#232 - How to build an effective PRACTICE ROUTINE!
Added 2022-07-15 14:31:00 +0000 UTCMy friends, you voted for the topic of practice routines on this month's wishlist - so I took some extra time to make an in-depth video about this exciting topic :) I also talk a lot about what not to do, hope this helps!
I think it was about time to summarize everything in one video. I took the most frequent and most important questions you send me daily concerning practice routines and answered them all in detail, really hope you can use this on your journey :)
This is the link I talked about, you can find over 16 guitar courses here: https://www.patreon.com/bernth?filters[tag]=Patreon%20Online%20Courses
The technique courses (and even some theory courses) come with 30-day routines and that is a great start for all new members. I especially recommend the Alternate Picking Masterclass and the 30-Day Legato Workout/Challenge!
Hope you all have an amazing weekend!!
Comments
Amazing, I have my daily routine also in the morning, from 5.30 to 6.30. It works for me, no one bothers me, I can focus, relax, After that, I go to work and I retur in the evening when if I have time, I play some songs, learn some new parts, 2-3 licks, play on some backing tracks for another 30-60 minutes. In the weekend I get time to play more, sometimes for 2-3 hours in one session.
Horatiu Campian
2022-09-23 11:01:22 +0000 UTCThe link is not working
Orlando Castro
2022-09-20 17:13:48 +0000 UTCYes the link should be https://www.patreon.com/bernth/posts?filters[tag]=Patreon%20Online%20Courses
Marco Beyer
2022-08-20 08:19:51 +0000 UTCFantastic information Bernth. Much appreciated.
Carl L. Blackwell
2022-08-02 02:49:59 +0000 UTCThe link to the courses brings me back up to the original page
Emil Knol
2022-08-01 12:45:20 +0000 UTCYou remind me of the people from the movie Wall-E
ErikPlaysGuitar
2022-07-31 08:36:30 +0000 UTCI understand where he's coming from. I think Bernth could migrate to his own platform in the future (you know how, for example, Steve Stine does Guitar Zoom and it's laid out pretty effectively and everything's easy to find rather than in a blog post style - the GZ site has hideous loading times though and their marketing is the most annoying I've ever encountered, plus expensive). Of course, how to migrate over all the subscribers here would be an issue but I'm sure it's been done. Alternatively, what would help me personally as a beginner is a pathway through the content. Like: in your first year here, what should you work through? What's a well-rounded curriculum? Even a spreadsheet showing this stuff would be great. 'In year 1/month 1/[whatever block of time], choose one from each column' - or indeed 'work through everything in this section.' Or a video explaining your possible pathways depending on your level and focus. This may have already been done and I could have missed it. This isn't a criticism, more just a 'I'm dazzled by all the brilliant stuff here and want to work through it systematically' kind of thing!
Jordan Summers
2022-07-25 08:58:50 +0000 UTCsimple question: practice while standing or sitting?
Doime
2022-07-24 08:54:45 +0000 UTCHello Castulo, here is the link to all the courses with included practice plans - all the techniques you mentioned are covered here in extreme detail and you also get 30-day routines (and a workout challenge at the end): https://www.patreon.com/bernth?filters[tag]=Patreon%20Online%20Courses Just download the packages and you are ready to go! I only provide the content here, if you have helpful feedback for Patreon please make sure to send it over here: https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=360000465611
Bernd Brodträger
2022-07-21 04:54:15 +0000 UTCI assume Bernth is aware of this and is why he decided to put together the various packages.
Jason Starr
2022-07-21 03:18:12 +0000 UTCi was going to comment this. I completely agree
Breno Sbc
2022-07-21 02:40:35 +0000 UTCI think the content from Bernth is great, but to be honest, I think the platform (patreon) is not the right one, it is super hard to find content to work on. In my opinion, the platform should allow categorizing topics, so one could maybe search for legato or sweep picking, and even within that category maybe subdivide the topics into theory, exercises, courses, etc. At the moment I just keep randomly looking for the next topic to tackle, without any consistency. This makes it super confusing.
Castulo
2022-07-20 23:43:11 +0000 UTCYes, you can definitely give that a try! I swap exercises often and also change the structure of the routine to keep it interesting as well :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-07-18 06:09:28 +0000 UTCHey Martin, 15 minutes on a topic, not just on one exercise :) Yes, if you would like to play faster, you should focus on pushing the speed beyond your comfort zone! I tried summarizing this here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/167-extreme-in-5-50839230
Bernd Brodträger
2022-07-18 06:02:46 +0000 UTCOh yeah... to get used to different time schedules for practicing is really hard to impossible for me, too... That is why I didn't do anything the last couple of about 6 weeks actually... cause I had different working times and couldn't practice to my usual timeline (which is like yours early in the morning before going to work). I really didn't get the right "feeling" or the mood to practice after work on a different time setting (and also with much more diversion) ... so yea... I totally didn't practice, sadly... now that I am on vacation it is pretty much the same - I want to sleep a little longer than usal for example. So I guess I will start my practice routine next week again at earliest when I have to work again and under my common schedules.
