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By Steve Booke
A consistent practice routine is key to the student’s development. It may even be the most important thing. Lessons could be looked at as time to show a student what to practice. But as the electric guitar student continues with lessons, what they must practice can begin to get daunting.
NBeing confused on what to practice, electric guitar students may obsess too much on one thing and too little on others. There is also a tendency to work on stuff that is easy and avoid things that are hard.
I had a very disciplined practice regimen when I first started playing. This was good and bad at the same time. Having the same structure every single day did not leave room for different approaches to certain things, which may have helped in my progress.
I give my students a typical outline for practicing which includes the following:
1: Warm up exercises
2: Technique
3: Scales
4: Theory Study
5: Reading
6: Songs that are currently being worked on
7: Improvisation
These will of course vary with the student and skill/experience level, but this is basically the order I like to go in to ramp up physically and mentally. Like any recipe though, the proportion of the ingredients are essential for good results. These proportions should be customized based on the goals of the student. If they are focused on becoming a lead guitar player, then the regimen can lean more towards technique, scales, and theory, for example.
I typically will have my students start with 10 minutes of warmups, 10 minutes for technique, 10 minutes for scales, 20 minutes for songs, and 10 minutes of reading. If the student does not have an hour to devote to practicing, these numbers can be cut in half proportionally. If they only have 15 minutes a night for example, I ask them to do warmups for 5 and the song of the week for the other 10.
It's vital to inform your electric guitar students that certain days will see them sounding better than others, but not to be discouraged such that they forego practice.
Consistency is the best way to get yourself out of any rut. Over time, they will see that the bad playing days will become less and less the more they practice!
