Hey guys,

Like the title says, I'm wondering how long it took those of you who practice more than 6 hours a day to reach that kind of stamina... Surely you didn't start out practicing 8 hours when you previously only practiced for 2 hours per day, right?

I could probably practice for 10 hours a day with an intense level of concentration, but my body just can't take it... my mind can, but not my body... so right now I'm only practicing a couple hours every day... :P

Also, what did you do to get that kind of stamina? I'm practicing Pebber's "incrementalism" ideas, and so one week I play for 2 hours a day, but I can't just make the jump to 3 hours without my hand and shoulder getting tired...

Thanks in advance! :)

Good question, but that's a tough one for me to answer. Maybe some of the other guys can give better input and advice.

For me, I just really wanted to play all the time. Sure, my hands would hurt and maybe I would take a break. Sometimes I would keep going cuz I wanted to play that bad. My callus' would rip off my fingers. I would just keep doing it. Call me sick, but after a few hours of practice, when your fingertips look all callused and grey and little chunks of skin are flaking off. I love that feeling!

When I was your age (I'm 33 so I'm guessing you are younger than me) I wouldn't play super hard stuff all day long because, you're right, it gets tiring.

I think Pebber would agree with me that, you don't always have to be practicing super hard stuff all the time.

What about chords? When your hands get tired, learn some new chords. Or, put the guitar down completely. Get some paper out and map out your favorite scale on the fretboard. I LOVED harmonic minor when I was younger so I would write down different ways of playing it. That's practice right?

Work on your music reading. Get a beginner music book, like Mel Bay book 1...I prefer Berklee Basic Guitar Phase 1...but whatever...work on reading.

When your hands get tired, there is a lot of stuff you can be doing right?

I would also say take breaks.

And, part of it is POWERING THROUGH. If you are tired, keep going, keep pushing it.

Great points Ursin, I used to practice 4 hours per day, it took a while to build up to at 2 hour intervals of practice, breaks are important and also staying focused is important, you can accomplish a lot in 4 hours if you have your routine laid out in advance and don't let your mind wonder, I used to use the last 30 minutes to jam as a reward rather than stopping in the middle and noodling, just me. Of course if you have 8 hours to practice - go for it!

I would also highly recommend transcribing and ear training exercises of recognizing scales, intervals and chord progressions and rhythmic recognition such as what is available with solfedge.org and other programs.

I like Pebber's suggestion of just doing picking if your left hand is tired, or switch from picking to right hand finger style if you are tired of picking.

Okay, lots of good stuff here, thanks guys!

I guess I'm more interested in how long you spend on technique... Do any of you spend more than 6 hours on JUST technique?

That's what I'm trying to focus my practicing on, because in my mind, you can learn theory before you have good technique or after you've developed your technique; and personally I'd rather have good technique before I learn all this theory, rather than have all this head knowledge, and not being able to use it or apply it on the guitar.

So I can practice 8 hours a day easy IF I'm not playing the guitar, so all the time would be spent on theory, reading, ear training, transcribing, etc... It's the technique aspect of my playing that is lacking, so I'd like to devote most of my practice time on just technique.

Zitat von jimiclaptoncarl

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Okay, lots of good stuff here, thanks guys!
I guess I'm more interested in how long you spend on technique... Do any of you spend more than 6 hours on JUST technique?
That's what I'm trying to focus my practicing on, because in my mind, you can learn theory before you have good technique or after you've developed your technique; and personally I'd rather have good technique before I learn all this theory, rather than have all this head knowledge, and not being able to use it or apply it on the guitar.
So I can practice 8 hours a day easy IF I'm not playing the guitar, so all the time would be spent on theory, reading, ear training, transcribing, etc... It's the technique aspect of my playing that is lacking, so I'd like to devote most of my practice time on just technique.

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6 hours on technique. Well, I feel I spend sometimes more than 6 hours on technique because I practice things that I cannot play and if I can't play something is usually because I don't have the necessary skill for whatever it is I'm trying to play. That's technique right? Do I practice picking for 6 hours? Yes. In my mind, others may disagree, totally my opinion here, working on say, picking for an hour...TO ME...is almost useless. Why even bother?

