What are you working on right now ? How much time are you spending on each area (or what percentage of your total practice time to be exact)
My current personal practice plan roughly in order of priority-
1)Phrase etude creating over the changes of all of the above songs, but focusing extra time on After you've gone. Making sure to incorporate chord comps and octave ideas into the mix.
2) Mastering pre-arranged phrases and licks, upping their speed, playing them in different keys, and tweeking them to create new ideas and/or further develop my overall gypsy jazz language.
3) Soloing over play alongs with the following restrictions options (usually one at a time)- 1)Quarter notes only over the changes.2) Staying In one zone of the guitar while phrasing. Announcing the new chord before soloing over it.
4) Free form soloing over After You've gone, It don't mean a thing, etc.
5) When I'm feeling uninspired, advanced arpeggio etudes over After you've gone, Mire Pral, It don't mean a thing, and I can't give you/love.
Cheers
Anthony
Comments
1. Working on right hand chordal rolls. Trying to increase my vocabulary of them. Transcribing a bit. Video'd a friend playing some cool ones after my gig tonight so I can steal them during the week. Also, I spent last week working on a lick from Django's Dark Eyes solo (the one with the drums at the start) where he alternates dominant and min6 arpeggios in a displaced rhythm. Found the same lick done slightly differently on a Paulus record, and am trying different ways to make it work rhythmically over different tunes. I guess all this stuff comes under "Transcribing and working on licks"
2. Trying to get my pick mostly parallel to the string. I've noticed that lots of my favourite players all do this by angling their thumb noticeably. I just play through some tunes and arpeggios trying to remain mindful of it and not let myself slip back into my old position. (It's working, and cleaning up my playing lots).
3. Writing tunes. 30mins max allowed time. Write something, then write it down, forget it. Doesn't have to be any good. Write something else the next day. After 7 days, revise them and see if there was anything worthwhile, then work on that.
Learning all the songs I have to play well enough to do them off book. Two GJ bands plus two others on sax whew.