I’m here to see what everyone’s practice routine is - as well as what Tomo suggests and does. This could be a daily thing or even switch up your routine from day to day. What do you all do!?
Thomas
I'm fortunate enough to be retired, so my routine is basically..... whatever I want!
Seriously though, it varies based on what my interest is. I'll get on a "song kick" and try to work on songs by ear, and it can be anything from sugar-pop like Sixpence and "Kiss Me" or Abba and "Dancing Queen", to interesting Rick Wakemen piano fills or anything from the whole catalog of Rush and Yes songs.
Then sometimes I'll video binge, all the usual suspects from Beato or Nick Homes, to Chris Parks, David Bennett, Aimee Nolte and Greg Koch. The last couple of months have been nearly all Tomo stuff and some Chris Parks. Mr Koch is far too advanced for me to play along with, so I watch for entertainment and let my jaw detach freely. He's my new Jeff Beck guitar hero.
So, the routine is basically: (i) warm up (ii) play until I get tired of it. I like to do the basics for warm-ups. The chromatic exercises Tomo prescribes and the swing strumming over jazz blues changes. But after that, it's either a "real lesson" video on the GW site (and working with the metronome or looper and notetaking) or a free-for-all play along with youtube.
Then sometimes I'll get to wanting to transcribe the good stuff that I SHOULD remember, but often forget. Because once I figure something out, I tend to forget it it after I let it sit too long. So, I figure if it was important enough to learn in the first place, I feel like I shouldn't let that work go to waste. And also because there are a lot of important ideas, not only to transcribe, but to put into words in a notebook to assist with remembering and revisiting.
The notebook idea I got from Tomo. If I don't write it down, it doesn't exist and it is NEARLY impossible to find stuff again, even searching through watch histories.
I track my practice via google sheets. I am not a notebook guy, but it is the same concept as shared by Tomo.
I am currently practicing my rhythm playing; this is how I track my practices via google sheets (below link). I can’t schedule a dedicated time during the day when I should sit down and practice. A luxury that I can't afford yet.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1hQfSvNCaeni6YoJW39a7aBqLzrzzip2vNaDPEOJUa0c/edit?usp=sharing
You can copy the file if you want to.
I got an "access denied' on your spreadsheet. I think you'll have to give "the public" read permissions for it.
I like the spreadsheet idea. If I were still a busy working fellow, I could review and plan during a commute or at the airport without toting my notebook along with a tablet or laptop.
Thinking about guitar and songs is a lot more fun than endlessly scrolling TikTok if you have commute time to fill.
I am sorry. I have updated the access to the public.
It is nothing great, actually. But it works for me.
Maybe, if there is enough request, I can help improve and structure it based on Tomo's lesson.
Everyone, thank you so much for responding to my thread. I appreciate it so much, and keep pickin’!!
I tried to make my own spreadsheet, which turned into more of a practice log with cheat sheets (frequently used stuff that I copied from my notebook)
I made it more like a database table, so it's harder to read, though. Plus, I tried to incorporate some picklists (e.g. double clicking in a "category" field will show a dropdown), but it is probably overkill.
I made it public for now: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/18XwkIeXJObRTO_c28PxfsB_KtCSqj3TzlEv0H1s_gWY/edit?usp=sharing