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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 9 2006 11:57:46

Romanza

Posts: 296
Joined: Oct. 24 2005

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to Guest)

I am in the same position as you Lionel - I feel I will never improve cos I don't have the time I need to practice. Sometimes I try and squeeze in a bit of practice before work but that's not ideal as it ends up getting me in the flamenco mood and then I go to work feeling frustrated!

I think you have to make sacrifices, eg your social life / free time might have to start taking a back seat. Realistically, I could not see my friends and come back from work every night and practice.

I wonder whether its better to devote say a whole day a week - Saturday or Sunday in my case, to practicing. Or just do half an hour a day. I feel that real progress can only made when you spend a lot of time on one thing.

Anyway, I'd appreciate practice advice too if anyone has any..

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 9 2006 12:19:18

seanm

Posts: 169
Joined: Apr. 5 2005
From: Halifax, Nova Scotia

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to Guest)

Hi guys! I can totally relate espesically since I was a professional classical player for many years and practiced 6-8 hours a day for a long time. Now I work in IT and have the same situation. Here is what I do in case it give you any ideas or inspiration

1) Since my field is still kinda dot-com-y I can shift my day forward an hour or so (I work basically 10 - 6). This is great for me because I'm a morning person when it comes to practice.

2) Everyday, I get up early and work hard to get completely ready for work by 8 - 8:30 (i.e. dog walked, lunches made, espresso in the cup). This leaves me with 1- 1.5 hours every morning to practice.

3) Very important, I don't waste this time 'rehearsing' or just palying through tunes because my mind is so fresh and open it the best time for me to work on slow practice, compas practice, technique and new material.

4) I play or practice performing after work or at the end of a morning session when being tired doesn't matter as much for me.

5) I also go to work with my head filled with flamenco but while there I listen to a tune or two, on the bus I read tabs or indiscretely tap palmas or compas or do memory work.

As a side note, when I used to work at a music store when I was doing my music degree I had a full hour for lunch so I kept a practice guitar in the back room and practiced for that hour as well. Great break in the day :)

I think one of the main things that is good for me is that I try to be as efficient as possible so I ussually feel as though I'm making progress and don't pine for more practice time. The only time I do wish this is when learning new material but then again it does force me to do more memory work and less 'rote' learning.

Finally (whew!) ... it is DEFINITELY better to do a half hour a day rather than one massive session for a number of reasons such as keeping your body used to simply playing every day and having to re-focus everyday etc. This can be a big discussion so I'll leave it at that. Hope this helps.

Sean

Sean

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 9 2006 15:14:53

Francisco

Posts: 879
Joined: Jun. 13 2005
From: SW USA

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to Guest)

I log about 48-60hrs a week at work. Marriage w/ children on top of that, as well as the usual chores around the house (house/auto/lawn maintenance etc.) leaves little practice time.

I at least get 30 minutes/day, and try to shoot for 2hrs. This is seldomly a consecutive 2hrs, but I gotta practice when I can.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 9 2006 21:46:46

John O.

Posts: 1723
Joined: Dec. 16 2005
From: Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to Francisco)

My wife knows I freak if I don't get practise time in. Fortunately she's a make-up artist and often works evenings. I do need my 2 hours and she understands that, so I get it. It's important to make a plan, write it down if you need to, that way you know what you have to do and know when it's time to stop and to chores and whatever else needs to be done.

I'm never too beat to practise, and if I'm scheduled to accompany at a class on a bad work day, I kick myself in the butt and do it anyways. It's not always easy, though.

Don't have kids yet and although I love kids, I dread what might happen to my guitar playing when they come. I'm still hoping to someday do a part-time job and work the other half as a guitarist, but I know my wife will want kids someday so the clock's ticking. Maybe I'll become a stay-home dad

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 10 2006 18:46:55

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 10 2006 20:05:54

John O.

Posts: 1723
Joined: Dec. 16 2005
From: Seeheim-Jugenheim, Germany

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to Guest)

quote:

I love her, but I also love the guitar.

That's the other good thing about making a list and a time limit. When she asks "How much longer" you can tell her. And if in an argument she ever says "You always play guitar" you can just say "Nope, I play guitar for 2 hours"

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 10 2006 20:09:45

Francisco

Posts: 879
Joined: Jun. 13 2005
From: SW USA

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to Guest)

quote:

I love her, but I also love the guitar

If she loves you, she'll want you to do what makes you happy as long as the sentiment is returned...or so it goes with mine.

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jun. 10 2006 23:38:40

Garyw1960

Posts: 91
Joined: Nov. 13 2005

RE: Work and Flamenco (in reply to John O.)

I would not worry about kids interfering with practise.........I found more time to practise when they were screaming the place down as you are up at such strange hours. My wife was always tired so slept more than ever leaving me on my own with a house full of sleeping beauties. Now the noise of the guitar was a slight problem so I stuffed the soundhole with a towel. I practised scales, changing chord shapes anything to help the muscles get used to guitar playing. This is typed after my 6 year old shouted for a drink at 01.47am. Now, if I was really keen, the guitar would be in my hand!!!!!!!!!!