How Much do you Familly (Wo)Men Practice?

tycobb73 · #1 12-06-2006, 10:37 AM

Ok, so I'm 33 and have a wife, a child, and another on the way. I told my teacher that I practice about 4-5 hours a week and he said that's the most of any of his students. I know many of you young kids practice hours a day but how about you people with young kids and a wife? Just curious.

Tony G · #2 12-06-2006, 10:45 AM

I don't have any kids, but with my job and wife, it can be hard to set aside time. We are planning on starting a family in the next year or so, so it could get real hectic for me. Out side of my current standard of practicing for 3 hours ever wednesday night with my band, I try to pick up the bass and practice for an hour here or there, but I don't really have a rigid timeframe for it. It is more or less whenever I feel I have the time and energy for it. Of course, it just isn't as fun as getting together with a band to rehearse, so as of late I've been trying to jam with more people more often, as opposed to just picking up the instrument and forcing myself to play alone.

Matthew Bryson · #3 12-06-2006, 11:00 AM

Band rehearsal - 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours, 2 times per week

Home Practice - 1 to 2 hours, 2 to 4 times per week during the week and 2 to 4 hours each day on Saturdays and Sundays.

It definitely varies, depending on what my family has going on. On average I'd say I play bass for a minimum of 10 hours per week which includes band rehearsals, but usually it's closer to 20. I have a wife, 2 kids, I work an average of 60 hours per week which includes some night shifts and some weekend work, and I take my son to cub scouts 1 night per week.

I try to practice when ever I can, especially when I have opportunities that do not conflict with "family time". My kids get up fairly early for the school bus, so they have a 9:00 PM bed time. Every night that I don't have band rehearsal, I try to spend the evening with my kids then practice between 9:00 and 10:00 or 11:00. While they are in bed.

bmc · #4 12-06-2006, 11:15 AM

I never practice. No time.

Skel · #5 12-06-2006, 11:23 AM

I don't call it practice when I'm playing at home. I'm just noodling or trying to perfect a passage I noticed I was weak on at rehearsal, and sometimes that results in me creating an exercise, like using only my index finger for the entire passage in order to strengthen that lazy finger.

Neb Maro · #6 12-06-2006, 11:23 AM

Like XGabriel, I don't have kids, but with my wife and school my practicing is erratic. Sometimes it is as much as 4-5 hours in a week, other times it is as little as 1 hour. As I just started with bass, I'm not gigging, so I don't get the benefits of rehearsals.
When I go back to working full time in Jan. I'll either have to take my bass to work to practice or wait until the weekends.
Mid-week will be filled up with school, study, wife and trying to have some friendships. So practicing will probably average from 1 to 2 hours a week.
Can't imagine what school, study, work, wife, friends AND a kid (planning to have one in the next year or two) will do.

Jazz Ad · #7 12-06-2006, 11:27 AM

Everyday, from 30 seconds to several hours depending on how much time I have.
I don't really practice actually but I need to play everyday.

pointbass · #8 12-06-2006, 11:31 AM

Well, the kids are grown so this probably doesn't help much ....

I gig a fair amount between bar dates and recordings, so my practice time is not at all what it used to be. But I still get at least 45 mins to 1 hour a day when it's not a "gig day".

But, when the kids were smaller I was working 6-8 dates a week, so I rarely had time to practice at all. And when my kids were still in school we didn't have all of these after school activities that the newer generation of parents need to contend with. I don't know how some of you have the time to practice at all .....

bassguitar · #9 12-06-2006, 11:34 AM

I have an 18 month old, and I try to get in about 1 hour/day after he goes to bed. It's certainly a lot quieter practice then it used to be!

Sundogue · #10 12-06-2006, 11:36 AM

I have four kids (ages 18 months to 13 years) and they are either into everything, or involved in everything.

My band rehearses once a week (from about 6:30 to 11:30 PM).

The rest of the week, I really have no time at night to practice on my own, but I get the older boys up to catch the school bus by 6:15, so every morning from about 5:00 AM until 6:00 AM, I go over the new material. My cover band learns about 4 new songs a week (that we add to our extensive 200+ song list). I practice through my Tascam CD-BT1MKII or my new Zoom B2 using headphones, so I don't bother anyone.

Usually before an upcoming gig, I'll go over some of the older, but more complex songs we already know, just to get back up to speed on them.

So I probably practice on my own for about an hour every morning, and almost nothing on the weekends. Whenever I'm not playing a gig on the weekend, I'm spending the time with my family.

I'd say it's a pretty good balance. Sometimes the band will take a few weeks off of rehearsals, so I don't even touch my bass during that time. Then it's all family time. It also makes for a nice break from music, and then we we get back into it, we are recharged and ready to play hard again.

Matthew Bryson · #11 12-06-2006, 11:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wanderer81

Can't imagine what school, study, work, wife, friends AND a kid (planning to have one in the next year or two) will do.