Depends on your aspirations. My aspirations have always been "I want to be the greatest guitar player ever." I don't measure myself against the guy who lives next door to me. I measure myself against Yngwie, Vai, Satriani, McLaughlin, Holdsworth.

Is this healthy? As I get older, I think maybe not. HOWEVER, better to shoot for the moon and hit a star right? Aim high!

So, in my way of thinking, working on technique for 6 hours a day is ABSOLUTELY what you should do. EVER DAY! EVERY SINGLE DAY!

I was teaching a lesson today and I asked the student, "How much have you been practicing?" He says 30 minutes a day.

This kid is 13 and school is out for summer. I said, "Look bro, how good do you wanna get? Maybe your mom is just throwing money away."

Also, you can't separate things as you describe them. Do not separate theory, reading, ear training, AND technique!!!! It's all the same.

When I was in college, my guitar teacher also wrote some KILLER classical compositions for orchestra. I said, "Wow, you write classical music? Thought you just played jazz?"

To which he said, "What? It's all the same thing."

Zitat von Adam

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HA! We've got a REAL tough guy, here! Soooooo tough typing away on his Mommy's computer!

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Haha, ok...

Zitat von Adam

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Yet, still,,,that is ALL this little Wanna-be can do: TALK.
Such a fucking PHONEY, ASS-KISSING, HACK,,,,trying so hard to sound intelligent, and giving so much of his VAST guitar knowledge, ,because what,,,, you've been playing for a year, or something,,,,and you can read a book? What a douchebag!

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I ain't trying hard at all to sound intelligent... I think I've got a pretty good head knowledge, but there's still so much to learn, I'm certainly not a phoney just because I don't post vids and recordings, I would definitely be posting those, once a day probably, but I don't have a camera nor any recording capabilities at home... and I don't have a job at the moment, so I'm broke.. :P

Zitat von Adam

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Yet, other than one HORRIBLE recording, he posts nothing to show how much HE sucks! That's a common tactic used by phoney's like this little twit: "Keep posting non-sense,and maybe they will like me and think I am good."

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Like I said, I'm not a phoney just because I can't show how much I suck, I already told you I SUCK! :P

Zitat von Adam

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Sorry dude, I see right through your crap, and if you are gonna come at me, I WILL come back at you,,,twice as hard.
The sad reality is this: I am telling you something that others agree with me on, yet they may not want to hurt your precious little feelings. Poor little "fake-named Bitch." Let's be careful what we say to him, he may go crying for his Mommy and Daddy for help! HAHAHAHA!
Little Fake-Ass, Piss-Ant Troll.

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I don't care what you or the others think, I already told you that I SUCK,,, all I'm trying to do is get better, and I'm hanging around here because of that, as well as trying to learn from everyone here and ask questions.

Zitat von Adam

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I was surprised to find out he even knew what "Masturbation" was. However, it did take him a week to respond,so maybe he had to ask somebody.

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Err... sorry, but I just read your post today as I was going through the entire thead,,, you think I hurry and log-on just to see Adam's 'words of wisdom' hahahaa


Let me tell YOU something big man, I joined this forum before you did, and I've seen more than instance where you are being troll-like, you think YOU can screw around with someone and they can't reply, lol, it don't work that way, my advice to you is to quit being a loser to people.

See, maybe if you took shit seriously, you MIGHT actually learn something!

But what do I know? Surely a little BOY knows wayyyyy more than us all!

Little posers like YOU are a dime a dozen, and you WILL get your "Wake-Up Call," someday....fools like you ALWAYS do. It usually happens after you PISS OFF the same people whose ASSES you used to kiss! It's already beginning to happen, here, TRUST ME.

Keep it up, little man, let us see who you REALLY are.

Hahah, whatever you say mighty Adam...

I repeat: I SUCK Can you read?!

