Practice

The following is a list of practicing tips

• Practice at least 20 to 30 minutes a day.
• Remember, the more advanced students practice much more than that. I've had some students practice from 2 to 4 hours a day!!
• Some of the greatest Jazz musicians of all time were reported to have practice anywhere from 5 hours to 10 hours a day!
• Spend your practice time on current material. Turn the TV off and concentrate!
• Use a timekeeping device like a metronome or the computer with tefview.
• Make sure you are in tune before each practice session.
• It is ok to break your practice time into smaller segments. You want to be fresh and ready to learn.
• Practice charts can help in monitoring your practice time. Let me know at lessons if you want a chart. I have several different charts on my computer.

You should also set goals for yourself. What is it you are trying to accomplish playing the guitar?

• Fun? As a hobby?
• You want to learn all of your favorite artist's tunes?
• You want to play in a band? Or at school in the jazz band?(which makes working with timekeeping devices all the more important)
• Learn to read music?
• Learn theory?
• Be the greatest guitarist ever?

This is a link to Slowgold: High-quality slowdown software that lets you learn anything from any recording:

I use this software all the time for lessons and for transcribing. Check it out!

Here are some guitarists you should be familiar with. This isn't a complete list my any means. If you have someone you want added to this list, let me know at lessons or by email. Be sure to have the web address of your favorite guitarist as well!

• Eddie Van Halen. He is my first big influence. I liked a lot of others at the time, but EVH really got me excited about learning guitar, putting in those hours of practice. More info on Van Halen is available at the Van Halen newsdesk.
• Steve Morse. Exciting technical playing. Interesting music. I actually got to see him when his band opened for Rush in 1986 in Albuquerque, New Mexico! What a great concert!
• Stevie Ray Vaughan.He opened me up to a new style of music, the blues. I've gone back and listened to all kinds of blues, but to me SRV was the best! He combined a great feel for music with outstanding technical skill. I was lucky to catch a Stevie concert when I lived in Albuquerque. I believe it was in 89! He played great!
• Jimi Hendrix. James Marshall Hendrix. Born to play guitar! I actually got into Hendrix late, I had already heard EVH first! But from the minute the needle hit the record, I was hooked! Castles made of Sand was the first Hendrix tune I heard other than Purple Haze. Jimi is the founder of modern rock guitar IMO.
• Eric Johnson. I heard Eric Johnson described once as Hendrix would have sounded after studying with a jazz instructor for 8 years! That might be a little off base, as it is impossible to compare anyone to the mighty groundbreaking Jimi Hendrix! Check out Eric Johnson though, as he is amazing to say the least! One of my favorite memories is seeing Eric Johnson play at a little club in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was awesome!
• Joe Satriani. Great guitarist and fun music! He was also a fellow guitar teacher! He actually can list Steve Vai and Kirk Hammitt as some of his pupils!
• Steve Vai. He's had quite a career! He's played with Frank Zappa and David Lee Roth to name a diverse couple! He actually got the job with Zappa by transcribing one of his tunes and mailing it to him! Frank Zappa got the transcription, read through it, then wanted to meet the young guitarist that did such an accurate transcription. The next thing you know, Steve Vai was in Frank's band!
• Steve Lukather. It doesn't matter if you buy into Toto's brand of pop rock. Steve Lukather was and is a great guitarist. He also has instrumental albums out and is currently jamming with Larry Carlton How many people can say that? The guitar playing Lukather did with Toto, especially the solo on Hold the Line was another reason I got excited about playing the guitar.
• Neal Schon. I was in high school in the early 1980's. Journey and Toto were some of the biggest bands of that era. Neal Schon's fiery guitar playing in Journey caught my ear. I love it when we play Lights in Whiskey Jack.
• Albert Lee. Albert is an incredible guitarist. He's known as a country guitarist, but he did tour with Eric Clapton!
• Brent Mason. Some of the most fiery country playing ever heard! But Brent is also a very versatile player! I have his hot licks instructional video, and half of it features him playing Jazz!
• Pat Metheny. Speaking of Jazz, here's one of the greatest contemporary jazz guitarists out there!

  This is all for now on practicing. I'll update this page in a while with more information. Now...back to the woodshed.

  Happy Practicing!

  Rick

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