Originally Posted by: JeffS65

Originally Posted by: Perraz[br]Still, that means I sure do appreciate any thoughts on

- practice/study-time

- what more experienced players consider as practice/study

- how much time (daily average or so) you think could be good to aim for to have some real development as a semibeginner.[br]- And lastly any advice on good, important things to really work on as a semibeginner. (Booth playing time and theory)

Here's the thing, it seems you are very motivated, which is awesome. What you first want to do is remember to have fun playing. Structured practice is very important, Don't over-structure your practice. That ias tosay; if you finally break through on a new skill and you're vibing on the thing you learned, talking some time to enjoy it. Remember, you're doing this to enjoy. Do not skip over that part > enjoying.

I've been playing for a good few decades and at times I've had a lot of structure and others I had none.

I noticed in your first post that you referenced the enormous number of hours some people practiced. Most of that is a lie. Don't buy it. Athletes practice. Just not all day long.

When I did have structured practices, I topped one hour of structured practice. That's not to say I didn't pick up the guitar at other times in the day if the mood struck me. The problem with the 'many, many hours' approach, diminishing returns. You can only structure so much practice. I'd rather have a very focused half hour than a long, overly planned many hours.

Just remember, play to have fun.

You'd also asked the question about good important things to work on. I want mention that guitar playing is a creative endeavor. It is not a math equation. Yes, there is technical information to learn but remember that it is in support of a creative endeavor.

Why use a major pentatonic versus a minor pentatonic? No one ever told me why. Back in the day, I had only what a teacher could tell me in a half hour and really, I only ever took but a few lessons (mostly self taught).

You can learn a scale but not know what to do with it.

Learn songs. Lots and lots of songs. The technical and theory side of playing is very important but songs are where the rubber meets the road. You'll start seeing patterns and structures and commonalities of those things that you are learning.

Music is a language you learn to communicate and best served practiced when in the actual process of communicating. You can learn vocabulary and grammar rules but it doesn't make you a good conversationalist. You only learn thatwhen you use it.

Follow the Guitar Tricks structure and that will take you far but learn all kinds of songs for many different genres, it will expands and grow the heck out of your playing.

First:[br]jschroni, thanx for the input. Interesting and helpfull sInce you seem to be (looking at years playing) a few years ahead of me, but still close enough to make it something easy to relate to.

When you explain your view on practive and also say trying to get to 2 hours a day of good, quality practice most days do work well enough for you to get some nice development, that is great to hear! Booth because I got some feedback on what may bee seen,counted, as practice,and most of all that those 2 hours definitely feels as a reachable and possible practicegoal for me! [br]Surely adds some to my motivation, thanks!!