How much practice time.

Don Griffiths · From: Steelville, MO

So how much time do you all typically devote to practicing each week? I had an acoustic guitar instructor once who told me I would need to practice a minimum of 2 hours a day just to keep improving on the 6string acoustic. Now admittedly the PSG is a little more complex ,I'm thinking more like 4-5 hours minimum to become a proficient sit in player.
I don't know that that is my goal, I just love to be able to make music though. And at this point am extremely frustrated that many times I can only seem 1 1/2- 2 hours a day several days a week for practicing and learning. So please tell us how much time do you spend, especially during the initial first 5 year learning period? I won't do a poll cause I know the old guys hate em. Wink

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Wally Moyers · From: Lubbock, Texas

Don, how old are you?

Tony Prior · From: Charlotte NC

to become proficient at anything that 4 to 5 hours a week would be the minimal...but it is hard to do if we are busy during the day and getting older !
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Dickie Whitley · Posted 16 Mar 2014 3:48 pm

...Jeff Newman once suggested two 30 minute sessions a day to prevent burnout or frustration, but everyone is different.

Wally Moyers · From: Lubbock, Texas

The key is consistency and having goals. When I was first learning I would keep daily records on progress. Always practice with a drum machine or metronome if possible…Always keep your steel setup so you can set down and play even if you just have a few minutes… Its all about seat time not years of playing.. Get out ASAP a play with a band, nothing like learning on the job… Work hard on the fundamentals so you don't get a lot of bad technic.. There is so much information on the forum you can draw from, so you are at the right place… Good luck..

Hook Moore · From: South Charleston,West Virginia

Unless you are especially gifted, it will take multiple hours of daily practice. The superior players will surprise you in the amount of time they either perform or practice daily....
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Ray Montee · From: Portland, Oregon (deceased)

I discovered it was 'quality learning sessions'...
whether five minutes or an hour.

I never endorsed a fixed minimal practice session.

Even this day, I can make a 'learning discovery' in less than thirty minutes and it makes the entire practice session worthwhile.

Pounding unfamiliar material into your head, if you're NOT IN TUNE to receive it is merely a waste.

Don Griffiths · From: Steelville, MO

I'm 49 Wally. Thanks for the replies guys.
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Wally Moyers · From: Lubbock, Texas

Wally Moyers · From: Lubbock, Texas

Don, I found Paul's post! Great stuff â€¦

As promised this is how I develop the left hands accuracy for pitch, timing, and tone.......The more technical control a player has, the more freedom the player has to express musical thoughts without experiencing technical limitations....... I use this practice method to overcome a combination of issues.

Although I have never spoken to Buddy about this subject, I have heard from some of my students that he uses a similar method to develop his accuracy. Buddy should get credit here as well for pioneering in depth practice habits. The fret positions I learned from my Hawaiin teacher...She most likely got them from the oahu method...I don't know for sure.....nuff said

Mastering the bar hand is crucial to tone....The more confidence a player has when moving the bar, the more chance his tone will improve...Its all about developing controlled movement of the bar.....First off, I believe there is not enough time in my lifetime to learn all there is to know about music and steel guitars. I accept this as fact.....So with that understanding, I try to make the most efficient use of my practice time.

On the E9th tuning, I first set the metronome to a slow rate than I move the bar from the open position to all of the fret positions listed below while picking two strings consecutively in time with the metronome.....I pick string 7 than 8 and then I move to the next fret position and repeat picking those strings..... I keep repeating this picking pattern at each fret position of this lengthy exercise.

I always start at the open position......Below this paragraph I list the fret moves....pick the 7th than 8th strings as quarter notes through all of the fret positions........Its important to move the bar through all the positions I list below without breaking the quarter note rhythm. Don't stop if you make a mistake, keep moving through all of the frets while continuously picking strings 7 and 8 as quarter notes .....Slow the metronome down until you can do this comfortably. Once you have these moves memorized you can gradually increase the metronome speed.....It is important to memorize this so that your eyes and ears are the main focus. Remember to keep the bar straight....No vibrato.

Here are the fret positions.....

0...2...4...6...8...10...12...10...8...6...4...2 don't stop here play the next line.

0...3...6...9...12...9...6...3 again don't stop that scale type rhythm...now play

0...4...8...12...8...4 and the last step of this circular style of bar practice, play

0...5....10...15...10....5 DON'T stop to rest here, its very important to repeat the whole process over and over for minutes. In a way this is a musical tongue twister....Start out slowly and gradually increase the metronome speed as your accuracy improves......If you have access to a synth, piano, or bass guitar you can record several minutes worth of an E note.....By practicing all of these patterns over that E note, your intonation can be improved by using the same practice routine......

The first line is an E augmented scale pattern......The second line is a E diminsh scale pattern.....The third line is an E augmented scale pattern....The fourth line is a scale pattern of stacked fourths......Because all of this practice is theory based, you can take any snippet from these patterns and use that snippet to play over certain chord changes......Study how to apply augmented and diminish scales and your off to a good start here.......

