forcing practice

Matthew Bryson · #1 08-07-2002, 10:03 AM

Lately I have had very little time at home and when I get home I am very tired. Last night I got home had dinner and had only about 30 minutes to practice bass before I needed to be in bed. I turned on the metronome, played my warm up exercises and some scales / scale exercises. I sounded terrible start to finish. I was really struggling and thought it meant I needed all the more work so I kept going with the scales about another 15 minutes. I still just couldn’t get it going on and it was past my bedtime so I set the bass down disgusted and went to bed. The question is: Is this type of forced practice doing me any good? I don’t know what else to do because most days will be like this for a while, and long breaks from practicing certainly haven’t served me well when life has gotten like this in the past, so I want to practice everyday. The obvious answer is to practice a whole lot on the weekends, but last weekend that wasn’t possible and this weekend doesn’t look much better. I realize nobody can fix my busy schedule or put more hours in the day for me. Sorry for the long rambling post, I’m very frustrated – I would like to know some of you more experienced people’s opinions on forcing practice when you are physically exhausted. Any suggestions on getting the most quality out of a little time with the bass? I wish I could practice bass at work instead of just talking about.

Matthew Bryson · #2 08-07-2002, 12:15 PM

Thank you Ed. That is exactly the advice that I needed. I appreciate you taking the time to give me such a detailed and on target response. You have given me some homework, but I suspect I can find some answers to my questions about arpaggiation by doing a search here at TB. Since you were kind enough to offer, yes, I would be interested in a description of the improvisational exercise you mention.
I fully agree with you that a teacher would be a great help to me. I was taking lessons from an instructor that I think is very good, but I had to temporarily stop due to the no money & no time situation that life has thrown at me. I plan to resume lessons as soon as I can. In the meantime I want to continue to grow, and I think you have helped me to know more about how to do that. Thanks.

jazzbo · #3 08-07-2002, 12:33 PM

Anybody here ever go to the gym regularly? Well, after I do some work with weights I always do my cardiovascular work. Anybody ever use the stairmaster? 20 minutes is my sticking point. For the first 20 minutes on the instrument of death known as the stairmaster, I really really REALLY want to get off the darn thing. After 20 minutes though, for some reason my body acclimates, and I can easily do 90 minutes or more. Weird.

Same thing happens when I play bass. For the first 15 minutes when I'm warming up, or working on technique, or something else, I have to force myself to stay on the ride. Then after I've been playing for about 20-30 minutes, I can go for 3 hours if I wanted to. Weird.

cassanova · #4 08-07-2002, 01:44 PM

[quote]Originally posted by Ed Fuqua
I would also suggest an improvisational exercise (that I'll be happy to describe in detail if your interested)

If its not too much trouble Ed, Id like to know more about this improvisational exercise. It sounds like it might be very interesting and of good use to me.

Gard · #5 08-07-2002, 11:20 PM

WOW....

...I dunno what to say, other than "Thanks Ed".

I do what I can.

By the way, I'm gonna be up in your neck of the woods next week, got a couple showcase gigs, I'd be honored if you could stop by for one (and will completely understand if you're not able to). I'll be reviving a thread in Misc titled "Noo Yawrk Sitty" soon, trying to get everyone in the Big Apple aware. I always enjoy some professional level heckling!

erotomaniac · #6 08-07-2002, 11:28 PM

how much i suck!! lol all i do to practice is read tabs and memorize tabs. i just relized im not learning much of anything. wow ill never get anywhere by just doing that.

"It's not really so much about quantity as it is about quality of time you put in. If you can put a focused 45 minutes in every single day, it's better than practicing 8 hours on Saturday.

The thing is you have to be focused on what you are doing. So you need to look at what you're working on (as an aside, this is something a teacher is great at helping you with). Scales are great to work on for a few reasons:
1. fingerboard familiarity
2. working out position shifts
3. working on both right and left hand control for phrasing "

i dunno how to quote ppl but thats by ed fuqua

i think im gonna be takin some lessons in the near future.

Howard K · #7 08-08-2002, 06:34 AM

Hey Creepy...
yep, I know exactly what you mean.

The problem I'm having is that after all my rehersals & gigs I've got one or two evenings a week left and I just want to chill out with my girlfriend, family, friends etc...

I could happily dedicate 2 hours to practice when I get home from work each day, but sometimes when I have a 3 hour rehersal later that night I just don't want to. I really think I'm trying to do too much. I just don't any music left in me for myself after all the band commitments.

In fact I've got 2 nights and a Sunday free in the next two weeks. AAAAAAARRGGHHHHHH!!!!

The no.1 task at the back of my mind at the moment is to quit one of my bands which will free up at least one night per week, probably more.

Ed's tips are indeed very cool... one day I might use them!

cassanova · #8 08-08-2002, 10:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed Fuqua
Also on the MEMBERS search page, do a SEARCH OTHER POSTS BY THIS USER for GARD, CASSANOVA, CHRIS FITZGERALD, RAY PARKER, although most of the keyword searches are gonna turn up posts by those guys in the areas you wanna look.

I almost forgot to say this, thats a helluva compliment to me comming from you Ed.

I am still but a pipsqueek in these areas compared to those others mentioned.

Thanks!

bizzaro · #9 08-08-2002, 08:21 PM

[quote]Originally posted by cassanova

Quote:

Originally posted by Ed Fuqua
I would also suggest an improvisational exercise (that I'll be happy to describe in detail if your interested)

If its not too much trouble Ed, Id like to know more about this improvisational exercise. It sounds like it might be very interesting and of good use to me.

Yes Ed, Please...... I second that e notion

Jace The Bass · #10 08-11-2004, 07:34 AM

Wow Ed
That was truly inspiring once again you learn something everyday I take my hat off to you for making that thread some really good points in there
I can tell by that thread that youve exprienced some quality teachings keep up the good work

**WillPlay4Food** · #11 08-11-2004, 08:56 AM

What happened to Ed's original post?

Joshua,

Did you quote Fuqua's complete post?

Senor Bryson,

My last instructor said that even just 10 minutes a day every day on bass is worth more than 8 hours, 1 day a week. His rationale was that by playing every day you keep your technique fresh. Ever notice after you haven't played for a few days (or longer) that you have to force yourself to lighten your touch? Well, at least I do.

**WillPlay4Food** · #12 08-11-2004, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joshua

I believe so, but it's been awhile!

And you can call me "Josh"...

Hey, I call ya what it says next to your avatar. You wanna be called Josh, then change your name!

gbf · #13 08-12-2004, 01:28 PM

does anybody here got that improvisation exercise ed offered?

i'm really interested in getting it. thanks.

pontz · #14 08-13-2004, 07:30 AM

Matthew,

Great advice here for practicing. But I just wanted to say that I feel your pain. My practice habits are pretty good when I'm home a lot. Then I go away for work and the first time I pick up my bass after a trip is always a nightmare. I can't focus, I'm sloppy, etc. To fix that, when I don't play for a few days, Instead of practicing, I pick a bunch of my favorite tunes, nothing too challenging, program my CD player and play along. I just have fun, feel the groove, and the next day when I sit down to practice, I'm right beack on track. Anyway, it might help, it works for me.

Good luck,

Pontz

Scooperman · #15 08-16-2004, 12:06 PM

Sometimes when I'm struggling to find "quality" practice time, I get up earlier and practice in the morning. Not only am I fresher, but I usually get much more into my practicing (therefore more out of it!), and on top of that, it usually puts my head in a good space for the rest of the day, thanks to the "meditative" aspects of a good practice.

Dang! I think I'm gonna start doing that again tomorrow morning.

Note to self: set alarm clock back by 1 hour...