Practice routines...

[beelzelboss]

So I'm going off to College in a month, and before that time I would like to establish a practice routine. Instead of me just picking up my bass and noodling, I want something that specific. Say 1/2 an hour of scales 1/2 and hour of transcribing, stuff like that.

What I need from you guys, is exactly what to do. I've heard people say, practice scales. Okay, what scales, how should I practice them, and how can I get a list.

I also need finger exercises that I can do on bass, as for dexterity and precision.

The blocking of time is not important, but what I really want is that whenever I sit down with my bass for a period of time, it's not just me plucking around and playing stuff I learned years ago.

I would like it to touch on reading sheet music (sight reading), dexterity exercises, transcribing bass lines, practicing scales (and more importantly how to practice those scales), and if you guys do something on a daily basis that I have not included, please list it here.

Also, if you don't have the links immediately ready, just give a description of it, and I will find it. I'm really looking for what to do with my time, and how to do it more than the websites and stuff.

Thanks a ton guys!

[Matthew_84]

Yeah, the one thing I can say is try not to put all of these routines into one day. I tried to do all of this stuff in one day and it turned into 2 hour long practice sessions, and though I improved a lot, after a couple of weeks I was bored as hell and lost all motivation. Plus, my schedule is just too hectic to guarantee two hours of playing every night.

The key thing to do is to set goals, set one or two goals and really focus on improving them with routines that you have created that work on your faults. Whenever you have extra time then jam, play along to songs you love, and/or improvise. Got some extra time? Work on some other aspect (like transcribing). Once you accomplish a goal, take away that routine and make a new goal and a routine to work on it.

I should say that sheet reading is probably an important thing to do almost every day.

But you asked for some routines so I'll go through one thing that I'm currently working on. Right now my goal is understanding chords better and improving my speed.

First I'll set the metronome to say 50 BPM, and play 1/16ths notes. I'll play an ionian scale, get the sound of it in my head. Say I do it in the key of C, I'll play C D E F G A B C, and then in 1/16ths I'll play each diatonic chord of that scale in ascending order than then descend four times and ascend to the next chord.

Cmaj7 - C,E,G,B-B,G,E,C (x4)
Dmin7 - D,F,A,C-C,A,F,D (x4)
Emin7 - E,G,B,D-D,B,G,E (x4)
Fmaj7 - F,A,C,E-E,C,A,F (x4)
G7 - G,B,D,F-F,D,B,G (x4)
Amin7 - A,C,E,G-G,E,C,A (x4)
Bmin7b5 - B,D,F,A-A,F,D,B (x4)

Once I've played the seventh chord of that mode (Bmin7b5) then I'll descend back down using the chords and eventually get back to the root.

Then I bump the metronome up two steps (in this ex. 54 BPM) and practice the seven modes: ionian, dorian, phrygian, lydian, mixolydian, aeolian, and locrian, and then I'll bump the metronome up two more settings to 58BPM, and just play 1/16ths on one string and do various fingering exercises but in one position.

The next day I'll start one setting faster 52BPM, but do the appreggios in a different key and mode (IE. F# Dorian), then the modes at 56BPM, and then noodle around at 60 BPM. This works on my chords as well as increasing my speed. I only move up once I get comfortable and play perfectly at that speed.

But I just kind of realized that I'm playing all of these things in one position so maybe I'll change it up so that in the second step, I'll play each mode all over the fretboard, start with the lowest note I can play in that mode, and do about two and a half octaves and get up to the highest note of that mode that I can play and then descend again.

[pilmat]

I'm sure others will chime in, but these came straight to mind. For dexterity you can try Overthrow's "Bass Workout" book and look into Wooten's talks on scales (I have it in his Groove Workshop video). The book will give a structured method and the Wooten's scales approach is quite simply to keep it musical but he outlines a couple of techniques (also look up his metronome method for learning to lock in time). Both merely require a metronome and your bass.

