Solid Practice Routines..

[RimsyOsiris]

Hey everyone

Ive been playing bass for about a year, and for whatever reason I had no interest in learning anything other than covers.. But as I got more into it, I just couldnt put the bass down.. I wanted more, and more.. Ive been playing more Rush and Iron Maiden now than ever, and I feel like my speed and capability as bassist is improving everyday.. I put my bass away for 4 or 5 months, as I moved across country.. Now Im back. I just bought a Washburn Taurus, which is deffinitly doing the trick, and a Scale and Mode book to help me in the right direction..
What I am truly after, is a really helpful practice routine.. I have no musical knowledge at all.. Im picking up on Major Scales, and the intervals that make each one, I know a mode or 2.. The circle of fifths is slowly coming.. I know the 3 note major/minor moveable shapes, and octave shapes as well.. But the notes on the fretboard are not popping out at me. I couldnt write a bass line if i was being paid, because even the scales i do know, I dont know how they work in to create lines or riffs.. I can play an 8 note scale, but does it matter the order I play them after I hit the root note? ... As you can see Im loaded with questions, and as a begining bassist, I will have so many more for all of you.. I Love The bass, the thick low end will always keep me interested.. I just really do not want to be covering other peoples bass lines my whole life.. Hehe Sorry for the story book guys.. Im tryin to get serious about this now. Really need all the help i can find...

Thank you, everyone!

[maturanesa]

the order doesnt matter, you can play any note of the scale in the order you want and it´s still the same scale. The difference is you are not playing the scale note by note, just phrasing with it..

[blakelock]

welcome back! and glad to hear you're actually trying to get good practice routine going. that's have the battle. i'll tell you my routine but it really depends on what you want to do.

- 5-10min warm up - free jam with metronome and usually focus on jamming in a different scale each day (this will help timing and your knowledge of the scales all over the neck and it's fun! i try to come up with a decent riff/pattern every day)
- 10min chord tones - run the major, minor, 7ths, etc. for different chords all over the neck
- 10-20min practice through book (ed friedland) or online lesson (i'm doing "institute of bass" right now)
- 10-20min practicing songs i'll be jamming with the group (mostly jazz)

Originally Posted by RimsyOsiris

Hey everyone
...I can play an 8 note scale, but does it matter the order I play them after I hit the root note? ...

absolutely! this is the best part. the scale (or the chord tones) give you loads of possible patterns you could play and they all sound different. compare the "feel" of just playing the root and 5th (country-ish) compared to playing root-4-#4-5th (nasty bluesy).

good luck. by the way, searching "routine" will give you a bunch of other peoples ideas of optimum practice routines.

[pbasswil]

Your question resonates with me.

I've been playing for about 30 years (during which I've somehow supported myself with music -- barely) and I've never had a consistent practice routine.

I've had _intentions_ of being methodical and structured about practice; but I've never been able to manage it. Every time I've tried to schedule my practice -- with, like, an agenda: e.g., 30 minutes left hand strength, 30 minutes chords & arpeggios, etc. -- something in me has strongly resisted. I.e.: resisted turning music into a regimen, a pre-ordered job description.

The best I've been able to manage is: removing the obstacles to playing, when I'm at home. I try to keep my practice area and my bass prepared, so that playing is always an easy choice to make.
Drum machines, and more recently, grooves from computer drum plugins, have helped stimulate me a lot.

And before I play, I sort of prime the pump, by playing music that stimulates me, and makes me want to play.

That's the only thing that works for me: Keep an idea in my head of the sounds and rhythms that I want to make. Get excited about it. And then go and attempt to enact it with the bass.

Beyond that, logically disciplined practice has always completely eluded me!

Good luck to you; and let us know if a structured approach works out for you.

[blakelock]

Originally Posted by pbasswil

Every time I've tried to schedule my practice -- with, like, an agenda: e.g., 30 minutes left hand strength, 30 minutes chords & arpeggios, etc. -- something in me has strongly resisted. I.e.: resisted turning music into a regimen, a pre-ordered job description.

hey pbasswill,
your suggestions are great. i'll add that although i try to stay "on task" with my routine, i also leave free time for free jamming. i "practice" in the morning, but if i have time to play at night or weekends, it's usually jamming with radio stations or mp3's. this keeps it fun. or if my wife is working on the computer, i'll say, "play something...anything!" then try to jam with it. this really stretches you stylistically.

[Champion]

I am very new to playing bass (less < 2months) and I am amazed when people say they just jam with songs on radio etc. How do you do that? Can you actually get all the chords of the songs the first time you listen to it? Or do you have other ways to do it?

