Originally Posted by: weezthejuice789i am lost in finding how to get the most out of my practices. i will take anything warm-ups, tabs, licks, a schedual. can you help me orginize my time to be more productive? thank you for the posts

Well, it always helps to practice all your major scales in every key, and other scales if they are important to you. (Obviously if you want to play Sex Pistol covers, you won't need to spend much time practicing the Hungarian Minor scale). Basic diatonic harmony (the notes of the major/minor scale, harmonized in 3rds) is a great place to start. Familiarity with the scales, arpeggios and chords is quite good to have, and they are easy to find; just a matter of putting the time in.

Having said that, it would help a lot to know your goals. If you want to play Beatles style pop, then you probably don't need to practice all the chords from the jazz minor (melodic minor) scale.

I think you would get some much more useful answers if you took 15-30 minutes to work out some goals. It's okay to start general ("I want to learn jazz"), but it becomes much more actionable and exciting when you get very specific ("I'd like to learn 10 songs from the 5th edition real book by spring of 2010, and be able to comp and play an improvised solo for each one"-then make a list of 10 you tunes to learn and make a plan for doing it).

It sounds like you're pretty serious and want to get a real solid foundation. Still that foundation might be approached differently if your ultimate goal is to be in a Kiss tribute band as opposed to say, to get yourself enough classical guitar chops to ace your audition to get into a good music school with a scholarship. If you're going the Kiss route, it probably makes sense to spend minimal time on learning to play, and lots of time learning to get in costume and jump around on stage!

Regardless of your course, always try to take good care of your body while you play. Always stop and make appropriate adjustments if you're hurting or straining; it's not okay to "play through" the pain!

Anyway, have fun, and if you can get more specific, I'm sure you'll get some good pointers on particular exercises to do, etc.