How many hours per day do you play/practice?

or per month?

or per year?

Do you go through intense practice periods and then neglect your instrument for a while?

Do you have a system/discipline for practicing or do you just pick it up when the mood strikes you?

I try and practice guitar 2 hours a day, everyday. I will go through periods of intense woodsheding at times when I do 5 to 6 hours a day.
This consist of working on jazz standards.

1. improvisation over the changes of a tune or progression

2. working on chord substitutions

3. reharmonization

4. learning the melody and chord changes all over the finger board in all positions thru the cycle of 5th's

5. learning all the arpeggios and scales in 1, 2 and 3 octave runs to all the chord changes over the entire fingerboard

6. sight reading and ear training!

7. transcribing musical ideas or riffs from great artists such as J.S.Bach, James Brown, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Albert King, Freddie King, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, John McLaughlin, Allan Holdsworth,Trilok Gurtu...etc the list is to long to mention here.

8. composing original musical compostions

I practice for about 1,5-3 hours on weekday nights (unless I'm out or whatever of course) and on weekends anything from 1 to 12 hours a day.
I'll usually be working on a certain aspect of my playing (timing, playing over certain chord progressions, playing outside etc) and I'll pick a tune that serves this purpose. Then my schedule is:
- sightread the song from the real book
- make a rudimentary chord/melody style arrangement so I have the connections between the two clear
- improvise over the changes with band in a box
- frequently stop to check transcriptions or listen closely to recordings of that song by people like Grant Green, Martino, Benson, Wes, Kenny Burrell, Doug Raney (if you don't know him, check him out!) to get an idea of how they handle these situations. I try not to cop licks but to learn to play my own licks from the same concept.

Hey Euro, Im on lunch, But I really like Nu Diggity, that is some smooth stuff.
Lovely tone !! Coney Island is cool, Diggity is hypnotic and the gutar is very tastefull.

Mr Axtell, DB Blues..... oh yea...love the wha too man, way slick...
Transfiguration, that was out in left field from DB, it was cool.

Very Nice work ...!

I wish i had time to practice so structured and broken down, I just jam all day as much as possible, Guitar is what keeps the lights on around here so, I find the playing less forgiving and more demanding, EAR TRAINGING IS THE DEAL FOR ME Its all by ear and sight, and not sight reading, notes just kinda pop out where there supposed to be. I find when I get too digital and analytical, I forget why I enjoy it. But, to answer the question, Im totally emersed in guitar activity atleast 12 hours a day 6 days a week and thats almost considered slacking around here. I could never neglect it, not for a day even its a extension of my person and, Id be homeless...Even if I travel for family visits and NON music related activity, which, doesnt exist for me, I still take a guitar with me.

i practice almost every night. i use a sketchbook and i improvise.
later i use my sketchbook for ideas. sometimes i scan my drawing
from the sketchbook.

The guitar everyday unless life makes me do other things. I just worked 14 hours and all I can think about is sleep but my guitar calls.

With the drums, I've got to be in decent physical shape or I just get tired quick. It's cardio, muscles and my mind. Unless I'm frustrated or angry and then the drums get hit hard and loud.

The bass I practice until my fingers bleed/blister and then I go on another bass binge for a week solid and repeat the whole process.

heartbeatocean said:

What about you HeartBeatOcean?

Slave2daGroove said:

I almost never practice. I did when I was younger. In high school and college (long time ago), I practiced violin about 1.5-2 hours a day, probably 4 days a week unless I was woodshedding for a performance. Then it was 3 hours a day every day. The most I've ever practiced is 4 hours a day, I think.

My system was:

1) Scales
2) Technical exercises from books
3) Solo work, memorization (I was always developing one solo piece at a time, like a Mozart violin concerto or something) It usually took about a year to master and perform that one piece.
4) Orchestral parts

I quit for 12 years then started playing in the Punk Rock Orchestra in 2003. I practice a couple of times a week or, before a show, I run through the pieces for about an hour. The good news is, I don't seem to need to practice much for that. In fact, it's better that I don't because if I practice too much I get bored with the music. I play better if it's fresh.

I'm getting more serious about my playing right now. I'm learning to improvise and that is opening worlds for me. I love it!!!! I'm in the process of getting into the habit again and setting goals. One piece of advice I've taken to heart is that it is important to set goals for each practice session. This keeps you focused and developing weaknesses rather than just noodling around and not necessarily improving (which I tend to do on the piano).

FrankAxtell said:

You are inspiring. Do you tend to practice at the same time every day, or just squeeze it in when you can?

