Grateful Dead Music Forum

Keeping in mind that I usually play and practice solo: what do you do for guitar practice? Reason for the waiver of solo play is that I'm guessing much of the practice that guys in bands do revolves around future songs and setlists with some jammyness. I usually try to practice at least three full songs, more if I'm having fun with it that day, and if I haven't played in awhile I'll do finger exercises up the fretboard. Always a good thing for me to mess around with a pick since I tend to comfortably fingerpick best, even strum without a pick. Of course the most fun is playing with youtube or a disc, but I'm looking for work/improvement stuff here. Fun's easy, duh.

I spend more time on getting better at songs that learning new songs. Part of my practice is learning the different instruments of the song.

i usually sit and run through some songs that i have been working on then end up noodling for awhile before getting lost in the delay i just got for xmas ...i need to focus more

I hate practicing. It's boring and hard work and I'm a lazy person. So my goal is to maximize my time - I pick a skill that I can't do that I don't have or haven't been doing well and focus on it until it improves. It sounds overly simple but I think a lot of people overlook the fundamental fact that practicing is not meant to be fun, it's meant to make you a better player.

Time getting ragged? Use your metronome and run scales or excercises until it's tight.

Can't remember the chords to a song? Run through it until your fingers know it better than you do.

Can't quite play a lick cleanly, like in something like Help/Slip? Both of the above techniques come into play... slow it down until you really really understand it rhythmically, this usually finds me starting at about half tempo. Gradually slow it down, patiently making sure you can play it cleanly at each faster click of the metronome, until you can cleanly play it at full speed or faster.

Trouble coming up with enough ideas for something like the opening jam to UJB? I'll go as far as making a chart of all the notes of every chord in the progression, and find ways to connect them melodically.



Of course sometimes I'll noodle around freely on a bass at home too, usually after some inspiration - this also has benefit, especially if you're adapting to a new instrument. I usually try to free my mind of anything besides "majorish" or "minorish" and play around with different intervals and find ways to express myself harmonically. A lot of my most fundamental techniques have been honed this way.

As usual, good advice from Rusty. Practice isn't fun, if it is fun you're probably playing and not practicing. But, you can't really get to the fun playing without a lot of practicing. It takes discipline to keep focused on what it is you're practicing. Make a point of practicing something specific be it a technique or a song. Don't just tell yourself, "time to practice!" Tell yourself, "time to practice this passage in Estimated Prophet," or whatever it is you need to practice and DO IT! Don't stray from it if it gets frustrating. If it's frustrating it means you need the practice.

Developing a routine is a good idea, if you play for an hour a day, set aside at least the first 15 minutes for practice time. I also used to tell my guitar students to always finish with something fun and light that way you put your instrument down in a good frame of mind and are more likely to pick it back up sooner and for longer the next time.

For those in bands, there is a difference between practice and rehearsal. Practice is what you do on your own, rehearsal is what you do together only after you have practiced what you need to practice. I have been guilty of this one more than once It's not fair to your bandmates to spend their time learning your parts.

For my normal practice routine I run through my gamut of about 15 songs I have down fairly well and just keep doing them over and over until my time is up. That is my electric routine. My acoustic (when the kids are in bed) is when I work on more songs that I play strictly acoustically and more of my scales. Have only been playing for about 2 years steadily and it is amazing how much better you get. Still not very good but I enjoy it.

Oh, I also on occasion when I am home alone will put in some View from the Vault and attempt to play along. Unfortunately, I can only do it when I am alone as my wife hates the Dead.

Tennessee Jedi wrote:

Nice. I was just about to post this.

It's good to see that so many have a similar sense of humor and knowledge base. As soon as I saw the title for this thread I thought of that video...every time I tell my wife I've got practice...she replies with..."Not game...practice". Thanks for the post.

"how the hell can I make my team mates better by practice?"