Session 14 - Giving Your Playing Some Style

[Popeye]

Limatje

I hear your pain and you have unfortunately went down the proverbial Guitar Rabbit Hole! Not to worry- we all struggle at some point and lose our way trying to accomplish a goal that is very important to us as musicians! You have basically over taxed yourself in the attempt to learn and be dedicated and you have burned out. All work and no play makes a person  "NOT FUN TO BE AROUND"! 

Set reasonable & attainable goals for yourself! More 15-30 minute practice sessions will attain more improvement over 3 hour practices sessions unless you have a professional system in place, a good music teacher, a true love for guitar and the drive & time to dedicate. I would not recommend practice session on anything over 1 hour. The smaller sessions are easier to maintain total focus and our brains are wired to retain this material more readily than trying to complete a marathon cram session. You need to have fun and always finish a session with something positive so you will build the desire to return for the next practice! Be reasonable and play slow which equates to learning faster! 

A possible example would be:

1. Monday- You are in session 14, so set your goals for 1 hour: 5 minutes on warm-up & stretching, 5 minutes on chords and 5 minutes on fretboard; 15 minutes on review of material that you know you are struggling with; 20 minute on session 14 material. 10 minutes on just fun playing a song or two. 

2. Tuesday- 15 minutes on Music notation, 15 minutes to transpose a song key and play song. 30 minutes of song play using barre chords 5th and 6th string roots.

3. Wednesday- 5 minutes of stretch & warm-up; 15 minutes guitar theory- scales; 15 minutes guitar playing scales. Each week pick a scale- Major, Minor, Pentatonic, Blues Scale, etc.... 30 minutes using backing track and playing scales over backing track! 

4. Thursday- 5 minutes stretch & warm-up; 10 minutes of review areas of struggle; 30 minutes of session 14; end with 15 minutes of fun song play! Learn a new song and finish with a song you love!

5. Friday- 5 minute warm-up; 30 minutes of barre chords & movable chords; 15 minutes review session 14; 10 minutes of fun song play.

6. Saturday- Fun day. Enjoy a 30-60 minute session of noodling with chords and a two or three note melody, arpeggiating, finger picking, etc...

7. Sunday- Take the day off and enjoy yourself.

You can adjust your topics based on your goals and target areas and music based on music genre, etc... Most important- HAVE FUN!!!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy the journey and don't get to competitive!  

Take care.

Mike

 

[Limatje]

Hey Mike, Thanks a lot for the reply.

I Think I have found a good routine now and I improve a lot.

Like I said before, I work with 2 routines. 1 for every week (I try to practice that routine 4 days a week), and 1 routine that I must finish within a month and where I practice things that I struggled with in the past or that I still want to improve. (I try to work on that list for 2 days in a week)

The 7th day is pure for fun...

Every course that I follow and every exercise from the beginning of my guitar journey until now has his own code. For example A14B: Learn and master guitar is course A, The session  is 14 and the exercise is B. Or Q1C: a bottleneck guitar course that I follow is Q, the session is 1 and the exercise is C. Or G11: G is my repertoire and the song is the 11th song.....

That List that I work on at monthly bases is too long to post here but this is my practice routine for this week (2 hours a day is divided into pieces, I never practice more then 30 minutes in 1 take):

 

Oktober 2020/3

Practice Routine: ‘Four Days A week’ (2h)

 

A13E: Soloing In Different Keys Using The Pentatonic Forms With The Blues Notes (Youtube) (10min) ___/___/___/___

A14A: Sliding Riffs On The 5th And The 6th String (Lesson Book) (5min) ___/___/___/___

A14B: Practice The Major Scale Bending Exercise (Lesson Book) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14I: Jazz Octaves (Lesson Book) (5min) ___/___/___/___

A14J The Funky Mute (Lesson Book) (3min) ___/___/___/___

A14K: Sliding Exercises: Between Two Notes Of The Same Pitch (Bonus Resource) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14L: Sliding Exercises: Minor 7th Arpeggio (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

A14M: Sliding Exercises: With Two Notes (Bonus Resource) (1min) ___/___/___/___

A14N: Sliding Exercises: 50’s Riff (Bonus Resource) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14O: Cmaj7 Arpeggio Ascending With Hammer-Ons & Descending With Pull-Offs (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

A14P: Dm7 Arpeggio Ascending With Hammer-Ons & Descending With Pull-Offs (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

