noodle, Practice or rehearse... the difference?

Any time you pick up your guitar, you are getting better, right? Well, not necessarily. Let me explain. If I'm setting around with my guitar and "noodling", I'm probably noodling around on things I'm already comfortable playing, this riff, that riff, this chord or that one. If I do it all the time. I don't even have to think about it, it is already in my muscle memory. Practice, on the other hand is intentional. You are focused to learn something NEW so well it gets embedded into your muscle memory and then you can "noodle" it. So what do I mean by "intentional"? I mean you must focus on it and do it over and over again. Repetitions are the only way to get something into your "muscle memory". Practice is not necessarily fun but becomes worthwhile when what you practice becomes natural. So what is practice verses rehearsing? Well, you know what practice is and now you are preparing a performance. You rehearse for the performance by playing your songs over and over until THEY become muscle memory. Practice your songs to learn them, rehearse those songs to perform them. So how should you practice? Every day for a set amount of time working on exactly what your instructor tells you to practice. This time should be independent of the amount of time you spend practicing, noodling, or rehearsing things you've learned previously to keep them in your muscle memory. How much time each day? As much as it takes. It is impossible to practice too much.
Make it Happen!
Mike