For beginners the practice may involve practicing the basic skills of using the pick on individual strings, strumming chords and learning chord shapes and practicing changing from one chord shape to the next.
For intermediate guitar students practice can involve learning scales and music reading, learning the chord changes and strumming rhythms for song or a melody or working on playing arpeggio patterns cleanly and smoothly.
With more advanced students practice could be on developing music reading skills, improvising guitar solos overs blues or other chord changes or advanced techniques like tapping or sweep picking.
In terms of a practice routine or schedule it is best to start your practice working on what you find the most difficult or challenging for example a new technique like finger picking or reading music. Then progress to material that you’re OK at but not great such as a song you’ve been working on the past few days and almost have down properly. Following this you can finish off your practice with something a bit easier or more fun like playing a song you know well or improvising a blues solo over a backing track for more advanced guitarists.
If you stick with this practice routine you will develop your playing and broaden your set of guitar skills more quickly than if you put off what your really need to wok on towards the end of your practice as you’ll often find that you’re getting tired or you’re running out of practice time.
If you’re playing what you already know it’s not really practice. Practice should sound awkward and ugly as you’re practicing what needs to be developed and made better! |