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Documenting what you practice

Skitch

Skitch

Pioneer Member
Does anyone else document what you practice? I write down what I practice every time. Didn't know if anyone else does...

1stdrumlessonsonline.com

Triplet Cookbook for Drumset Independence

This must have book breaks down the triplet rhythm, making playing them much easier and culminates with a basic understanding of four way independence. “Mi...
1stdrumlessonsonline.com
 
I use my phone to video every practice I have. It has enabled me to see errors in my technique and flaws in my playing that I was previously unaware of. I highly recommend doing this.
 
Yes but mostly just to make sure I’ve spent enough time practicing each day (sometimes I will break practice up over two or more sessions).

I rarely look back on them except if I’m trying to revisit something and just can’t remember where I was up to (e.g page 2 exercise 5 etc etc).

I used to practice from a list of things and tick them off and then by then the week was over and I’d done my homework.

I rarely recorded opinions about how it went or any sort of commentary.
 
Chunkaway said:
I use my phone to video every practice I have. It has enabled me to see errors in my technique and flaws in my playing that I was previously unaware of. I highly recommend doing this.
Click to expand...
That’s amazing but how long do you practice? And do you wait until you get into bed to watch or is there some other time of day when you watch?
 
Skitch said:
Does anyone else document what you practice? I write down what I practice every time. Didn't know if anyone else does...

1stdrumlessonsonline.com

Triplet Cookbook for Drumset Independence

This must have book breaks down the triplet rhythm, making playing them much easier and culminates with a basic understanding of four way independence. “Mi...
1stdrumlessonsonline.com
Click to expand...
I practice daily and keep a notebook of what I do, including metronome markings so I can keep track. I've been doing it for about 5 years. I used to make notes in the books I was using, but this works much better.
 
I insist on recording all of my band’s practice sessions, even though it’s just the rhythm guitarist’s iPhone with a small mic attached.

IMHO, there will be things that COULD be easily improved on , whether it’s a guitar part, vocal, or drums- to me, details matter.

A bit sad, maybe; but I can definitely tell when we’ve implemented the suggested improvements, & I can demonstrate to my bandmates that it was worth the “tweak”.
 
bjisteve said:
I practice daily and keep a notebook of what I do, including metronome markings so I can keep track. I've been doing it for about 5 years. I used to make notes in the books I was using, but this works much better.
Click to expand...
This is what I do too. I have a few practice pad things I work on plus kit stuff.

I try to keep the practice pad ideas something practical that will directly benefit my playing; single stroke exercises at different tempos and subdivisions, accents, etc.

The kit stuff is grooves or coordination exercises focusing on things I really need improve, like bass drum accuracy.

I have sort of a self-made syllabus from old drum magazines, private lesson notes, and things I picked up from records or videos, as well as stuff from any current band. The main thing is practicality.... I primarily play blues or bluesy/funky rock, as well as some jazz. I don't play hard rock/heavy metal, etc so my kit stuff would never include stuff like learning the groove to Hot For Teacher or something.

All of these have current tempo markings plus my goal tempo. I don't currently have a teacher but I record myself and if feel it sounds and feels good, relaxed and fluid, I'll then bump up the tempo and start the process all over. Maybe not the quickest way to burn through lessons (which was my main issue with a lot of teachers I've had) but it does ingrain the lesson in muscle memory better than playing it once for a teacher then moving on to the next thing.
 
Skitch said:
Does anyone else document what you practice? I write down what I practice every time. Didn't know if anyone else does...

1stdrumlessonsonline.com

Triplet Cookbook for Drumset Independence

This must have book breaks down the triplet rhythm, making playing them much easier and culminates with a basic understanding of four way independence. “Mi...
1stdrumlessonsonline.com
Click to expand...
I worked a house where a retired NASA engineer lived, he documented EVERYTHING to the point that someone would say I am extremely obsessive about things, then he probably would have said: "Hold my note pad" because of what we do, we had to go through all of their belongings in the house before relocating them to assisted living. He had receipts of every single thing he had ever purchased in chronological order to the point of having every single item detailed (Jan 23 1971, went to (insert store name here) bought Campbells soup can $ .50, 2tubes of Colgate tooth paste $ 2.50) and so on, he also had a file cabinet with every single bill he had ever received and paid. (I know I had to move the stupid thing).
But enough of that, I was just trying to illustrate that TO ME, it seems a little much to go into that much detail (and I am very OCD myself).
I would (If I was going to document practice things) document accomplishments but not every single thing you did to get there. It is not like it is a recipe that you will need for later. The whole point of practicing is so that you remember things, documenting it seems overkill UNLESS you are thinking on learning some extreme patterns that will be easy to forget if not documented. (That to me would be the exception).
I think when practicing becomes a chore, you lose inspiration and the desire to practice so don't make it a chore.
 
