i am by no means a "great musician", but i can suggest only running through a few songs each practice, instead of going through all of your songs.

play maybe 4 songs or so at practice, and play them each maybe 4 or 5 times, given you have the time for it, and then the next practice, work on 4 different songs.

my band doesnt really do this that often, but when we do, it helps.

good question though, i cant wait to see the answers.

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The most important tip is practice i believe haha..... I mean I haven't even been playing for a year; but I dedicate atleast 6 hours to playing my guitar a day.. I just start out throwin some jini hendrix or steve ray vaughan in and playin the licks and stuff.. mostly like penatonic scales and such some chrods get the blood runnin threw your hands also.. for me I turn the heater on in my room... when I start to get my hands and body nice in warm

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Two things I try to do is to spend about 30 minutes if possible each day sitting in front of the TV, guitar in hand doing nothing but straight double picking. Working first one string then back and forth between adjacent strings, then skipping from say, 6 directly to 4 and around etc. Over the last ten years I've noticed that I'm not as fast at double picking as I was then, but regular work outs help the "Old Dude" try to keep up (somewhat) with the "kids".

Also when ever possible, play through an amp sans reverb. This will sober you up real quick and force you quit slacking off. Reverb is kinda like distortion. It's an intoxicant that can give you a false sense of worth and accomplishment. We all love to hear that splash, but go back and listen to those early Ventures records, it's almost impossible to hear reverb or echo. Those were some pristeen guitar tones. If you sound great clean, you'll sound awesome once you slip in the E and R.

After 44 years of playing, I love it more now than I ever have. Reverbs to all (after a good workout), eddie k

Traditional........speak softly and play through a big blonde amp. Did I mention that I still like big blonde amps?

SEE the notes and think about them when you´re playing, as opposed to just playing "shapes", and see how the notes relate to the chords in the song. I spent years NOT doing that, and talking to some pretty accomplished players later on found out it´s quite a common "disease" among guitar players.

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I'm not even close to the average class, let alone the greats, but I have a couple of things that keeps me improving.

1. Buy a guitar stand ( < $15.00 ), and put your guitar on it somewhere you can always see it. Mine is beside me now as I type this. Withen arms reach.
   

2. Pick it up several times a day if nothing else to pick for a few minutes or practice a cord shape. You don't need the amp and all the other stuff out to just pick and strum to your self.
   

3. never put it in the case until you are heading for a gig.
   

Joel

-I would echo what Joelman said: Keep your guitar easily available. I had a friend that would pack his guitar and amp away everytime he used it and it was such a PITA to get it out that he never played it and he eventually gave up.
-Something I learned from playing classical is alternate picking. If you want to play clean, fast, precise, you must make it a habit to always alternate pick. Think of your hand as a machine and as a machine it will do the same picking pattern everytime, this will ensure that because you will play something the same time everytime you will be able to play it fast and clean (eventually).
-Another thing to do which sounds obvious is to practice stuff you don't know. That is, learn new scales, chords, modes, rythms, whatever, No matter how good you are there is always something you havent learned yet. I think it was George Harrison that said that The Beatles would write songs around new chords they learned in order to remember them. This is great for 2 reasons, 1 you get better at writing and 2 you will remember the chords.

This is, sadly, a great tip. As I posted elsewhere, I just got my first tank, and IT IS FUN! Beyond fun, it actually makes my questionable playing sound a little like I know how to play, but with the guitar going through the amp clean, my weaknesses are right there.

And that's a good thing because it forces me to slow down and work on the rudiments which, eventually, will make me a better player (at least that's the plan).

I do a lot of scales, and I particularly enjoy an exercise posted somewhere here on the boards (strumming down on the numbers and up on the open string):

8-7-5-0 7-0 8-0 7-0 5-0 7-0 8-0 10-8-7-0 8-0 10-0 8-0 7-0 8-0 10-0 12-10-8-0 10-0 12-0 10-0 8-0 10-0 12(arpeggio!)

Do that on each string.

You'll definitely recognize the classical piece (though I can't remember the title/composer)

don't panic!

teaching others is a great way to examine (and improve) your own techniques.

i teach guitar every monday now...and it is really making me slow down a bit and be much more PRECISE in what I'm doing.

another tip I think is helpful is to practice with a metronome or drummachine (or a drummer if you are fortunate enough), to help improve tempo/timing/rhythm.

also play the music you like with friends, it makes practice much more enjoyable.

lastly, be sure to practice good posture everytime you play...be sure to mind your seated posture, sit straight, hand/arm/shoulder placement, thumb behind the neck etc... try to make good posture a habit...

I would echo all of the above and my following two cents (which is about 1 english penny these days) worth:

• when doing any excerice, if you find hands/fingers/forearms aching with tension or getting tired, STOP and have a think. It is more than likely poor technique to blame (unless of course you have tendonitis or similar - I don't ish to criticise Redd!); there is no real strength required to play all but the most extreme pieces. It could be the way you are holding the guitar, or you're just a bit tense for some reason.
  Try some finger stretchs, then try to come up with a more ergonomic way of playing.
  

• I always find most excercies neglect the right hand - I go through everything from single picking to double picking to strumming open and damped, always starting slowly (to make sure the basic is right) before going as fast as I possibly can (but always in time). I also practice varying dynamics as I play - e.g. try fast and quiet getting louder and softer.
  

I find surf is the cruellest critic of poor technique- when your sound leads the band just getting the notes right is not enough you have to make each sound $mil lion$ as well.

BillAqua
I always thought the best way to practice was to play along with the classics. With modern technology the CD is your best friend. Would have sucked doing that with records.

I second this...by all means, "Play Guitar with The Venture"...and Dick Dale, The Lively Ones etceteras...

-dp

ps: I still play along with LPs occasionally...I have a turntable and the vinyl...spent many hours in the bedroom spinning the tunes as a young man in the 1980s...old habits sure do die hard!