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How can I survive boredom while practising guitar exercises?
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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 RE: How can I survive boredom while ... (in reply to FredGuitarraOle)
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Mindless practice equals mindless playing. Try practicing something that engages you instead of bores you. You only play as well as you as you practice so if you're bored the listeners will be twice as bored. That kind of brain not engaged busy fingers practice is what gets you tendonitis too. And the idea that many teachers and players say; over practicing leads to practicing your mistakes.... is something to think about.
Or you could get cable and watch reruns of Gilligans Island.
I think it takes much less time to practice technical than many think. If you disengage while you practice it will take longer to make it part of your technique, but if you target specific problems and work at them for ten-fifteen minutes a day or less every day they will get learned. I'd find solo pieces that have technical challenges and work on those as part of a technique building program. But I would be careful practicing disengagement between the body, your brain and the guitar, if you train yourself to be disengaged you'll play that way part of the time. Another way is to break the practice up into various periods during the day. Set aside 40 minutes a day to practice exercises and then take break and come back later to work on music. If have four technical problems: picado, arpeggio, alzapua, and scale work, set up a schedule to practice those problems and rotate different exercses for each problem every day. You will get a cycle that keeps the routine varied. Spend ten good focused minutes on each problem and then move on.
I worry when I hear someone is bored practicing. I'm always trying to deepen my concentration level not dull it. The instrument is one thing, it takes some physical work to master, but more of the work is mental really. You might try doing some of the work away from the instrument. Personally I never find practice boring, if I get bored I think I'm not paying attention. Mannerisms in your playing are difficult to break or correct and they can manifest when you zone out and practice mindlessly for hours. One thing I do to stay engaged is to take a written score and go through it without the guitar or cello in front of me. I do a visualization of moving though different positions and notes in order to train myself to focus deeper.
Your body is just meat, the musical brain tells the meat what to do.
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Jul. 16 2013 6:22:08
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: How can I survive boredom while ... (in reply to FredGuitarraOle)
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I play flamenco guitar for my own enjoyment and, occasionally, for that of others when with a group. Thus, the time I spend practicing is not anywhere near that of members who are, or aspire to be, professional musicians. Nevertheless, I have to agree with Stephen. Good practice, even on repetitive exercises, demands focus, not mindless physical movement while watching television.
My own learning niche has been to practice playing a reasonable flamenco tremolo (PIAMI). This is not something I could have accomplished by unfocused movement (PIAMI) while watching television or reading E-mails. In my case, such practice would not have resulted in a dead-on, steady tremolo; rather, it was the other way around. By intensely focusing on a dead-on, steady tremolo in practice session after practice session, I found that I eventually was able to play it without focusing on it or thinking much about it.
My final thought on practice is that it should not be boring. If one practices six hours a day, the entire six hours should be devoted to the idea of improving on what one is practicing. The reward will be eventual breakthrough to a higher level. That alone should spur one on to practice. If boredom sets in after awhile, perhaps one should think about reducing the practice time.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Jul. 16 2013 14:04:11
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BarkellWH
Posts: 3458
Joined: Jul. 12 2009
From: Washington, DC
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RE: How can I survive boredom while ... (in reply to guitarbuddha)
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quote:
Is anyone advocating unfocused movement ? I AM NOT and I suspect that noone else is.
My post was to portray my experience in practice, particularly tremolo, and the reference to unfocused physical movement while watching television was more a response to pgh's post. Really, Guitarbuddha, you should distance yourself from the idea that every post is all about you.
Cheers,
Bill
_____________________________
And the end of the fight is a tombstone white,
With the name of the late deceased,
And the epitaph drear, "A fool lies here,
Who tried to hustle the East."
--Rudyard Kipling
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Date Jul. 16 2013 14:38:07
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Mark2
Posts: 1871
Joined: Jul. 12 2004
From: San Francisco
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RE: How can I survive boredom while ... (in reply to FredGuitarraOle)
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Sometimes I practice while watching TV but what happens as I start to sound good, or focus on a passage, is that I forget the TV, look up and realize I'm not watching TV. Or, I just end up putting away the guitar and watching TV.
I have to agree with the camp that says concentrated effort is the way. Running drills for several hours while watching the Kardashian's is not likely to result in anything other than an unhealthy obsession with Kim's booty IMO.
I really like the thought that the really good players pay attention to the things the other guys don't. That takes mental energy. When I think about the skill and sound of players like Grisha or Todd, I think those type of musicians have figured out how to practice.
I was studying with a good guitarist from Madrid and he said practice slow if you want to play fast. So I played the passage slower. He goes" You call that SLOW?" So, I played it slower, still making various errors. And slower, STILL making mistakes. Finally, he gets frustrated and yells "THIS IS AN EXERCISE, CONCENTRATE!" I thought I was concentrating, but I put out more mental effort and improved immediately.
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Date Jul. 16 2013 21:22:03
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estebanana
Posts: 9351
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: How can I survive boredom while ... (in reply to n85ae)
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quote:
Well, actually endless, mindless, hours does have a purpose which is muscular development. It's the same
reason cyclists have to put in the road miles endlessly pedaling. It doesn't really make you a better guitarist,
but helps develop the tools which do the job for you, which are your muscles. This in effect gives you something
which can be used with focused thoughtful practice to make you a better guitarist.
I used to be a distance swimmer, athletes that train for endurance have different needs than guitarists. In cycling and swimming muscles go into oxygen debt, in those sports athletes over overcompensate train to prepare the body to do something very different than a guitarists work.
Once I had the chance to be the student of a very great guitarist( someone known here) who had broken his wrist. I asked him to teach me just after he had gotten the cast off, but he still could not play. Over the next several weeks his wrist slowly became more supple and returned to being well enough to play. I watched as day by day the musical brain asked the wrist to do musical work. The wrist was weak, swollen and never fully regained total movement. The rehabilitation work was part physical, but mainly about reconnecting the brain to the hand. As I watched this happen I realized many rising level guitarists over work themselves to learn how to play. It was unfortunate the guy broke his wrist, but watching the recovery was an important lesson for me. What I learned is that there is more mental work than appears on the surface.
I came to believe, like many professional players I have talked to, that finger exercises are a waste of time and that most of the technical work you can do is right there in the music. If you play flamenco and you ever play for dance classes you get your endurance training right there. So if you do finger work and watch TV ok fine, but you are risking damage to yourself physically and mentally, or not damage but dulling your senses by zoning out.
I'm just saying repetitive guitar playing motion and strength is different that other athletic strength and can be gained by regular practice. It's not in my opinion something that has to be over compensated for as in an endurance event. Guitar playing puts stress on small joints and tendons which can be injured easily it's not a good idea to test those by over loading. If you were to pedal a bike with your fingers, you would injure them.
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Jul. 17 2013 1:11:04
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