What gets accomplished with this exercise?

1) Picking the strings with a metronome, while moving the bar, develops timing and physical coordination.

2) The musicality of the notes helps the ears to develop. By hearing intervals outside of the major triad sound, the players ears are expanding beyond their harmonic familiarity.

3) Because the bar is constantly moving, hearing intonation is being perfected..at the same time the players visual accuracy is also being improved. Moving the bar beyond the pocket approach tweaks the players athletics. This exercise is getting the player ready to perform any bar position move with surgical precision.....Look at this type of training as getting ready to run a marathon.

4) playing to a droned E note is a wonderful way to develop the ears. The players ear has to zero in on the pitch of another instrument......As a side note....Speed on this exercise is not important and should not be the goal...Fret accuracy or intonation is the desired result.

5) Timing, playing scale patterns, and visually checking fret accuracy, builds coordination between the ears, hands, and the mind with one stroke of the brush.

As a beginner I was taught to focus on one issue at a time.....As they say hindsight is 20/20......Now I realize that at least with this exercise the combination of issues I mentioned can be dealt with simultaneously....our minds sometimes absorbs the physical aspects of playing this instrument differently...This exercise really helped me....Paul

John Coffman · From: Wharton,Texas USA

Daily practice would be great but reality sets in. We all lead busy lives. I try to get at least 20 to 30 hours a month in. Last year I logged about 291hours. I use an egg time in 30 minute segments. some weekends I do 4 to 6 hours a day with breaks.
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Don Griffiths · From: Steelville, MO

I got out the metronome tonight for the first time in a long time. Nothing seems to bring out the flaws in my technique better than the metronome. I also notice the most improvement in my playing when I go back to trying to play something musical after spending a little time with the metronome. I came across that Franklin thread recently, that is a great excersize, I'm on it. If this turns into a thread on different practice techniques,that would be ok with me.
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Paul Sutherland · From: Placerville, California

I do the Franklin bar control exercises virtually every day. It only takes about ten minutes and in that time I've covered both palm blocking and pick blocking, and both playing string 8 then 7, and the converse. Really good way to warm up.

Then I play for about 45 minutes to a metronome at various speeds, accompanied by a drone track from Bob Hofner. I play at every tempo from as fast as I possibly can to super slow crying country steel; always focusing on execution; as in intonation and vibrato. Make it sound good, and if it doesn't, do it again. For this improvisation session I only use palm blocking

Then I take a break.

The second session, of what I consider my daily core or fundamentals practice, is developed from Jim Loessberg's course; Right Hand Technique Building for E9 steel. This is fairly challenging material, but it is worth the effort. This covers both palm blocking and pick blocking. I strongly recommend this course. It can be purchased through the forum instruction section. It's probably available elsewhere as well.

After about ten minutes of Jim's exercise, I start a second round of improvisation to the metronome and drone, except this time it's all pick blocking.

It gets boring trying to improvise for 45 minutes straight, particularly doing it twice a day. But endless repetition with good technique leads to strong execution. In my opinion, that's when the steel starts to sound really good and new musical ideas start to happen.

After that I work on tunes for whatever band is playing next.
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Daniel Policarpo · From: Kansas City

I usually practice about 2-3 hours a day on the days I play. Some weeks I play 4 days, others I play all week. I wake up early to make the time, come here or watch youtube videos while drinking coffee, listen to some George Jones. After a half hour I'm hot on the biscuit to get behind the steel.

Ian Rae · From: Redditch, England

Time for a cliché, folks! It's not the hours you put in (well, it is) but it's also what you put into the hours. Time is not a problem for me as I no longer work, but when I did, I taught brass instruments so I'm qualified to organise my practice. The steel is undoubtedly addictive so it's no problem to sit at it for hours - the important thing is to be clear what you're trying to achieve, and I always have a list of current objectives to refer to.

Paul Franklin says "focus on one issue at a time" and as a teacher I found the less you tell them the more they remember.
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Clete Ritta · From: San Antonio, Texas

It depends on several factors, but I try to practice every day. Its kinda like stretching and physical exercise. Sometimes its only 5 or 10 minutes, other times its an hour or more, usually broken into shorter segments during the day (even at a gig we break after a 50 minute set).

Most times I just focus on technique, like working on blocking and patterns, or occasionally timing and accuracy with metronome and drone. I also play along with random music, such as a playlist or the radio. This provides constantly changing tempos and keys to practice along with.

I always try to discover something new, whether its learning a part in a song, or simply noodling around till something interesting strikes. Sometimes this musical daydreaming produces something truly creative, and this is a good way to develop a personal style of playing, instead of just copying what someone else has played. Have fun and experiment sometimes. Its a good idea to record yourself and listen back later.

Wayne Franco · From: silverdale, WA. USA

If your head is into it practice as long as you can. It you don't feel like playing it is much less productive. For me that is why it is so important to have fun.

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