C2: Speed and Agility Workout 2 Intermediate (20min) ___/___/___/___

E1A: Choose 5 1Minute Changes1 7: Cm11 - E2 (barre5 - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1B: Choose 5 1Minute Changes2 2: G - D/F# (open - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1C: Choose 5 1Minute Changes3 3: E7 - Gsus (open - barre6) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1D: Choose 5 1Minute Changes4 6: F2 - C2 (barre4 - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1E: Choose 5 1Minute Changes5 5: Bm11 - Bmaj7 (open - barre5) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E7: Open Major 7th Chords  & Moveable Major 7th Chords (2min) ___/___/___/___

F7: Functional Ear Trainer (Alain Benbassat Method) (5min) ___/___/___/___

  G6: Wonderfull Tonight (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G9: Sound Of Silence (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G10: East Virginia Blues (Flatpicking Guitar Country Style) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G11: Shady grove (Flatpicking Guitar Country Style) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

G13: Ain’t No Sunshine (Six String Fingerpicking) FS  (5min) ___/___/___/___

G14: Is There Anybody Out There (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (5min) ___/___/___/___

  Gx3: Hey Hey My My (Youtube) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

O3A: Blues Lick 1 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3B: Blues Lick 2 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3C: Blues Lick 3 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3D: Blues Lick 4 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3E: Blues Lick 5 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

Q1C: Single String Exercises 5-8 With Vibrato— Open D (5min) ___/___/___/___

R3:  Ten Fingerpicking Exercises 1-2  (11min) ___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Limatje

[Wim VD1]

22 hours ago, Limatje said:

Hey Mike, Thanks a lot for the reply.

I Think I have found a good routine now and I improve a lot.

Like I said before, I work with 2 routines. 1 for every week (I try to practice that routine 4 days a week), and 1 routine that I must finish within a month and where I practice things that I struggled with in the past or that I still want to improve. (I try to work on that list for 2 days in a week)

The 7th day is pure for fun...

Every course that I follow and every exercise from the beginning of my guitar journey until now has his own code. For example A14B: Learn and master guitar is course A, The session  is 14 and the exercise is B. Or Q1C: a bottleneck guitar course that I follow is Q, the session is 1 and the exercise is C. Or G11: G is my repertoire and the song is the 11th song.....

That List that I work on at monthly bases is too long to post here but this is my practice routine for this week (2 hours a day is divided into pieces, I never practice more then 30 minutes in 1 take):

 

Oktober 2020/3

Practice Routine: ‘Four Days A week’ (2h)

 

A13E: Soloing In Different Keys Using The Pentatonic Forms With The Blues Notes (Youtube) (10min) ___/___/___/___

A14A: Sliding Riffs On The 5th And The 6th String (Lesson Book) (5min) ___/___/___/___

A14B: Practice The Major Scale Bending Exercise (Lesson Book) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14I: Jazz Octaves (Lesson Book) (5min) ___/___/___/___

A14J The Funky Mute (Lesson Book) (3min) ___/___/___/___

A14K: Sliding Exercises: Between Two Notes Of The Same Pitch (Bonus Resource) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14L: Sliding Exercises: Minor 7th Arpeggio (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

A14M: Sliding Exercises: With Two Notes (Bonus Resource) (1min) ___/___/___/___

A14N: Sliding Exercises: 50’s Riff (Bonus Resource) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14O: Cmaj7 Arpeggio Ascending With Hammer-Ons & Descending With Pull-Offs (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

A14P: Dm7 Arpeggio Ascending With Hammer-Ons & Descending With Pull-Offs (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

C2: Speed and Agility Workout 2 Intermediate (20min) ___/___/___/___

E1A: Choose 5 1Minute Changes1 7: Cm11 - E2 (barre5 - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1B: Choose 5 1Minute Changes2 2: G - D/F# (open - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1C: Choose 5 1Minute Changes3 3: E7 - Gsus (open - barre6) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1D: Choose 5 1Minute Changes4 6: F2 - C2 (barre4 - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1E: Choose 5 1Minute Changes5 5: Bm11 - Bmaj7 (open - barre5) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E7: Open Major 7th Chords  & Moveable Major 7th Chords (2min) ___/___/___/___

F7: Functional Ear Trainer (Alain Benbassat Method) (5min) ___/___/___/___

  G6: Wonderfull Tonight (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G9: Sound Of Silence (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G10: East Virginia Blues (Flatpicking Guitar Country Style) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G11: Shady grove (Flatpicking Guitar Country Style) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

G13: Ain’t No Sunshine (Six String Fingerpicking) FS  (5min) ___/___/___/___

G14: Is There Anybody Out There (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (5min) ___/___/___/___

  Gx3: Hey Hey My My (Youtube) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

O3A: Blues Lick 1 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3B: Blues Lick 2 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3C: Blues Lick 3 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3D: Blues Lick 4 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3E: Blues Lick 5 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

Q1C: Single String Exercises 5-8 With Vibrato— Open D (5min) ___/___/___/___

R3:  Ten Fingerpicking Exercises 1-2  (11min) ___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

That's a busy schedule, @Limatje. Respect!

