Do Not Disturb
(17 May 03)
Practicing Schedule
This is something that works for a lot of players (not all of them, though). A practicing schedule can help you to organize your practicing time. You separate that time into smaller segments, and then you assign those segments to certain topics. An example would be:
Monday practicing time available: 120 min.
a. Warmup 10 min.
b. Picking exercises 20 min ( incl. Breaks )
c. Legato exercises 20 min ( incl. Breaks )
d. Sight-reading 20 min ( incl. Breaks )
e. Break 10 min.
f. Rhythm exercises / Timing / Chords 20 min.
g. Picking reprise (i.e. working on an etude such as the "Perpetual Motion")
h. Jam (Jamming on some backing track or drum-beat, focusing on the stuff you have been working on, to apply it… I call that the "digestion progress")
Of COURSE, this is just an example. First of all, you could split up the 2 hrs completely different, making some of the segments longer, or shorten others. And you can OF COURSE change the content. If you don't wanna work on sight-reading, you can work on something else.
Don't forget subjects such as theory, scales / patterns, bending, phrasing, vibrato. All those can be included into your schedule, based on what you wanna or need to work on.
I am sure you noticed that there are a lot of breaks mentioned in that schedule. A lot of people forget about the importance of taking a break in between. Everyone has got a certain attention span, and of course it can also be physically exhausting to work on stretches or picking for too long.
So you need to take breaks to a) not hurt yourself, not damage your sinews and muscles and b) to be able to concentrate on the exercises.
During those breaks, put away the guitar, lean back, relax. Try to think of something else.
Or do something completely else (something that won't need too much concentration… you wanna build that up for the remaining practicing time)… i.e. drink a cup of coffee, eat a snack, look out of the window or WHATEVER.
A good friend of mine, who is a great instructor, once recommend the following method: Pick a certain exercise and then practice it like this:
Play the lick for 1 min.
Take a 1 min. break
Play it for 2 min.
Take a 1 min. break
Play it for 3 min.
Take a 3 min. break
This might look odd, but for some of my students, it works really well. You won't exhaust yourself, and you'll be able to focus all the way through, because you have got those short breaks.
Especially short, few-note-exercises (like the PG lick) can be kinda boring if you play them over and over for several minutes. And you might notice that you play it worse the longer you keep repeating it. Noises start to creep in, the accuracy slowly goes out the window. That is because, if you play something like that exercise for too long, your mind will start to wander, the attention's gone, you'll lose focus.
So short breaks between constantly repeating the exercise will really help to stay focused. Try it. None of those suggestions (schedule, breaks etc.) will work for EVERYONE. Everyone's different, requiring a different practicing regimen. But try the stuff I am suggesting here, maybe it's just right for you.
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