Here's a great Zen Guitar exercise from the site..



That would be great to do with normal progressions as welll, using just your hands, and ears and mind's eye to find your way around.

Playing isn't necessarily Practice and Practice doesn't necessarily require Playing. Reading Books and Mags on the subject will advance you're playing as much as an hour of sweep picking.

If you're "Playing" the guitar you're in your comfort Zone. If you're "Practicing", you should be pushing your bounderies and it should feel like you don't know what you're doing.

Beginners should spend some of the day's practice finding all the A's, then all the E's, and eventually all the Notes and where they repeat. Scales, Playing Positions, and Chord shapes will make more sence later if you do

Intermediate Players should spend time learning Substitute chords and Scales, Accents, and Dynamics. And Start using your Picking Hand Fingers, they're ready to play, Coach.

Advanced Players know what they have to practice.

Pro Players need to Practice Humility. Realize the Audience is going to look at who they want to look at, stop trying to upstage the singer! Just let the music take you, act naturally and be glad you're good at something that keeps you out of the Fast Food Kitchen.

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"Persistence Is The Father Of Invention"
-Crazy Old Man In Training

try practicing the same chord on different positions on the fret board.
or when improvising, what helps me sometimes i hum the melody 1st, then try to recreat it.

also, its not the practice thats causing your decrease in playing ability, its your mental fatigue

dude i feel the same way! also after i play for too long other peoples stuff sounds boring too, i come back after a weekend and everything is fresh and cool! all the tutors will say oh it wont hurt you creativity, but thing is it was so long ago since they where learning guitar they probally can't remember!

Yes, and too much creativity is bad for practice. You can't form a habit of practice if you constantly create new things, and it's difficult to be creative when you practice the same old tired ideas over and over again. Just find a healthy balance between the two extremes and you'll be fine ^^

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Everyone is a bit different, I have had other players who periodically "give it a rest"

I tend to like to from time to time also and come back fresh.

Follow your own soul on this.

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I remember when we were free!