“The day you don’t practice is the day you don’t eat,” a college professor once told me. I practice every day, or at least play every day. Recently, I’ve fell into a routine that is both challenging and fun…(wait…practicing is fun…no way!) I began to ask myself several questions that help me wade through the million ways I want to explore the guitar.
Question One: What goal do I have in mind? Am I practicing for a specific gig, or am I working on the long range mastery of the instrument?
My Answer: For me, I’m challenged by Fusion Jazz (Allan Holdsworth, Pat Metheny, Al DiMeola, and John McLaughlin). So each Monday I choose a song by one of those artists and learn it! That’s right, a new song each week. I learn the melody and the chord changes, making sure I understand how the song works. Also, I try and work the improvisation element. By the end of each week, my goal is to be comfortably playing over those particular changes. I think this kind of focus eliminates the overwhelming nature of trying learn thousands of jazz standards. After a few weeks of this, chord functions start to become apparent and learning songs becomes faster.
My Advice: Take your four favs and put them in the practice rotation!
Part 2: Rock Tech
