Silver Bullet - Posted - 12/17/2010:  04:02:19

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Hi all,
I've been playing about 6 months and can play a few songs now. I practice about an hour a day, but I am having a hard time figuring out how to use my practice time to improve my skills the most. If you could design a practice routine that would help me advance, what would an hour of daily practice look like? Thanks in advance.....SB

BobbyE - Posted - 12/17/2010:  04:09:25

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20 minutes rolls - 20 minutes new material (songs, licks, chord changing, etc ) - 20 minutes keeping fresh (review) of what you have learned previously. Do this and the whole time keep the three Ts in mind when you practice (tone, timing, technique).

Bobby

Earls 5 - Posted - 12/17/2010:  04:30:39

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quote:

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Originally posted by Silver Bullet

Hi all,
If you could design a practice routine that would help me advance, what would an hour of daily practice look like? Thanks in advance.....SB

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It would look like 2-4 hours of practice a day!

srb1194 - Posted - 12/17/2010:  06:13:39

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quote:

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Originally posted by Earls 5

quote:

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Originally posted by Silver Bullet

Hi all,
If you could design a practice routine that would help me advance, what would an hour of daily practice look like? Thanks in advance.....SB

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It would look like 2-4 hours of practice a day!

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Don't take this the wrong way but are you suggesting practicing 4-6 hours per day? I too am similar to Silver Bullet. There are times on the weekend when I'll spend a couple hours practicing but usually it's an hour per day.

Thanks,

srb1194

minstrelmike - Posted - 12/17/2010:  06:54:47

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The split into thirds is good.
I don't like the learning of arrangements over creation from basic melody plus chords but many folks do that. Whichever your approach is, that's the new stuff.

Do the old songs to warm up for 20 minutes.
Then practice technique. Rolls in general, specific licks, just left-hand pulls and slides, just chord changes.
Then work on some new stuff. May even cut the new stuff back and work 10 minutes on new stuff and 10 minutes on changing/revising your old/current stuff.

peewee - Posted - 12/17/2010:  07:16:22

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Fretboard stretching exercises for a few minutes to get the hands limbered up & improve reach. Few minutes with rolls to warm up. Lots of repetition of chord changes to get the left hand muscle memory going. The rest of the time working on a song. and remember its supposed to be fun

Silver Bullet - Posted - 12/17/2010:  08:02:26

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I'm having a lot of fun, but I know it will be even more fun when I can play well!! An hour a day is all I've got to give. I'm just trying to maximize the time I have.
SB

Blue Cheese - Posted - 12/17/2010:  08:52:17

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quote:

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Originally posted by Silver Bullet

I'm having a lot of fun, but I know it will be even more fun when I can play well!! An hour a day is all I've got to give. I'm just trying to maximize the time I have.
SB

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Having fun is what its all about.

An hour a day is great. The more you practice, the better you get.

All the suggestions so for are great but I will add one thing. I don't like sitting down for an hour and practicing! So I will practice for 30-45 minutes in the mourning and 30-45 minutes later in the day. Also, I like to just pick up and play a little all through the day for like 5-10 minutes. Spreading out the practice time make it a lot less frustrating and more fun. :)

Try to play everyday! It makes a difference...

hobogal - Posted - 12/17/2010:  10:00:06

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I would start with a warm up - going over a couple of songs you know well and, this is a good tip to get you ready for jamming, practice the back-up chords (vamping and rolling if you can). If you have slow down software get the song and slow it down so you can practice this. Then the last one learnt (to keep it fresh), if you have any 'glitches' focus on these in a practice loop. Then I'd spent time learning a new song - just taking it slow and going over a few bars (the muscle memory accumulates each day you repeat this, something to do with the magic of sleep!). Any time left, practice getting to the know the neck - chord inversions for the major chords. Just mess around - it's good to mess around. When I first started I just stuck rigidly to the tab and didn't know anything beyond that so just getting that confidence in knowing what chord your playing and practicing rolling from chord to chord with slides and 'passing notes' is a good idea.

jmod - Posted - 12/17/2010:  11:18:34

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I typically shoot for 15 min. warm-up with rolls, licks and/or scales. This is a good time to also just work on pulls and hammers. Then 15 min. of new stuff, 15 min. of review and 15 min. of playing around or "noodling" as some call it. One thing that I have found that is key is to practice new stuff before review, or I turn it into a solo jam session. Also, I do not noodle as much as I would like to, but you really learn so much from just playing around on the banjo. Not to mention, it keeps it fresh and fun as well. As a matter of fact, I will be as bold to say that if you do the other things, noodling could be one of the most important things for a beginner (or intermediate [not qualified to talk about advanced players]) to make sure that they do. Hobogal mentions this above and I am in complete agreement.

This may sound a little wierd, but I also try to pick up the banjo for about 15 minutes in the morning just to play some rolls or scales. Nothing fancy, nothing loud. It just gives my fingers some more contact time throughout the day and I have noticed that muscle memory tends to excel a bit when I do this.

Good luck on finding what works for you, there are a lot of good ideas on here.

boonjoer - Posted - 12/17/2010:  11:27:13

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This is where lessons really help me. The last 8 weeks, I was in a group class. I never wondered what to practice because I knew I had to get the stuff my teacher gave us DOWN COLD. I couldn't let any of the young whipersnappers in the class outplay me!

Now that the class is over, I can't stop playing this stupid Jimi Hendrix song.....

Dave Magram - Posted - 12/18/2010:  02:20:55

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Hi Silverbullet,

In case you are eager to stop being a beginner and start playing with other people, I'm going to suggest something a bit different.
Throw away your tablature.

