Originally Posted by: renAbsolutely - identifying goals and focussing are vital to effective use of practice time. 30 minutes committed practice Vs 2 hours noodling - there's no comparison.

The only cautionary note I'd add is that you must also find time to enjoy it. I took the last of my exams a while back, and was practicing with maximum focus for months at 8 hours a day in addition to playing gigs / teaching etc...

I got so sick of it that I now have barely played for 3 months. I know I will again, and the improvement I made over the year even after playing for 22 years was huge... BUT it's easy to lose sight of why we all do this in the first place...

Oh definitely. That's why I put the 'playing the instrument' part at the beginning of the practice session. Kind of a chance to just hear how you sound, where you're at, and a chance to just rock it for a few minutes.

And I'm fond of the mantra 'you woodshed for hours upon hours upon hours to do something that should last 20-30 seconds tops--what you're going to get is music that shouldn't be more than 20-30 seconds long.'

Always good to make time for the more 'fun' aspects of so-called practice. If you just donate about 15-20 minutes a day to speed, it will come---so there's no rush. Spend most of the time on more important things that will help foster a love to the instrument--not an unwanted commitment.

Trust me, such is important where I'm at, so I know where you're coming from. If you don't have fun, the woodshedding literally eats your soul.