[pbasswil]

Originally Posted by blakelock

hey pbasswill,
your suggestions are great. i'll add that although i try to stay "on task" with my routine, i also leave free time for free jamming. i "practice" in the morning, but if i have time to play at night or weekends, it's usually jamming with radio stations or mp3's. this keeps it fun. or if my wife is working on the computer, i'll say, "play something...anything!" then try to jam with it. this really stretches you stylistically.

Yeah, that's all good too. :^) In my experience, anything that keeps it creative and joyful is mission accomplished!

Cheers.

[blakelock]

hey champion,
i'd say i'm an ~intermediate player (played for a few years off and on). when i'm jamming with the radio it basically goes like this:
- i listen for ~20seconds
- then i search for the "root" note for the key of the song by quietly playing notes up and down the fretboard till i hear one that sounds right. if you've chosen correcty, this note is the root note of the song's key. for instance, if the note that sounded good was a C, maybe the song is in the key of C major. try playing the C major scale during the song and see how it sounds.
- another trick is that sometimes the first chord in the verse will be the key chord (especially true for pop and blues).
- if the C major scale doesn't sound quite right even though that single C note did sound pretty good, well maybe the C note is not the root of the proper key, but instead it's the 5th or 3rd of the proper scale. Once you know a little bit about scales, you can pick this stuff out pretty quickly.

of course, some stuff is easier than others. jamming with blues or top 40 is a piece of cake but jamming with jazz can be tougher (many more chord changes typically). the absolute EASIEST (and fun) is jamming to mellow electronic music (like groove salad). this stuff usually just floats around a single note the whole time but it's got good beats so once you find that note, you can riff all over that key.

[Champion]

Hi Blakelock,

Thank you so much for the tips, it sounds very interesting and makes sense. Thanks!

[pbasswil]

Originally Posted by Champion

I am very new to playing bass (less < 2months) and I am amazed when people say they just jam with songs on radio etc. How do you do that? Can you actually get all the chords of the songs the first time you listen to it? Or do you have other ways to do it?

Yeah, I understand how that may sound like wizardry, when you're just starting out. But the longer you've been playing, the more your brain can make connections between music you hear, and music that you've already played before.

Very, very little music is completely original; the same chord patterns get used over and over (with slight variations, and in various keys). You start to recognize the patterns.

I can think of a couple of things that would at least get you started on the road to being able to do that yourself, in the not-too-distant future:

1) Spend time simply noodling around on the bass, without a plan. Play some notes until you stumble on a little melody or bassline that sounds good to you -- or which you've heard before. Doesn't need to be complicated, or long -- just mess around until you've actually come up with something that sounds musical to you.
Once you've got something, you can also try little variations of it, too -- try to improve it, or to just relieve your boredom, once you've overplayed it.

That's an important way to start discovering for yourself how notes go together to become music.

2) If you know a few chords on guitar or piano, choose 2 or 3 that sound good in a series. Then try to locate their bottom notes on the bass.
If you can record the chords on your computer (or iPod, or even as movie audio on your camera), that's even better: you can play the bass along with playback of the chords.


Above all, don't obsess about what you _can't_ do yet; go discover what it turns out you _can_ do, musically.

And don't forget to laugh your butt off when you play something that sounds horribly wrong! :^D ! ! !

[RimsyOsiris]

Hey everyone!

Thank you so much for the suggestions.. I really am looking forward to getting back into this.. Blake, your suggestions are all perfect.. I love it.. My bass guitar will never be put away again.
I completely dig where your coming from too Pbass, a structerd routine seems to be hard to stick with. I often find myself meandering off into a random Chromatic, or even the full Cmajor Scale.. (The only one I know every single shape and fretboard diagram for) ,, I really want to get with it..Which is why I love Blakes suggestions, 10-20minutes each section is totally doable.
I just ordered the Steve Harris P Bass, as I feel I have been playing long enough to deserve a little treat.. Playin off a Washburn Taurus and a Squire all these years is long enough.. I have a feeling great gear, will inspire great lines from me ,, Not to mention, Harris is my REASON for picking up a Bass Guitar..

One final question for anyone following this thread: Band In a Box.. Anyone use this, and have some feedback?? ANY Comments are appreciated, and very much welcome!!

THANKS to everyone for the fast responses

4 Strings, No Picks, and WHOLE LOTTA LOW!

[A tempo]

Originally Posted by RimsyOsiris

One final question for anyone following this thread: Band In a Box.. Anyone use this, and have some feedback?? ANY Comments are appreciated, and very much welcome!!

Search BIAB BAIB (the latter because on one thread it is mis-acronymed) and you will come up with glowing praise for the program.