What is the best way to practice on guitar or the best routine?
Nick asked:
I’ve been playing for 2 years and a half but I’ve probably been playing seriously for just about 8 months… And I see people that have been playing guitar for a year and a half that are at “shredding” level. I now hear a lot about people talking about the right way to practice, what is the right way to practice? I mean, I practice heaps every day for at least around 2 hours… But I want to know what I should practice.
I’ve been playing for 2 years and a half but I’ve probably been playing seriously for just about 8 months… And I see people that have been playing guitar for a year and a half that are at “shredding” level. I now hear a lot about people talking about the right way to practice, what is the right way to practice? I mean, I practice heaps every day for at least around 2 hours… But I want to know what I should practice.
Please help!
I do not play guitar but this is how I practice. Assuming you are able to read music, there is definitely a right and wrong way to practice. A wrong way to practice is just going through all of your repertoire and saying you practiced–you didn’t practice, you just played through. For example, if you play a wrong or out of tune note, do not just go past it. Figure out why the note is wrong or out of tune and just practice that measure, then when it is in tune, practice the passage. For rhythm, if you are having trouble with an awkward rhythm or something that is fast, do it in a dotted rhythm. So for example, if it’s a run of eights, you could play a dotted eighth then a 16th (long.. short long.. short etc). It is these kind of things that will get you farther in your practice sessions. You can also start building the difficulty of your repertoire. But whatever you do, make sure you are practicing efficiently. The best thing is playing and going through it correctly the first time so it gets engraved into your mind. Make sure your rhythm is correct and your notes are in tune–after that you can deal with all the things that go into musicality.
Never let something go by that you aren’t pleased with. MaestroD
Shredding doesn’t mean a thing if you cannot play good solid rhythm guitar. I’ve known some shredders who can fly, but they believe they should solo through the whole song?! Ask them to lay back and play rhythm for a few bars and they can’t do it. Rather then helping the song, they prefer to get their rocks off. Boring.
You will never be a good lead guitarist until you are first a good rhythm guitarist.
Concentrate on your rhythm playing and chord substitution. Try to learn a least 3 different ways to play each chord. (This might involve playing bar chords up the neck)
Practice the pentatonic scales…all over the neck..If the chord is on A, know where on the neck you can play pentatonics that fit with that A chord. For example…you can play A pentatonics at the 5th fret, A chord 5-7-7-6-5-5, or use the 2nd fret as a starting point for your A pentatonics X-0-2-2-2-0.
You must have some way to record yourself. Record yourself playing a chord pattern, then try to solo over that pattern.
Here’s the hard part…force yourself to sit down everyday for a minimum of 15 minutes with the sole purpose of practicing guitar.
You have to learn hammer ons and pull offs.
Realize when playing a chord, that you can lift fingers off the chord and plunk them down on other strings..in effect, playing lead guitar at the same time you’re playing rhythm.
Start working on “hybrid picking.” You hold the pick between your thumb and forefinger and use your 2nd and 3rd fingers to grab other strings..usually pulling up on the strings, while your pick is a down stroke.
Hope I didn’t overwhelm you? The trick is…have fun, and practice till your fingers bleed! Stan
What you should practice? If you want to get to the “Shredding” level, here is what I suggest, (It’s what I do) :
1. Find a warming up exercise
A warming up exercise is usually a linear rhythm that involves using all fingers of the fretting hand in different positions, once you find an exercise (Internet helps finding one) start playing it SLOWLY, then, gradually increase speed using a metronome.
2. Playing one of your favorite musics
Once you’ve warmed up, grab another tab from one of your favorite songs and practice like HELL. Start with easy songs that you like. (Don’t try to learn Yngwie Malmsteen, and Paul Gilbert songs for example). Once you can play one of the songs, show off to your friends.
3. Composing
If you manage to play a good number of songs, you MUST have some inspiration, so start creating your own riffs! This helps alot. Always use that faithful metronome.
4. Band practice
The only way to truly progress in the music department, is to play with other people. Find people who like the same music like you, and play, compose, and most of all : HAVE FUN!
The best hint is the following : If you want to practice to become better than your friends, then your on the wrong path. Music is pleasure, not competition.
PS. If you’re looking for good tabs, subscribe to the magazine “Guitar World”. Each issue has 5 tabs and many exercises. Nicolas