hey all,

so ive been taking lessons from a fellow tber of late, and wow im so glad i did. my playing has improved 100 fold since taking lesson. long story short im moving in a bit *keeping same teacher* so ive only been practicing as follows.
basic warmup of all combonations of 1234 on first 8 frets.
bass isometrics till my hands cant take it,
F,G and A major scales double octave.

that sums up my daily routine i kniw i can do songs and what not but right now im working on technique, 1 per fret, curling the fingers, lifting fingers only high enough to be off the string.... not floating in the middle of nowhere (had a bit issue with that) so basicly any other warmups you guys can think of anything that will help on technique?

basic warmup of all combonations of 1234 on first 8 frets.

If this is going well for you (ie you can do it a a decent tempo), have you tried combining it with string crossings?

So for instance,

1 (G#, G string) 2 (A, G string) 3 (F, D string) 4 (F#, D string)

Then move this up chromatically to 12th fret, then back down to the nut switching the order (e.g., first two notes on D string, next two on G string).

There are numerous combinations that you can do with this. including switching strings every note, using different string combinations, etc.

I practice all twelve major scales around the cycle, starting on the same string on each scale. I do this on all five strings. I also play the scales in 3rds, and various note patterns. I vary the fingerings as well. I also vary the starting point in the cycle. Try starting at the top of a scale and go down, then up. All of this can be done with arpeggios as well.

You can also warm up with something fun like jamming to a easy and fun tune you like. That gets your mind where it needs to be, and gets the garbage out that doesn't need to be there.

Try learning some of the Hanon Piano Exercises, and play them slow at startup.

wicked thanks for the input guys, gonna put a couple in to motion tonight

Scales and arpeggios in all 12 is the one ring to rule them all. I love Patitucci's advice- play above and below the octave- your G major scale should include a low F# and E on a 4 string. Music doesn't end at the octave...

To elaborate, every scale should start on the lowest note from that scale on your bass, and end on the highest.

Also, 3 and 4 note groupings, broken thirds, etc...


Mechanical exercises are yummy but if you want to speak the language of music, spend time on the grammar and vocab mentioned above.

Even better, work on learning songs! Technique is only a means to an end.