going for longer practices

[Soverntear]

Hi everyone,

So recently I've made a choice. that choice is that nothing else is as important as becoming a great bassist. I know this is not going to come any other way then with time and practice. In order to reach the goals im setting for myself over the next month i would like to work up to 3 hours a day of practice time.

Right now im sitting at 1 hour a day give or take a bit. The main wall im hitting is not knowing what else to work on. only obvious one is songs. I do warm ups, then in to hal leonard's bass method finishing with slap practice and a couple songs. I know there has to be more stuff i can work on. long and short of it, those of you who do 3 hours+ a day how do you fill the time?

[dannster]

I play my bands list of songs. My favorite songs I like jamming on and move on to new songs or artists that I want to learn.
Boom. 6-8 hours gone.

[Soverntear]

Originally Posted by dannster

I play my bands list of songs. My favorite songs I like jamming on and move on to new songs or artists that I want to learn.
Boom. 6-8 hours gone.

6-8 hours!!!! wow, much respect. seems songs really are the key to allot of things in bass

[Stumbo]

You might want to check out the link in my sig. below. Should be a few threads that have info on practicing that should take up as many hours a day you want to practice.

How about music theory, harmony, sight reading, sight singing, ear training, fret board learning, bass chords, studying piano, rhythm, scales,modes, jazz bass, walking bass, etc.

Or listening to other bass players, genres of music, live music, etc.

Playing songs in different keys, transcribing songs, writing lyric/chord charts, etc.

FYI: IME, longer practices require hourly breaks to reduce your chances of having muscle problems. Get up, move around, stretch your body, etc. There are many interweb references on specific exercises for office bound employees.

[puddin tame]

learning songs is eh, at least if you don't already know a bit of theory. and if you don't then i'd focus on that.

give a man a fish, feed him for a day. teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. every time you learn a song it's like someone is giving you a fish.

if you can dig it

[dannster]

Originally Posted by Stumbo

FYI: IME, longer practices require hourly breaks to reduce your chances of having muscle problems. Get up, move around, stretch your body, etc. There are many interweb references on specific exercises for office bound employees.

V.E.R.Y. Important!!

[BrandonBass]

One advice would be to make urself a all-rounder. Being able to slap at 200bpm is nice, but its not practical in most context.

Apart from just running through scales you can work on ur tone, experiment with effects, work on singing and playing, vocal harmonies, theory, improvisation. And of course, practise w metronome.

[devine]

Take a look at my lessons site, it might give you a few ideas... http://www.scottsbasslessons.com

When your trying to move up a gear with the amount of practice you do, sometimes it takes a few weeks for someone to settle into a routine. So, be patient and you'll be fine.

Also what really helped me was writing down what i was practicing and how long i aimed to do it for, for example...

Scales... 30mins
Arpeggios... 30mins
Rhythmical exercises... 30mins
Soloing application... 30mins
Transcribing... 30mins

etc etc...

Hope that helps,

Scott.

http://www.scottsbasslessons.com

http://www.scottdevinemusic.com