practicing

[alonwolman]

How long do you practice each day? What do you work on, and how do you divide your time?

Alon

[BlueNote]

I try to fit it an hour and 1/2 each day, and maybe a little more on weekends.

5 minutes - longtones, tuning
10 minutes - circle of fifths, fourths (major, minor, dominant, dorian, diminished)
5 minutes - Minor 11th chords (triads), Lesson patterns (given)
10 minutes - sight reading
Approx. 15 minutes - working on school charts, running through chords on solos (within charts)
Approx. 25 minutes - Aebersold play-a-longs, noodling

[Jon B. Bop]

Alon,
There is quite a bit of this discussed in other threads here. but ideally your practice should include;

1) Longtones

2)Harmonics (overtones)

3)Scales & Arpegios

4)Technical exercises (Tongue, fingering, etc.)

5)Etudes, method books

6)Tunes, Improv.

If you are Jazz oriented, there is a good little book by Jerry Coker called "How to Practice Jazz" that goes into breaking down a practice session based on time available.

I try to practice 3 to 4 hours daily.

[saxrah]

how about this--are you aiming for jazz or classical? That affects things a lot!

[ajcurtis]

The best way to develope a good practice routine, is first decide out how much time per day you can devote to your instument.