Some general questions about practice...

[Azrael]

You know.....people always tell you they practice whenever then can and very much. But how much is too much? Is there any way to find out how much practice a day is enough and how much is too much? I suppose fingers also need to rest just like legs when you go sporting. I know that when you train too much with for example "weightlifting" that your progress will slow down or even stop. I suppose this is also the same on a guitar one way or the other. And would 3 hours straight be better than 3 times one hour? These question may sound dumb but I sure would like to know , because I still haven't got an answer on this myself.

[Hobophobic]

I've always been told that, when practicing anything, 1 hour every day is much better than 7 hours one day a week. However I don't know if there's a point of diminishing return regarding the number of hours practiced in a day if you're doing it every day. I'd say that's probably more of an individual thing.

[ivan]

2 hrs/day is good enough.
In my case, 3 hrs straight is better than 3 times one hour.
Remeber to warm up your fingers before start playing hard. It takes 10-15 min depending on your style.
Your fingers will let you know when to stop.... if not, you will notice blood everywhere and flesh on your strings...

[ivan]

.. and remember, don't practice because you HAVE to do it, just when you WANT to do it. This will give you the correct number of hours you need (your wife/girlfriend/boyfriend also let you know when to stop..)

[Jemwielder]

practice is an important thing, you should be trying to build a repritiore and learn your scales and modes and arpegios. Learn as many chords as you can and practical applications for each. As far as when you've done too much is when you've hurt yourself. Practicing guitar is different from weight lifting because your fingers aren't using more oxygen than you would usually do if you were writing a paper on a word processor. Just listen to your body and take breaks every hour or so. If your hand starts really hurting in a way that doesn't feel like muscle fatigue then stop!!! Information usually sinks in faster if there's short breaks to break up a session. Just practice every day and even if it's for just 30 minutes make sure it's good focused practice. Find what you're not good at and come up with ways to strengthen those weaknesses. Half an hour of focus will benefit you way more than 7 hours of just noodling (but hey guitar is for fun leave some time to rip too!)
good luck,
Jemwielder

[moro]

I have three rules for myself:

- Stop if it starts to hurt. This is the most important. You really don't want to injure yourself.

- Stop if it gets boring. I'm not a professional musician so I don't *have* to get better. Guitar is a hobby for me and I don't ever want it to become a chore.

- Stop if I get sloppy. If I get tired and start playing sloppily, it's better to step away from the guitar than to learn bad habits.

And as others have mentioned, there's no question that regular practice is much more beneficial than the occasional marathon session. I'm sure there are empirical studies on this if you care to look.

[pawel]

Originally Posted by Hobophobic

However I don't know if there's a point of diminishing return regarding the number of hours practiced in a day if you're doing it every day.

Someone has studied economics ;-)

[Hobophobic]

Nope, I just like to say things that make me sound smart... even if I don't really know what it means.
Actually I stole that from someone else. When I was young I was into motocross (actually I rode/raced for over 20 years but that's irrelevant) and my dad sent me to a weekend "learn with the pros" thing that was going on (which turned out to be local "pros", not real pro riders which is probably why I got to go... wasn't expensive) but I do remember one of the instructors saying "Riding for 10 hours once a week won't increase your skills at the same rate as riding 1 hour every day will". He also said that the 10 hours once a week may even have (Here it is!) "diminishing returns" because by the end of the session you will be tired and using sloppy technique which will be the last thing your body remembers from the practice and then it's a whole week before you try to correct it giving it time to become a "learned response". I started guitar around the same time and it seemed to apply so I adopted it. Then again, that was a long time ago and I'm still not great so...

[lyconxero]

I pretty much agree with everything that I've read thus far. Regular practice is definitely better than just one long session sporatically. And while working on things like scales, modes, chords, arps, may be important to SOME....I'd just say to learn what interests you the most. I just play for fun so I noodle around a WHOLE LOT, but when I really have some time to practice then I do try and hit those things. Really, I would just say to do what comes naturally to you. Learn theory maybe 30 minutes to an hour a day and spent the rest of the time shredding it up or learning a new song or doing whatever you find interesting at the time.

Good luck, man!

[pawel]

Originally Posted by Hobophobic

Nope, I just like to say things that make me sound smart... even if I don't really know what it means.
Actually I stole that from someone else. When I was young I was into motocross (actually I rode/raced for over 20 years but that's irrelevant) and my dad sent me to a weekend "learn with the pros" thing that was going on (which turned out to be local "pros", not real pro riders which is probably why I got to go... wasn't expensive) but I do remember one of the instructors saying "Riding for 10 hours once a week won't increase your skills at the same rate as riding 1 hour every day will". He also said that the 10 hours once a week may even have (Here it is!) "diminishing returns" because by the end of the session you will be tired and using sloppy technique which will be the last thing your body remembers from the practice and then it's a whole week before you try to correct it giving it time to become a "learned response". I started guitar around the same time and it seemed to apply so I adopted it. Then again, that was a long time ago and I'm still not great so...

Haha, it's cool. It's just an expression that only people who have been brainwashed with economic theory (like me) tend to use...

[gmoneymcfly2k]

really, practice is more of a test of time management than anything else. it would be a waste of time and computer pixels to give a set number of hous and say "here are your limits." it is more beneficial to say that how ever long you play, make sure that at some point in the day you at least have a routine of some sort (be it 30 min or 3 hours). The routine should be more of a fundamental workout that serves more of a maintenance purpose than as a practice to make perfect method.

consistency is also another key point to address. the "others" are more than correct in saying that marathon practicing for one day a week is far less productive than smaller chunks throughout. i had an old theory professor that said "practice doesn't make perfect, but permanent." this just means that however you practice and however long you go for, just make sure that whatever is being practiced gets played consistency (for muscle memory and mental memory).

also, feel free to keep it fresh...you know...a musical douche!