[MattP]

The first thing I suggest is to do some research on deliberate practice. Start with a Google search and then maybe pick up a book like "The Talent Code" or "Talent is Overrated" at the library. The general gist is to practice things that are just beyond your current capabilities at all times.

My current practice schedule include daily site reading and 2 of the 24 left hand finger permutations at a speed a little faster than I can do perfectly (on all strings and working my way up the neck and back down). I work on rhythm reading exercises at least 4 days a week using a book called Encyclopedia of Reading Rhythms.

Most songs are in either a major or minor key. I've moved past the major scale right now and I'm working on diatonic arpeggios of the major scale. When I was working on the major scale, I focused on 1 key per day. I would visualize where every note in that key was on the neck. I generally did that during lunch break at work. During practice I would play every note in that key on my bass.

I have a few ear training exercises I'm working on. I do one of these every day, but generally only one. One exercise is to pick one particular interval. I will start at a particular note and sing the interval from that note up and then from the up note back down. I then work my way up chromatically for a full octave. I will accompany myself on bass for the first few, but after that I sing without my bass.

Another ear training exercise I use is I pick an note and sing all intervals in one octave, up and down.

The final ear training exercise I do is hum along with songs in and learn how to play them on bass.

I make sure every practice session has at least 15 minutes set aside to just jam. That's my fun time, not practice time.

[Onlyhestands]

Try doing some practice with a metronome set to play 2 and 4. Make sure you practice playing all sorts of tempos too. Personally I find it much harder to feel and play on a very slow speed, so I spend a lot of practice time with a metronome as slow as it can go.

[mattbass6945]

also, check out things like webmetronome.com, and google "monkey machine" for a online drum machine. those have helped me quite a bit.

[basskidd]

I'm gonna have a lot of time on my hands to practice starting in about mid-August for two weeks before I go back to college, and so formulated this routine:

Scales in all 12 keys, through two octaves (up the neck); linear & by intervals (start on the lowest note available):
- Chromatic warm-up (not many people practice the chromatic scale, but its not unimportant)
- Greek Modes

- Arpeggios & triads of a key

- Chords!

- Maj/Min7, Dom7, 1/2 Dim, Dim, Sus4, 6, Maj/Min 9, etc.
- Root position, 1st inversion, etc.
- Through the key, all the way up the neck, one (two, three, etc.) string(s) only, everything!
- Chord Harmonizations

- Harmonic & Melodic Minor
- Pentatonic!
- Bebop Scale
- Augmented & Diminished
- Whole-tone scale
- Lydian-Dominant? (#4 / b7) (I haven't really practiced this one myself, but thought it could be interesting)

Rhythms
- Metronome!
- Simple divisions (eighth, quarter, sixteenth, tuplet, etc) warm-up
- Rhythm sheets (something like this: https://schoolweb.dysart.org/Teacher...m%20Sheets.pdf Do it over one note first, then do a scale over it)

Reading
- Bach (great for practicing reading, I'm gonna start working on this book soon: http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Suite...2336829&sr=1-5)
- Chord Charts (this is a great website for chord charts: http://www.realbook.us/Default.aspx you can either have the site transpose them into keys for you, or do it in your head on-the-fly)

- Walking

- 1 string only, 2 strings only, 3 strings only, etc.
- Limit movement to only moving up the fretboard, then down, start in the middle, etc.

- Playing Chords Only

- Use pedal, then harmonize chords on-the-fly

- Playing Melodies over chords (where there is notation)
- Sing melody over chords
- Move through a few different keys with it all

- Find something to sightread

-Chords (linear & walking) & Notation

Improv
- New chord progression every day, use the pedal

Transcribe
- Find a short melody to transcribe

I guess the only thing I don't have are specific amounts of time to spend on each. I was just gonna do it till its done. I'm sure someone else could give you a good time-frame to spend on each if they think I've got something goin.

Some notes:

Where I say 'use pedal' or something similar, I'm referring to
a loop pedal that I have.

Even though you might not really ever have to use some of the scales, LEARN THEM. It will open up the fretboard for you.

