Define Practice:

Inspector #20

Inspector #20

Ambassador of Tone
Fallen Star
Country flag
People sometimes as me what my practice regiment is. They are always surprised when I say "creating and producing music."

Each week, I will pick 1 or 2 songs - that i would like to learn - and ask my drummer chum to lay down the drum tracks for me on MP3. I will then totally reconstruct that song from nothing more than just a drum track...guitars, bass, vocals and all, here in my humble studio.

I believe this keeps my guitar skills sharp, because I am really critiquing tone and technique, its expands my vocabulary of learned material and hones my skills as an engineer and producer - all at the same time.

At least once a day - usually right after my wife leaves for the office, I will knock out 1 hour of playing complete songs at stage volume - that's between 4 and 5 knob position on my DSL40C and I can tell you it is crazy loud.

I believe this keeps my ear sharp for how I sound during a live performance and how my equipment handles/performs at high volumes.

I often experiment with how the guitar and wireless system (Thanks Don O!) behave in different proximities to each other, to lighting, PC's, cell phones, and practice squeal control techniques when those issues are encounteted. I also practice transitioning from the wireless system to a backup cable in the event of a failure.

Just before a string change, I will snip either the 'b' or 'e' string and play entire songs/solos from our setlist with a missing string. I will sometimes play with the back of my index fingernail in response to a dropped pick with no immediate replacement available.

What's your practice regiment???
 
Yeah Tony. That’d be me. I could have been a decent player had I actually done a little bit of serious practice.
 
Case in point. I played trombone in school. Both my kids played t-bone. My eldest and I were pretty good at it, but put no real effort into it outside of band practice. My youngest comes along and actually works at learning the instrument..... and takes it to another level. The kid was awesome.

He did the same thing to me with guitar. He’s 10 times better at it than I am.
 
Defining "practice" means doing what it takes to be prepared to execute what you need to do to perform...whether that "performance" is on stage or in the studio.

Consequently, it will look different to each of us.

For me, I am regimented about timing. I do practically everything to a metronome, whether that is practicing to a click track for an upcoming song or noodling or anything in between.

Even if I'm just goofing around, I'll often set a metronome (though, not always). I also count through practically everything. I want to know when my parts are played. I don't want to have to rely on something like, "Okay, I come in right after the drummer does a run on the toms." What if the drummer doesn't do it right? On some occasions, after I've pretty much learned a song, I'll work through it with nothing but a metronome, with no background music or recording.

Sometimes, if I'm struggling with any parts, I'll open up Finale (a music transcription program) and chart those notes out in standard musical notation, or I'll buy the sheet music.

For me, practice involves understanding things on a technical level. Then I work through it until it is more instinctive and "felt".
 
Last edited:
I dont practice--- Ill admit--

I occasionally go --- "hey id like to learn to play "this" -- or "that" song--- or the bass line for that song --- (usually its RELEARNING things I knew by hear decades ago :( )
But otherwise I noodle-- I mimic-- I noodle while listening to others play-- BB King or Pink Floyd......and mimic -- or follow-- and improvise--- a lot of the time I find new phrases--- sometimes i remember them --- sometimes they are lost to the day----

I should record them -- but -- then Id have to listen to me noodling and that is painful-- so --- my playing is like setting fire to small bits of paper carried away in the wind over the sea.....


I probably could have been so much better if I had practiced in stead of PLAYING at playing guitar
 
It starts with enthusiastic anticipation.
Involves a fair amount of expletives.
It ends with despair and shame.

I'm a bit frustrated with my skills plateau.

tumblr_me2sihZUfC1qm3f8zo1_400.gif
 
I can relate--- when I get to the expletives---- I just break off into mindless noodle-ville ...... and fa'get a 'bout it-- the riff Im trying to get will be there tomorrow----
 
Historically I have viewed practice as an exercise for perfecting the songs that I played in a band. As I am not currently playing in a band or performing I suppose I'm not practicing in that sense, but I am keeping what few skills I have as sharp as I can, and mostly I play for the joy of playing. I don't have any sort of regimented routine for it, just plug in and go. Sometimes I'll work on new music, sometimes play older things that I've written, sometimes I will even do long noodle sessions where I string together lots of old songs that I dig up out of the memory banks (I can't stand playing covers with a band but it's a challenging exercise to try to remember tunes that I knew 20/30 years ago). Every once in a while I'll put on a Pandora station of stuff I don't know to see how quickly I can "learn" the songs - I find it especially entertaining to listen to the first verse and chorus without playing along and see if I can correctly guess the chords and progressions on the first try.
 
Right now, I'm just running through Bout 25-30 songs a day - from the 80's and 90's - to stay sharp, and those include Saturday's audition setlist.
 
I always jam to the radio or any other sounds I might hear that might have " possibilities " that I could lift and make my own …. there's just something about being a guitar geek :yesway::yesway::yesway::yesway::woohoo::yesway::yesway::yesway::yesway::yesway:
 
Tony, when I was working on learning drums I would use my right foot on the kickdrum pedal to practice rudiments and grooves right footed.
Then I would practice them left footed with the other footboard on double pedal or 2nd pedal if I had 2 kickdrums set up.

I often wondered what it would have been like to have had a remote set of hi hats so I could have totally played hats lefty and righty as well.
 
I did that on guitar once. As for drums, I kind of wanted to have basic ability to play a ambidextrous kit and as needed play lefty or righty.

The funny thing is I do this with a pen too, I can write 2 different words while writing with both hands at the same time.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top