How many hour's do you practice a week?

AcousticBass · #1 06-04-2005, 04:19 PM

Brandt Scanlan · #2 06-04-2005, 04:50 PM

Not enough...

Actually, I play quite a lot. Unfortunately, it's not very serious practicing. I can never sit and play scales or repeat the same riff, partly because I find it to be boring and partly because my roommates would kill me.

Peter Squire · #3 06-04-2005, 04:56 PM

Does gigging count as practice?

AcousticBass · #4 06-04-2005, 05:24 PM

nah gig=not practice i mean like sitting in your room practice

seanm · #5 06-04-2005, 06:01 PM

How about band practice, does that count?

Twelve · #6 06-04-2005, 06:08 PM

Just playing, period, counts as practice. Don't practice too much, because your fingers need rest so the muscles can heal and you're playing can improve.

Brendan · #7 06-04-2005, 06:16 PM

I dunno. 8-10 a week, I guess. About an hour a day, total, plus odd tinkering when a riff strikes.

BurningSkies · #8 06-04-2005, 06:31 PM

It depends on the day and our playing schedule, but I play between 1.75 & 3 hours a day, sometimes more. On days we gig I try to get at least an hour+ in before playing (we do 3 hours on stage).

I usually try to take one day off from bass a week, but sometimes I can't not play. I usually try to take the day after a show off, less because of the playing, and more because my hands are sore from moving heavy gear.

CamMcIntyre · #9 06-04-2005, 06:39 PM

Practicing? During the school year i practiced at least an hour every day on my own. Sometimes-i practiced for 3 hrs in a day if i was having particular problems with a passage. In rehearsel-it used to be 3-7hrs a day, but no more high school and summer jazz band starts in a bout a week and a half[playing with a local university {purdue} jazz band this summer].

So far this summer-on a good day i've practiced for 3 hours. However, i'm trying to get into a routine where it's 4-5hrs daily. We'll see how well that turns out.

So least 7hrs a week of on my own practicing, with no more than 35hrs of on my own time. Adding in rehearsels, i think i'd max out around 45hrs for this time of year.

That's all

Squidfinger · #10 06-04-2005, 11:08 PM

Not enough. 1-2 hours a day. Not enough to make any real progress

.

I get so mad at myself sometimes

. If it's not laziness it's something unexpected popping up. For some reason the hardest part for me sometimes is just sitting down in my practice room and pluggin the bass in. When I do that I'll sit there and play for atleast an hour, enjoy myself, and wonder why I was a little anxious about playing.

Something's wrong with me.

AcousticBass · #11 06-05-2005, 07:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squidfinger

Not enough. 1-2 hours a day. Not enough to make any real progress

.

I get so mad at myself sometimes

. If it's not laziness it's something unexpected popping up. For some reason the hardest part for me sometimes is just sitting down in my practice room and pluggin the bass in. When I do that I'll sit there and play for atleast an hour, enjoy myself, and wonder why I was a little anxious about playing.

Something's wrong with me.

So is it that you find bass a little boring? well your not the only one man, doesnt mean your not a true bassist or anything just because you find it boring, i used to find it boring back in the old days, like last year and stuff.

Squidfinger · #12 06-05-2005, 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcousticBass

So is it that you find bass a little boring? well your not the only one man, doesnt mean your not a true bassist or anything just because you find it boring, i used to find it boring back in the old days, like last year and stuff.

No, it's not that I find bass boring. It's that I find practicing the same way everyday is starting to seriously get to me (learning by ear from CD's).

I want to play with people

. I know other people that play it's that there's always extenuating (sp?) circumstances.

1) They jam together so infrequently now I would never ask to sit in. It would take away from their time.

2) They're ALOT better than me. It would be a train wreck if I sat in right now. I would need to gradually work my way in.

3) Their bassist wants to get better at guitar and he wants to play with me but some stupid crap always comes up. Too drunk, too lazy, too many people over, etc.

