Practice routine

[bigdave]

I'll keep it simple. Separate the techniques you feel you need to improve and drill them individually starting slow and only increasing speed when you can play the desired part clearly. I know that sounds simple but it worked for me. It is just as valid to spend specific time on weird noises or other things outside your normal box... like Lyles Jerry Reed breakdown..stepping into other genres can open up a whole world of possibilities and techniques. Wacky sounds and having some fun being creative can lead to inspiration as well. Some of the coolest things I have found where during times when I challenged myself to do things I never ever would do. Even if its just 30 minutes every other day.

[Beezow Doo-Doo]

Originally Posted by bigdave

like Lyles Jerry Reed breakdown..stepping into other genres can open up a whole world of possibilities and techniques. Wacky sounds and having some fun being creative can lead to inspiration as well. Some of the coolest things I have found where during times when I challenged myself to do things I never ever would do. Even if its just 30 minutes every other day.

100%

[kachok]

For me it usually varies from day to day. now I'm trying to learn Malmsteen's arps from hell song so i'm spending about half my time on that and then the other half is divided between learning new scales and studying chord theory.

So i basically have one main thing I'm working on and then divide the rest of time between whatever skills I lack to fill in the gaps. This has been working well.

[Jager]

I usually try to play the scales I know over my favorite songs to see what sounds good. After a while cool melodies pop up here and there. I’m no speed king, but maybe that could help you make better solos.

[metal_edge]

I usually sit down and plan out what I want to learn for the month. Then I try to think of all the different things I could practice to get there. From there I figure out all the small details like what techniques to play/ how long to practice/ etc etc

[DoorMouseForker]

Running every drill on every scale in every position in every mode WORKS!! I am getting fast improvement all the time. Theres different scale drills, theres the straight up and down 2-octave pattern where your hand stays in the same horizontal position. Theres the sort of blues-progression type practice drill. Theres the straight up or down run through diagonally across 3-octaves. Theres the moving up and down arpeggio diagonally across 3 octaves where you run ascending and descending in each position where you ascend X notes of the scale up then descend X+1 steps or descend X notes of the scale down then ascend X+1. Theres playing the scale on one string and theres playing 1 octave going the reverse diagonal direction from the 3 octave. Make sure and throw in power chords on the notes you want to emphasize because going back and forth from single notes to power chords is important to technical riffs. And you get a whole different sort of excercise depending whether you run an 8 note scale, 7 notes, 6,5,4,3,2, or 1. For example if you run a diad drill played on just one string, thats alot of horizontal movement, it isnt cool at first but its taking bitter medicine which helps alot, pretty soon you can jump from anywhere to anywhere else instantly.

The rules for some of the drills are complex and we have to analyze the thing ourself. The easiest one to look at is the 1-string drill, I would like to describe the 3 octave stuff but for one thing I use a different tuning which greatly simplifies those rules and it wouldnt make any sense to most people. People talk about 3 notes per string but hey 3notes times 6 strings is 18 but when you minus 1 because there is a root at either end that is 17 which by NO MEANS is cleanly divisible by 3 - so guess what "3 notes per string" IS a simplification of the facts. Charting out 3 octave rules involves calculating how many notes in the entire drill and how many strings on the guitar and therefore how many positions you will move through horizontally.

The 1-string drill is consistent however you tune your guitar. Here is the one string scale drill,

For example here is Ionian,

RoxoxxoxoxoxR

Here is Ionian with the fingers noted: I=index, M=middle, R=ring, P=pinky

Please dont be confused since I have represent R=ring as well as R=root

In 4 different positions,

start and end on P:
x I
x M
x R
R P *
o I
x M
o R
x P
x I
o M
x R
o P
x I
o M
x R
R P *

start and end on R:
x I
x M
R R *
o P
x I
o M
x R
x P
o I
x M
o R
x P
o I
x M
R R *
x P

start and end on M:
x I
R M *
o R
x P
o I
x M
x R
o P
x I
o M
x R
o P
x I
R M *
x R
x P

start and end on I:
R I *
o M
x R
o P
x I
x M
o R
x P
o I
x M
o R
x P
R I *
x M
x R
x P

Okay now here is the I position again but this time only noting the fingering for those notes which are played:

start and end on I:
R I *
o
x R
o
x I
x M
o
x P
o I
x M
o
x P
R I *
x
x
x

Okay, here is the minor blues pentatonic I position:

RooxoxoxooxoR

R I *
o
o
x P
o
x M
o
x P
o
o
x R
o
R I *

Because I am so interested in running scale drills on diads and triads, so I can get good on the wide interval combinations,

Here is the suspended triad I position:

RooooxoxooooR

R I *
o
o
o
o
x M
o
x P
o
o
o
o
R I *

Here is the R-6 diad I position:

RooooooooxooR

R I *
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
x M
o
o
R I *

Heres another good tip also, rather than just ascending then descending back and forth, run ascending then start over from the low end and also run descending then start over from the high end - that forces you to jump 12 frets which is tough medicine but it will get quick and pay off.

[bigboi85]

Whatever you decide to do, do it with a METRONOME! You will thank me later. Other than that, attack your fretting and picking hand separately at the beginning of the routine and bring them together at the middle, then carry that out until the end. It really worked for me. A kung fu teacher told me that there are no secrets in kung fu, only training. Same with guitar. Just get in there and grind it out until you get it. If you get frustrated, put the guitar down, eat a cookie, drink some pepsi, laugh at something, then try it again. Oh, and start SLOW.

[Drew]

Really, to chime back in here, there are a couple of philosophical observations that have really helped me.

1) Divide and Conquer. No single drill is a catch-all or magic bullet that will make you a better guitarist. Rather, try to identify things you can't do. When ou find them, make up a drill that focuses on JUST that weakness, as purely as possible. For example, one thing I've struggled with is I can alternate pick relatively well on a single string, and while changing only a few strings, but I'm a lot less fluid when I'm spanning six or seven strings in a row. I COULD practice normal chromatics to get better, but for every string change I play, I play three other notes that I don't need to improve in the same way so it's very inefficient. What I've been working on instead is alt-picking six and seven string arpeggios. Occasionally I'll play two notes on the same string but for the most part it's one note per string, and for me the tradeoff of having a more musical sounding exercise vs a slightly more efficient one is worth it.

2) quality, not quality. Someone around here posted a great argue that pointed out that after 4 or so hours it's mostly a matter of diminished returns. You're better off practicing fewer hours more frequently, especially from a damage prevention line.

3) variety. If every day you practice the same 10 drills, you're eventually going to stop seeing progress because all you'll do is get very good at those drills. Change it up periodically.

4) focus on accuracy. This is self explanatory - practicing something at a tempo you can't do cleanly just really serves to ingrain that sloppiness into your technique.

5) sometimes you just gotta play. Technique will only get you so far, so occasionally just put down the metronome and make some music.