Practicing!

[beelzelboss]

So i've been playing for all of three years now, a noobie compared to most of you guys. Now my biggest question is, when you sit down to "practice" what do you guys actually do. I don't really know much about it in itself, all i ever do is sit down and play most of the songs i know. (which isn't much unfortunentally).

I really don't know like what most people do and i'm curious of what you do?

Thanks
~craig

[JazzyJames]

I just play songs along with music to help my timing and improvise and write songs often.

[Sarbecue Boss]

I run different licks and riffs with a metronome to build them up to speed, I run over any material that will come up in rehearsal (with a metronome) then I start to learn melody lines, guitar parts, piano parts, by ear

[WyllyWylly]

Practice your scales... everywhere on the neck. Metronomes help. Improvise within the scales. Bass is all about intervals. If you can learn where the intervals are in any given key, you can walk all over the fretboard.

[DoomandHeavy]

I try learning songs by ear, practise different techniques, writing riffs, and do the stuff my teacher gives me. Also if your at school, work, Talkbass, or watching TV, you can put your hands flat against the table and lift your fingers up one by one. You can also it speed up or add some rhythm to it. After doing it for a while it becomes a habit!

[Ampeg SVT]

Learn music by ear, go through scales, play different styles of music, go through different techniques.

Dont over do it to the point where your hands hurt, I am guilty of that and have sharp pains in my middle and index finger on my right hand.

[Honk'n_down-low]

Originally Posted by beelzelboss

So i've been playing for all of three years now, a noobie compared to most of you guys. Now my biggest question is, when you sit down to "practice" what do you guys actually do. I don't really know much about it in itself, all i ever do is sit down and play most of the songs i know. (which isn't much unfortunentally).

I really don't know like what most people do and i'm curious of what you do?

Thanks
~craig

Go here:

Read Grasshopper : )

Bass learning becoming overwhelming

[NathanB7]

Ahh, great information for a newbie like me but I would like to know how often you guys practice a week (like hours for example)?

[DoomandHeavy]

I generally practice for 3 hours a day, but would like to boost that up to 4 or 5.

[Michael Case]

I generally practice 4 to 6 hours a day.

I practice scales, arpeggios, reading, learning new tunes, improvisation.

I choose one scale a week and focus on that. I'll run that scale as many octaves as I can (some scales are three octaves, some two), then I'll try different fingerings for that scale. Next I'll play the intervals (right now thirds) up the same scale, then down. I'll then practice the arpeggios, start on the I chord and go up, then descend on the ii chord, then ascend on the IV chord and continue until I arrive at the I chord one, two, or three octaves above where I started, then I descend. Of course this is all with the metronome set at moderate tempo.

Next I read (usually from the classical bass books I have). I'll choose and etude in the key I am working on and practice that. I use Franz Simandl's 30 etudes for the double bass and John Patitucci's 60 melodic etudes. I'll start at about 1/4=60 BPM then work it faster.

Then I either go to the real book and work on learning a standard or continue working on a standard I am already learning. I read through the melody, run through the changes just playing arpeggios, then melody again. Once I can play the tune that way, I practice walking basslines over the tune then some soloing. In this exercise I strive to have my walking lines make sense and clearly mark the harmony with out only playing 1, 3, 5, 7. In my soloing exercise goal is kind of the same, but I'm striving to also 1. quote the melody, 2. have coherence in my solo by connecting my ideas to each other, 3. just see what I can come up with.

I do this on both the double bass (upright) and the electric bass.

[Bassorama57]

Wished I had 3 hours a day to practice! Read the thread noted below, and then develop a practice plan. I try to maximize the value of the time have behind the instrument, so that when I'm able to sit down I don't spent the first 15 minutes pondering what I'm going to do. Time I can't spend with the instrument (commuter train, etc.), I can divide between reading music theory, listening, etc. With that in mind:
- Warm ups and finger dexterity drills (major, minor scales, arpeggios. Keep a notebook of what you're doing. Use a metronome at all times). Go slowly and focus on tone, minimizing pressure and economizing motion.
- Mechanical techniques: Things I don't do well, eg, slap, three-fingered right hand, double-pick. I only work on one of these weak spots in a given session.
- Band work: Start by playing a few runs from familiar, enjoyable tunes in the setlist; then work on one or two new tunes that are going into the setlist. CD (or MP3) -Bass trainer is good for that, particularly if I'm pulling it off the record. End the practice sessoin by playing something enjoyable; as a reward for working on form and dexterity drills.

If you have the time, work in ear training on the bass itself - there's a good CD program that you can use without an instrument, and it's always good training to work higher octaves as well - eg, recognizing intervals and chord structures by ear.

Get an instructor if you don't have one! 30 minutes a week with a dispassionate observer does wonders for your technique improvement!

[jruberto]

I think how you practice is as important as what you practice.

My tools are a metronome and a kitchen timer. Whatever your exercise is, set your metronome at a tempo so it is comfortable and "easy" to play your drill.

Then slow it down.

Then slow it down a little more.

Decide before you start how the drill will loop, what the fingerings are, if you will play it legato, stacatto, etc.. so you are focused on the drill and not fooling around with it during the practice run.

Now set the timer & play your drill at that tempo for five minutes straight without stopping, paying attention to technique, tone, note duration, articulation, dynamics and intonation. Wash, rinse, repeat. Don't speed it up until you can really do it for five minutes (and have it sound GOOD, no buzzy notes, solid time, nice fat tone on each note) with ease. You'll get more technique building out of this five minutes than an hour of playing licks as fast as you can play them.

[ryco]

I only play a couple of hours a day anymore. But I'm not playing or gigging with anyone at the moment.

I play to CDs. Mostly jazz now and work on learning melodies and listening to chord progressions. I listen to the older horn players and trios, 50s/60s.

I play along with Aebersold books/CDs -- not the song ones, but the cycle and chord workout books. And the Blues ones.

I don't run through scales very much anymore, although I did for years and years playing many different fingerings on different strings, and running two octaves or from the fifth below to the third above. Also used to do broken intervals up and down, see The Bass Method - Ray Brown to see what I'm talking about.

I also run through etudes and Bach classical pieces. There are a couple of good books put out by Mel Bay. Trombone books are a good place to get classical pieces to play.

When I'm gigging or in a projsct then my "practice" time goes up significantly.

I write a lot of stuff and play with a drum machine a lot as well.

I agree with Bassorama. If yer havin' trouble thinkin' up things to practice, find a good instructor. If he assigns you two pages - learn four -- well! Teachers love that ****.

have fun!!

[beelzelboss]

trying to find a teacher out here, its not easy! thanks for all the suggestions!

[Magical_Merlin]

I got extremely lucky finding my current bass instructor. I found him by looking in the LESSONS tab on craigslist.

[NathanB7]

Great ideas, thank you guys.