Too much practice = Backwards development

[Elemetal]

I think practicing too much makes for a decline in your playing abilities. I guess it started out in first term. I ended up practicing 4-5 hours a day and I noticed a huge incline in my playing; well about the last month of the term I felt like I was playing like I was at the start of the term. My teacher got real pissed off and telling me I should practice more and I worked my ass off. Well, Christmas time comes and I think I'm ****ing exhausted from that term I'm gonna take a breather and focus on my electric playing seeing as I really let that take a slide over the term. Well turns out I come back for term 2 and I think from that break I can play exceptionally well. Better than I've ever played before. I've noticed it and others around me too. So I guess I've come to the conclusion that practicing is a sin when over done.

[Jared Lash]

I think it depends. I think if you aren't enjoying practice after a while then pushing through for another hour or two doesn't help and only fatigues your hands and tires you of the instrument.

But I also think that the best way to enjoy practice is to do a lot of different things. Play along to records. Learn guitar or horn parts. Practice chords and arpeggios. Get a looper and play over yourself. Build up speed with your fingers AND a pick. Run through your scales but after using them rote exercises or doing basic fingering patterns, write a bassline or two using that scale or mode.

At least that's what's worked for me. I remember telling my high band teacher that I spent a lot of time playing along with CDs and he said I was wasting time and that I should be spending more time on my scales and sight reading. But the fact of the matter is that learning to quickly figure out chord changes and basslines by ear paid big dividends when walking through progressions and I didn't even realize it while I was doing it.

I guess the point is that you should spend the time to learn what's required but also find ways to make it fun to pick up your instrument and remember to put it down when it seems more like work and less like the joy it should be.

[Jake of Bass]

I saw a tv show a few years ago that said after some experts observed and studied classical musicians they found that on average practising the same piece for more than 40 minutes starts to actually have a detrimental affect to one's playing skills, regardless of the ability of the person practising.

I've quite often had intense, short bursts of practice spread out over an entire day, with great results.

[vlxyooper]

A few thoughts ...

First, I remember learning in my Learning class that "spaced repetition" is one of the more effective schedules of learning. That is, it's better to spend a half hour a day learning something (not necessarily bass) than it is spending three hours one day a week. Even breaking up the day's practice schedule into smaller sections may be beneficial ....sort of like weight training. I mean, you don't always work every muscle in your body every day at your max weight ...knowwhatimean,vern?

In my early years of bass playing ...when we had to walk six miles in the snow, bare foot, up hill (both ways) just to play.... I did a lot of spaced repetition just by having a bass on a stand ready to be picked up at a moment's notice. I still do that now and then (HA! ....very spaced repetition).

The other thing that happens is that it can take all our individual "systems" involved in playing time to catch up to each other. For example, you fully understand the correct notes that make up a particular bass line, and you've played all the notes involved on various occasions, but the muscle memory involved in playing the bass line isn't quite there yet. So you practice and practice, working the tempo up from slow to faster over time ...and still you get frustrated over messing up at some particular place. Then one day you pick up your bass again (conveniently placed on a stand ready to go) and, in spite of your biased doubt, you play the line flawlessly! ...how did that happen? idunno, it just does. Though, I have a hunch that different learning curves for our various playing systems may be at work here.

A long time ago (even before having to walk bare foot up hill six miles in the snow just to play bass) my fifth grade band teacher used to say "Practice doesn't make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect." Not sure if I've ever practiced perfectly, but you might consider reviewing your practice routine with your instructor and see if they can offer any insight into your (seemingly) vain efforts toward "perfect" practice. Just a thought.

One other thing that may seem as though it doesn't have anything to do with playing (or at least learning) bass. Be sure that you have a few other outlets in your life to enjoy than just bass playing (yes, there is life beyond bass!). As much as I enjoy playing music, there are times when music doesn't seem to like me. Those are the times when I get on the motorcycle and carve some corners, or shoot a few dozen (or hundred) photos, or stick my nose in a good book. Whatever diversions you find interesting or enjoyable, spend some time away from your instrument (mentally as well as physically). As you've discovered yourself, this can have positive effects to your progress as well.

[K2000]

Originally Posted by Elemetal

Well turns out I come back for term 2 and I think from that break I can play exceptionally well. Better than I've ever played before. I've noticed it and others around me too. So I guess I've come to the conclusion that practicing is a sin when over done.

It's probably not the break that got you your skills sounds like maybe you were getting burned out - your break was a chance to rest up and get your enthusiasm back up again.