Sephiroth
2022-07-16 13:39:31 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, In the video you talked about spending 15 minutes on an exercise (4*15 = 1 hour). I tend to fall into an exercise and suddenly a whole hour has passed of me doing the same thing, usually focussing on accuracy, so never really pushing the speed, is this a bad habit (and why I don't feel I'm making the progress I want/should), am I just ending up spending 45 minutes reinforcing bad technique?
Martin Bonsall
2022-07-16 13:14:05 +0000 UTCHi Bernth, there's just a question left that you haven't already answered in the video (thank you for all the other answers, btw). I know from others disciplines that focusing on certain topics works really well to see results, and one hour a day is a realistic time I can put in every day. Problem is, I have too much to much I'm willing to work on... 🤣🤣🤣definitely more than four topics... and I have no doubt that I need to work on all of them... so here's my question: would you suggest an alternate schedule (like working every day on the worst things and alternate every two days the easiest), or would you work on just four for a month and the just reschedule? Big hugs from italy
Simon
2022-07-16 10:36:16 +0000 UTCYuck. We had that stuff last year and it wasn't fun. Hope you feel better soon. I think the biggest surprise was the stomach issues. Definitely not recommended.
Bryan Fowler
2022-07-16 09:26:13 +0000 UTCoh..really!!! let me look!!!! Thanks!!!
Mohammad Uddin
2022-07-16 07:02:22 +0000 UTCThanks for sharing this David! I'm currently recovering from COVID and could barely play these past days, so I definitely feel you - today was the first session again and I'm happy to be back on track :) I don't have experience with this type of work environment/schedule but I think there's definitely a solution that will work for you as well. The most motivating thing to me is placing the fun stuff last, as mentioned in the video - that somehow tricks my brain into wanting to do this over and over again, I usually don't have to motivate or push myself to practice :)
Bernd Brodträger
2022-07-16 05:34:37 +0000 UTCHey Bernth, I'm a nurse at a very busy trauma hospital. I only work 3 days a week, but I'm there 13 hours on the days I work. All day long at work I think about guitar, but after my shift I'm so beat I just can't get into playing/practicing, so 3 days a week I don't play at all. Have you ever been in a situation where you have days when you are just dog tired, and what do you do to get past it? I'm getting way better working on your lessons, but not playing 3 days a week seems like it's really holding me back.
David Elliott
2022-07-16 02:38:08 +0000 UTCThank you - this is super helpful and answers so many questions!
Scott Work
2022-07-16 02:30:14 +0000 UTCMy rhythm guitar player in my old band got carpal tunnel syndrome back in 2007. Before that we were playing every weekend and it really hurt us. We were a death/thrash band and I think he always had a hard time keeping up, but he was a good buddy so we always kept him around.
Bryan Fowler
2022-07-16 01:58:52 +0000 UTCThank you Bernth, this was very helpful. I try to practice after work and shortly before bed, around 8pm-9pm. I try to give myself time for just noodling and applying techniques I am working on. My biggest challenge is finding or making time to actually work on songs. I also play acoustic and sing lots of classic country tunes, but that has taken a backseat to getting to how I could play 10 years ago. Sometimes you just gotta play through some Metallica or Slayer and drive your wife crazy :)
Bryan Fowler
2022-07-16 01:56:40 +0000 UTCThanks!
Jeff Parks
2022-07-16 00:23:52 +0000 UTCOh man that sounds familiar! I've had 2 decades of pick-up-guitar-for-a-while-and-practice-chugging-trying-to-learn-something-new-but-not-really-getting-anywhere-so-putting-it-down-again-for-a-time. But I've really seen progress with my technique over the last couple months (even with only very sporadic practice sessions!). I assume you're talking about "#214 - 5 Steps to Complete Fretboard Mastery + 30-DAY THEORY COURSE"? That's what I'm keen to check out next.