Do three things every day:
1. Read, read, read. (Sightread & practice reading, both notation & chord charts)
2. Transcribe SOMETHING by ear (even if its as short as the Simpsons theme)
3. Improvise using a loop pedal if you have one, or just put on one of your favorite songs, find the key, and go to town. (Have some fun with it!)

Hope this helps

PS
This looks to be a pretty good (free) ebook for sightreading: http://www.lightandmatter.com/sight/sight.html Its not all in Bass clef, but learning to read in treble clef won't hurt your playing. Matter of fact it might help.

Also, sorry about some of the weird formatting - I had that typed up in textedit and when I copied & pasted it got all excited...

One last thing - like with Matthew, don't do this all in one day. Haha. Try and figure out what would be most beneficial for you to work on in one day (what follows what best) and go from there.

[beelzelboss]

Wow, thats a lot of stuff.

basskidd, can you elaborate on
Arpeggios & triads of a key

- Chords!

- Maj/Min7, Dom7, 1/2 Dim, Dim, Sus4, 6, Maj/Min 9, etc.
- Root position, 1st inversion, etc.
- Through the key, all the way up the neck, one (two, three, etc.) string(s) only, everything!
- Chord Harmonization

please? Keep in mind, I'm right at the start of learning music theory, so please bear with me.

[basskidd]

Sure.

In any scale, the notes are all given numbers (called scale degrees) from 1 up to 8 (within an octave) and then up to ... I guess 16 in the second octave. [Scale degrees are usually written with a little ^ over the number]

Now, chords can be built off of any of the scale degrees, each with their own tonality (major or minor). [When writing about chords like this, we use Roman Numerals. A capital roman numeral is a Major Chord, and a lower case roman numeral is a minor chord: I is a Major chord built on the first scale degree]. Through the scale, the tonalities are as follows:
I ii iii IV V vi vii˚

[V is a dominant chord]
[vii˚ means a diminished chord]

So, in the key of C major, the chords would be as follows:

CMaj Dmin Emin FMaj GMaj (Dom 7) Amin Bdim

For my practice, I thought it would useful to first learn the chords of the scale all the way up the neck. When I said 'Root position, first inversion, second inversion, third inversion' I was referring to the way the chords are stacked. Root position means that the root of the chord in the lowest [frequency] note (i.e. on the bottom), first inversion means that the third of the chord is on the bottom, second inversion means that the fifth of the chord is on the bottom, and third inversion means that the 7th of the chord is on the bottom.

Now come the specific chords. I'll give you the intervals by which they're built in Root Position, a description of the Scale Degrees, as well as an example [it is worth noting though, that the 'scale degrees' act more as 'chord degrees' here. They don't necessarily have to refer directly to the scale, but rather show the tonality of the different notes used to build the chord. 1 is the root, 3 is the third, 5 the fifth, 6 the sixth, 7 the seventh, etc.]:

Major 7 Chords (Maj7, sometimes ∆7):

Root to third of the chord is a Major Third
Third to fifth of the chord is a Minor Third
Fifth to Seventh of the chord is a Major Third

The Scale degrees are as follows:
1 3 5 7 [All natural within the Major scale when built on I]

If the chord were built on E:
I - E G# B D#

Minor 7 Chords (min7, sometimes -7):

Root to third of the chord is a Minor Third
Third to fifth of the chord is a Major Third
Fifth to Seventh of the chord is a Minor Third

The scale degrees:
1 b3 5 b7 [These would all be natural within the Minor scale when the chord is built on i]

If the chord were built on g [lower case means minor here too]:
i - G Bb D F

Dominant 7 Chords (7, Dom7, or Dom):

Root to third of the chord is a Major Third
Third to fifth of the chord is a Minor Third
Fifth to Seventh of the chord is a Minor Third

The scale degrees:
1 3 5 b7

Were the chord built on F:
V7: F A C Eb
[V is always dominant in the Major and Minor scales of the greek modes]