I've looked at musician wanted ads but I can't find any body else that wants to play anything close to what I want to play (power metal or stoner metal).

.

eric234 · #13 06-05-2005, 11:21 AM

yea i figure i'm getting in about and hour and a half a day

Aaron Saunders · #14 06-05-2005, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squidfinger

Not enough. 1-2 hours a day. Not enough to make any real progress

.

I get so mad at myself sometimes

. If it's not laziness it's something unexpected popping up. For some reason the hardest part for me sometimes is just sitting down in my practice room and pluggin the bass in. When I do that I'll sit there and play for atleast an hour, enjoy myself, and wonder why I was a little anxious about playing.

Something's wrong with me.

That's more than plenty of time to improve, the problem is you're not really using your practice time. You can make progress on half an hour a day, if you're using your time well. Check out Jazzbo's threads on practice routines for some great pointers.

My practice time on electric has become very irregular. I've noticed progress in the last few months, but not as much as I would've wished, because I've spent most of my practice and bass time on DB at school. I play DB for at least 7 hours a week, but most times a lot more (the 7 hours a week is if I'm crazy busy during the day.) When I get my own DB, which shouldn't be *too* far off (maybe a few weeks, if all goes well) I'm going to be practicing like mad. My frustration is that I want to transcribe jazz, but the stuff I'm transcribing is primarily DB music, and I hate playing it on electric. Just feels wrong. Transcribing at school is a pain because I practice the DB in the back room during a percussion class, so for the next two weeks until the end of school I'm gonna take it down to a much quieter location where I otherwise spend my spare periods (the drama room when there aren't any classes there.)

RevGroove · #15 06-05-2005, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brandt Scanlan

Not enough...

+1

With three kids, a full time job, band practices and gigs, just not enough time to learn new techniques...I'm trying to create time for that though, cuz old techniques=staleness after awhile...

BurningSkies · #16 06-05-2005, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AcousticBass

So is it that you find bass a little boring? well your not the only one man, doesnt mean your not a true bassist or anything just because you find it boring, i used to find it boring back in the old days, like last year and stuff.

If you find practicing boring, than you're not practicing properly.

There are plenty of ways to learn and keep you entertained at the same time.

And if you find playing bass boring, you need to either find new people to play with, new styles to play in or pick a different instrument/thing to do.

sobie18 · #17 06-07-2005, 05:50 AM

Maybe an hour a week...I would LOVE to sit & practice for 4-6 every night but I work 10-12 hrs a day. Need an easy day job...

Phe · #18 06-07-2005, 06:28 AM

I try to "practice" everyday for few hours. It's more like doodling with my bass, but I notice little improvement from time to time.

I usually practice in front of my computer so I can read exercises from the net.

I accepted that I am probably not going to be the next Jaco so I'm going to take this easy.

Maybe someday I'll find a band... le sigh.

AcousticBass · #19 06-07-2005, 07:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Squidfinger

No, it's not that I find bass boring. It's that I find practicing the same way everyday is starting to seriously get to me (learning by ear from CD's).

I want to play with people

. I know other people that play it's that there's always extenuating (sp?) circumstances.

1) They jam together so infrequently now I would never ask to sit in. It would take away from their time.

2) They're ALOT better than me. It would be a train wreck if I sat in right now. I would need to gradually work my way in.

3) Their bassist wants to get better at guitar and he wants to play with me but some stupid crap always comes up. Too drunk, too lazy, too many people over, etc.

I've looked at musician wanted ads but I can't find any body else that wants to play anything close to what I want to play (power metal or stoner metal).

.

hey i want to play power metal also, you live in michigan?

GSPLBASSDC · #20 06-07-2005, 07:33 AM

I don't practice everyday....rather I'll do about 7 hours per week split between band practice and 2 church gigs (3 separate days).

Then I'll take 1 or 2 days and work on technique, scales, form, etc.

I find that practicing 4-5 days per week helps to alleviate some of the staleness that can come from practicing everyday and gets me motivated after a few days off.