Kraiye
2022-07-16 00:08:03 +0000 UTCExercise 104 and the alternate picking master class final workout
jaz
2022-07-15 23:57:01 +0000 UTCbro thanks so much for the mention made me day I love tracking my progress keeps me motivated big time
jaz
2022-07-15 23:49:05 +0000 UTCIn regards to Bernth's advice. It is definitely spot on and mirrors the results of my efforts as well. What I realized is that I needed to budget time to think, plan and to get excited about what I was doing. A good start would be for at least one session a week just to see if it recharges the batteries, or if you find yourself having a hard time staying focused, try one of these think-about-the-skill-you-want-and-get-excited-about-it sessions. If you cant think of anything watch videos on your favourite guitarists (obviously Bernth) and get inspired that way. I had such a tight schedule of improving that I had no time to think about my guitar approach anymore and as a result, my practice schedule failed. I began to get bored, started to dread the sessions, it was harder and harder to just get started. This surprised me because being competent on the instrument is a huge want for me but I wasn't going to deny how I felt about starting some of my sessions. On the other side of the argument: I had a guitar lesson with Guus music once, the fingerstyle guy from youtube and I asked him how did you get so good and he said that he practised 6 hours a day for about 6-8 months and only on song learning. I am not sure what his level was at before going super saiyen here with his practice schedule but I think something has to be said for WILL POWER. But be smart about it, don't be playing through pain or anything foolish like that.
Philip Mullins
2022-07-15 19:21:12 +0000 UTCFurther to the point of practicing 4-5 hours a day, I did this and it was a huge mistake. Not because I didn't stay motivated but because after three months of intense practice I developed carpal tunnel in my fretting hand and had to take two full months off playing and wear a brace 24/7. If I had scaled back my practice to one or two hours a day I probably wouldn't have lost so much practice time in the long run. Now I split up my practice into smaller blocks throughout the day and it's working better for me!
CLeia
2022-07-15 18:56:47 +0000 UTCclick on the patreon online courses link (16 posts) at the top of the page, because that link doesn't work for me either. Courses are for every tier
Juraj
2022-07-15 18:27:08 +0000 UTCThank you! Which are the first two alt-picking exercises referenced around 7:20 and 7:40?
Jeff Parks
2022-07-15 17:47:16 +0000 UTCBernth, your "You're Probably Visualizing The Fretboard WRONG!" was a guitar epiphany for me, it blew my mind and also upset me because it is so simple and why didn't anyone tell me this before! Maybe I wasn't listening or the guitar gods had not bestowed upon me their blessing yet but now finally after 25 years I have found the path to actually sound musical. To be fair, I didn't put much effort into the guitar for the first 20 years, i just wanted to palm mute and chug all day. Major scale pattern (sounds musical), ascending/descending major scale + arpeggios in 3 different position per root note (sounds even more musical). You get to know the 1st, 3rd and 5th of each chord and how they feel and how they sound when you move up the major scale. To me, this is the way. The very beginning of the path (or a path) to finally understanding and unlocking the fret board and memorizing every note. Why? Because of the patterns and relationships you reveal on the fret board gives you the confidence to determine quickly what each note is. While I am disappointed I havent taken my playing more seriously and with what could have been and to be starting at the bottom of the theoretical mountain here but I am so grateful because at least now I have a path to follow. I am going to enjoy every moment of my journey! Thank you Bernth!
Philip Mullins
2022-07-15 17:12:38 +0000 UTCYes, Thank you!!! now, it is clear.
Mohammad Uddin
2022-07-15 16:07:52 +0000 UTCHi. From tier description it looks like you need to be a VIP Club member. It says that you have a full access to Patreon lessons library, among other things. Have a read through all the tiers but I think VIP Club is what you need. I hope I helped.
Tomasz Klisiewicz
2022-07-15 15:56:20 +0000 UTC☕️ Morning from Cali! This is perfect timing! To help keep myself accountable as well as to help me focused on learning and growing, I opted to start taking lessons again for the first time in over 25 years! I have about 60-90 min a day tops to practice/have fun and a practice routine is something I'm actively building based on my new lessons as well as just my own enjoyment. Thank you once again for this Bernth, as always, you're the best! 🤟🏻
Eric Bailey
2022-07-15 15:37:55 +0000 UTCAwesome, thank you Bernth!
Jay Evans
2022-07-15 15:36:22 +0000 UTCIt's like you knew what I'd been trying to figure out this week. Thanks so much for this one!
Ronald Johnson
2022-07-15 15:18:49 +0000 UTCwhere can I find your 30 days courses?... is it available only for 5 dollars tier? or need to increase the value to 15 USD?
Mohammad Uddin
2022-07-15 15:13:24 +0000 UTCValuable
Vinod Asiri sampath
2022-07-15 14:55:53 +0000 UTCThanks a lot.
择一 李
2022-07-15 14:55:00 +0000 UTCFantastic job Bernth! As a beginner that video will be a gold mine for me!
Tomasz Klisiewicz
2022-07-15 14:39:33 +0000 UTCWay to be awesome 👏
Damion Anderson
2022-07-15 14:34:29 +0000 UTC
