How to Practice 22 hours a Week

[choctawchas]

Sell your television.

Limit your time on the computer to less than 1 hour a day.

Stop watching DVDs.

And games.

Set the alarm and get up an hour earlier than you normally do before going to work.

Take your guitar to work and play for your fellow employees ( added bonus- you will deal with anxiety issues).

When you go on holiday or away for the weekend, take your guitar with you and play for other people.

Put the radio on while practicing ( added bonus- it will help dealing with distractions and you'll know if anything important has actually happened which most likely nothing has except meaningless stuff to wind you up)

Its okay to have a glass of wine or two when you are playing in the evening (added bonus -you might relax and enjoy yourself without being uptight about mistakes)

Finally, if you suffer from sleeplessness get up and play a few nocturnes.

[mk49]

That's easy. You just need to practice for 11 hours on Sat and Sun. That's already 22 hours.

Seriously, I normally practice about 25 hours a week. I stopped watching TV, when I was 15. I stopped playing games, when I was 28. I have no kid, so I have more time.

[Bo7]

Me too (about 22-23 hours)... But not the guitar, the piano. However, I also play about 5 hours the guitar and about 5 hours the flute, so about 32-33 hours a week of practice altogether). I know I should dedicate more time to the guitar and the flute, and I will.

And seriously, when I cannot sleep at night I always get up and play - I have a silent piano that I can also play with headphones. I don't think my neighbours would like me to play the piano at 3 am.

[jimmyblues]

Me too (about 22-23 hours)... But not the guitar, the piano. However, I also play about 5 hours the guitar and about 5 hours the flute, so about 32-33 hours a week of practice altogether). I know I should dedicate more time to the guitar and the flute, and I will.

And seriously, when I cannot sleep at night I always get up and play - I have a silent piano that I can also play with headphones. I don't think my neighbours would like me to play the piano at 3 am.

Wow! do you have a job? or are you a guitar student full time?

[Bo7]

I work from home (over the Internet).

But professional musicians practice even more... They say that Valentina Lisitsa for example practices the piano 12 hours a day!

[jimmyblues]

...But professional musicians practice even more... They say that Valentina Lisitsa for example practices the piano 12 hours a day!

That sounds crazy!

i thought there is a point at which practice becomes inefficient. Based on the 10,000 hour theory (which states that the hours must be distributed over a period of 10 years, otherwise it becomes counterproductive) that averages....quick sums....around 3 hours per day (every single day though!)

i can't see how the prowess gained from playing 12 hours a day can't be matched by just 3 or 4 hours of focused, intense and purposeful study. but im not going to argue with Ms Lisitsa...!

[Bo7]

They say that Rachmaninov's teacher made him practice 16 hours a day! That's really crazy...

[Mikkel]

I study guitar full time and usually practice between 6 and 8 hours a day. Generally I would say that 3-4 hours of concentrated practice is "enough", but I find it quite easy to work focused for between 6 and 8 hours a day and tbh it makes me improve that much faster. As long as you take long breaks, split out your practice in the morning/evening (to stay concentrated) and work on a lot of repetoire it's quite feasible. I reckon I learn around 1.5 - 2 hours of difficult new repertoire every 4-5 months. Maybe a bit more if you count chamber music.

But it's quite easy for me since I don't have to worry about earning money on the side, so I just regard my work on the guitar as my job. If I could work 8 hours a day as something else, then I can definetly (and have more fun along the way) work 8 hours on the guitar as well. Just have to be careful about injuries

[chiral3]

This is infeasible for me now a days, with career and family, but it reminds me of my grad school advice, roughly pirated and bastardized from a quote of Feynman's: "Your job is to go to your room, think about the problem your working on,...., think very hard and, after 4, 5, 6, ...., however many years it takes you, come out of the room and present your answer. We'll tell you if you're ready, but you really only have one or two opportunities to emerge from your study having missed the mark."

[sgraham924]

22 hours isn't all that much IMO. That's only like 3 hrs a day. I was doing 6 hrs a day with a rest day for a month last summer. That's 36 hrs a week. Even with a full-time job that's only 76 hrs now. There are 168 hours in the week. So, we're down to 92 hours now. Let's say you sleep 7 hrs a night, now we're down to 43 hours of free time to do whatever. It's definitely doable to practice a lot if you want to.

[ronnywiesauer]

hi!

i would be much more concerned to have the right fingering, the right movements of the fingers, etc than how much to practice.... a good teacher could save you years, in fact can set you to a level, you would never achieve alone....

if you practice a lot of wrong movements, you get perfect in those wrong movements....

hope i was able to explain my point....

[Praeludium]

hi!

i would be much more concerned to have the right fingering, the right movements of the fingers, etc than how much to practice.... a good teacher could save you years, in fact can set you to a level, you would never achieve alone....

if you practice a lot of wrong movements, you get perfect in those wrong movements....

hope i was able to explain my point....

I'm convinced that's why children or some people manage to get to an incredible level in a few years : they (or their teachers, or both of them) don't just think about "how much" they think about "how" - and" why".



That said finding the right movement of the fingers can take quite a lot of practicing time (for persons like me - strangers to their body, late beginners, etc.), unless you've got a truly amazing teacher (:

[choctawchas]

cont.-

stop calling it practice and start calling it playing music.

find an ensemble and join it.

surround yourself with good musicians who play different instruments, different types of music and play music with them.

listen seriously to what non musicians think about the music you are playing and how you are playing it.

be honest and tell your significant other that music is more important than your relationship,marriage or civil partnership.

tell you children the same thing, they'll understand.

a seperate residence or an expanded garden shed with heat,electricity and plumbing will make the new life style easier.

don't listen to anyone who tells you that you are crazy, obsessive or irrational. they have issues and are most likely very unhappy.

and finally...add up how many hours you spend on guitar forums and ask yourself is playing the instrument more beneficial than chatting about it.

[James]

For me, to find time to practise, the best thing was to dump the television. Also grabbing half an hour before work is great. I do make up for time on the weekend. Although, all things considered, I doubt I get 22 hours!

[chelson]

Hahaha, I easily exceed 35 hours a week during my school days, and still not enough. Just that now my wife gives me that kind of look and comment, so stop! No point end up quarrel over guitar.