Playing with your bass but not praticing

[Brad Johnson]

Originally Posted by mattmcnewf

I have recently started the rule that i should always have my bass on my shoulders when i'm in my room or watching TV. As a way of getting more pratice hours in but how useful is this. Because i will just be mmessing around with my bass. I might just run through scales but i won't really be listen so is there much of a point.

He doesn't appear to be saying use this as a substitute for any other form of practice. That sseems to be what people automatically want to assume.

If he is saying that this will be a substitute for a more focused regimen I agree, it's not what I'd recommend either. I didn't get that from his post. Did anyone else?



As far as practicing instead of watching tv, sure you can do that. You can also do it instead of socializing, eating, bathing or any of a littany of things that otherwise consume time. Practicing is important but there's always context to consider.

YMMV

[jive1]

To add my crappy 2 cents to this discussion.

The problem with not doing focused practice is that it reinforces bad habits. If you are playing in front of the TV and not paying attention to what you are practicing, you may find that you are not working on your weaknesses. If you let your mind focus on the TV, while forgetting about your hands, there's a good chance that you might be missing an area of improvement. For example, if you have a problem with wrapping your thumb around the fretboard and you do it unconsciously, playing in front of the TV isn't going to help the issue unless you consciously work to remedy it. Once you go into autopilot, you're not paying attention to it. If you're not paying attention to it, then you aren't going to fix it.

Personally, I had to move two steps backward in order to move one step forward. I was a guy with bad technique, and it took me years to improve it, break bad habits, and form new ones. It wasn't done by noodling around, it was done with focused practice. Now I just need to practice what I preach and return to focused practice.

[Erlendur Már]

I realized a while ago that I wasted 4 years of my playing (I've been playing for 7). Well, I learned some songs when I had a gig, but I usually just played in front of the TV or the computer. When I started playing classical guitar again (about a year ago) I started to sit down and actually practice. I think I have improved a lot as a musician since then.