30 Minute Guitar Practice Routine [Daily and Weekly Practice Plans]

player, look back at your journal over the past

Setting Specific Practice Goals
few months to see where you were then and
where you are now.
Probably the most important element of
You might be surprised that youve learn a lot
any guitar practice routine, setting goals will
of new material, such as chords and scales,
give you targets to aim for in your playing
increased your bpms with technique
and show you progress in your studies.
exercises, and spent less time each day to
As you work through the practice schedule
learn more concepts on the fretboard.
below, make sure to set specific practice
On the other side of the coin, if youre
goals for each daily and weekly section
struggling to reach a specific practice goal,
of your guitar practice routine.
journaling will help you figure out whats
An example of this would be:
working for other areas of your guitar
practice routine.
Scales Daily Goal Reach 120 bpm with
You can then apply similar practice
metronome on A major scale
techniques and exercises to the concept
Scales Weekly Goal Increase daily
youre struggling on to move over that
bpm by 25% with A major scale
roadblock in your practicing.
Scale Monthly Goal Hit 25% bpm
increase with A, D, G, and C major
Recording Practice Sessions
scales
You can listen back to those practice sessions
By setting very specific goals such as
the next day, week, or month, to hear how
these, youll give yourself specified targets to
youve improved over time.
reach and be able to measure your success
over time.
Youll also be able to listen back to problem
areas, allowing you to address those areas
Take that opportunity to figure out why you
when youre not focused on playing them
arent meeting your goals and use that to set
in the moment during an exercise.
goals in other areas of your studies.
Recording can also be extremely effective
For example, if youre not reaching your
when working on less measurable concepts in
bpm goal for the week, it could be a picking
your guitar practice routine, such as soloing
issue.
or legato playing.
You would then focus on alternate picking
Listening back, and taking notes on what is
for a week, or more if needed, before
working and whats not, will help you quickly
coming back to the scale exercises with your
address those issues, and enhance your
increased technical skills.
strengths, during these sections of your
Goals are essential tools when learning any
routine.
skill, including guitar, and working towards
them in your studies will help maximize
your guitar practice routine.
By keeping a practice journal, youll be able
to see tangible results over time as you
record your daily exercises and achievements.
If you dont think youre growing as a

Guitar Practice Routine Concepts

Though every guitarist is different in
their combination of musical experience and
practice goals, there are 7 musical concepts
that should be a part of any guitar practice
routine.
These 7 concepts cover each of the different
skills needed to develop a well-rounded
approach to chords, soloing, fretboard
knowledge, and musical knowledge.
In the 30-minute guitar practice routines
below, youll cover each of these 7 concepts
in your weekly practice sessions.
By spreading out these concepts in your
practicing, youll be able to cover all 7 in your
studies, and see progress on the guitar
each week at the same time.
The 7 elements of an effective guitar
practice routine are:

Harmony
Melody
Technique
Soloing
Ear Training
Repertoire
Music Theory

As you can see, there are a lot of musical

concepts to cover in your guitar practice
routine.
It might seem like you need a lot of time
each day to even touch have of these
concepts in your practice routine.
Dont worry about cramming these skills
into each practice session.
Instead, focus on touching each of these 7
essential musical skills over the course of a
series of practice sessions that you
repeat each week in the practice room.
As youll learn below, having a well-rounded
guitar practice routine each week will allow
you to grow as a guitarist by working short,

consistent practice sessions in your studies.

Weekly Guitar Practice Routine Schedule
Before digging into the daily guitar
practice routines, itll be effective to plan
out your weekly practice schedule in order to
get the most out of these short, 30-minute
practice sessions.
In a similar way to how you work out at the
gym, using a weekly guitar practice
schedule will cover essential concepts in
your studies, even when time is short.
Heres how you would organize your weekly
guitar practice schedule to maximize time in
the practice room, and cover essential
skills over a 7-day period.
Youll learn about each of these three
routines, and the rest day, in detail below.

Saturday Practice Routine 1

Sunday Practice Routine 2
Monday Rest Day
Tuesday Practice Routine 1
Wednesday Practice Routine 2
Thursday Practice Routine 3
Friday Rest Day

As you can see in this weekly guitar

practice schedule, you arent working long
sessions each day.
But, each week youll cover a lot of ground on
the fretboard.
By spreading out your practice routine over
a week, youll use consistency to build skills
over time.
These steady, short, practice sessions will
produce big results over time, especially
compared to not practicing for several days
and then doing cram session a few times per
week.

Guitar Practice Routine 1

The first guitar practice that youll work on, which falls on a Saturday and Tuesday in the example
weekly schedule above, focuses on harmony and melody in your studies.
Because guitarists spend most of their time playing chords and chord progressions, as
compared to soloing, this takes up the majority of todays guitar practice routine.
If you find that over time youre becoming unbalanced in these two areas, you can always switch
them up to spend 20 minutes on scales and 10 minutes on chords.
And dont forget to set specific practice goals for each section so that you can monitor your
progress and achieve those goals in your practice routine over time.

Chords and Chord Progressions 20 Minutes

As was mentioned above, as a guitarist in a band or jam setting, youll spend most of your time
playing rhythm guitar.
Because of this, spending 20 minutes in todays session will prepare you to function in a band, as
well as take your rhythm guitar chops to the next level in your playing.
Here are four examples of chordal exercises that you could do in todays guitar practice session.

