I'm listening to some 'zep and I was wondering how many hours Jimmy Page has to practice per day to stay sharp, or any pro for that matter, on any intrument(s). How about it?

generally for me, on the weekends i'm always playing, and weekdays 2-3 hours a day

That's real good. I used to play alot more when I was first learning, but lately I've playing about 30 minutes per week. It sucks when I go to play some badass riff, and my hand can't keep up with my brain like it should be.

right now im getting ready to go out on the road again, so i need to make sure im perfect on the songs. i could actually use to practice more lol

A lot of pros play up to and including 8 hours a day, like a full time job. Some dont practice at all, but they had to do some form of practicing to get to the point they are at. I seem to never have time to practice so I only get in about half an hour a day if I play at all. It sucks. Thats probably why I'm not satisfied with my playing.

Studio musicians practice at least an hour everyday.Have to keep the chop's fresh ready to play whatever is put in front of them like they wrote it..If they cant,thier not first call for sure,lol.This spell's it out pretty good.lol.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v..._page
Modified by diamondj30 at 3:22 PM 9/22/2009

seang wrote:I'm listening to some 'zep and I was wondering how many hours Jimmy Page has to practice per day to stay sharp, or any pro for that matter, on any intrument(s). How about it?

I've read many interviews and I remeber this. Yngwie Malmsteen and Zakk Wylde... they said they wake up guitar on their belly and went to bed still holding the guitar. It's not how long you practice. It seems like playing guitar has to be part of your daily life. Don't remember well about Yngwie, but Zakk Wylde said he did for 3-4 years non-stop. That's hardcore. But, skill is not everything. You have to come up with melody. I think Michael Schenker was genius in that department.

94_240sx wrote:I've read many interviews and I remeber this. Yngwie Malmsteen and Zakk Wylde... they said they wake up guitar on their belly and went to bed still holding the guitar. It's not how long you practice. It seems like playing guitar has to be part of your daily life. Don't remember well about Yngwie, but Zakk Wylde said he did for 3-4 years non-stop. That's hardcore. But, skill is not everything. You have to come up with melody. I think Michael Schenker was genius in that department.

Yep, there's nothing like a good riff. I have a cheap little karaoke machine that i can record riffs as they come to me, or else I will never remember them later. I even jot down tabs sometimes as the riffs metamorphisize in my head. I haven't recorded anything sigificant, and especially the last few years have been a slack fest. But I still have my axe.

Honestly when I had no Job I played for 8 hours a day. Just never use tabs and keep at it. And try to have fun when you play. Dont treat it as a chore. Because its really not. When you dont have cash you dont play video games you play you're $50 bass or guitar you bought in a garage sale.

Now that I have a job I play for about 3-4 hours of ear training still and theory practice. I go by the Chuck Schuldiner and Steve Harris method and just keep playing!

Have fun!

How many hours?

well that kind of depends :P, when i was in college, i use to make cash by giging, and teaching piano :P. either way Ive been around the music industry my whole likfe(my dad raised us playing music, and he was in multiple small local bands) either way it comes down to these factors.

First you need to master the instrument of choice. This is the initial and most important part. Every HS student want to be an axe carring guitar god, but once they sit down and actually have to learn to play one, many a instruments slowely fade into the closet :P. But assuming you/they haave the drive, a minimum of 3-4 hours a week, ie an hour every other day. Depending on how quick you pick up on stuff, 6months to 1 year later you will become comfortable and confident, and generally speaking you can jam with others, and not screw up to bad.

To be a pro(for 10 years durring my 20's i giged every weekend, and this was my primary income...yes i was poor lol) you have to go beyond the point above. The point above teaches you how to play an instrument, but doesnt really teach you what music is. Everyone from page continued on there education, either formally or informal by pushing their understanding of how music is made. One of the big differences between amatuer musicians and pro's is a pro can give you a lick of different styles of music, even if they are hardcore "rockers" chances are they could do a jazz, country, latin lick. why? because to become beetter, and push your creativity by seeing what other forms of music are comprised off.

So now you not only have to keep honing your skills from a technical point, you know have to expand your knowledge. so to accomplish this you have to spend 4-5 hours a week practicing the stuff you like then spend another 3 hours a week learning new material.

Now doing this can take years, but what will occure is you become very skilled and competent(we really never stop learning), but you will reach a point either 1-2years to 10 were you could sit in with anyone, any style, and not break a sweet hanging with them, infact they will probably thing your the greatest musician ever(because most people never put the dedication to reach this mastery) Once here the thousands of ours, blisters, etc are burned into your brain. and funny enough you can play only a few house a week(2-3 if that) and not loose much in the form of skill and knowledge.

Also in my opinion, this is about the time you truly are a Pro.

Myself, some students ive had, and other musicians i know have similiar stories of how we reached our "pro" statis

Am i a pro? yup, but ive also been playing for almost 30 years. and started (was forced) to learn paino as a kid, it took 5 years for me to play my senior recital(was 17 when i did this) granted at the time i hated classical(i still love playing now adays, and catche's people off guard when i bust into Bach after playing some TOOl lol), but it took another 4-5 years of playing other stuff to really become a pro. Infact i did everything from 80's retro gigs, piano bars, jazz(i hate jazz), Rock, and even punk(i love punk), and though some i never really cared for, ie jazz and country(did these cause they were paying gigs lol, and who doesnt like money), i learned alot from them, which made me much more creative, and confident.

It seems that I need to practice more. It seems my music abilities is limited to playing with music and not play on my own.