Practice plan

[mdsmith]

I was wondering if there was any place online to get a detailed practice plan. I'm working through the Bass Method books, but I'm not sure exactly what to practice and for how long. I usually do about a half hour in the evenings and about 10-15 minutes before work. What I'm looking for is the most productive way to spend this time. In other words, do exercise "A" for 5 minutes as a warm up, then do exercise "B" for 10 minutes, then work on a new bass line for 10 minutes, ect. I've seen a lot of different exercises in books, and will usually play them as I come across them, but they never become part of my daily routine. Take the quarter notes on the open strings exercise. Should this be done every day?

[MattP]

I'm not sure I have seen exactly what you are looking for, but I make my own practice plans. I use cozi.com because I like the combination of tools available.

I start by making a To Do list of my goals. I keep a 1 - 5 year goal list, a 6 month goal list, and a weekly goal list. The weekly list is what drives my weekly schedule.

I use the calendar feature to write up my schedule. I don't focus much on how much time will spend on each exercise except 1. I make sure I always have 15 minutes schedules to just play whatever I want. Everything else that goes on my schedule ties to a goal.

There is also a journal. I use that at the end of each week to track my progress.

I'm in the same boat as you regarding the amount of time per day I have to dedicate to touching my bass. I make an effort to find ways to practice that don't require I have a bass in my hand. For example, I have intervals recorded on my MP3 player. I listen to those, sing them, and use a pocket tuner to confirm I'm correct. I also do visualization exercises to play scales and arpeggios in my head, by visualizing my fingers on the fret board.

I try to limit the "not fun" exercises to 5 or 10 minutes per day. Depending on which study you read, I'm not sure you get much benefit from going a lot longer than that. I also try to make sure I have one or two days off from each exercise every week. Generally one of those days is a day away from the bass (no scheduled practice). If I pick up the bass on that day, it's only for fun.

My final piece of advice is to choose exercises that are challenging, but not overwhelming. If you can do the exercise perfectly, you're not practicing, you're rehearsing. I generally like to do an exercise without setting a tempo a few times to let my hands know what perfect feels like. I do that no more than 5 or 10 minutes on the first day. After that, I set the metronome just a little beyond my comfort level (5 to 10 bpm beyond what I can play perfectly). Then I work on it until I can play that perfectly. When I can, I bump the tempo up (or down if slow is the challenge).

[Basshoofd]

I would suggest starting to learn chord tones. Learn about chords, arpeggios and their inversions etc. That should keep you busy for a long time and will build a great foundation for your playing.

Don't worry about setting up a specific practice regimen, just find something to learn and spend time on it.

[251]

enter the phrase "here is a routine" in the 'search this thread' box (far right of the blue menu bar) on the Ask Lynn Seaton Forum; Ask Lynn Seaton - TalkBass Forums

There are 4 posts there that should interest you. 8-)