how to structure my practice?

[Blazphemer]

?

I seriously need to get some more structured practicing going on, as i allways end up just noodling or playin well known licks solos and songs etc....

i have purchased a shitload of material over the last few years, but dont know where to start...
materials available:


Videos/DVD's:
Marty Friedman - Exotic Metal Guitar
Marty Friedman - Melodic Control
Marty Friedman - 99 Secret Lead Guitar Phrases
Rusty Cooley - Shred Guitar Manifesto
Rusty Cooley - The Art of Picking
Vinnie Moore - Speed, Accuracy, And Articulation
Paul Gilbert - Terrififying Guitar Trip
Paul Gilbert - Intence Rock Sequences and Techniques
Paul Gilbert - Guitars From Mars 1 + 2
Scott Henderson - Jazz Fusion Guitar
Scott Henderson - Melodic Control
Eric Johnson - The Fine Art of Guitar
Michael Romeo - The Guitar Chapter
John Petrucci - Rock Discipline
Michael Angelo - Speed Kills
Michael Angelo - Speed Lives
Doug Marks Metal Method - Complete basic course (3 DVD's)
Doug Marks Metal Method - Classic Metal Licks
(i ordered the Speed kills/Lives/basic cource/metal licks package some months ago )


Plus Various Smaller clips from the internet...

Books/Articles:
Troy Stetina - Speed Mechanics For Lead Guitar
Shawn Baxter(from "Guitar Techniques" magazine) - Sweep Arpeggio Primer
Frank Gambale - Sweep Picking
Marty Friedman - Masterclass: Exotic Scales(from "Guitar Techniques" magazine)
Steve Vai - 30 Hour Workout (from Guitar World magazine)
Dimebag Darrell - Riffer Madness

plus a lot of other random stuff, and a big pile of Guitar mags( Guitar World, Guitar Techniques etc.)

So assuming i'll have an average of 2 hours a day to practice, what would you guys recommend as a "Practice Plan"?

[Thoraby]

Re: how to structure my practice?

How good are you? What do you want to be able to play? What are your goals?

[GodOfRhythm]

Re: how to structure my practice?

I recommend the Doug Marks Metal Method basics.

That guy covers A LOT of ground. That is depending on where you are in skill level though.

[taxistationary]

Re: how to structure my practice?

How about just pick one out of a box a day?

[jazzman]

Re: how to structure my practice?

It's obvious you like shred. I would start with the Paul Gilbert first (that's just me. I love his playing) The first time I saw one of his videos, I was ready to sell all my gear!

[Dolan]

Re: how to structure my practice?

Like mentioned above, without knowing your skill level, its going to be hard to help you. I have a set routine everyday I use for warming up. Than work on stuff I cant do which is quite alot. You should have a structured warm up than go from there. We cant really help you until we have an idea of your skill level.

[Shawn Lutz]

Re: how to structure my practice?



You are probably overloading yourself with instruction tapes. Pick one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I really never got into those but I did the exercises that everyone has to do.

Basically you should practice;
1) Scales and modes with a metronome up and down the neck in all positions and note sequences. Triplets, 4 note patterns, sextuplets etc. Alternate picking, hammer-ons and hybrid pick/hammers
2) Same deal with 3-4-5-6 string arpeggios, start with minor and major arpeggios-- and 7th-9ths later
3)Improvise over a backing track
4) Reward yourself by doing boring technique builders with learning a good cover tune by someone you admire

Start out slow and concentrate on doing things the proper way. When I was developing my technique I practiced way more than 2 hours [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I'd love to be able to play 3hrs a day now tho [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Blazphemer]

Re: how to structure my practice?

[ QUOTE ]


You are probably overloading yourself with instruction tapes. Pick one [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I really never got into those but I did the exercises that everyone has to do.

