General Music Chat

I dont keep a time sheet or anything.

But I practice what I need to. I really work hard learning new and old songs so that when I play live I can just play them on automatic. Our shows are a lot more physical than most folks on here, so I have to really have my chops down. I also play with my guitar slung real low, and yeah its for looks. I can really wail if I pull it under my armpits, but to me that just looks geaky as hell. Sorry Crip, Im sure you can rip me a new asshole but I still love seeing guys like Page and Slash with a Paul slung down to the knee. Latley Ive been re-exploring the early Van Halen first 3 albums and Im working on those techniques again.

When I play live I hardly have to think about what Im doing, what with women rubbing my chest pouring drinks down my throat and all the crap that goes on at gigs, I have to know my sh*t. I recently did a gig and was playing some crazy solo at the bar talking to a guy about his bike. He couldnt believe I was playing at the time. Thought I was playing air guitar, yea I make it look easy, but thats the whole point, to practice to the point that you make it look easy. The places I play none of the bands have that approach, most of them I see are struggling just to hit thier notes. Another thing I never try anything live that I havent thouroughly practiced at home. Iwear crazy clothes and some nights I put on the leather and boots and practice sets at home alone.

So on second thought I practice a lot more than I give myself credit for, and you know what it pays off.

Ive gotten to a point playing wise, where Im not pushing ahead. When I was younger I was always getting a little ahead of myself. I dont know if that makes sense to anyone on here or not. But these days Im patitent in my playing and let the songs kinda come to me. I try not to play any unnecesary note, well most of the time anyway. Every now and then the shredder has to surface, but that really doesnt get people going, when I lay back and hold notes and just let the guitar sing thats when people say man you are rippin. Go figure.

I guess Ive had to much coffee this morning.

I'll add that its sunday morning and I got up early and played for about an hour already.

I go thru the same thing for the most part. I try to set aside time to practice sometimes I go into my music room and just don't feel like it, most of those times I just discipline myself to do it. I rarely go 3 day's without practicing. On average I practice 5 day's a week.

As far as our band we play out enough, so the only time we practice is when we add new material or a new musician, lately we have been adding new material and sometimes the first time we play it is at a gig. The members have to be disciplined to do this, nothing irritates me more than for everyone to agree to do new songs and for me to take the time to learn them and to show up at a rehearsal or gig and one of the guy's to say I didn't learn my part. So far for the most part this hasn't happened. I have noticed tho that one of our guys plays like he has just learned them 30 minutes before rehearsal.

jw, I was having trouble sleeping and got up at 4:30 this morning and started learning a new song April Wines "She's A Roller"

I went yesterday and purchased that Album a remixed version of they're greatest hits.
When I was driving the other day I heard a song by the Doors I hadn't heard in a long time Strange Days, now I was never really a Doors fan but after hearing that song I just had to pick that one up too while I was out. I listened to it and man it reaffirmed how good they really were now 40 years to late I am a Doors fan

April Wine, Shes A Roller is a great song. I played that years ago. I love how they went into the Daytripper riff at the end of I Like To Rock. In fact after hearing that I would put riffs from different songs into anything Im doing, I still do this. They were a great band.

I played ina Doors Tribute band in the mid 80s. It was pretty cool other than the singer thought he was Morrison and was supposed to do all that dumb stuff, like not showing up for gigs. We wound up with me singing at one point kind of a punked out version and had some success for a little while. That brings back memories. I guess my favorite was When The Musics Over, you know turn out the light. I always liked that song.

The Doors to me has a kind of timeless quaility to the music that most groups dont have, but thats just my 2 cents.

Ive been working this morning on GnRs Paradise City. Really cool song with my kinda guitar riffs.

im sorry but i hate the term practice,practice is something you do if you dont have it down.rehearse is a better term, in saying that , I rehearse 3 times a week for about 3 to 4 hrs and I practice safe sex always

Wow.. this thread is about your personal commitment to practicing.... don't even get me going on how many times I rehearse with both of my very, very busy bands! I can't recall a weekend where I haven't gigged or a week that I haven't rehearsed! Don't know about you folks but the competition in the clubs with guitarists are freakin' fierce! The guitaists out here are awesome and we all always have to be on top of our game no matter what... it all depends on how bad you want it... I want to one day quit my freakin' job and do this full time.... that ain't happening if I worry more about the height of my axe or how cool I look or how many chicks are rubbing my person! Been there...done that.... My wife is my life... I'm very content with her so the distraction or attention of the opposite sex is the last thing I think of while I'm up onstage.... Our gig last night was a complete success in every aspect of the word due to the fact that all the other guys in my band have the same commitment and attitude that I have... We just locked ourselves into another club every month for the rest of the year at a set salary and are now booking theater venues... We actually got a $300.00 "tip" over our set salary because of the intense feedback our agent got from the crowd, the owners and the bartenders of this particular new club we played at.... so everyone stop knocking people who want it sooo bad, that they practice their asses off! WOW... I can't believe the hatin' going on over my daily routine! My dad was a trumpet player in the "Big Band" era and played with Benny goodman, Harry James and many others and he instilled this strict regimen in me and I'm damn well gonna stick with it!

