Is my practice session to weak/stale/repetitive?

[Cippola]

I am a begginer bassist. I have read the practice threads, and gotten alot out of reading them. The music teacher at my school gave me a free copy of David Overthrow's Begining Electric Bass. I like it, but I am in question as to if there is a better book out there. But my uncle told me in the end, books and teachers are nothing, practice time is the most important. Anyways...

On Page 18 of Mr Overthrow's book, there is a finger warm up exercise. It is bassicaly playing the major scale in a prolonged pattern (3rd fret 5th fret on E string, 2nd fret on A string, 3rd fret E string, 5th fret E string, 2nd fret A string, 3rd Fret A string, 5th Fret E string, 2nd fret A string, ect...) in that pattern. Than it goes back down. It advises to play it at a slow tempo (63...whatever you call what you set your metrenome to). Than gradually play it faster. When I play it fast, I feel my fingers start to burn. I figure this is a good thing, so this is pretty much what my practice routine consists of. I figure building up finger strength and speed is important, as bass requires more than guitar (I started playing acoustic guitar, but I dropped that in a few months as my interest in bass swelled).

But is this to repetitive? I know it's doing good for the strength of my fingers, but I want to know what you guys would suggest. this isn't all I do, after I play this several times, I attempt to improvise in various major scales (Not to good at improv yet, but I want to get better at this because my favorite musicians belong to jam bands). Than I practice some rock songs by means of tabs.

I know the tabs are bad...I really don't want that crutch, I want to learn how to sight read. I almost had it in treble clef, (I am still in my beggining acoustic guitar class in school, but I am definately more dedicated to bass) so switching to bass clef was a little challenging, than I just got lazy with the whole music theory thing.

But anyways, please, any advice or suggestions for my practice routine is welcome.

[Trestles]

Hi Cippola,

It sounds like you're on the right track. My recommendation is to focus more on building proper technique than on building strength. Strong fingers will happen on their own. You don't need to force it. Good technique does NOT happen on its own. It is something that needs to be carefully developed.

Here are just a few questions you should ask yourself:

- Are your shoulders hunched or is your arm hanging naturally?
- Is your wrist bent at an akward angle or is it as straight as possible?
- Are your fingers tense or are they relaxed?
- Are you forcing the strings against the frets or are you using a minimum amount of pressure?

If you have good technique you shouldn't feel like you need a lot of finger strength. Playing should feel effortless. It should look easy.

Other than working on technique I would suggest spending some time training your ear and developing your sense of time. I came from the guitar world, too, and I was pretty bad at these. After a year of playing bass I have improved these areas. But it takes time (years even) so begin early! I would be so much farther along if I started training these things earlier. Even a few minutes a day will make a huge impact.

Trestles

[tZer]

Divide up you practice into phases:
1. stretching and warm-up
2. scales and arpeggios
3. song work
4. warm-down

!! Always use a metronome !! (Drum machines are fine too)

Trying to develop strength and dexterity when you are not properly warmed up is counter productive, so beginning with good warm-ups and really focusing on getting your muscles warm, loose and ready to roll it important.

When you start your scales and arpeggios, set your metronome to a nice slow tempo and make sure you are getting every note well played, even and consistent - all the way up the neck - all the way down the neck. Don't let yourself move up in tempo until you have absolutely dominated the exercise you are on.

Gradually tick up the tempo, ensuring you are playing well technique-wise (even, solid, consistent) and continue until you are crusing and hit your upper tempo limit. It feels good when you take your scales (and especially the arpeggios) up to a tempo that you could not get to the day before.

Now you should be all playin' ready. Break out your songs, tick on that metronome and start playing. Again, if you are not nailing the pieces, drop the tempo to a place were you nail them with no mistakes and rock-solid technique. Only up the tempo after you nail it at the current BPM.

If you can get through the first 10 or 15 minutes with your head focused on the task at hand and not dreaming of becoming Billy Sheehan right now, you can get lots of pleasure out of knowing you can do the technical exercises right, consistently and reliably. You will also be amazed at how quickly you see progress in your ability to play things you couldn't play before.

The key is patience and focusing on the little things. The big things will take care of themselves.

[Attenergy]

Thank you tZer for that reply ... I am a begining bassist as well and this advice is great! I am one who wants to be Billy Sheehan, Stanley Clarke and Brian Bromberg and I lose patience with myself regarding the point of the journey that I am in (the beginning). Sometimes I say is it all worth it?!? Will I get to where they are ever?!?! Then I remember, the journey to a thousand miles begins with one step. so I continue to plug even though some nights I come home and I can't get more than a half hour but I try to do something. There's a lot of great information on this site as Cippola mentioned (and I am glad you, Cippola started this thread because I can't wait to see what priceless information comes out of it from these guys with such vast knowledge of this bass playing process who are a part of this site).

tZer thanks for the beakdown of the parctice session. That will help as well.

Cippola, there is a thread (if you did not visit it already) from "Pacman" that is phenomanal!!! tons of information on that thread regarding practice regimens, what should be practiced etc. Very powerful dialougue!!! Hope that helps!!

[jaebee]

i would also add, be sure that you are incorporating theory into your practice, and as vic. wooten said, make it musical. remember that when practicing scales, dont be afraid to skip around or play different patterns, just be sure to do it fluently and to keep time

this will help with improvisation in the future and also for adding non-repetitive fills

[KayCee]

Originally Posted by Cippola

But my uncle told me in the end, books and teachers are nothing, practice time is the most important. Anyways...

No offense to your uncle, but this just isn't true. It's not just putting in practice time that counts, it's WHAT you practice. For a beginner, it's important to have the guidance of a qualified teacher to keep you from getting into bad habits. A qualified teacher can also help to steer you towards method books that are well-written and teach proper fundimentals.

IMO, you don't need any finger-strengthening or warm-up exercises to play the bass. The act of playing the instrument on the scales and patterns you should be working on will be plenty to strengthen your hands. Also, if you haven't had your instrument adjusted and set-up by a professional, do it now. You shouldn't need a vice-grip to push the strings down.

The best way to learn music theory and build technique is to study jazz, whether or not that's the kind of music that you're most interested in.

Good luck!

Andy