Basically you should practice;
1) Scales and modes with a metronome up and down the neck in all positions and note sequences. Triplets, 4 note patterns, sextuplets etc. Alternate picking, hammer-ons and hybrid pick/hammers
2) Same deal with 3-4-5-6 string arpeggios, start with minor and major arpeggios-- and 7th-9ths later
3)Improvise over a backing track
4) Reward yourself by doing boring technique builders with learning a good cover tune by someone you admire

Start out slow and concentrate on doing things the proper way. When I was developing my technique I practiced way more than 2 hours [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I'd love to be able to play 3hrs a day now tho [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

thanks for the reply!
that looks to be a pretty decent schedule... [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

for those asking about my skill level, i would classify myself intermediate(broad term, i know)...
i have been playing for little over 3 years now, and can handle some ok solo's IMO(for example Marty Friedman's Foreclosure of a Dream solo), but not anything fancy, like the Tornado of souls solo for example..

i have been practicing very sporadicly due to not having a clearly defined practice plan, and i feel that i could have been better if i had been doing some focused practicing. right now i usually do some warm ups, taking from Rusty Cooleys vid, and then i try to work on some technique(for eksample alt. picking excercises from Angelo or Petrucci) or song, but i almost always end up in noodling land... for example i have been practicing sweeps lately, and have gotten the 5 string minor/major shapes down at a reasonably fast speed, but then i just keeps rnoodling around with those withoput learning more shapes and applications for sweeps...

[guitar08man]

Re: how to structure my practice?

pick up some jam tracks and concentrate on improvisation. Jam tracks will help you to create solos on the spot that have some sort of melody too them.

[jazzman]

Re: how to structure my practice?

I agree with the jam tracks idea. I have quite a few different styles of jam tracks myself. Also even learning tunes which need the techniques you're after. For me, I find something I can't play (like Dream Theater or something) figure it out and practice it until I can play it. Anything structured can help your technique, but I think the jam tracks will help you develop your style.

[FSU_Seminoles]

Re: how to structure my practice?

the best IMO out of those is John Petrucci's Rock disciple, his vid opens so much doors and then you can refine some things you like with the other vids ... like arpeggios with Romeo's vid, but don't start with Romeo's vid if you don't know any minor/major scales

[Blazphemer]

Re: how to structure my practice?

[ QUOTE ]
pick up some jam tracks and concentrate on improvisation. Jam tracks will help you to create solos on the spot that have some sort of melody too them.

[/ QUOTE ]

good idea!
do you know a good source for jam tracks?
do you have any you could share?

[shredmonster]

Re: how to structure my practice?

[ QUOTE ]
the best IMO out of those is John Petrucci's Rock disciple, his vid opens so much doors and then you can refine some things you like with the other vids ... like arpeggios with Romeo's vid, but don't start with Romeo's vid if you don't know any minor/major scales

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. One of the best I have seen out there.

But I would also suggest really learning your scales and at least all of the 7th chords and how to use them and solo over them. That is the very minimum basic stuff that you will need out there if you want to be good.

You will understand instruction courses also much better if you understand some theory. I use to get a lot of instruction DVDs and such. However, I ended up practicing on my own most often because I did not want to sound like anyone else. Thats the thing with instruction tapes that I recommend being careful about. You want your own style and sound I would guess.

Guitar playing is like weight lifting in that you have to develop your finger strength, picking speed, legato technique, taps, slides, etc... You should search out exercises for all of these and develop some of your own after a while.

Minimum every day I go through my exercise routine for a half an hour before I do anything else.

[Blazphemer]

Re: how to structure my practice?

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
the best IMO out of those is John Petrucci's Rock disciple, his vid opens so much doors and then you can refine some things you like with the other vids ... like arpeggios with Romeo's vid, but don't start with Romeo's vid if you don't know any minor/major scales

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep. One of the best I have seen out there.

But I would also suggest really learning your scales and at least all of the 7th chords and how to use them and solo over them. That is the very minimum basic stuff that you will need out there if you want to be good.

You will understand instruction courses also much better if you understand some theory. I use to get a lot of instruction DVDs and such. However, I ended up practicing on my own most often because I did not want to sound like anyone else. Thats the thing with instruction tapes that I recommend being careful about. You want your own style and sound I would guess.

Guitar playing is like weight lifting in that you have to develop your finger strength, picking speed, legato technique, taps, slides, etc... You should search out exercises for all of these and develop some of your own after a while.

Minimum every day I go through my exercise routine for a half an hour before I do anything else.

[/ QUOTE ]

i actually know quite a lot of music theory.
i have been taking music theory classes fo over a year.
i know the major scale and the church modes how to construct any chord, i can read music notation etc.

however i DO need to get it down on the fretboard... be fluid in all the modes anywhere on the neck etc.

[Thoraby]

Re: how to structure my practice?

You also want to know all the notes on the fretboard COLD! practice that for 30 minutes every day until you get em down. just takes like 2 weeks [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]