Develop specific chord shapes, such as Barre chords or Drop 3 chords

Learn the inversions for any chord type, i.e. m7
Practice a new chord progression in multiple keys, i.e. I-vi-IV-V
Work on playing the chords, in a few positions, for a song youre learning

Scales and Arpeggios 10 Minutes

Though many guitarists love to learn scales and arpeggios, which are essential concepts,
sometimes this side of your practicing can be the source of an unbalanced routine.
To keep these items in your guitar practice routine, but not overdo it as some guitarists do, youll
work on scales and arpeggios for 10 minutes in todays routine.
Remember, set specific practice goals for this section.
And dont be worried about working both scales and arpeggios in this section of your practice
routine.
Its perfectly cool to work on a scale exercise for a few weeks or months, then switch over to
arpeggios, and work both back and forth over time.
Here are four examples of scale and arpeggio exercises that you could do in todays guitar
practice session.

Learn a new scale in 12 keys on the fretboard

Practice playing a mode and its related arpeggios in all keys
Run a practice pattern through a new scale youre learning
Play one, two, and three-octave arpeggios shapes for a chord type, i.e. maj7

Guitar Practice Routine 2

Moving on to day two in your guitar practice routine, which falls on the Sunday and Wednesday in
the sample weekly schedule, youll practice technique and soloing today.
Working these two concepts will help you build your strength, dexterity, and creativity in todays
practice routine. set a timer and stop your technique exercise after 20 minutes.
Thisll keep your moving forward on both your technical and soloing goals in your daily and
weekly routines, and prevent your time from becoming unbalanced in the practice room.
Technique 20 Minutes
Having strong guitar technique means building dexterity, flexibility, strength, and speed in
both your picking and fretting hands.
Because of this, make sure you work a variety of technical exercises in this section of your
practice routine to develop a number of guitar fundamentals in your playing.
Here are four examples of technique exercises that you could do in todays guitar practice
session.

Speed drills with a metronome, steadily increasing the speed

Legato exercises through scales or finger patterns
Alternate picking, fingerpicking, or hybrid picking exercises
Stretching exercises to work on fretting-hand dexterity

Soloing 10 Minutes
In your soloing practice session, you can let your hair down a bit and be creative as you learn
about musical concepts and the guitar fretboard.
One thing to watch in this section is that you dont just randomly solo over chords or chord
progressions.
This wont help you grow as a soloist.
Instead, soloing with a specific goal will produce better results in the practice room.
I call this type of soloing practice, constructive noodling.
This is where you solo over a progression, but you only use one scale fingering, one part of the
neck, one outside concept, etc.
By doing so, youll build your creative chops, and increase your guitar skill set at the same time.
Here are four examples of soloing exercises that you could do in todays guitar practice sesin

Solo over a static chord with a specific scale or arpeggio

Solo on one string at a time to work on fretboard fluency
Stick to a four-fret span when soloing over a song or progression
Work on a specific outside concept, such as sidestepping or passing notes

Guitar Practice Routine 3

The last guitar practice routine occurs only once per week in your weekly schedule, falling on a
Thursday in the example schedule above. You can move things around to bring a strong focus to
weaker elements in your playing, while maintaining daily and weekly balance in your guitar
practice routine.
Ear Training 20 Minutes
In this section, focus on whats practical to you and your musical goals.
This could mean learning songs by ear, or working on transcribing a solo by your favorite
guitarist.
As long as youre working on learning music by ear, and expanding your ability to hear music in the
moment, then youre being productive with ear training in your guitar practice routine.
Here are four examples of ear training exercises that you could do in todays guitar practice
session.

Pick out the chords to a song by ear

Learn a riff from a recording
Transcribe a solo by ear from your favorite player
Sing intervals, scales, arpeggios, or other musical devices

Learning Songs 10 Minutes

In the second section of todays guitar practice routine, youll work on expanding your repertoire
as you learn new songs.
One of the biggest roadblocks guitarists face when learning the instrument is that you have a
bunch of scales and chords under your fingers, but cant play a song.
So, when you have friends over and someone sees your guitar, then asks you to play something,
you run through a few scales and chords, and its a bit awkward.
Wouldnt it be cooler if you could grab your guitar and play a song for yourself, or your friends?
Spending time each week learning songs will help you get to that level in your playing, and give
you a real, tangible, piece of music that you can play or perform.
Here are four examples of song exercises that you could do in todays guitar practice session.

Learn the chords to a new song

Learn the melody line to a tune, for instrumental guitarists
Learn the riffs and/or solo from that same song
Learn a song by ear to work ear training as well

Rest Days
Listening 30 Minutes
As you have two rest days each week in the sample schedule, Monday and Friday, you can spread
out these two concepts in your guitar practice routine.
This would mean spending 30 minutes of listening on Monday, and 30 minutes of music theory
on Friday for example.
When working on your listening practice, take time to do focused listening.
In this 30-minute guitar practice routine, spend time listening intently as you grow your ears and
expand your musical understanding at the same time.
Here are four examples of listening exercises that you could do in todays rest day practice
session.

Listen to a solo youre learning on repeat

Listen to a song youre learning on repeat
Listen to a new album
Listen to a new artist you just discovered

Music Theory 30 Minutes

By working on practical musical theory, such as analyzing songs youre learning, or reciting the
note names for a scale youre studying in 12 keys, youll tie theory to your fretboard in your studies.
This will make music theory more practical, and keep a focus on other elements of your practice
routine going at the same time.
Here are four examples of music theory exercises that you could do in todays rest day practice
session.

Read about a specific theory concept youre studying

Write out theory exercises such as key signatures, scales, chord tones
Analyze a song or chord progression youre learning to play
Learn a new musical term such as Coda, refrain, passing tone, etc.

As you can see, you dont need a ton of time each day in the practice room to grow as a
guitarist.
By working short, 30-minute sessions, and using a weekly guitar practice schedule in your
studies, youll maximize your time in the practice room.
This organized approach to guitar practicing will be just what you need to become a better
guitarist when time in the practice room is hard to come by.