You wanna know how much I know, ok I'll tell you, here's how much I know: I know MAYBE .02 of 1.00(this being all there is to know), I know that I'll never know everything, but I'm going to keep learning as much as I can. ;)

Zitat von Adam

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Keep it up, little man, let us see who you REALLY are.

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I believe you already have!

You repeat that you SUCK, and I will repeat my question:

Why would ANYBODY pay any attention to YOUR worthless suggestions, videos and book requests, when you keep telling us how much you SUCK? Where is the logic in that? Yeah, I'm afraid it's time to let the little boy stay in his little World.

Thanks for confirming that we've all seen you for what you REALLY are: A confused little boy trying SO HARD to hang with the Big Boys, yet just keeps embarrassing himself. Don't worry, little man, someday you'll figure it out.

Meanwhile, you keep "SUCKING,"and I'll stay "mighty." (His words, not mine).

Zitat von Adam

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Why would ANYBODY pay any attention to YOUR worthless suggestions, videos and book requests, when you keep telling us how much you SUCK? Where is the logic in that?

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Because they have the same goal as I do, They want to get better at guitar. And if they are decent, they will want to teach others with the knowledge they've learned.If what I say is crap, tell me why, explain it to me so I can learn. Like I said before, I'm here to learn.

Zitat von Adam

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Thanks for confirming that we've all seen you for what you REALLY are: A confused little boy trying SO HARD to hang with the Big Boys, yet just keeps embarrassing himself. Don't worry, little man, someday you'll figure it out.

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Okay... ;)

Zitat von Adam

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Meanwhile, you keep "SUCKING,"and I'll stay "mighty." (His words, not mine).

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Yes, please stay mighty!

I’m not into classical music but I always feel you can learn something from a master, whatever kind of music or instrument he plays. Here below I’ve put a quote, and a interview on youtube, from/with Arthur Rubinstein (1887 – 1982) who is considered one of the best pianists of the last century. He didn’t advise to practice so many hours. Three at most he said because after that you become a machine. I believe what he said makes al lot of sense. I wonder what you experts here have to say about this…

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rubinstein

On practice
Rubinstein believed that a foremost danger for young pianists is to practice too much. Rubinstein regularly advised that young piano students should practice no more than three hours a day. "It is not so good, in a musical way, to overpractice. When you do, the music seems to come out of your pocket. If you play with a feeling of 'Oh, I know this,' you play without that little drop of fresh blood that is necessary – and the audience feels it." Of his own practice methods he said, "At every concert I leave a lot to the moment. I must have the unexpected, the unforeseen. I want to risk, to dare. I want to be surprised by what comes out. I want to enjoy it more than the audience. That way the music can bloom anew. It's like making love. The act is always the same, but each time it's different."

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Arthur Rubinstein's Interview (1975)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEdvjUZTW44

NOT an expert's opinion but here it is...

I think you should look to distinguish what you are practising. I do not have a problem with someone spending numerous hours practising technique, but I can see Rubinstein's point in regards to practising a song. For example, you can fall into that trap when practising solos, once you know it well (say stairway to heaven) its probably best not to play it note for note day in day out, otherwise you will sound like Jimmy Page and not yourself (I know from experience...). But having excellent technique through dedicated practice will allow to tackle any song without the need to labour over it for days on end, so you can avoid having to practice certain pieces into the ground.

I have been playing drums for a little while now and I learnt a very important lesson from my teacher: Don’t play when you practice...don't practice when you play. You have to separate your practice otherwise you won't make the most of your time. Pebber has already done half the job by putting up his daily practice routine which separates the objectives clearly.

I do only 2-3 hours on guitar, then its 2-3 on drums, more on singing etc but Rubinstein is the master, not me. Focus on what your goal is: if you want to be a master then you need to put in the hours. They say an 'expert' in any field usually has racked up 10,000 hours of knowledge. Doing 3 hours a day will get you there in 10 years, do 6 hours and it will be 5 years etc.

Lots of masters of their craft start to say these kinds of things once they become successful. Proselytizing nonsense. Rubenstein practiced his ass off I'm quite sure of it.