1/2 Diminished Chords (ø, sometimes 1/2 dim):

Root to third of the chord is a Minor Third
Third to fifth of the chord is a Minor Third
Fifth to Seventh of the chord is a Major Third

The scale degrees:
1 b3 b5 b7

If the chord were build on a:
iiø - A C Eb G [ø means half diminished, and should appear as the fully diminished sign did above - in the upper right corner. I just couldn't figure out how to format it as such... Here, ii is half diminished, because we would be dealing with a minor scale. Its just kinda the way things work... haha]

Fully Diminished Chords (˚, or dim):

Root to third of the chord is a Minor Third
Third to fifth of the chord is a Minor Third
Fifth to Seventh of the chord is a Minor Third

The scale degrees:
1 b3 b5 bb7

Were the chord built on b:
vii˚: B D F Ab

Major or Minor 6 chords [These are chords that play the 6th of the scale instead of the 7th]:

Scale degrees for Major 6:
1 3 5 6

Scale degrees for Minor 6:
1 b3 5 b6

Sus4 Chords are Chords that play the 4th of the chord instead of the third:

Scale degrees:
1 4 5
[I haven't spent too much time on these kinds of chords, so am not sure if a 7th would be included, or whether there are Major or Minor specifications...]

9th Chords [These are chords that add the 9th of the scale (that would be scale degree 2 an octave up) on top of the chord]:

Scale degrees for Major 9:
1 3 5 7 9 [if its built on a major chord]
1 b3 5 b7 9 [if its built on a minor chord]

Scale degrees for minor 9:
1 3 5 7 b9 [if its built on a major chord]
1 b3 5 b7 b9 [if its built on a minor chord]

My knowledge of 9th chords is still a little shaky, but the way I understand it is that Major would imply that the 9th is a whole-step away from the octave, while Minor would imply that the 9th is a half-step away from the octave. Though, if this is incorrect, someone please step in and correct it.

What I meant by "through the key, one string, two strings, etc." was in terms of how I want to do the arpeggio exercise. I'd start allowing myself to use all my strings, and go all the way up the neck (up 12 frets from where you started, so if you start on the 'G' on the 'E' string (third fret) finish on the next 'G' on the 'E' string), then all the way back down playing the same arpeggio. Then I would start to take strings away from myself. I would only allow myself to play on two strings, then only on one, then maybe on three, and so on and so forth.

Now, Chord Harmonizations. This is where learning all the chords so well pays off big time. Lets start on a Major 7th chord [Sadly, I'm not too sure about the theory behind this, so won't be able to explain it in as much detail...]:

The Major 7th chord, as we've seen, is built by the 'Scale' degrees
1 3 5 7
But there is more to it. You can harmonize this chord (starting on any note) like this: play a Minor 7th chord starting on the 3, a Major 7th starting on the 5, or a Minor 7th starting on the 7. You can also use these specific chord tones and patterns when you solo, which adds some really cool tonality (if you look closely at the notes, you'll see you're playing #9s, b11's, and all that cool stuff.

It works with Minor 7th chords too. The 'scale' degrees are:
1 b3 5 b7
Now, in order to harmonize this kind of chord, play a Major 7th chord starting on the b3, a Minor 7th chord starting on the 5, or a Major 7th chord starting on the 7.

This also works with Dominant 7th chords, but it deals largely with diminished harmonizations, and I don't really remember how it goes... haha

I hope this has helped. Let me know if you have any other questions about anything I've said.

[basskidd]

I was thinking, and I realize that conceptualizing scales up to the 12th fret can be difficult on your own. I sure as couldn't do it. This book is great for that though, as well as chords: http://www.amazon.com/GT3-Grimoire-C...2433305&sr=1-1
Its basically an encyclopedia or maybe an index of any kind of scale you can think of, and it shows all keys and all positions. It shows a lot of chords too.
This website is also really helpful for scales: GUITAR SCALES

Like I said, feel free to ask about anything I've said. This is a great way for me to brush up on some theory while on vacation!