Studying Classical Guitar and Electric Guitar

[Xanthomatose]

Hi Chris,

How did you organize your practice time to incorporate both your classical and electric guitar? Did you have a fixed practise time table or did you practise whatever you felt like at that point in time that day?

The reason for this odd question is that I am considering picking up the classical guitar, after playing the electric for about 4 years (I'm 18). My first love is rock and metal (I'm also in a death metal band), but recently I've been listening to increasing amounts of classical music and acoustic pieces (such as al di meola, tommy emmanuel,de lucia) which I would love to be able to play.

Some people I have talked to have told me its an either/or situation, given that I have a limited amount of free time (I've just finished my A-levels and I'm about to enter University for math and computer science which are not music related). Yet there are a number of players such as yourself who have managed to master both styles.

Your advice (or anyone else's for that matter) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

 

[Chris_Broderick]

Hi Chris,

How did you organize your practice time to incorporate both your classical and electric guitar? Did you have a fixed practise time table or did you practise whatever you felt like at that point in time that day?

The reason for this odd question is that I am considering picking up the classical guitar, after playing the electric for about 4 years (I'm 18). My first love is rock and metal (I'm also in a death metal band), but recently I've been listening to increasing amounts of classical music and acoustic pieces (such as al di meola, tommy emmanuel,de lucia) which I would love to be able to play.

Some people I have talked to have told me its an either/or situation, given that I have a limited amount of free time (I've just finished my A-levels and I'm about to enter University for math and computer science which are not music related). Yet there are a number of players such as yourself who have managed to master both styles.

Your advice (or anyone else's for that matter) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
John

Hey John,
That’s a hard question to answer, but a simple one would be to play what ever you want because in the end it's not about how good you are or get at something, but that you love doing it. I break up my practice time to accommodate both but when I have a deadline for one or the other, I will adjust accordingly.
Chris

 

[Kohlrabihaus]

hi, john!
i am not good like chris, but i know, it simply needs discipline and a schedule to manage it.
make a plan to organize your time and practise the things you need to develop instead of noodling around. it´s boring sometimes but the best way if you have not much time to play.
i do it just like petrucci says on his dvd:
i have caterogies (liniear picking, legato...) which i do practise then move on to the next (rhythm, classical). so after i´m done i have covered the entire technical ground (which i need, there´s no 2 hand tapping or so ...)
hope that helps in some way

nicco

 

[Xanthomatose]

hey guys, thanks for the help!

While I've never rigidly split up my practise sessions before, I think it makes a lot of sense to allocate a fixed amount of time each week and stick to it. Normally I don't time myself, I just pick up my guitar and noodle about.. not exactly very productive! (Although it is great fun)

How many hours a week are required for each instrument approximately?

I would guess the classical would take up quite a bit more, particularly with reading of notation, fingerstyle exercises, to which I'm totally new. I must say the prospect of starting the classical is exciting to say the least, and would set my musical goals on a clearly defined path, something which at the moment is lacking. I initially appoached the guitar as something to kill the time one summer and bought myself a cheap steel string acoustic with some cash I had saved up. Since then I've bought an electric and an amp and starting taking music a lot more seriously, even though I know little theory and cannot read notation. Taking classical guitar lessons would therefore improve my electric playing greatly too I guess.

 

[drewski]

hey guys, thanks for the help!

While I've never rigidly split up my practise sessions before, I think it makes a lot of sense to allocate a fixed amount of time each week and stick to it. Normally I don't time myself, I just pick up my guitar and noodle about.. not exactly very productive! (Although it is great fun)

How many hours a week are required for each instrument approximately?

I would guess the classical would take up quite a bit more, particularly with reading of notation, fingerstyle exercises, to which I'm totally new. I must say the prospect of starting the classical is exciting to say the least, and would set my musical goals on a clearly defined path, something which at the moment is lacking. I initially appoached the guitar as something to kill the time one summer and bought myself a cheap steel string acoustic with some cash I had saved up. Since then I've bought an electric and an amp and starting taking music a lot more seriously, even though I know little theory and cannot read notation. Taking classical guitar lessons would therefore improve my electric playing greatly too I guess.

Hi John, the key to improvement, for me, is practising every day. The hours you put in a week or in a day should be up to you. Find the average amount of time you can put in everyday. So if you can only fit in about an hour a day, practise for that single hour everyday. It's better to be consistant from day to day than to play alot one day and then not play the next. Anyway I hope that helps.

Good luck, Drewski

 

[Cecchini]

To add to Drewskis advice, I believe they have done studies that show that after like an hour chances are your brain is just gonna say "I quit" as far as cramming knowledge fiercely into it goes. So yea, don't force yourself for more than an hour, give the brain a rest and all that good stuff.

 

[Calippo Tecks]

Cecchini, I guess I noticed that in real life, I try to play 3 hours every day but thinking of it makes me play even less then an hour sometimes. It's like cigarettes are bad, if they weren't many people wouldn't probably smoke, the same with alcohol(although getting drunk IS fun!) Try to do it one hour from the beginning,don't start off by thinking nah I can do one hour and a half, just take it easy for yourself or your shedule will fall in a big cave! (just like mine)

 

[drewski]

This all narrows down to what Chris said about the love we have for playing guitar. In my opinion music should not feel like a job or an obligation. When I first started playing I couldn't wait to wake up the next day so I could play guitar. That love for music and the instrument is the drive that made me practice/play so much.

 

[Calippo Tecks]

I also got that with the sleeping, but still I try to push myself and practice hard to become good enough to play things like symphony x (not the fastest parts ofcourse) or maybe things like dragonforce. When I practice I also have alot of fun doing it but when I'm tired of playing and still push myself to play then I think it works out a bit negative, so like u say it's not a job ofcourse and get easy with yourself, don't push it.

 

[Xanthomatose]

Wow, thanks everyone I really appreciate the feedback. Interesting stuff, you would tend to think longer practice sessions are better, but sometimes less really is more I guess. I normally play about an hour a day anyway, although like everyone else some days I get really into it and barely notice the hours flying by!

Well my mind's set, next Monday I'll be waking early to go apply at the local music school, heard they have a great classical teacher there. Yesterday I went out and bought a bunch of CD's to get a little more accustomed with the music, I'm digging Leo Brouwer big time! Once I'm at it, who are you're favourite composers?

 

[drewski]

Wow, thanks everyone I really appreciate the feedback. Interesting stuff, you would tend to think longer practice sessions are better, but sometimes less really is more I guess. I normally play about an hour a day anyway, although like everyone else some days I get really into it and barely notice the hours flying by!

Well my mind's set, next Monday I'll be waking early to go apply at the local music school, heard they have a great classical teacher there. Yesterday I went out and bought a bunch of CD's to get a little more accustomed with the music, I'm digging Leo Brouwer big time! Once I'm at it, who are you're favourite composers?

You know our very own Chris Broderick gives classical lessons. You should read more about it on his main website. They're online lessons and it's in real time.