Thats why you are so good crip. I agree with you 110%

ghost 62, Practice is what you do to learn, rehearsal is what the band doe's after everyone has practiced in they're personal time and learned the material and have it down!

A serious musician has the same discipline crip speaks of and no matter how talented you are PRACTICE and an organized disciplined rehearsal is what seperates the average bands from the Best bands.

Maybe it's different for bassists but, I really only practice if I need to learn a new tune and struggled with it during the first run through or two with the rest of the band.

Maybe it's that after 40 years of playing that songs just seem to put themselves together from the get go for me. I really don't know.

When I was younger I practiced alot. As I got older (more experienced) the time I've used for practice has shrunk with each passing year until I have gotten to the point that I'm at now.

Don't get me wrong.....if you want to wail away 24 - 7 then have at it! I think it's something that varies with each individual.

I like Crips post. And Crip I was just poking fun at you.

Its all about commitment, and although I poke a lot of fun at other people and myself. I know my sh*t backwards and forwards.

There are no shortcuts and anyone that thinks so is selling themselves short. If you want to ba a baddass you have to do the homework.

For everyone that is different, but no matter how well I know some stupid song I go over them anyways just to be sure and also figure out new things to do with songs.

I never practice anymore.
I learn things that are a bit out of my comfort zone or over my head. Or if im working out a lead and want to do something that I have in my head, but my body wont cooperate, i'll hammer on it till it gets comfortable.
As far as runing scales and finger excercises? bah...
I do those to warm up and thats about it.

usually play everyday though.

I've been practicing more and more lately.

Practice is not something I did the first 14 years I had a guitar. I would learn a song (skipping over the difficult parts and flailing on the solos) and that was it. I never really worked at becoming a better player, and that was difficult. I sucked and I knew it and I never got better.

Then I got into a cover band last year and suddenly I had to know my stuff. I didn't want to embarrass myself or let my band mates down, and so this past year I probably put more hours into my guitar than the previous 14 combined.

I practice pretty much every day now. I spend time learning new songs, practicing known songs to try and eliminate errors, etc. But I spend most of my hardcore "practice" time learning solos and difficult parts of songs (Cliffs of Dover my latest hill to climb). And by "hardcore" I mean time spent (usually) with Guitar Pro open on some file, with some section looped, and the speed trainer on. And I practice until I see improvement from the day before.

I've been a very poor lead player since I picked up a guitar over 15 years ago and that's the area I've want to improve the most, but it takes loads of work. Having a tools available like Guitar Pro and Transcribe! has been a blessing. I probably need to invest even more hours/day than I do now, but I've been able to see meaningful progress this year, and that's meant a lot.

For me, where I'm at now in my skill level, practice is about getting better as a whole player. I want to get to the point where I can listen to a challenging song and not have any reservations about learning it. To know that I CAN learn it and play it well. I want to know that given enough time I can play any song I want to learn. I can't do that now, but in time I hope to get there.

Colors Fade you are on your way to being a baddass!!!

Great addition to this post.

I hear some people on here saying they dont practice. Last night at the Superbowl party I went to another guitarist was there and this is a guy I respect. He can shredd. He said he was jealous of my band cause when hes seen us he can tell all of us have done our homework. He didnt realize that we can wing some stuff pretty good too, but thats another story. Anyway this guy could easily take my place, he is very very good. But I got to listen to him whine about the people he is playing with currently. He says we decide on simple cover songs and then the other guys dont learn the songs. He said I dont have any confidence in my bandmates cause they arent as committted as I am. So besides building chops, practice builds confidence. It builds confidence in your abilities, but it also pushes your bandmates to push harder. I never thought of it this way cause I guess Ive never stayed with folks who didnt push as hard as I do for very long. Ive always been able to tell quickly that something was not going to work out.

So practice practice and build confidence. It will come thru in your performances.

My practice varies. Sometimes I just do a finger gym set or two. Sometimes I work at memorization of scales or chords. Sometimes I just play what I feel. I now have enough of our stuff including incomplete projects recorded so that I can play them on computer or through the PA. When I do this I just constantly work on doing leads through out the whole song, freestyle.
Of late I have been upset with myself for allowing my day job / life schedule to keep me from practice daily.
But I will overcome.

Personally, I have to go with Alan on this one. I used to practice on bass extensively, usually by creating bass lines that I actually COULD NOT play. I would push on until I nailed it. That, to me, is practice.
On the other hand, rehearsal is something that I am pushing my current band towards. IMO, if all we do is practice, then that time will always consist of trying to get the songs down. As we move closer to regular gigs (and actually have a few scheduled), it's time to work on the performance. For the band members that don't know their parts, it's time to "practice" at home.