Buy a couple of Flatt & Scruggs recordings, and try to learn at least two lines of a banjo solo every day for 30 minutes, and one backup lick on the third day.
Also on the third day, play the solo all the way through--along with Earl for 30 minutes.
On the seventh day, play both solos and both backup licks along with Earl for an hour.
That's it--simple, yes?

Benefits:
-You will never be wondering what to practice ever again. Ever. Because there are a zillion great recordings out there.
-Every three days, you will have learned a banjo solo from Earl and a new backup lick.
-You get to play with the Foggy Mountain Boys everyday, and get a sense of playing in a live band that is far better than a metronome--so you don't need to buy one.
- You don't need to spend any more money on tablature. Real banjo-players don't need tab.
-Within a few months, you'll be ready to play in a jam session. If you can play with Lester & Earl, son, you're ready to pick.

I have been recommending on other threads that a great CD to start with is Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs "Folk Songs of Our Land" combined with "Hard Traveling".
This combo CD provides 24 songs and ballads, mostly at slow or moderate tempos, such as: 'All The Good Times', "Johnson Boys', 'Poor Ellen Smith', 'Wreck of Old 97', 'Jed Clampett', for just $10! (on Amazon.com in the USA).

I learned a great deal from these two recordings when I was first learning to play--because the tempos are moderate, and it's easier to figure out what Earl is doing..
The slower tempo also teaches you how Earl plays with drive-- even at slow tempos.

Think of it--hundreds of Earl's licks at slow tempos for you to learn, plus your very own excellent backup band--for just $10!

After those two, the recording I just about wore out was "F&S at Carnegie Hall" available on Amazon.com for just $10!
The CD, which is all the songs at the concert, comes to 36 songs.
36 F&S songs for just $10!
And Josh & Jake jokes.
Incredible.

Buy both CDs.
For $20, you will have 60 songs to learn Earl's solos, licks, backup, rhythm, timing--that's a year's worth of learning!

Jamming with Lester & Earl is easy, convenient, they don't laugh at your mistakes, and they never get tired of playing with you.
(I should know--they were my very patient backup band for many, many hours.)
And they're fun to play with!
Tell 'em I said "Howdy!".

A few months of this routine and you won't be a beginner any more.

Good picking,
Dave

Leigh - Posted - 12/18/2010:  06:03:57

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A ton of great ideas here. I would suggest standing while you practice. It's a newbie jam session show stopper. Also, the tough, error prone sections should not only be played slow, but as quiet as you can (always with picks). This reinforces the learning. Early on, I limited myself to a couple of roll patterns per session. If not, I tended to play all I knew, and didn't get enough skill set at any of them. Try playing the chosen session rolls on just the 5 2 1 strings. It's a mind game, that is fun as heck. Substitute simple chords while using just those 3 strings, then move to including the 3 and 4 strings, in future sessions. I then, play songs using different roll patterns from my practice sessions. It really opens up emphasis on the melody. Good luck!

Silver Bullet - Posted - 12/18/2010:  06:07:35

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Thanks guys!! A lot of good ideas and motivation from all!!
SB

Gold Star GF-85 - Posted - 12/18/2010:  08:23:45

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Welcome to the Hangout.

What I did when I first started and still do is this: I never had a set time to practice because I could disipline myself enough to practice everyday without a set time, I would and still do pick my Banjo up throughout the day or evening and practice even if it was 15 minutes at a time, although I do practice 2 to 3 hours most days, and when doing so I play stuff that I already know, and work on new stuff also, so whatever works for you as long as you practice, Earl says: practice practice and more practice, or he'll say" play many times, either way work on you picking everyday that you can.

Good Luck

Royalott - Posted - 01/30/2011:  10:10:24

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Originally posted by peewee

Fretboard stretching exercises for a few minutes to get the hands limbered up & improve reach. Few minutes with rolls to warm up. Lots of repetition of chord changes to get the left hand muscle memory going. The rest of the time working on a song. and remember its supposed to be fun

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What the heck are "Fretboard Stretching Exercises" Sounds like something I need to be doing

jbrookeiii - Posted - 01/30/2011:  10:29:58

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Fretboard stretching for me is starting with the 4th string, playing with the thumb open, fretted at 1, at 2, at 3, at 4 on all of the strings from the 4th to the first. Then reverse it and so on and so forth.

What it does for me is get my left hand and arm warmed up as well loosens the fingers so the reaches on some of the chords don't feel as impossible.

It will be harder at first but you will develop speed and tempo if you do it with every practice.

tkv - Posted - 01/30/2011:  10:38:07

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Originally posted by Royalott

quote:

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Originally posted by peewee

Fretboard stretching exercises for a few minutes to get the hands limbered up & improve reach. Few minutes with rolls to warm up. Lots of repetition of chord changes to get the left hand muscle memory going. The rest of the time working on a song. and remember its supposed to be fun

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What the heck are "Fretboard Stretching Exercises" Sounds like something I need to be doing

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Me too.

thomas

NickC - Posted - 01/31/2011:  03:38:54

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Tony Trischka has a great Practice Routines DVD. That i highly recommend.

jimmer0 - Posted - 01/31/2011:  13:50:10

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Just make sure you try to pick up your banjo once a day and play for at least 10 or 15 minutes to keep it fresh in your mind. With work and school I don't have two or three hours a day to practice, and often only have 15-30 minutes and I make do with that. I like the idea of practicing in thirds, but sometimes it's warm up and then work on the songs my instructor has me working on and then I set it down for the day after 20 minutes. I've been playing for less than a year, but I can play chords along with a lot of music as long as it's not too fast, and I attribute that to trying to practice every day.

Another tip that helps me keep track of what I'm doing is a small notebook for keeping track of what I practice and how long each day. For every practice I write down the date, how much time I practiced and what songs, scales or solos I worked on. It's interesting to go back through and see how much I play and what I work on.

Keep it up...and remember to enjoy it!