I curious as to what you all have found to be the "optimum" length of your daily practice sessions; and what have you found to be the "optimum" number of practice sessions per day?

By "optimum", I mean you make the most amount of progress for the time spent practicing--to the point where anymore practice brings diminishing returns on improvement.

For me 30 minutes a session, 1-4 sessions usually does it.

I try not to overpractice, cause I have a wrist problem, so mine are like Beast's, in 30-min or so intervals.

Probably 2 or 3 a day if I have the time.

I normally take hour long sessions, and if I do two (or three, or four) in a row, I'll take a 15-20 minute break in between.

is there such a thing as overpracticing? if you're not tired and are still making progress and have the time why not keep playing. doesn't steve vai play for 6 hours a day or some nonsense. id be curious to hear from some of the pros how much time they spend per day practicing and playing

I spend, on average, an hour a day, usually later in the evening, before I hop in the shower and then bed.

I've had to cut down, actually, due to a busy schedule, but I make time at least once a day. I would practice as long as you were enjoying it, and stop at the point you weren't. I tell my students, on the other hand, that an hour a day is the minimum, at 30 minute increments with a smoke break in between.

Right now I tend to play for about an hour at a time a couple of times a day. I don't get as much done as i'd like to, but i'm moving to from England to Toronto in about a week so things like no friends/internet/tv is probably going to mean way way way more bass.

I'm pretty excited about it actually!

I read in a Psychology magazine that 45 minutes at a time is about the longest that the average person can concentrate on one specific thing before fatigue sets in and creates an atmosphere of diminishing returns. It went on to say that a short break is all that is needed to get back into the "Zone", and that 4 sessions in a row is about where things get hairy again until a longer break is taken. This sounds about right for me. BTW, I'm a keyboard player teaching myself the bass, so I consider myself a beginner.:bassist:

That's not always true. There are times when I can quite happily play and practice for hours without even realising that so much time has passed. It all depends how involved you are with what you're doing.

Sometimes you can just get stuck in the zone.

I read in a Psychology magazine that 45 minutes at a time is about the longest that the average person can concentrate on one specific thing before fatigue sets in and creates an atmosphere of diminishing returns. It went on to say that a short break is all that is needed to get back into the "Zone", and that 4 sessions in a row is about where things get hairy again until a longer break is taken. This sounds about right for me. BTW, I'm a keyboard player teaching myself the bass, so I consider myself a beginner.:bassist:

+1 I was taught in school to do 45-50 minutes of practice, then get up, get away, get something to drink. After taking ten then start again. A lot psychology reasons to do this especially the oral gratification of drinking something or smoking if that's your thing. Has to do with human learning cycles.

All I know is when I approach to practice I can go longer and get more done than if I sit and try to plow thru stuff till too tired.

How much should you practice?

How good do you want to be?
:)



Seriously. Most professional players who make their living on any instrument go through a few years of HEAVY practice. Mine was 10- 14 hours a day, split up between electric, piano, and upright jazz transcription / arco. If you want to really kick @ss, sacrifice everything else in your life for awhile. It's the only real way to dominate your scene.

That being said, if I had it to do over again, I would have done at least half of my time working on transcriptions and piano! Oh yeah and I would have taken more breaks and spent more time with my girlfriends...

YMMV.

I usually practice more than 30 minutes a day.
The thing is though, it isnt a drag because i have so much fun playing! My 'enjoyable playing' isnt anything structured or tedious, but not just comfort zone playing either. I just play bass cause i love playing it.

Often later at night i will unplug my bass, crawl into a corner and play challenging scales and exercises, which i also enjoy, believe it or not. :D.

This is a good way for me to grow as a player, because i challenge my abilities as well as just having fun to keep myself interested. All in all, i may practice up to 2 hours a day. I never really reach a point in my practice when the results are diminishing, or i dont see the point anymore.

My old bass teacher swore by 15 minute practice sessions. Go 15 mins, take a break for a while, go another 15... It seems really short compared to what a lot of people recommend, but he was a freakin beast (could shred like Jaco on electric and LaFaro on upright). I often used the 15 minute method when I was frantically trying to catch up on classical DB playing at school. I was able to pass my audition after playing for less than a semester, so I guess it worked.

If I'm just jamming or working on writing some bass parts I can go for hours though..

