Practicing every day for at least 2 hours makes you make unbelievable progress.

Would you believe it?

Of course you need a somewhat understanding family.

for all of middle school i was at 6-8 hrs/day, worked wonders for me

I just got back from college orientation and a week of not enough practice. It feels so great to have the bass back in my hands, hence me being up at two o'clock sight reading, transcribing and working on technique. I totally agree, and the more you practice the easier it becomes to practice:bassist::bassist::bassist:

for all of middle school i was at 6-8 hrs/day, worked wonders for me

Sorry I was busy dating the girls you could have dated :D

Seriously, my instrument at that time was the recorder, don't laugh, great instrument to start music.

Practicing every day for at least 2 hours makes you make unbelievable progress.
2 hours per day is exactly what I've been doing for the last 8 months. I don't have a choice, starting at the age of 51... :bassist:

Of course you need a somewhat understanding family.
That's the advantage of starting at 51 - the kids are on their own and the wife needs a daily break from me! ;)

Near the end of major tounament, Gary Player was in contention to win when he hit his approach shot into a greenside bunker. After carefully assuming his stance and taking dead aim, Player blasted the ball out of the sand trap, onto the green and into the hole. Someone in the crowd burst out loud: "Oh, geez; what a lucky shot!"

Player is reputed to have paused briefly to look at the spectator, smile and say: "And the more I practice, the luckier I get!"

Bluesy Soul :cool:

just curious...what exactly do you guys do when you practice? How do you practice? I'm looking for ideas.

Man, in college I used to practice 12 - 16 hours a day. Now that I work 12 hour shifts, though, that's never gonna happen.

UNLESS they let me bring my bass to work! Unfortunately, that will also never happen :hmm:

That's what I do.

I'm truly wondering if anyone appreciates the negative social ramnifications of practicing 12-16 hours a day....

I'm truly wondering if anyone appreciates the negative social ramnifications of practicing 12-16 hours a day....

I'd be more worried about the negative effect on your hands after practicing that long.

just curious...what exactly do you guys do when you practice? How do you practice? I'm looking for ideas.

As far as I am concerned, it's a lot of learning "new" songs for my bands (we play covers) and perfecting them, sometimes by adding my own ideas, or getting closer to the original.

It's also trying new scales, improvising, trying new techniques, etc...

At 40 I am not really going to learn to slap, pop, hammer or even play with a pick, so I just build over my strength.

Ok, one day I have to book one hour with Riendeau so he can show me how it's done.

I'm truly wondering if anyone appreciates the negative social ramnifications of practicing 12-16 hours a day....

Well, I was a loner in music college so it didn't bug me too much. Another factor is that I had just been playing for two years at that point, so being thrown into a situation where I had to improvise on standards and sightread - well, I had a lot of catching up to do.

I'd be more worried about the negative effect on your hands after practicing that long.

Actually, my hands never had any problem at all - I was quite naturally able to keep my hands relaxed and loose. In fact, I often subbed for guys that had carpal tunnel or other forms of hand-mangledness.

what do you guys describe as practise?

going over specific scales, techniques etc?

or refining a piece of music with out focusing on technique and just getting it sounding and played right????

what do you guys describe as practise?

going over specific scales, techniques etc?

or refining a piece of music with out focusing on technique and just getting it sounding and played right????

All of that.

It's what in the world of motorcycle riding we call "seat time".

Sometimes it's a question of just playing. With time you become the instrument :smug:

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Of course you need a somewhat understanding family.

And a chauffeur, and a maid, and a custodial staff, and an administrative assistant, and ... :D

If I get a half hour a day I'm happy. Not because it's enough, but just getting playing time every day for extended periods of time is just so tough with a son who's involved in multiple sports almost every season, also takes music lessons (he's a mighty good trumpet player!), a wife who travels a lot on business, etc.... That's part of the reason I started taking lessons - to force myself to find a way to find some playing time each day.

Unfortunately that playing time comes after everyone else is asleep, which means I'm not getting as much sleep as I should. But at least I've made some real progress since starting lessons. :bassist:

I don't see how you guys can put in so many hours in a day, and not because of time issues, but I can't get myself to sit down and practice that long. What did give me great results though was practicing every day.

I don't see how you guys can put in so many hours in a day, and not because of time issues, but I can't get myself to sit down and practice that long. What did give me great results though was practicing every day.

It can also be one hour here, one hour there.

I also have an extensive song book, and I will sometimes start randomly in the list and go down, and play about 10 songs, sometimes going back to the top because I screwed up.

I always envision brand practice not as practice but as a gig. When a band practices, the bass guy can really help get stay on target or back on track (except when the guitard decided that the verse should have one less or one more line, which is common without a singer).

I have to know my part, or the band does not progress. Getting acknowledged for that is really good.

I don't see how you guys can put in so many hours in a day, and not because of time issues, but I can't get myself to sit down and practice that long. What did give me great results though was practicing every day.

I'm the same way.
I could play guitar 24 hours a day right now, but I don't play anywhere close to that.
I don't think I've ever practiced more than a couple hours in a day, and that was just jamming to albums.
I might play a bit while watching tv, too, but yeah.