Sorry for the brief thread high jack here, but Wanderer81 - I highly recommend that you wait to start your family until you have completed school and have started working for a living.

dave64o · #12 12-06-2006, 11:49 AM

Like most of the other family guys, I do most of my practicing after my son (9 years old) goes to bed. Unfortunately with his sports schedules these, sometimes practices or games go pretty late at night during the week so I'm getting even few opportunities. I worry about burnout with him being involved in so much at his age, but he says he loves what he's doing and since it keeps him away from video games most of the time, it doesn't seem all that bad. But still ....

Anyway, right now he's in two basketball leagues (one travel and one in-town) and one winter indoor soccer league (his travel soccer team plays one age group up in the winter) and he's taking trumpet lessons. On top of that, my wife is away on business about half of the time. I'd never be able to commit to a band with that kind of demand on my time and even the little bit of writing and recording I was doing with a friend is down to almost nothing.

Makes me almost look forward to him becoming a teenager and wanting nothing to do with me for a few years.

MakiSupaStar · #13 12-06-2006, 11:51 AM

Married with a 3 year old son. I rehearse 1-2 times a week for a total of
5-6 hours.

At home, for starters, I'm not plugging in as much unless I have something I need to work out. So when I practice at home, I'm either on my acoustic bass, but now that I play a 5 string more, I've been playing that unplugged or with headphones more. I play about 3-4 times a week at home for about 2 hours. Mostly after my son goes to bed. On the weekends I might sneak an hour in, but that's usually with my son trying to play too (which becomes more of a exploratory thing for him), but I still count that. At least I have my bass in hand. Sometimes, I'm able to get about 45 minutes in my classroom (I'm a teacher) afterschool.

mike phillips · #14 12-06-2006, 06:29 PM

43 yr old married fat guy with a 14 yr old. i practice 2 hrs every night. weekends 4-6 hours a day. i am a night person, i sleep 3 hours a night. bein up for 21 hours a day gives one alot of time to play.

Neb Maro · #15 12-06-2006, 06:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Bryson

Sorry for the brief thread high jack here, but Wanderer81 - I highly recommend that you wait to start your family until you have completed school and have started working for a living.

Sorry for contributing to the highjack, but...

Thanks for the advice Matthew.
Having children is highly dependent upon my wife becoming successful in her Mary Kay business. She is a consultant now (as well as being a high school teacher) and wants to become a director by next summer. If she achieves directorship, she will be pulling in as much income as she does with full time teaching. She will also be at home and thus can care for a child.
Because I have to go back to working full time, I will not even see the school finish line for another 5 years yet. (I started late because I worked after high school)

Maybe I'll get lucky and get hooked up with a gigging band. That'd be pickin awesome.

**baba** · #16 12-07-2006, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmc

I never practice. No time.

Same here. Unless there's a new song I have to learn. Also, I play in two bands that get paying gigs. It works out nicely!

Baryonyx · #17 12-07-2006, 07:57 AM

I try to get in an hour a night. It's not easy having so much stuff on though, so I sneak little 15 minute playing sessions in around everything else I have to do!

jkdahlman · #18 12-07-2006, 08:05 AM

Hi all, 42 & married with a 9 year old son. I practice 2+ hours in the morning with amp, 1 in the early evening with my son (studying percussion!) with amp and another 2 after everyone's gone to bed,
headphones. The evening practice sessions get skipped on gig nights. Weekends are usually booked solid playing. Lots of mid week day gigs lately so I have to adjust. It's nice to do the stay at home dad thing during the day & play bass for a living.
John

Alexander · #19 12-07-2006, 08:42 AM

Married, three kids (9, 4 and 1), live-in mother and law, 60 hour\week job with heavy international travel.

Bass practice? Not so much...

Around 4-5 hours per month on my own to learn new material, two 4 hour band rehearsals and maybe one gig\month.

Late Boomer · #20 12-29-2006, 11:41 AM

Married, 3 kids, 6 year old twins and an 8 year old. I'm a bit of a bass newbie, but here's what I've got going on so far:

Wednesday night I've got my bass lesson. That's 60 - 90 minutes of focused time with my instructor peering intently at my hands, listening keenly, and me soaking up the knowledge.

Practice on my own is falling neatly into the time I used to squander on computer games. This means an hour or two each night, and anywhere from zero to 16 hours on the weekends, depending on what else is scheduled. I set up my bass, amp, MP3 player, headphones, music stand, and a small bag with misc gear, staff paper, and bass books, all in my living room in the center of the house. It's tucked in a corner behind a chair, but quickly accessible if I want to play. This way it doesn't pull me away from the family like playing on the computer did (it was in my home office, on a different floor of the house, and isolated). As a bonus, it's getting the kids interested in music, too. One of the twins is already angling to get a guitar.

It's shaping up to be around 10 - 15 hours a week right now. I'm still in the honeymoon period, though, where all of this is shiny and new. We'll see how well I keep pace a year from now.