EuroCinema said:

Do you work full time and then fit in music around that?

lofimofo said:

What do you mean "use a sketchbook"? Do you notate riffs?

guitstoopid said:

So you play in a band or work in a studio?

heartbeatocean said:

no. i practice drawing. maybe it is a little bit the same to play an instrument.

i am curious: all i do is in my sketchbook. but if a musician is jamming, he cant record everything, no?

@ guitstoopid: Gee, that's really nice, thanks!
@ HeartBeatOcean: yes, I work weekdays from about 9 till half past six or seven on average. I'll pretty much have a guitar around my neck whenever I'm home. I've seen lots of movies and sports games with the sound turned down! I was basically raised this way, my dad's the same. When I still lived with my parents, we'd routinely jam over breakfast. My mother and ex-wife both eventually got used to it .

Minimum twice a week for 5 to 8 hours. Sometimes more.
When my studio remodel is finishded I'll be in there almost everyday.

heartbeatocean said:

Thankyou, I tend to alternate the practicing with writing music on Logic Pro 7. I go back and forth...an hour of scales then an hour of writing...back and forth until it's time to go to my studio where I teach a fulltime load of about 35 guitar and electic bass students. I practice and compose from about 700 AM until about 300PM then it's off to teach. When student don't show up I try and woodshed improvisation over changes.

FrankAxtell said:

Do u like Logic ? What sequencer were u using before Logic?

lofimofo said:

Interesting! So you have a creative time where you work with your music and drawing both, and they tend to feed on each other? I do that too. I used to have a system where I would sit down for two hours and CREATE. That means I would draw, write stories or screenplays, storyboard, play violin within those hours -- whichever struck me at the moment. My only rule was to work intensely, not space out, and PRODUCE.

EuroCinema said:

Wow! Jamming over breaksfast sound awesome! I tend to see my work life as a big obstacle, but as you have proven, it doesn't have to be. A true musician always finds time for their instrument.

My dad does that thing of playing guitar and watching sports games without the volume on too...

FrankAxtell said:

Wow, so you really play/compose full time. That sounds like a great life, having so much time to devote to your craft. Beautiful. Do you enjoy the teaching part?

heartbeatocean said:

yes and no..if the student is willing o practice it can be fun but many are very lazy and addicted to TV,video games and other mindless dribble...

FrankAxtell said:

Maybe that's why my violin teacher was such a hardass. If you didn't practice, she'd throw you out on your ear. She actually turned students away.

In my 25 years of playing, I've practiced maybe 10 hours total. Noodled, experimented, mucked with fingerings on the fretboard, sure, countless hours. But actually sat down with an intended practice? Almost never.

Not as much as I should, but I'll be changing that around. I, too, used to practice 2 to 4 hours at least 5 days a week. But that was WAY back in the day. Now, I tend to only really practice when I have a gig or something coming up--then I'll try to do an hour or two a day if the music's challenging. Lately, though, since my band is working on releasing a CD, I've been picking up the pace with writing and practicing. My goal is to try to do *something* every day--mainly, I've been working on improv.

FrankAxtell said:

O.K., I hate you.

Just kidding--I figured this was why you sound so AWESOME!

My goal is to try to incorporate at least one of those 8 points you noted in my practice (well, o.k., I'm not doing the chord subs or re-harm yet). Mainly, I concentrate on transcribing, scales and improv, but that's because I'm still a toddler when it comes to jazz.

heartbeatocean said:

Kind of both. I am very Lucky to be able to jam and play as much as I do.
[Edited 9/7/06 9:23am]

heartbeatocean said:

That's basically how I am with my students. I say, "You're paying me good money to teach you how to play--that requires practice to master the techniques. If you want to learn without a lot of practice, go buy a 'how-to' DVD and don't waste your money and yours and my time." I turn students away, and I've "fired" students, too. Music is too important to me and I take it seriously and I want my students to take it seriously too. Especially since I don't require that students practice for hours and hours. If many of them would just do even 20 minutes a day, it makes a big difference. And the ones that do--we have a GREAT time!

i try to get in a couple hours a day, more on weekends. i gotta watch myself though, cause in the evenings i will get so absorbed, i will realize i have been going for 4-5 hours and only have a few left to sleep before work calls in the AM, LOL

The only thing I practise is vocals. I'm usually playing the guitar most days but regimented practise on it...I've not done that for a few decades and can't think of anything that would be less enjoyable than that.

If anything, not practising is something that I find beneficial at times. I think every musician reaches a point where they get frustrated with using the same musical vocabulary; it happens from time to time and when this occurs, I usually don't bother playing at all. It serves to act as a spring cleaning of my "musical" mind.

The best practise you can do is playing gigs. Practising for hours on end? I probably stopped doing that when I was 13.

NuPwr319 said:

I'm not sure I understand this concept of transcribing. Is it writing down notes on a staff by ear? What's the point?