how old were you

  • Thread starter Thread starter travelin travis
  • Start date Start date
I quit "practicing" in 1989...I was, uh...28...

...Then, about three years ago I started practicing again...I had lost a LOT of chops, but they have been coming back to me...

I spend an hour and a half on my bass, and maybe three on my acoustic, though not EVERY day. I take a day off when the callouses are about to split open...

I'm going to begin playing live again in about two weeks, after a near 20 year hiatus...Practice, practice, practice...Lets you blame the other guy... :D

Eric
 
Track Rat said:
I play every day but I don't know if you could classify it as "practice". It's more like wanking around for fun (read therapy). It seems to me that through the years I hit a plateau skill wise and stay there for a while and then step up a bit. I credit that to gigging (there nothing like fucking up in front of 100 people to make you say to yourself "I'll never do THAT again").
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I think gigging is the best practice anyone can get.

You can play the shit out of a tune sitting in the living room...but...fall completely apart on it in front of a crowd when you are on the spot.

You can't screw up and say "hold on" and then start all over again when in front of a live audience.
I think that "do or die" experience makes a better player out of anyone
 
started playing when i was 12ish. practiced metallica and nirvana for a year. Then just started trying to write my own songs and have been ever since. about a year ago i started trying to sing and i kinda wish i had tried to sing earlier. i dont practice guitar with scales or other peoples music probably just because i dont find it as fun. just like singing , i cant practice scales just cause its so much more fun to sing a song. oh well , if i knew what was good for me , i would learn some scales and practice them and start learning some theory ... but i .. cant. :)

Eric
 
How old was I when I stopped practicing???

When I stop, I'll let you know....
 
jpw23 said:
If you are doing anything with the guitar in your hands( noodling, dickin' around, working on a song, trying to learn a part) you are practicing!!!! You don't have to play scales to practice.
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Although I don't jam as much as I feel I should, what you said pretty much sums up my "practicing," when I do it. I'll get to jamming along, just making things up as I go, hit a couple of familiar licks, stop and think "huh?," do those couple of licks again...maybe try to pursue it further...and be like "well I'll be damned...I've just picked out a new song." :D

Matt
 
Noodling around on the couch isn't nearly as productive as more structured practice. I'm not slammin' you. You should try to break out a little. If you can read at all, go borrow a clarinet book or something and just figure out the notes. It's too easy to get in a rut when you just let your fingers do the walking all the time. I just got out of a rut that lasted 3 years. Coming from experience.
 
cephus said:
Noodling around on the couch isn't nearly as productive as more structured practice. I'm not slammin' you. You should try to break out a little. If you can read at all, go borrow a clarinet book or something and just figure out the notes. It's too easy to get in a rut when you just let your fingers do the walking all the time. I just got out of a rut that lasted 3 years. Coming from experience.
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Agreed. I don't know many serious musicians that think of noodling around as practice. Every good musician I know puts time into structured, focused practice on a consistent basis.

Gigging is GREAT practice at playing on your feet and reacting to what's going on around you, but it won't help you build up your harmonic, melodic or rhythmic chops.
 
jimistone said:
I think gigging is the best practice anyone can get.

You can play the shit out of a tune sitting in the living room...but...fall completely apart on it in front of a crowd when you are on the spot.

You can't screw up and say "hold on" and then start all over again when in front of a live audience.
I think that "do or die" experience makes a better player out of anyone
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Jimi gets it.
 
TravisinFlorida said:
when you stopped practicing? i play and experiment a lot but haven't practiced in a long time. i'm thinking it would do me some good.
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Think I was 42...
 
practice ??

practice everyday.... as mutch as possible.. i keep a guitar at work so i can practice at work.. i gig every weekend.. i just cant get enough playing/practicing.. even when i cant i am thinking about technique.. scales.. modes.. ......... i am a music junkie... :rolleyes:
 
I'm still breathing so I haven't stopped yet. The way I practice has changed over the years but I still repeat riffs and solos over and over untill I am confident that I can do them right. I have a few students so I am constantly repeating the same things I learned a long time ago, I consider that practice for me too.
 
I stopped practicing in the traditional sense

as soon as the forced lessons were over. I was 8. That was 1965.
 
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