It would be like running 12 laps around the track, then walking around once to cool down... then thinking that the walking lap is really getting you physically fit.

[DanRJBrasil]

Originally Posted by Jake of Bass

I saw a tv show a few years ago that said after some experts observed and studied classical musicians they found that on average practising the same piece for more than 40 minutes starts to actually have a detrimental affect to one's playing skills, regardless of the ability of the person practising.

I've quite often had intense, short bursts of practice spread out over an entire day, with great results.

+1
you are using muscles, so therefore you are experiencing over training, you have to stop every 30 min and rest for 15 after using your muscles to give them a rest, and do not use your muscles for 5 hours straight this will lead to more probs, others then fatigue.
Music is training is much more then just bass technique, you also should use your time to ear, reading training etc ...

[Surprise Panda!]

Originally Posted by TheBigO

I think it depends. I think if you aren't enjoying practice after a while then pushing through for another hour or two doesn't help and only fatigues your hands and tires you of the instrument.

But I also think that the best way to enjoy practice is to do a lot of different things. Play along to records. Learn guitar or horn parts. Practice chords and arpeggios. Get a looper and play over yourself. Build up speed with your fingers AND a pick. Run through your scales but after using them rote exercises or doing basic fingering patterns, write a bassline or two using that scale or mode.

At least that's what's worked for me. I remember telling my high band teacher that I spent a lot of time playing along with CDs and he said I was wasting time and that I should be spending more time on my scales and sight reading. But the fact of the matter is that learning to quickly figure out chord changes and basslines by ear paid big dividends when walking through progressions and I didn't even realize it while I was doing it.

I guess the point is that you should spend the time to learn what's required but also find ways to make it fun to pick up your instrument and remember to put it down when it seems more like work and less like the joy it should be.

+3.14159

[Coelho]

It is probably similar to running a marathon. No one trains for it running a full marathon every day, or not even every other day. Training for most part is small compared to a full marathon, and not every day.

See here:
http://www.marathonrookie.com/suppor...onschedule.pdf

[Jake of Bass]

Originally Posted by DanRJBrasil

+1
you are using muscles, so therefore you are experiencing over training, you have to stop every 30 min and rest for 15 after using your muscles to give them a rest, and do not use your muscles for 5 hours straight this will lead to more probs, others then fatigue.
Music is training is much more then just bass technique, you also should use your time to ear, reading training etc ...

It was also noted that apart from physical fatigue, mental fatigue set in and thus practice became sloppy. Sloppy practice is repetition, just like accurate, focussed practice. This in turn means you're actually practising to be sloppy - effectively undoing all the good work you did in the first place!

[BassChuck]

Originally Posted by Jake of Bass

......mental fatigue set in and thus practice became sloppy. Sloppy practice is repetition, just like accurate, focussed practice. This in turn means you're actually practising to be sloppy - effectively undoing all the good work you did in the first place!

IMO this is the opperative point. You have to take care of your mind as well as your body. When you learn anything that requires co-ordination, what changes more, your body or your mind? For sure both, but you have to deal with both to make the change and the improvement.

[Muusers]

Originally Posted by Suprise Panda!

+3.14159

is that an apple pie or a chocolate pie?

[Elemetal]

Thanks guys. I definitely dig what you guys are saying. I definitely beleive in breaking up your practicing but also it's quite difficult when the only time you can practice is all in one chunk just beacuse of other stuff going on in the day. I tend to try and do other stuff that is enjoyable to me such as Jazz or picking up my electric and playing some prog rock, but my teacher gives me **** for doing that. I think though seeing as I'm an aspiring jazz musician though I think taking an hour before jazz band to jam with a few guys is essential to my developement. I'm really trying to find balance and it's really difficult.

[rarisgod]

I remember practicing this one piece for an exam for hours on end, and I just could NOT get this thing down perfectly. So at the end of the night, I gave up. The next day, I went to school...BAM! Played it almost perfectly!! I recall it happening once before, I think breaks are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY when practicing! Mind you when I'm just jamming for the fun of it I could go on and on, but when trying to practice something, especially when noticing difficulty after awhile, I'd suggest taking a long break and coming back to it later.

I wouldn't say practicing too much hurts you, I'd just assume it becomes pointless after too long, not so much detrimental.

[kreider204]

It wouldn't surprise me. Athletes can overtrain, why not musicians?

i think if you practice too much, you start to overthink the music, get tired, and get confused. its a matter of opinion.