If you feel bored, that's when you should take a break!

Sorry to sound new-agey, but every second you are playing music should be special. Make sure you have a positive attitude when you pick up the bass. Look at the instrument and realize how special this is, and how beautiful it is to be part of our tradition. Rufus Reid talks about this.

He says "I love my bass. I love the way it looks, I love the way it sounds, I love the way it feels. I love my bass."

As soon as you loose the positivity and focus, take a short break and come back.

If you can't hold focus longer than 15 minutes, take a break then. Only problem with that is, how are you supposed to maintain focus on a 6 hour gig with four breaks if you can't focus for at least 45 minutes at a time?!

(true story. 2 hour first set. steady gig, twice a week for a year.)

How much should you practice?

How good do you want to be?
:)



Seriously. Most professional players who make their living on any instrument go through a few years of HEAVY practice. Mine was 10- 14 hours a day, split up between electric, piano, and upright jazz transcription / arco.

+1.

If you can't hold focus longer than 15 minutes, take a break then. Only problem with that is, how are you supposed to maintain focus on a 6 hour gig with four breaks if you can't focus for at least 45 minutes at a time?!
The reasoning behind the 15 minute session idea is more about diminished returns. It's kind of an economics theory, but basically the concept is that when you're spending your time (or money) on something, you will get the most benefit from the first unit spent, and your returns will gradually diminish with each additional unit spent. In some cases your cost/benefit ratio will decline to zero, or even go negative (ie, practicing beyond a certain point can actually retard progress).

So my teacher's theory was basically that you will get the most benefit from the first 15 minutes of practice time. You can continue to practice beyond that point, but your time/progress ratio will continue to diminish. Also, your actual retention of material will go down (what good is figuring out a tough lick if you have to figure it out again later?). However, taking a short break will bring your cost/benefit ratio back up and you can do another practice session at full capacity. So roughly, if in one hour you practice for 15, break for 15, practice for 15, break for 15, you will get more lasting accomplishment than if you just spent the entire hour on non-stop practice.

Whether you buy into the theory or not, it isn't about boredom. Just about better understanding the way people learn.

Dig

I actually suggest that students break the hour into 15-20 minute slots, and use an egg timer to strictly break up the time into technique/rep/transcription, or whatever 3 skill sets they are focused on.

If you are on a tight schedule, it can be hard to fit everything you want to get done into even two hours a day. I need about 4 to cover just basic maintenance... Really important to divide it up so you can stay focused.

I don't know about 'optimum' but do know that to get good at anything you have to fall in love with it and absorb yourself in it to the point where you lose track of time completely... I would practice all evening every evening and all day at weekends, never once looking at the clock...

if you're meant to have a relationship with the bass guitar, such questions are beside the point... because you practice until you fall asleep

If I am not buisy during the day about 3-4 30-45 minute sessions with about a 30 minute break in between. Each session I focus on something different.

People focus too much on time imo

practice is qualitative, not quantitative. You can practice 6 hours a day and barely get anywhere if you're not focused and not practicing the right stuff.

just something to consider.

Yeah but even better if you practice the right stuff all day!
;)

Off to the shed...

People focus too much on time imo

practice is qualitative, not quantitative. You can practice 6 hours a day and barely get anywhere if you're not focused and not practicing the right stuff.

just something to consider.

Thanks for posting that. I've been lurking here for a while and it's good to know this opinion is out there. I've just gotten back into practicing seriously after years of neglect.

Right now I'm finding that an hour of practicing a day is almost enough to cover just learning and practicing scales from the jazz theory book. (a great book for bassists btw)

..and learning the fingerboard :o

I play tuba and bass guitar. For me, since my primary instrument is tuba, I spend about an hour a day practicing that, a half hour for my bass, and a half hour brushing up on my theory.

Yeah but even better if you practice the right stuff all day!
;)

Off to the shed...

6 hours of the right stuff is more than enough for most people

I just posted that to remind everyone to make sure they're always doing the right stuff

6 hours of the right stuff is more than enough for most people

And 7 hours of the right stuff is even better. How else do the greats get great? Raw talent? Pft.

Once I start playing I can't stop...so usually 2 or 3 hours straight every 2nd day...but I usually give up on the actual 'practice' after about 30 minutes so I don't recommend it :p