How many hours to practice guitar?

[WinterRider]

Coming at it the other way - I have a 9 to 5 job and three kids, so I can only manage 15 mins a day with maybe an hour at the weekend. How good can I expect to get? So far it's got me to knowing lots of scales and chords and being able to improvise a little bit, but I'm still not producing anything you'd want to listen to.

 

[KJGaruda]

A lot of people seem to think that when you practice guitar or any other instrument you have to cram it all into consecutive hours.

As you gather more adult responsibilities your hours of consecutive free time is lessened. I've found the best thing to do is, if you have a half-hour or full hour free, to practice effectively for that hour. Another free hour later on in the day? Do it again. Wash and repeat.

Basically as long as you're practicing things correctly, you can grow in leaps and bounds.

 

[Solodini]

Coming at it the other way - I have a 9 to 5 job and three kids, so I can only manage 15 mins a day with maybe an hour at the weekend. How good can I expect to get? So far it's got me to knowing lots of scales and chords and being able to improvise a little bit, but I'm still not producing anything you'd want to listen to.

Pretty good. If you can add the odd load of 5 mins here and there through the day then that'd help lots, too.

 

[Januar74]

I only have 30-50 minutes a day, and my only goal for now is to learn play fast, at 170 bpm six notes per beat....

 

[jonsick]

Minimum, I do an hour of proper practice per day. Though really I'm only just getting warmed up by that point so it's disappointing to have to leave it.

On a proper day, an hour warm up, an hour of actual practice and an hour of messing. So ideally three hours. Then after that it's up to you.

Modellers are great for actual practice and nobody wants to hear you running through modes to a click or trying to figure out where X harmonic is on your guitar. But I always add in some practice with a real amp. It just reacts completely differently.

 

[EcoliUVA]

2-4 hours per day, every day for 7.5 years now, dicked around with shitty "practice" before but I don't really count that. In the beginning it was basically all technical with a bit of basic theory mixed in. Now it's minimum 1 hour technical/day, usually more, but I do a lot more writing and applying these days. Usually work on furthering my technique if I hear something I like in my head but have trouble applying it, as opposed to previous years when I would push my technique just for the sake of it. Still not happy with my technique level, but I've accepted that I never will be and should just keep plodding along with it.

Session lengths depends on what's happening in the day. I spend time with my wife every day, so I tend to work around her schedule. I haven't found that anything other than focusing intensely for as long as possible really matters, but I like to do that right before bed to get it in my brain so sleep can sort things out for me.

 

[MattThePenguin]

I just learn a song that I think will challenge me. I practice it an hour a day, to a metronome ALWAYS.

An hour a day is all you really need. Marty Friedman said so so it must be correct, right?

Marty Friedman... what a guy...

brb Holy Wars

 

[jonsick]

I just learn a song that I think will challenge me. I practice it an hour a day, to a metronome ALWAYS.

An hour a day is all you really need. Marty Friedman said so so it must be correct, right?

Marty Friedman... what a guy...

brb Holy Wars

I'm sure I read somewhere (maybe in the 90s) that Slash practiced several hours per day.

I would say it's more "Practice as much as you need to" depending on the player.

NB. I saw Marty Freedman recently. Colour me disappointed.

 

[Aion]

I'm sure I read somewhere (maybe in the 90s) that Slash practiced several hours per day.

I would say it's more "Practice as much as you need to" depending on the player.

NB. I saw Marty Freedman recently. Colour me disappointed.

Slash is a great example of a musician who you can tell has kept practicing since becoming famous. His playing in recent years has been fantastic and way more intricate than what he was doing in the early GNR years. He's my example of how a musician can clearly develop even after they've become famous. But yeah, you're right that it really depends on the person. Supposedly Liszt practiced for 10 hours a day for ten years and then never practiced again. Meanwhile Chopin told students to never practice for more than two hours a day. It all depends on what you define as practice and how long you can practice effectively.

 

[meteor685]

i just say .... it, and practice with whatver time i got, i just dont watch a lot of tv, or party much...