How Long Should a Guitarist's Breaks During Practice BE?

Just like a song that you fall in love with, this is one of the ways that you can gain the upper hand on practicing by fully digesting and loving a song for what it is. Sweat at finding the next few notes or a better rhythm for your new song. If it needs something different, you can't ignore those feelings.

Just like working out - you can't work out your triceps 6 days in a row - so don't try to over analyze your new song that you're writing or a cover that you're practicing for a performance. Take a break from it and play something you know by heart. Play a cover song. Heck, play anything else. Sometimes, I even watch TV while I mess around on the fretboard to let my mind cool off/down. Your brain NEEDS that!

MOVING ON: Just like studying for a test or in a certain subject, you'll need to take a break 10 minutes to every 1 hour of writing. There should be a rule like that when in the studio recording too. Especially if it's after you've recorded you demo in the home studio and now you're in one that has more gear that half your house is worth.

As someone writes a new song, there's a certain kind of magic that happens. And when we're prepared - the red recording light is ON. That, my friends - is the best thing next to getting a video of your hands and what the doing on the guitar. That's why i practice while recording live. I just try to lose myself; forget the red light ISN'T beaming at me like a laser from star trek. heheh.


So I want you all to video and/or audio record yourselves practicing. If you have the video capability - you gotta do it!!! You owe it to yourself. Plus, when you think about it - it's almost like a time capsule for your "future eyes and ears".

It would be so nice to see videos of me playing my original songs i wrote back from 1998 to 2004, before i first went into a professional studio September 2004 before going to Iraq. If someone were to approach me with those videos and high quality audio along with it, I'd gladly pay thousands of dollars. The cost would be great, but the worth would be greater.

My three-piece hard rock band was named GEORGIA BURNING. Partly named that one, for the state we lived in and two, for the desire we had to express ourselves. It’s said that “Neccesity is the mother of all invention”. As soon as I found out that I was going to Iraq, the clock was against us and we were even more determined to annotate our hearts onto CD.

So...for a little over a thousand dollars, my 2 best buds and I got to solidify a 6 song EP for life. We'll always cherish that time and point in our lives, not to mention - the songs - those awesome songs! AHHHH. Memory Lane is such a nicely paved road. :o)


Follow this link to check out some GB songs:


www.myspace.com/georgiaburning