,247
I'm interested to find out how everyone practices.
At my teacher's recommendation I try to practice 40 to 60 minutes at least 4 or 5 times a week (I'd love to place every day but I don't always have the time!). Two out of three weekends I usually get at least 2/3 hours practice on one of the two days which can be one, two or three sessions depending on what else I am doing.
This is a typical 60 minutes practice session for me:
Sometimes, if I'm working on something really hard, after warming up and a few scales exercises, I'll spend maybe half the session on just that. For example on a tune I am learning or on sustained tones, terrace dynamnics, uniformity of tone character.
If I have more time I will fire up Transcribe and have a go at transcribing something by ear. Usually small phrases of one or two bars. I'm not that good at it but I do try! Why is it the 'masters' don't sound the same when they play F# as when I do!!
I'll also sometimes pick a new tune to start learning.
Finally, I'll pick a tune I know and play it (or attempt to) in different keys without any music - Happy Birthday, Over the rainbow, Danny Boy, My Bonnie etc. I am improving but it'd not always that easy. I start in an 'easy' key and then try others.
What do you do?
At my teacher's recommendation I try to practice 40 to 60 minutes at least 4 or 5 times a week (I'd love to place every day but I don't always have the time!). Two out of three weekends I usually get at least 2/3 hours practice on one of the two days which can be one, two or three sessions depending on what else I am doing.
This is a typical 60 minutes practice session for me:
- 5 mins warmup noodling
- 10 minutes on a Blues scale - improvisiation
- 5 minutes playing all the scales either chromatically or around the 'cycle', arpeggios, chords to the 5th, 7th or 9th
- 10 minutes working on sustained tones, terrace dynamnics, uniformity of tone character. I normally work on just one at a time.
- 20 mins on a tune I am working on (Doxy at present) playing melody and chord progression - really listening to the backing track whilst playing
- 10 minutes on site reading/playing anything I want to. Usually just the melody.
Sometimes, if I'm working on something really hard, after warming up and a few scales exercises, I'll spend maybe half the session on just that. For example on a tune I am learning or on sustained tones, terrace dynamnics, uniformity of tone character.
If I have more time I will fire up Transcribe and have a go at transcribing something by ear. Usually small phrases of one or two bars. I'm not that good at it but I do try! Why is it the 'masters' don't sound the same when they play F# as when I do!!
I'll also sometimes pick a new tune to start learning.
Finally, I'll pick a tune I know and play it (or attempt to) in different keys without any music - Happy Birthday, Over the rainbow, Danny Boy, My Bonnie etc. I am improving but it'd not always that easy. I start in an 'easy' key and then try others.
What do you do?