Well I don’t believe either that Rubinstein in his younger days didn’t practice more than three hours. On the other hand he was a child prodigy and may have had already a big repertoire at an age where most others didn’t even have started.

I think you will find Theo actually agrees with you Pebber, just looks like a grammatical error. You are from the Netherlands aren't you Theo?

The older i grow , the more i realize it applies to everything in in life...
No one can escape practice, escape it and you will be mediocre at best..
Time, time , time, no prodigy can avoid it, no natural talent will magically let you get away with it.

Some people never practiced, because in their mind they were just sitting there with their instrument or doing what they love for so many hours and with such concentration that it never ocurred to them how much time they actually "practiced". But they did indeed work their asses off for thousands and thousands of hours. Its inevitable.

Yngwie says nowadays he "never practices" but he played for 10 hours or more and sometimes felt asleep with the guitar in his hands.. since he was either 6 or 10 (dont remember what he said on other interviews)

Vai says he actually practiced way more than the 10 hours a day that he bases his routine on, because in his words "he wasnt really very talented" "he also said during his time on Berklee he met many musicians who were way ahead of him in terms of technique or musical knowedge.

What did he do? he stick to his guns (didnt let mental excuses get in the way) and look where he is now :)

2 totally different kind of guys, one is honest enough to admit that it was also "hard" for him.

Random rant Yngwie is a horrible teacher: "Now im gonna play this real slow (annoyed voice like you are a retard)" plays some Harmonic Minor Scale at 200bpm and looks at the camera like he is bored"

Zitat

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think you will find Theo actually agrees with you Pebber, just looks like a grammatical error. You are from the Netherlands aren't you Theo?

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Sure I agree, with you all. And yes I'm Dutch. I wasn't aware of a grammical error. Sure I don’t believe there’s a guy that can reach the absolute top in just three ours a day. But I wanted to make a side note. Not all the people are the same. A friend of mine is a mathematician and he hardly made any homework while others have to study many hours a day. What I’m trying to say is that if you have a natural gift for your craft life is a lot easier. Rubinstein said that there were lots of pianists technical better than him. So maybe he never went to the edge. Talent can also become a disadvantage in a sense that talented people in many cases aren’t used to work hard which at a certain point they also have to do.

And here’s maybe an example of what Rubinstein meant by over-practicing. Here are two piano versions of Iron Maidens Aces High. The first one is played by probably an amateur, and second one by a highly skilled en well schooled professional called scott lavender. You hear the difference right away. But IMO, and of many others, the amateur version is much better. So it may make you wonder why… There are many iron maiden piano versions of this same amateur called Bluepurplewave and Scott lavender on youtube. And in all case IMO the amateur wins. I wonder what’s your opinion about this…

Iron Maiden Aces High piano version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rgggpi2R86Q

IRON MAIDEN aces high (piano cover)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9BbTrHa82s

No, I don't think this illustrates over practicing at all...

The pro is playing a completely different and more complex arrangement and so it can't really be compared with the amateur.

The only comparisons you can make are "Who comes up with the best arrangement?" Which you've done already and are favoring the amateur. Still this is all subjective and opinion based.

The pro completely blows the amateur out of the water.. no contest. IMO ;)

Didnt Einstein wisely say that "shit is relative" ;) ?
We can use many adjectives on music, but the word better gets us nowhere pretty fast.

oi Jimi your post is like one year old, but im curious did you work your way up to 8 hours + ?

Zitat von Slashiepie

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oi Jimi your post is like one year old, but im curious did you work your way up to 8 hours + ?

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Unfortunately I wasn't able to work up to 8 hours... I've done a few 8 hour days but not consistently. My average is around 4 hours.. but I'm reorganizing my schedule at the moment to put more hours in since the semester ended.

Pebber's recent video "What to practice" again got me pretty motivated. I have to make sure to watch that and some of his earlier ones at least once every two weeks to keep the fire going.

http://youtu.be/RKs9mRHWXvI