Hey Indiana,
Hope all is well in life and music!
Many years ago I was in a masterclass with the great jazz guitarist Bruce Forman.
After he was done teaching he opened up the floor for Q&A.
Someone asked the age-old question "what is the best practice routine for jazz?"
He paused for a moment to think about it, as if he had never thought about it before, which surprised me.
"Practice what's ailing you" he simply said.
He went on to explain that instead of focusing so much on what you are practicing, for how much time, and how many things at once, get hyper focused on your current weak spots.
"Sometimes it will be your technique, sometimes your comping, sometimes your improvisation. It's not always the same..." he trailed on.
It seemed like such an ungratifying answer. I could tell everyone in the room wanted to hear a secret practice routine formula that would 2X the speed of their improvement and have them wailing solos like Michael Brecker.
But years down the line, I started to understand his answer so much more.
Because the more I practiced myself, and the more I taught students I realized that we're all making too big of a deal about practice routines.
So here's my advice for a perfect practice routine (for you personally):
1. Confront your weaknesses, so that you can improve on the things that are "ailing" you, or holding you back, rather than just doing the things you are already good at (exclusively).
2. Double down on your strengths, so that you can capitalize on the things you are already good at as a musician to make those things even better.
3. Stay motivated, by practicing things you can actually accomplish as well as things that are fun for you.
4. Achieve your musical goals, so that you aren't just aimlessly practicing random things, but instead practicing things that help you achieve an objective you have for your playing (ex. playing at a jazz jam session).
So first run your practice routines through those filters.
Then realize that a simple practice routine is better than a complex one. It's better to focus on a few things rather than striving for the so called "balanced" practice session.
The "balanced" practice session is one that includes technique, repertoire, scales, licks, transcribing....etc. In other words, a lot of stuff.
Instead take Bruce Forman's advice and practice what is ailing you more than anything else. This is good news for those of us who don't have a lot of time to practice. It means we can strip things down and gain more from less every single time.
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