Help Establishing a Practice Routine...

I just started "officially" playing guitar at the end of December after many false starts over the previous 20 years. I am seriously committed and having on-line sites like Guitar Tricks and other self-learning tools has helped to keep me progressing (even if only for about 75 minutes a day over the past 2-1/2 weeks).

Anyway, I have completed the Guitar Fundamentals 1 lessons and have moved on to Fundamentals 2; however, I am at the point where I want to start establishing a general warm-up and lesson-specific practice routine but am having issues coming up with a plan/form that doesn't get or seem stale.

Currently I:

• Start with some chromatic finger warm-ups (with alternating picking);


• Continue chromatic warm ups by snaking up/down the fretboard; then


• alternating strings;


• some major scale progressions;


• minor pentatonic scale progressions;


• Some chord progressions including: C, G, D, E, F, A, Am, Em, Dm

I may then practice a song, or do a couple Fundamentals 2 lessons. 

I would appreciate any feedback people are willing to provide that works for them now or in the past. I have not found a teacher yet and wanted to move through web learning before considering external lessons.

Hey & welcome!  Sounds like you have a plan & are dedicated to improving.  Good deal!

This page has some tutorials that cover ideas on how to best practice.

https://www.guitartricks.com/beginner-practice

In general a good practice session has these components.

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Warm up.

Play something fun & easy to get going musically.

Work on something difficult & new to make progress.

Play something fun & easy to end on a positive note.

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That can be adjusted to any level, done in any amount of time (30 minutes to 6 hours!) & can be done several times a day or week & be effective.  It's important to play some every day, even if if it's a shorter session.  The only thing that will improve your guitar playing is time spent playing guitar.

The only thing I would adjust on your current practice session is to remember that time spent watching a lesson (even if you are playing along) is different from time spent practicing the content of the lesson.  Even if the material is easy enough to play along with, you should consider it to be a different type of activity.  You need to spend multiple times repeating any given task in order for it to truly become automated, or second nature.  And watching a video might only happen once, for that short duration.

Hope that helps.  Please ask more if necessary & best of success!