I tend to work on fewer items in parallel. A couple of excercises and a song or two.

My practice is dictated by the songs I want to learn. If a specific scale or technique is used in the song I am learning, then I do some specific exercises on that scale or technique. This works for me and keeps me motivated.

Wim.

[NeilES335]

On 10/21/2020 at 4:09 PM, Limatje said:

Hey Mike, Thanks a lot for the reply.

I Think I have found a good routine now and I improve a lot.

Like I said before, I work with 2 routines. 1 for every week (I try to practice that routine 4 days a week), and 1 routine that I must finish within a month and where I practice things that I struggled with in the past or that I still want to improve. (I try to work on that list for 2 days in a week)

The 7th day is pure for fun...

Every course that I follow and every exercise from the beginning of my guitar journey until now has his own code. For example A14B: Learn and master guitar is course A, The session  is 14 and the exercise is B. Or Q1C: a bottleneck guitar course that I follow is Q, the session is 1 and the exercise is C. Or G11: G is my repertoire and the song is the 11th song.....

That List that I work on at monthly bases is too long to post here but this is my practice routine for this week (2 hours a day is divided into pieces, I never practice more then 30 minutes in 1 take):

 

Oktober 2020/3

Practice Routine: ‘Four Days A week’ (2h)

 

A13E: Soloing In Different Keys Using The Pentatonic Forms With The Blues Notes (Youtube) (10min) ___/___/___/___

A14A: Sliding Riffs On The 5th And The 6th String (Lesson Book) (5min) ___/___/___/___

A14B: Practice The Major Scale Bending Exercise (Lesson Book) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14I: Jazz Octaves (Lesson Book) (5min) ___/___/___/___

A14J The Funky Mute (Lesson Book) (3min) ___/___/___/___

A14K: Sliding Exercises: Between Two Notes Of The Same Pitch (Bonus Resource) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14L: Sliding Exercises: Minor 7th Arpeggio (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

A14M: Sliding Exercises: With Two Notes (Bonus Resource) (1min) ___/___/___/___

A14N: Sliding Exercises: 50’s Riff (Bonus Resource) (2min) ___/___/___/___

A14O: Cmaj7 Arpeggio Ascending With Hammer-Ons & Descending With Pull-Offs (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

A14P: Dm7 Arpeggio Ascending With Hammer-Ons & Descending With Pull-Offs (Bonus Resource) (4min) ___/___/___/___

C2: Speed and Agility Workout 2 Intermediate (20min) ___/___/___/___

E1A: Choose 5 1Minute Changes1 7: Cm11 - E2 (barre5 - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1B: Choose 5 1Minute Changes2 2: G - D/F# (open - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1C: Choose 5 1Minute Changes3 3: E7 - Gsus (open - barre6) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1D: Choose 5 1Minute Changes4 6: F2 - C2 (barre4 - open) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E1E: Choose 5 1Minute Changes5 5: Bm11 - Bmaj7 (open - barre5) (Practice Map) (1min) __-__/__-__/__-__/__-__

E7: Open Major 7th Chords  & Moveable Major 7th Chords (2min) ___/___/___/___

F7: Functional Ear Trainer (Alain Benbassat Method) (5min) ___/___/___/___

  G6: Wonderfull Tonight (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G9: Sound Of Silence (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G10: East Virginia Blues (Flatpicking Guitar Country Style) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

   G11: Shady grove (Flatpicking Guitar Country Style) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

G13: Ain’t No Sunshine (Six String Fingerpicking) FS  (5min) ___/___/___/___

G14: Is There Anybody Out There (Six String Fingerpicking) FS (5min) ___/___/___/___

  Gx3: Hey Hey My My (Youtube) FP (3min) ___/___/___/___

O3A: Blues Lick 1 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3B: Blues Lick 2 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3C: Blues Lick 3 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3D: Blues Lick 4 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

   O3E: Blues Lick 5 from Pattern 1 (1min) ___/___/___/___

Q1C: Single String Exercises 5-8 With Vibrato— Open D (5min) ___/___/___/___

R3:  Ten Fingerpicking Exercises 1-2  (11min) ___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Extra: __________________________________________________________________ ___/___/___/___/___/___/___

 

Imho this too much to take on at once. I'd pick maybe 3 things to work on, become very proficient at those things, then move on to 3 more. And don't forget to learn some songs! You'll learn more and have more fun that way; and others may actually want to listen 😊 

Happy Tunes; Neil