Guthrie Govan Discussion

[joep36]

Hey, i was just curious how much you guys have put into practicing/playing over the years. what do you think has been important in the development of how you sound as a player, and do you think you practiced things which could have been a waste of time? The reason i ask is because im begginning to practice alot more, and basically i don't want to waste any of this time. I want to expand my technical ability, so should i concentrate on just that? or, like i am doing at the moment, splitting my day into sections such as

scales - atm im just running the caged shapes around the cycle of 4ths/5ths
major, harmonic minor, and melodic minor

Arps - i have been practicing a simpleish blues progression using a continuous arp exercise. Also been practicing 2 7th arp patterns which take you all over the neck

Phrasing - learnng licks, at the moment ive been attempting derek trucks licks, as i love his playing, just looping them whilst playing along, then recording myself, then playing them over various backing tracks.

Rhythm - working with a drum machine [snare] i have been practicing rhythm parts, usually for songs i am playing live

Ive also been working on a Paul Gilbert type lick, mainly to improve my outside picking - which i find a bit bizarre as i don't listen to PG at all.

What are your thoughts on this topic?

is this type of practice that useful? or would it be better to take the tommy emmanuel approach of play one thing until you master it.....
which when i think about it, is probably what i used to do when i was begginning. as you can probably tell im a bit confused, always have been

It maybe handy for you to listen to my playing -

http://www.myspace.com/jazzyjoesniffprice

I look foward to your comments, Thanks, Joe.

[frankus]

Used to practice 8 hours a day at uni - until they booted me out. I used to be very unfocussed about it.

These days after practicing loads of finger patterns I'm stopping and playing only what I can interpret with my ear - my hands and head have got far too far ahead of my ears to call what I'm making music.
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