There are two types of practicing in my opinion. One is where you play things you’re working on with no direction – more fun than practice, but you’re still stopping to fix mistakes and learn tunes better. The other is more specific and directed towards a specific goal – more mastering a technique and ideas through exercises. Both have their place, but I find many students struggle with the directed practice. This is a sample of a directed practice schedule.
Generally I find directed practice is easiest when used in conjunction with a specific song which allows you to use the skills you practice in a real world setup. In the example, I’ll base the ideas off Nine Pound Hammer in the key of G. This is a major key song, so the practice will focus on major ideas in G. I’m assuming there’s 30 minutes of practice time. You can easily scale this up or down depending on your time limits though. Also, make sure you use a metronome set to a bpm slow enough that you don’t make mistakes but fast enough to be challenging. Remember, just because you can play something fast doesn’t mean you actually can play it right. General rule, if you make a lot of mistakes, you’re playing too fast.
Warm up – 10 minutes
Major Scale / Arpeggio
- Straight run of major scale
- Major scale in skipping 3rds
- Major Scale in running 3rds
- Arpeggio of each chord in the song (G, C, and D in this case)
- Arpeggio in time with the chord changes (G for 4 beats, C for 4 beats, G for 2, D for 2, and G for 4)
Chords – 10 minutes
- Write out a chord diagram for each chord in the song – using a piece of paper, map out the 1 3 5 of each chord on a fretboard diagram. Keep this in front of you while you practice the chords
- Full chords in at least 3 different positions (use the “open” chords, “closed” chords in first position, and “closed” chords in second position) – this should be done as a single chord (i.e. playing the G in 3 positions, then the C etc) and in time with the song
- Mix and match different full chord positions in time with the song – open chord, then first position chord, then second position, etc
- 2 note chords in at least 3 different positions – same as above
- Mix and match different 2 note chord positions in time with the song – open chord, then first position chord, then second position, etc
Melody and solo – 10 minutes
- Straight ahead melody in open position
- Straight ahead melody in first position
- Straight ahead melody in second position
- Mix melody positions in time with the song
- Embellish the melody slightly – you should still be able to clearly hear the melody
Once you’ve completed this, just play the tune a few times employing the techniques that you practiced. For example:
1. Straight ahead melody as the intro
2. 2 note chords for the verse
3. Full chords for the chorus
4. Embellished melody for the solo
5. Mixed position full chords for the 2nd verse
etc