What Is My Recommended Practice Regimen?

1) Find a way to play around a little bit everyday, even just 5 minutes.
2) Always play slow, clean, and musical - don't check out and play sloppy.
3) Determine a core repertoire of short and simple things that you come back to again and again, to perfect them.
4) "Move the ball down the field" with CAGED shapes and pentatonics
5) Don't neglect chords and grooves.

My Truefire "Guitar Zen" Courses:

Sound Tools Used in This Vid:
Epiphone Firebird VII (early 2000s MIK)

Thanks for watching!

#chill #guitar #advice

[johncoltrane]

I've played guitar for around 30 plus years. My advice is - play often, and often play at the edge of your abilities. Push your playing and make sure you're stretching your ability each time. Never ever be afraid to make mistakes.

[sirmadrigal]

‘Play every day…’ yes yes yes a thousand times yes! Even though I’m a high schooler who has homework, activities and a job that take up a lot of time outside of school, I still make a precedence to play everyday, even if it’s just playing all the Toad the Wet Sprocket riffs I can play off the top of my head, or playing an acoustic rhythm pattern in DADGAD or something like that. Thanks Eric!!!

[anonymousforensic]

My usual practice routine:

1. Free jam warmup with whatever musical gibberish flows from my heart. I have a little chart of chords taped onto the side of my amp. I try to pick a different key each day. I typically use a looper with a drum beat going. I don't love how fiddly the Boss RC-10R is, but it does have a heck of a lot of different styles of drum loops.

2. Calm down, pull up whatever book or course I'm working through, and work through a chunk. I just finished up a great course called "CAGED Edition of Guitar Zen" ;) Now I'm digging into an Ariel Posen course on rhythm triads. Some days, I can crush a couple pages. Some days, I immediately get stuck and spend the whole session learning one new weird shape or rhythm.

3. Take whatever techniques I just learned from my lesson and incorporate them into whatever idea I stumbled into during my initial free jam. This is when I also let myself tweak all the effects on my board to get weird sounds. Three days ago, it was three delays chained together! Yesterday, I just cranked up a phaser until the wavering made me dizzy!

4. Take 5 minutes to scribble down some notes in my comp book about the day so I (sort of) retain whatever I worked on.

The challenge of taking on one course at a time and planning to mesh those lessons with my next deep dive into a weird effect are huge motivators for me.

I also try to listen to two albums on repeat each week - something old and something new - and try to jam live at least once a week with somebody.


...man, I am not good at music relative to the amount of brain space I give it each week. Oh well. Just have fun trying stuff.

[exit.strategy]

I'm going through depression and honestly this video uplifted me. Thank you!

[vincentl.]

Eric, you're the most nice, symphatic and calm guy in "the business".
Love your work! Keep on with your great stuff!!!

[tomagapitos]

Im so glad I have found your channel. I’ve been playing 2.5 years and in the intermediate phase but been getting over excited with learning so much as I am in the guitar phase of finally figuring out how everything works but it can be super overwhelming cause I just want to apply everything at once but watching your videos reminds me to just slow down and be patient. Also you remind me to actually focus on my playing too as you mentioned about creating the story first before typing which is a great analogy and sums up my mistake 😂 being at this level I find it’s hard getting teachers on YouTube like you cause most don’t explain sth or just say “don’t use the pentatonic, it’s a waste of time” even though I disagree with this cause it has helped me so much to understand the fretboard even though I can see why seeing it as chords is great too but we all need the caged system.

[JtotheP]

The story writing analogy is just so true. The notes are there are on the guitar fingerboard already. When playing single string lead lines you just need to hear what you want to play in your head and then translate it to the guitar, even if it’s just note by note.

[Poboy]

You have one of the best guitar instructions series on YouTube. I always pick up something that is practical to help me get better.

[thebehavioralobservationsp]

Great stuff as always Eric, thank you!

[Pathological_Flyer]

The short-story analogy was perfect 👍🏻

[robertb]

Man! Super great advice. Thanks for doing what you do.

[Aaronius_Maximus]

Your content just keeps getting better, it's been an honor watching your channel grow like this. I love watching you play and listening to your ideas. Thankfully most everything from this list are already things that I do on a regular basis (especially finding any minute during the day possible to just PLAY something). What I do is play a certain list of arpeggios and other phrases to warm my hands up. From there I print off 5-6 exercises or challenging riffs/licks that I want to master for the week. Once I have mastered those exercises I move them around on the neck and really familiarize myself with what notes are being played. Then I refresh the exercises! :D Thanks for the video Eric you're awesome!

[OtRatsaphong]

Thanks Eric! Find time to practice/play everyday even if it’s just 5 minutes. Thanks for the advice about learning to type. This has been where I have been stuck. Must get back to your TrueFire course. 👍🙏

[styx]

I'm just here to thank you and congratulate you for using the correct word. Not regime, not regiment, but regimen. Bravo!

[jordantaylor]

Awesome ideas. I've always struggled with figuring out a good practice routine.

[mattgilbert]

That chord from "Wrapped Around Your Finger" is gorgeous, with your chorus pedal on top of the already awesome tone you have is *chef's kiss* perfection.

I'll be applying this mantra "slow, clean, and musical" to my evening playing session. Cheers!

[gottastayfocused]

It's really amazing how your video's just make so much sense. I really appreciate your approach. It's the space between the notes!

[stephenowen]

More valuable wisdom from The Haug! Still working away on your excellent TrueFire course. Still having a great time with it! All the best man!

[rakman_guitarjams]

Wow such an amazing video. As a self taught guitarist of 5 years, I can see how all of the progress I’ve made and have yet to make relates to all of this. CAGED definitely unlocked the fretboard for me and paved the way for true connection to my instrument

[alteredfeast]

I discovered your videos a few weeks ago, and you've already opened up my playing more than anything in years! I'm really starting to fall in love with the instrument again. Also, you always have the most wonderful tone, so it's such a joy to listen to you play. Then you dropped in the line from Jockey Full Of Bourbon! Pure perfection. Gonna have to learn that now