how long should i practice?

[T.D.Nydn]

If you take two beginner players,one practices a half an hour a day,and the other practices six hours a day,,the six hour person will blow away the half hour person at end of the first month..how bad do you want it? If you don't practice endlessly when you are young,,you never get that back...

[JeffD]

I look at it this way; practicing is most of what I do with a mandolin.

[Jess L.]

The first post itself gives me the impression of someone expecting a quick and simple answer, like "yes" or "no", assuming that the question covers the whole topic of what it takes to get good (which it doesn't). There may be a certain dissapointment about the verbose answers.

Good point. I hadn't thought of that.

Well... still lots of good info written by everyone, useful to other readers too.

[Jess L.]

My Father used to tell this story:
"There was a man sitting on his porch playing his violin, playing the same note with each stroke (an F as I recall) day after day after day. Finally the mailman asked why he was playing the same note all the time? The fiddlers answer....
"All those other folks are looking for the spot, I found it!"

I'd heard an older variant of that from my dad too, using the word "note" instead of "spot". But your version is more interesting, fun modern take on an older joke. The fiddler was probably playing a G.

[Maczart]

There's been a lot of great info and good advice in this thread so far. I'd just like to add that it is also important to focus on the quality of practice as much as the length of time. By that I mean being aware of what you're trying to accomplish during your practice time and focusing on improvement.

Since playing is mostly muscle memory and creating new neural connections, it's extremely important that you don't practice mistakes or sloppy playing or all you're doing is committing unwanted habits to memory. Sometimes practicing too long at one time can lead to physical and/or mental fatigue which becomes counterproductive as far as muscle memory goes.

When practicing, I often isolate difficult passages or chord changes and play them as slowly as necessary to execute them cleanly and consistently thus committing them correctly to muscle memory. Speed will come later. Back when I first starting playing guitar, I tried to practice 3 hours a day thinking I could learn at an accelerated pace, but I didn't progress like I though would because my practice sessions were not properly focused. My teacher told me not to practice more than an hour a time while focusing on playing cleanly and consistently instead of just playing stuff over and over again, mistakes and all and that made all the difference.

It's hard to say what the right amount of practice time is because it really depends on the individual. I'd say practice as long as you feel good and are not making mistakes because of fatigue or lack of concentration.

[JeffD]

Practice is like magic. You practice, and then you are better.

Its really like that. Its shocking how much improvement one can see with regular practice.

Of course perfect practice is better, but look, do something as often as you can whenever you can. Not practicing perfectly is far less of a problem than not practicing at all.

[Maczart]

Practice is like magic. You practice, and then you are better.

Its really like that. Its shocking how much improvement one can see with regular practice.

Of course perfect practice is better, but look, do something as often as you can whenever you can. Not practicing perfectly is far less of a problem than not practicing at all.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with Jeff on this one. While it is true, that "perfect is the enemy of good", I don't believe that someone magically gets better from just any old random practice. Let me rephrase that; I don't think that a player can improve consistently and rapidly unless they really make a concerted effort to improve. I guess it can depend on the meaning of "better". I'm assuming most folks want to be able to play at a standard they've set for themselves or at least to the best of their ability.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying someone shouldn't jam or play what they want and have fun. I mean having fun is the whole point of playing. I think there are two kinds of practicing: casual practice and focused practice. I often pick up my instrument and play for 10 or 15 minutes. I usually play stuff I already know, just noodle around or try out something new. This is what I call casual practice. While it keeps the rust off the fingers and scratches the itch to play and have a little fun, it does little, if anything to advance my playing skills.

Now when I'm trying to improve, I concentrate on a particular passage, technique or whatever I'm trying to master. This is focused practice. By this method, it might not be learned right away but will definitely show consistent improvement over the next couple of practice sessions. Any other way for me is just hit and miss. For example, if I just play something over and over and miss a chord change 6 out of 10 times, what am I accomplishing? I'm just reinforcing my error instead of fixing it. I need to stop and figure out what I need to do to hit it cleanly and consistently, then practice just that until it is committed to muscle memory. I think this is especially important for beginners learning the fundamentals. Again, don't reinforce your mistakes.

Oh well, to each his own. Just don't forget to have fun!

[brunello97]

hi I have been playing the mandolin for about 3 months. I practice about a hour a day is this enough to get good.

Questions like this should test the Patience of Job.

'Nuff said.

Mick

[Petrus]

There's been a lot of great info and good advice in this thread so far. I'd just like to add that it is also important to focus on the quality of practice as much as the length of time. By that I mean being aware of what you're trying to accomplish during your practice time and focusing on improvement.

I've heard it said (probably here) that practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes habit. So practicing correctly is important. If you practice your mistakes, you'll only get good at making mistakes. So the person who practices two hours a day is not necessarily going to get better faster than the one who plays only half an hour a day if the former is not practicing correctly.

[Bruce Clausen]

I practice about a hour a day is this enough to get good.

How much time have you spent practicing punctuation?

[journeybear]

Really? You have to go there? The guy is possibly young but definitely new here, and probably overwhelmed by so many responses to what seemed a simple question, and probably reluctant to speak up again. Cut him some slack. Or, perhaps your letting him slide on capitalization and grammar is your way of cutting him some slack? I think he was able to make himself be understood. Should be enough. Don't our goals here include welcoming people to the mandolin community and helping folks along?

[Rheatown]

Try searching for "Why my picking sucks" on YouTube.

