A LIFE-CHANGING Practice Routine

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00:00 Intro
01:35 Overview
01:57 Warmup
03:32 Technique
04:37 Ear Training
05:29 Sight Reading
06:28 Neck Studies
08:17 Song Learning
09:41 Lifting
10:19 Practical Application
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Reading Books
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[fudgesauce]

A few times I've heard people say how cool it would be to be, say, Eddie van Halen. I point out that sure, he was cool after he was famous, but he got there by being a dork who spent countless hours alone in his room practicing. His gift wasn't musical talent as much as it was the gift of perseverance: to spend all that time working toward something that wasn't necessarily going to pan out.

[GenesisMuseum]

This reminds me of the workout book by Steve Vai. It was 10 hours...10....per day! I don't care if you play guitar or plumb, if you spend 10 hours a day dedicated to something, you will become amazing at it. Most players (myself included) simultaneously say they'd love to play like Steve Vai, and also that there is no way they could spend 10 hours a day practicing. But it may be comforting to know that talent is just another word for hard work.

[llwonder]

Ok now give me the “I just had a kid and only have 15 minutes to practice” routine. What about us dads lol.

[ryanpetrak]

Needed this. Currently a Berklee student and can't seem to find a routine that I can stick to, but this motivates me and puts things into perspective. Thank you!

[theliberation]

As someone whose "methods" of practicing have been pure chaos since forever, I still really appreciate this and especially your emphasis on doing stuff you actually want and finding ways that work for you. I'm probably mentally incapable of having a structured regimen like this, but I totally stand behind the message of "there is no talent, only practice but you should do it in a way that works for you specifically".

[Shady]

As someone who never really knew what to practice, basically Where to start and have a routine this helped tremendously.

[brada-smith]

This Samurai is a stellar dude. A while back I signed up for a course, paid for it, and after about 20% in I realized it was a waste of money because I was above the level that the course offered. So I wrote and asked for a refund and he gave it to me. Respects. I don't think there is a high number of online teachers out there who would do that.... thanks Samurai!

[Jesse_Johnson]

Needed this so badly. Self taught, sans some online lessons here and there. I struggled with noodling too much. And never actually getting that much better. The more professional we are getting (my band) the more I want to be in control of how I express myself musically and more importantly how I CAN SERVE THE SONG, which in the world of pop and rock usually means the lead singer. I want to play with intention.

[Jerry-tglj]

my practice routine is basically trying to learn songs way above my skill level and get them to a point where they sound identical or close to the recording, now my musical understanding is pretty much non existant but my technique improves rapidly when i do this (i do not plan to be a professional musician so learning to sight read isnt worth my time)

[elrincondelaguitarra]

I remember when I had an online lesson with him and asked exactly for this. Glad to see some of his previous recommendations here! Especially the part about learning new songs, jazz standards and transcribing. Rock on!

[gelulain]

I've started guitar a year ago, self taught without much of a practice routine except learning songs I liked. I'll try commit to this and see where it takes me, thanks for the guidance!

[marcblum]

I would suggest to provide a detailed practice regimen for the hobbyist musician. For people that have a day job, are studying (not music), maybe have a young family, and therefor only so much time per day at their disposal. "taylor this plan to your needs" is maybe a bit of a shortjump. The ones being able to taylor the plan are maybe the ones that can lay out a plan on their own. But many people would appreciate to see a plan fitting to the ordinary guy in a ordinary band who wants to grow. Slowly, but constantly.

[naifabdalkreem]

peronally i struggle greatly with setting up a practising schedule, the old time problem of not knowing what to practice techinically. this video is very informative and most importantly, fun.
thank you.

[jacobhumphrey]

So after watching this video and being very intimidated by a 4 hour routine that I couldn't possibly do, I've found a workaround that really helps me. So with work and family time that takes a good amount of time, I find I can comfortably fit 2 hours of practice in. So I figured out that the warm up is a half hour regardless, every day, essential stuff. Then I take one or two sections from Sammy's schedule and fit them into the remaining hour and a half.

[iyekmusic]

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts and knowledge on practicing guitar 🎸

[thegloobster]

I've watched this video multiple times now over the past month and still just like, would love a truly in-depth video on everything, but I think taking the slow way and finding everything out kinda myself might actually be better for me in the long run? Like developing my own exercises and mindset? Man this whole guitar thing is a hell of a rabbit hole isn't it? I've never loved and hated something so much and so equally.
It's awesome.
I wonder where I'll be 3 years from now.
Probably still digging deeper.
Hell yeah.

[caleb]

*Workout Routine*
30 minutes - warmup
30 minutes - technique
30 minutes - ear training
30 minutes - sight reading
1 hour - "gaining knowledge"
- neck studies
- song learning
- lifting
1 hour - practical application

[HELLNAWW]

Man this is tough to stick to. I used to be like this and stick to a regimented routine. Now i just do a couple of warmups (usually variations of the spider exercise, very slowly and only for about 10 minutes), then move onto covering songs and improvising over jam tracks, recording myself as i go along.

Reason is, I found that my technique was improving but I had no repertoire of songs or licks to actually play.

[LastMinuteAndy]

Dude what a beautiful guitar!
That’s probably the best looking guitar I’ve ever seen!!

[LuizHenriqueMiranda]

This Fender Rarities is the most beautiful Strat I've ever seen. The custom dark wooden plate made it look even better. I wish I'll the money to afford one in the future, before it's price raise to a million bucks.