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The Practice Routine Generator
www.GuitarLessons.com
As guitar players we all want to get better! I know that our hectic lives and schedules can
sometimes make it difficult to get in the practice time that we need in order to feel like we are
making real progress on the guitar. This Practice Routine Generator is designed to help get the
most out of your practice time even if you don’t have that much. It will help you build an efficient
playing schedule that will maximize your practices and achieve lasting results!
To get started, you will need to determine your short and long-term guitar goals. This might
include anything from learning a few of your favorite songs to memorizing scales and playing
leads. It’s really up to you to determine how much time and energy you want to invest in your
abilities.
Below you will find four practice routine options. Make sure you consider your schedule and
goals in order to make a realistic selection from these four levels of commitment. It is better to
start with something you know you will be able to stick with, than to over commit and set yourself
up for failure. You can always change your mind in the future, and make adjustments if you need
to.
Casual Practice Schedule
20 minutes each day practicing
from one sub-category below.
Motivated Practice Schedule
40 minutes each day practicing
from two sub-categories below.
Dedicated Practice Schedule
60 minutes each day practicing
from three sub-categories below.
Virtuoso Practice Schedule
2 hours or more each day practicing
from six or more sub-categories below.
Once you have selected a schedule, you can decide how you want to invest that time in the five
basic core aspects of playing that are vital for any guitar player. These categories include:
Musical Playing, Technical Playing, Styles, Theory Reading & Ear Training and Scales and
Chords. By faithfully spending time in each of these areas, you will become a well-rounded
guitarist.
Each of these five categories contain five different ways you can improve your abilities. Feel free
to choose the sub-categories that best suit your own specific playing goals. Depending on your
guitar goals you may be able to completely ignore some of the sub-categories. Here are all of the
options:
Practice Routine Categories
www.GuitarLessons.com
This example schedule shows how planning your practice times can help you get the most out of
your guitar playing. You can change it up however you like to make it personal. After day 5,
you can chose to repeat the same routine, or pick different sub-categories from each main
category.
Musical Playing
Chords & Scales
Technical Playing
Theory Ear
Training & Reading
Learn New Songs
New Chords
Strumming
Building Scales
Jam With Friends
Chord Progressions
Alternate Picking
Building Chords
Pentatonic &
Blues Scales
Major &
Minor Scales
Legato
& Bending
Reading Notation
Finger Picking
Reading TABs
Listen to New
Styles of Music
Left Hand
Execises
Interval &
Chord Recognition
Learn New Songs
Play-Along Songs
Learn New Riffs
Jam Track Improv
Modes
Styles
Preferred Style
Practice
Listen/Watch
Preferred Styles
Favorite
Player’s Licks
Building your custom practice routine is as simple as dedicating 20 minutes a day to any of the
sub-categories to fill up your schedule. If you chose the Casual Schedule, you would practice a
single sub-category each day, alternating between the five main categories from day to day.
In other words, day one would start with something from Musical Playing, day two would build on
something from Chords & Scales and day three would be spent working on your Technical
Playing. When you get to day six you can choose to repeat the same schedule or pick
something new from each category.
If you have more than 20 minutes per day to practice you can either pick multiple sub-categories
from each main category, or you can simply pick multiple sub-categories from two or more main
categories. On the next page, we will take a look at a sample practice routine to show you how
you might use the Motivated Practice Schedule option. Then, you can take and apply this system
to reach your own goals!
Example Schedule
www.GuitarLessons.com
This example schedule shows how planning your practice times can help you get the most out of
your guitar playing. You can change it up however you like to make it personal. After day 5,
you can chose to repeat the same routine, or pick different sub-categories from each main
category.
You should be aware that you don’t have to pick two items to practice form the same
category. You can mix an match any item from different category to fill your pre-determined
practice time.
Motivated Practice Schedule
40 minutes each day practicing
from two sub-categories below.
Musical Playing - Day 1
Learn New Songs

Chords & Scales - Day 2
Technical Playing - Day 3

New Chords
Strumming
Jam With Friends
Chord Progressions
Play-Along Songs
Pentatonic & Blues Scales
Learn New Riffs
Major & Minor Scales
Finger Picking
Modes
Left Hand Execises
Jam Track Improv

Theory Ear
Training & Reading - Day 4
Building Scales

Building Chords
Reading Notation
Alternate Picking

Legato & Bending
Styles - Day 5
Preferred Style Practice
Listen/Watch Styles




Favorite Players Licks
Reading TABs
Listen to New Styles
Interval & Chord Rec.
Learn New Songs
Now, it’s time to create your own Practice Routine! On the next sheet, you will find a blank
chart for you to fill out your own schedule. You can print out as many as you wish!

The Practice Routine Generator
www.GuitarLessons.com
Musical Playing - Day 1
Chords & Scales - Day 2
Technical Playing - Day 3
Learn New Songs
New Chords
Strumming
Jam With Friends
Chord Progressions
Alternate Picking
Play-Along Songs
Pentatonic & Blues Scales
Legato & Bending
Learn New Riffs
Major & Minor Scales
Finger Picking
Jam Track Improv
Modes
Left Hand Execises
Theory Ear
Training & Reading - Day 4
Building Scales
Styles - Day 5
Preferred Style Practice
Building Chords
Listen/Watch Styles
Reading Notation
Favorite Players Licks
Reading TABs
Listen to New Styles
Interval & Chord Rec.
Learn New Songs
Musical Playing - Day 1
Chords & Scales - Day 2
Technical Playing - Day 3
Learn New Songs
New Chords
Strumming
Jam With Friends
Chord Progressions
Alternate Picking
Play-Along Songs
Pentatonic & Blues Scales
Legato & Bending
Learn New Riffs
Major & Minor Scales
Finger Picking
Jam Track Improv
Modes
Left Hand Execises
Theory Ear
Training & Reading - Day 4
Building Scales
Styles - Day 5
Preferred Style Practice
Building Chords
Listen/Watch Styles
Reading Notation
Favorite Players Licks
Reading TABs
Listen to New Styles
Interval & Chord Rec.
Learn New Songs
BPM
70
75
80
85
90
95
100
105
110
115
120
125
130
135
140
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This simple bar graph can be used to track the progress of your exercises that involve a metronome. The column on the far left is for the beats per
minute. For example, if the fastest I could cleanly play a picking exercise was 70 beats per minute, I would lable the far left column starting with 70
and go up in intervals of 5 or 10 beats per minute. The bottom row just keeps track of the days that you practice. For every day that you practice
you should draw a bar on that day up to the BPM that you reached during your practice session. Remember, your playing should be clean and clear
before increaseing the metronome speed. The BPM column has been filled in on this example sheet but you will be filling it out on the blank sheets
to suit your own particular playing level and needs. You should be tracking your progress on every exercise that involves a metronome. Make sure
to print out as many Progress Tracking Sheets as you need and label them for the exercise that they are tracking.
Progress Tracking Sheet
The Practice Routine Generator
BPM
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Progress Tracking Sheet
The Practice Routine Generator
Practice Routine Generator
Chord and Scale Library Index
This chart is a simple way to keep track of what chords and scales you have learned or are currently learning.
Seeing just how many chords or scales that you have learned can be very encouraging. Filling this sheet out
and keeping it current can also be a great reference tool for when you are trying to figure out songs or even
write one of your own.
Chords
Scales