Originally Posted by: zreynoldspbe careful with the 'absent minded practice' route... I can see where it is attractive to just play while watching TV or whatever, but...

because of muscle memory, if you aren't practicing 'correctly', you'll just get better at doing it 'wrong' or badly or whatever.... It can limit you further down the road. I used to sit watching TV with a metronome connected to headphones in one ear, and then practice my alt picking without really thinking about it... It can work, but be aware that you're likely to get better results more quickly if you're fully engaged in what you are doing...

It isn't as much fun having to think about playing, and the ultimate goal is to be able to play without thinking, but you still need to do the ground work in my opinion...

I agree with practicing 'correctly', but it can create stumbling blocks, especially when you try to dedicate 15 minutes to this and 30 minutes to that. That's not the real world for many individuals wanting to learn guitar.
A lot of players sound the same 20 years later because they do the same routine for 20 years. I don't believe that Hendrix was under some intense study with 6 hits of acid under his headband!!!!! He made sounds unheard of because it was a part of his being. He felt his sound differently every time he played. Sometimes he even wanted to eat it!!!! Look at Page, if he did the same routine day in and day out, his talent would'nt have inspired so many others trying to follow such great inspiration. Music comes from within, Page is one of the best examples of that. Even using the same structure, he created so many different melodies. I'm sure he stumbled across many of them because there were none to copy from.