Chunkaway said:
I use my phone to video every practice I have. It has enabled me to see errors in my technique and flaws in my playing that I was previously unaware of. I highly recommend doing this.
Click to expand...
I used my Zoom Qn2 to record rehearsals (due to flaky band leader) but when I practice alone I don't record it unless I am doing a drum cover which funny enough I never practice for before hand, I try to do it in one take (or so far I have never done a second take on any of my covers which is why they all suck but I don't care, that is my only documenting and is for me mostly).
 
GSL said:
I insist on recording all of my band’s practice sessions, even though it’s just the rhythm guitarist’s iPhone with a small mic attached.

IMHO, there will be things that COULD be easily improved on , whether it’s a guitar part, vocal, or drums- to me, details matter.

A bit sad, maybe; but I can definitely tell when we’ve implemented the suggested improvements, & I can demonstrate to my bandmates that it was worth the “tweak”.
Click to expand...
Honestly if you are playing originals then yes things will probably change a few times, but if you are playing covers, things maybe should change once or twice to get parts tighter but no more than that, otherwise people are using the rehearsal time to learn the songs which is not what rehearsal time is for when you are playing covers. You learn the songs on your own time and then fine tune small details at the rehearsal.
Details matter even more when it is a well known part that if played incorrectly will get noticed by the non musician audience which is a no no as well. I also didn't record my practice to prove anything I recorded to see where I made mistakes and correct them on my own time.
 
doggyd69b said:
I worked a house where a retired NASA engineer lived, he documented EVERYTHING to the point that someone would say I am extremely obsessive about things, then he probably would have said: "Hold my note pad" because of what we do, we had to go through all of their belongings in the house before relocating them to assisted living. He had receipts of every single thing he had ever purchased in chronological order to the point of having every single item detailed (Jan 23 1971, went to (insert store name here) bought Campbells soup can $ .50, 2tubes of Colgate tooth paste $ 2.50) and so on, he also had a file cabinet with every single bill he had ever received and paid. (I know I had to move the stupid thing).
But enough of that, I was just trying to illustrate that TO ME, it seems a little much to go into that much detail (and I am very OCD myself).
I would (If I was going to document practice things) document accomplishments but not every single thing you did to get there. It is not like it is a recipe that you will need for later. The whole point of practicing is so that you remember things, documenting it seems overkill UNLESS you are thinking on learning some extreme patterns that will be easy to forget if not documented. (That to me would be the exception).
I think when practicing becomes a chore, you lose inspiration and the desire to practice so don't make it a chore.
Click to expand...
Exactly!! We can definitely get too bogged down into details. (Keeping decades old receipts? Insane!)

To me, my practice documentation is no more complicated than keeping a record of something like strength training notes..."How many reps/sets did I do last time?" kind of thing.
 
In the past I most likely would have created a detailed Excel sheet for it. These days I don't keep track of anything.
I measure progress by being able to plays songs I had trouble with in the past.
 
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Never.

Recording yourself is great, but documenting? As in a notebook or excel spreadsheet? I'm not sure I see point.

Laying out a "practice plan" ahead of time inevitably turns practice into more of a chore. You learn faster, potentially *much* faster when you're enjoying yourself. What I'm practicing at any moment is based on the waxing and waning of various physical and mental properties. I try to "feel" what I should be practicing, for how long, at what tempo, and with what modifiers. That doesn't really work when you're following a document.

Keeping a log of progress? The problem with that is you *will* have bad days, and your tempo dropping 5bpm for seemingly no reason can be heavily discouraging. It can cause you to give up too early, or push yourself too hard. It's better to feel out the sweet spot where improvement is maximized than to pick some number that "looks" like where you should be it. Sure, it's possible to put yourself in a headspace where you can avoid that trap, but even then I'm not sure what logging progress actually gives you.
 
in my 20's, i definitely had a rubric, and a spreadsheet with practice notes and details on it...

by my 30's, I had my routine down to a T, and did not need to write as much stuff down

my brain doesn't work well with detailed lists...it is overwhelming to me to have those because it makes me feel like i am not getting things done, so I live in a "big picture" world. In school, I never studied for tests, and mostly got B's and C's just off of big picture association and a photographic memory. My OCD would manifest in the stress of not "checking off boxes" and adding new ones, then I would obsess over that

my wife is very list centered...she makes up super detailed grocery lists...i just go to the store, and think back to the last time i looked in the fridge, and noticed something low or gone. If I sit down to write a list, i blank....

now, after 40 or so years of practicing, I have created a world that I just live in that includes practice. I hit fundamentals every day for 2-3 hours (sometimes in a row, sometimes spread out over the day), and that practice has "flow" that has foundational exercises i use, and then I add in other ones if i feel like i need to. Keeping my fundamentals up makes it so I don't have to "crash course" something if it comes up for a show...i just put the fundamentals in what ever order the notes of the new piece tell me to

it would actually take me more time to write down and keep a list going of what i need to do than to just do it

but, I make all of my students use a rubric because they are learning how to practice right now.
 
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