practicing your instrument

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First of all, I say classic. I never understood the "practicing will make you a robot" meme. Sure, practicing all the time and not having a life and not listening to lots of good music will make you a robot, but practicing itself is essential.

Ideally, I like to practice drums 1-2 hours a day (of actual practice, as opposed to just fooling around), though I'm not always consistent. I pretty much play folky country-ish rock, though there's some proggy stuff in it, so more practice than this is probably not necessary.

I like to use a metronome sometimes (which is important) but not always (which I think is equally important). I mostly do pretty simple technique stuff out of books like Stick Control, and then spend a little time practicing parts for songs and maybe coming up with weird coordination patterns to practice.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 14 August 2005 22:44 (twenty years ago)

I don't know how to go about practicing.. I mean I try the whole drills and scaler runs thing, but I just lose interest after a few minutes and just start messing around, figuring songs out by ear, making up little riffs, etc. I try to play everyday, though sometimes I get a bit disheartened and take a few days off...

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Sunday, 14 August 2005 22:48 (twenty years ago)

I was going to be horribly confused by your post until I got to the second half of the second sentence: in my book, "figuring out songs by ear" and "making up little riffs" is practice. Maybe not the most efficient or disciplined form of practice, but practice nonetheless -- I mean, you're with your instrument, learning something about how to make it do stuff. And even within those types of sessions, there's still a point where it tips over into traditional practice; once you pick up how to play something by ear, you still have to go over it enough times to play it quickly and smoothly. I mean, I think I spent half of my fifteenth year of life knowing how to play "Girl Afraid" on guitar and trying over and over to actually get through it once without screwing up.

― nabiscothingy, Sunday, 14 August 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

NB I have a hard time believing that there are seriously people out there who think you shouldn't practice your instrument!

― nabiscothingy, Sunday, 14 August 2005 23:23 (twenty years ago)

xpost I agree that making up riffs, and ESPECIALLY figuring songs out by ear are practice. But I do think that some more technical practice helps. Maybe it's not completely necessary -- I know some musicians who seem to get by without it. I just think it makes you more versatile and gives you more tools by which to figure out songs and make up riffs.

― Hurting (Hurting), Sunday, 14 August 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

practicing can involve reading music, too. that's a good skill to keep handy for some people.

― mike h. (mike h.), Sunday, 14 August 2005 23:35 (twenty years ago)

Dud! Practice takes away soul...

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Monday, 15 August 2005 00:03 (twenty years ago)

Nab, now do you believe me?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 15 August 2005 00:03 (twenty years ago)

i think it kind of depends. i've played classical violin since first grade, and i don't know where i'd be without practicing mozart and bach and that crap along with maybe learning a jazz head every once and awhile for fun. just practicing technique is so important.

figuring out stuff by ear is a form of practice really, but its really practicing ear training and projecting that sound from your brain to your instrument. its just totally different from reading music.

― jonathan - stl (jonathan - stl), Monday, 15 August 2005 01:10 (twenty years ago)

Hah, I'm starting to think anyone who's had violin training is biased on this conversation. Just try to do the three chord guitar aesthetic on violin, you're fucked.

― mike h. (mike h.), Monday, 15 August 2005 06:33 (twenty years ago)

Classic. If you don't enjoy playing your instrument, then why are you actually playing it at all?

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Monday, 15 August 2005 08:33 (twenty years ago)

RUDIMENTS

― cutty (mcutt), Monday, 15 August 2005 12:11 (twenty years ago)

just dont practice too much and wreck your wrists

i use picture chord books and read about theory.

― kephm (kephm), Monday, 15 August 2005 12:23 (twenty years ago)

I will confess that I don't regularly practice on drums. But it's not for any noble reason; I live in a small apartment, and don't keep my kit set up. So I mostly only play during band rehearsals and gigs.

I think about what I want to play when going over the songs in my head, and seem to be able to make it happen when I need to. I don't generally play anything very complicated, being of the "less is more" school when it comes to drumming. Because I'm able to play the beats and fills I want to play without hours and hours of rudiments, my interest in doing rudiments is limited. This probably makes me a lazy musician and/or a bad person, but there it is.

Guitar, I guess I do practice. I probably play guitar for an hour a day, a mix of scales and exercises and practicing existing songs, improvising, and writing.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Monday, 15 August 2005 12:29 (twenty years ago)

er, classic. how could it be anything but? I'd say ear training and learning what it's going to sound like before you actually play a note is as important as physical technique for the average guitarist.

― AaronK (AaronK), Monday, 15 August 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

Practicing your instrument = Classic.
Practicing w/ metronome = Classic. After all, you might well be playing out of time.
Practising w/o metronome = Classic too. Exclusively praticising w/ metronome may cause stiff playing.
Practicing w/ metronome set to click on 2 and 4 = Ueberclassic. Proof is left to the reader.

Including ear training in your practice budget = Classic.

Rhythm section players practicing guitar instead of their main instrument equals Dud when you pay to go to a show and the guy is up front at the mic with w/ his guitar and a utility rent-a-bass-player or drummer is in his regular place, but as a way to get your practice on without being a noisy neighbor it equals Classic.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 15 August 2005 16:37 (twenty years ago)

I also never practice on drums anymore (because of apartment reasons), but I'm on the practice pad for a good 1/2 hour every day working on rudiments and trying to get my stupid right hand to behave like it's supposed to. After years of this I'm very much used to translating practice pad stuff to actual playing.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 15 August 2005 16:44 (twenty years ago)

total dud.

― petesmith (plsmith), Monday, 15 August 2005 17:26 (twenty years ago)

dammit pete

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Monday, 15 August 2005 17:42 (twenty years ago)

Yesterday my wife and I spent three hours rehearsing duets from a Bach cantata (140) before heading to an hour lesson with my voice teacher. It was the most fun I've had on a weekend in MONTHS.

― The Ghost of Black Elegance (Dan Perry), Monday, 15 August 2005 18:06 (twenty years ago)

I wish you were my next-door neighbor, Dan.

(Unless that three hour period was between one and four a.m.)

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Monday, 15 August 2005 18:13 (twenty years ago)

If you don't enjoy playing your instrument, then why are you actually playing it at all?

Well, practicing is only fun when you feel in control of your instrument. Other times in can be frustrating and heartbreaking.

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 15 August 2005 18:27 (twenty years ago)

More interesting -- Taking Sides: Teaching yourself to play vs. Taking lessons.

― PB, Monday, 15 August 2005 18:35 (twenty years ago)

That would be interesting.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Monday, 15 August 2005 18:46 (twenty years ago)

I practice rudiments like clicking, double-clicking, and mouse-tracking every day, but I've fallen so far off on playing guitar at all; I really only pick it up to map out sequencer patterns and improvise new lines, or for the kind of twenty-minute noodling sessions that don't really mean much. I keep meaning to find some time to push back into being able to play with some fluidity and confidence (and beyond the tics and tricks I always immediately fall back on), but it hasn't happened yet.

― nabisco (nabisco), Monday, 15 August 2005 18:55 (twenty years ago)

More interesting -- Taking Sides: Teaching yourself to play vs. Taking lessons.

-- PB (non...), August 15th, 2005.

In a way it's a false dichotomy. Everyone, to some extent, teaches themselves to play.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:44 (twenty years ago)

Hurting OTM.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

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practicing your instrument - c/d//s/d