[DavidKOS]

I've heard it said (probably here) that practice doesn't make perfect, practice makes habit. So practicing correctly is important. If you practice your mistakes, you'll only get good at making mistakes.

I've heard it said that "practice makes perfect - but only perfect practice makes it so."

That's what those of us that have commented on the focus and quality of practice, not merely the hours spent, as being important factors in musical development.

[sblock]

How much practice is too much?

Yes, there is such a thing as too much practice. See the earlier comments by Pete Martin and SincereCorgi regarding the damage you can do to your hands (or other body parts, like the neck or back) with excessive practice, especially when your body hasn't worked up to it. Chris Thile also warns about this problem on his instructional DVD on HomeSpun -- evidently, he had some issues himself when he was much younger with over-practice, too. Your body will often start to let you know, so listen to it.

[Claj123]

I dont have much time to practice because I work a lot. Any suggestions?

[Bill McCall]

If you can, get up a little earlier and manage a consistent routine for the time you have. The routine is the most important part.

[Simon DS]

I dont have much time to practice because I work a lot. Any suggestions?

If you earn a lot of money and you don’t want to practice, then one way to make a sudden improvement is to buy a very expensive mandolin.
You’ll sound better immediately, but of course you’ll still be in the same situation.

Though on that subject, quality of practice is very important -you can quite easily practice for an hour but only REALLY practice for five minutes. That’s a twelfth of the time. Like practicing for a whole year instead of a month (approximately).
So if you spend a lot of money on lessons (or even free slow-down sessions where you’re being pushed) then you’re most likely going to advance much faster.

[Ed McGarrigle]

This is a question I wrestle with everyday. Since the pandemic hit, I’ve been learning to play Irish music with the “online academy of Irish music” website. I’ve made many, many false starts in the past but it’s been about 15 years since I last got derailed by a hand injury. So, I’m starting over,again.but feel like I’m making better progress now than in the past. Part of the reason that I think I’m actually progressing is the melodic nature of the music itself. How the notes follow each other just seems to make sense. So making a mistake feels very obvious and finding the right note without peeking at the tab seems easier. Also, being able to listen over and over and over has helped with timing. My schedule can vary from being very busy to not busy at all. I try to do At least 30 minutes per day. But with focus. A funny thing I’ve noticed is when I’m having trouble getting “in the zone” I play very softly and that brings me in. I’ve been reading “The Art of Practicing” by Madeline Bruser and have found her insights about posture and breathing very useful. Proper posture is probably worthy of a separate thread.
As far as time spent practicing I think it’s like I’ve heard about the the best time to fish: “the best Time to fish is when you have time to fish”. So I try to practice when I have time to practice. Sometimes it’s multiple 10-15 minute sessions. Other times 30 minutes, a break and returning for more sessions. And finally, this from my wife . She doesn’t want to hear that I’m going to “practice”. She expects me to excuse myself by saying I’m going off to “play” the mandolin. Bruser also makes the pint in her book practice need not feel like a chore.and actually this mindset has helped .otherwise practice feels like a chore. And playing the mandolin feels like something I’m going to do years from now. I play now, not just as well as I hope to someday

[Woyvel]

If you practice 20-30 minutes a day 4-7 times a week with consistency, you'll improve by leaps and bounds. If all you can do is 10 minutes a day, 10 minutes EVERY day of practice is better than one session a week. Try either of these methods. These will build both muscle memory and brain memory. Mix in scales, chords, and learning tunes, skipping one or the other now and then if you need to. You won't really notice the results until you stop the routine. Then you'll realize you've been going backwards by not practicing. Now, if you want to be REALLY proficient, 8 hours a day every day.

One other idea that will keep you going: If you have the mandolin handy, you're more likely to play it. Keep it out if you can. If you don't have to hide it in the closet in the case after every practice, that will allow you to grab it for a few minutes here and there while waiting for dinner, waiting for someone else who's not ready to go out yet, just before heading to bed, etc.

[Erin M]

"40 hours a day." -Ling-ling

[Charlie Bernstein]

A friend who teaches music recommends twenty-minute sessions several times a day. He thinks it gives ideas a chance to settle.

It's like rain. If there's a lot all at once, most of it just washes away and doesn't soak into the ground.

[pops1]

If you practice 30 min a day, I have heard, it takes 20 min to get back to where you were yesterday. You only improve by 10 min. If you practice 1 hr you will improve by 40 min of practice per day. So the more you practice the more progress you can make. I think the breaks for muscle/brain relaxing is valid as long as they aren't too long. Something I heard long ago.

[Simon DS]

I practice for just 5 minutes and it seems to work for me. I don’t need any more than that. And in fact any more than that, I think would be extreme.

I do the practice session and then after about 10 seconds -so I don’t forget it, I’ll do another practice session... and another and another, and, and so on throughout the month.
Sometimes I stop to sleep, sometimes not.

5 minutes, that’s all you need.

[floyce]

I don’t know how much is too much, but I do have something to say about consistency. I try to pick up the mando every day. Just picking a few things keeps my fingers and my brain connected. Maybe my isn’t much during those periods but my digression has to be at a slower rate. Our brains learn things by building neural connections, and you make connections through exposures. More repeated exposures equals more learning. The caveat is that while our brains are good at making those connections, they are super hostile to new information - so one big bout of practicing every week for an hour doesn’t equate to 6 days for 10 min (at least for me). But hitting it 4 times a week for 10 min and 2 times for an hour is gonna be way beneficial.

Did the OP ever reach becoming a good player?!