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Bass Fitness Practice Methods

Brandon Camel

Brandon Camel

Jan 12, 2017
13
7
#1
First time posting but I've lurked around here for quite some time. Anyways, Bass Fitness (by Josquin Des Pres) seems to be relatively known in the bassist community but I have yet to see a thread discussing how people use it to practice. Sure, the book comes with (sorta obscure) instructions but I'm sure people utilise the book in their own little ways. Feel free to share how you incorporate the book and its exercises into your routine.
 
#2
I took up strict alternation some time ago and the exercises really help a lot with developing it. I start at 60 bpm (as recommended) and play up until my index finger is in the 12th fret position. I then speed up my metronome before playing the patterns downwards. Obviously, once I get to the bottom, I speed up and head back up. I tend to increase the tempo by the increments programmed in my electronic metronome (increments of 3, 4, 6, and 8 depending on the bpm it's currently at). If I'm really having trouble progressing, I'll set the metronome up so I can increase the bpm one beat at a time. Though the book implies you want to be able to eventually reach 180 bpm, I usually stop around 120-130. I can hit in the 150s sometimes if I'm in the zone but I start getting sloppy and I end up taking the tempo down. I know many people say to practice with the book on one exercise for 15-30 minutes a day but I've found that I can put an hour or more into each session (with some occasional short breaks). Also worth noting, every time I adjust the tempo after doing a cycle up or down the neck, I try to switch the plucking finger that I lead off on to hopefully prevent becoming dependent on leading off with a certain finger in the long run. Between avoiding raking, being consistent with my fingering, staying in time, muting, etc., I find that I really have to focus a lot and end up repeating things often or slowing it down. I'd like to practice an exercise a day but that never happens lol. I'm not very far yet; only on exercise 38 out of 200. Sorry for writing a book. Thoughts, opinions, personal methods, etc.?
 
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#3
Not once in any of your posts do you mention actually playing....MUSIC !! Surely this is why you picked up the bass in the first place ? No doubt it is important to master the technical side to playing, and some time should be allotted for it, but all this work is rendered obsolete if you can't groove. It is possible to be "bass fit" by playing music. ;)

IMO a more beneficial book would be Bass Aerobics by Jon Liebman. The "exercises" here, consist of lengthy pieces of music.

Just my 2c...

https://www.amazon.com/Bass-Aerobics-Book-online-audio/dp/1423495632
 
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#4
@fearceol Haha, I get what you're saying. This thread was created with the sole intention of sharing ideas on how we personally practice with the book. Long before I actually made an account on here, I searched (in vain) for tips on using the book efficiently. That said, I know practicing the exercises can never replace learning theory, songs, or grooves. But it's a simple goal-oriented regimen in itself, especially when you don't have the time or the chops to learn certain things. By the way, that Bass Aerobics book is on my list of books to aquire (as well as many other music books). :)
 
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#5
I picked up Bass Fitness in hopes of getting some reading practice, but pretty much abandoned it I realized it was just one-finger-per-fret fingering permutations. I can deduce that myself. Technique in a musical vacuum is of limited value. ( I feel similarly about the scales in a musical vaccum from the Bass Grimiore)

I would also skip it in favor of finding actual music to practice, because if efficiency is what you seek, why not learn technique while also learning music? I have other Jon Liebman books, so would I bet Bass Aerobics is solid and musical.
 
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#6
I don't agree with the other posters here. I have that book and have used it as part of my practice routine for years. I generally assign myself one or two pages per week, and play through the selected exercises every day, starting at first fret and going up to 12th fret. Start at a slow enough speed so that you can fret cleanly and always alternate fingers on right hand. Increase speed as the week goes on. If not mastered in a week, carry over to week 2. Always use a metronome. Takes me about 10-15 minutes out of my 60-90 minutes/day ideal practice time. Makes a huge difference in my stamina and dexterity.

I don't buy the argument that if its not music, its not worth practicing. If you want to advance at anything, you need to build strength. I think of it like pushups, situps, etc to an athlete. If all a skier ever did was ski, they'd not be as good as they could be if they worked on strength.
 
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#7
I think what the idea here is the difference between technical ability and "musical" playing. Ideally you want to do both, but there is a benefit to separating the two in some instances. Playing through this book is a good way to drill in the one-finger-per-fret technique. Chromatic scales are another good way of doing this, as are diminished root-5-octave-5 patterns and augmented root-third-fifth-octaves - these are slightly more musical, but still in the realm of 'technical'.
 
#9
Brandon Camel said:
@ba55i5t Not to put my ignorance on display but uh, how would you go about playing those later excercises? The diminished and augmented runs? :unsure:
Click to expand...

Sure. Excuse the phone messiness of the tab

Root diminished 5th and octave and dim12th
G-----8
D---7
A--6
E-5

Root Maj 3rd Aug 5th octave

G----2
D---3
A--4
E-5

It's a one finger per fret exercise either way. They could be used in a musical context for dissonance.
 
#10
bherman said:
I don't buy the argument that if its not music, its not worth practicing. If you want to advance at anything, you need to build strength. .
Click to expand...


Below is what I actually stated. Not quite the same as you assert, don't you think ? ;)


fearceol said:
No doubt it is important to master the technical side to playing, and some time should be allotted for it, but all this work is rendered obsolete if you can't groove. It is possible to be "bass fit" by playing music. ;)
Click to expand...
 
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#11
fearceol said:
Below is what I actually stated. Not quite the same as you assert, don't you think ? ;)
Click to expand...

Maybe not - seems to me that we were essentially saying the same thing about the drills (albeit you were being much more tactful, and also suggested another book as a resource). My point was that the OP was asking about how to use a specific resource and the responses immediately seemed to be trashing the idea (not your post). He was not asking about making his playing more musical, he was specifically asking how to use a specific book. And he was not asking if people thought using the book was a good idea or not - just wanted info on how some of us might use it. No offense intended (or taken!). Cheers....
 
#12
bherman said:
Maybe not - seems to me that we were essentially saying the same thing about the drills (albeit you were being much more tactful, and also suggested another book as a resource). My point was that the OP was asking about how to use a specific resource and the responses immediately seemed to be trashing the idea (not your post). He was not asking about making his playing more musical, he was specifically asking how to use a specific book. And he was not asking if people thought using the book was a good idea or not - just wanted info on how some of us might use it. No offense intended (or taken!). Cheers....
Click to expand...


No offence taken here either. :) I accept that my answer was not in line with what the OP was asking. However, the advice (which I whole heartedly believe in) to make the practice session more musical, was given in good faith.

Obviously, the OP can choose to ignore it if he wishes.
 
#13
fearceol said:
No offence taken here either. :) I accept that my answer was not in line with what the OP was asking. However, the advice (which I whole heartedly believe in) to make the practice session more musical, was given in good faith.

Obviously, the OP can choose to ignore it if he wishes.
Click to expand...
I find that "non-musical exercising" and musical expression often cross-pollinate each other. :) It's all good. Play more, post less. :woot:
 
#15
I am not too fond of pure technical exercises either, but there is a way to use the book in question in such a manner s to achieve some overall musicianship improvement. Namely, disregard the tab and then approach those positional/single octave exercises three ways, i.e. with the root being played with the index, middle and pinkie finger. PLUS, sing the exercises as you play them, preferably by using either solfege or degrees of the scale, instead of the actual note names. Finally, try the exercises with various playing dynamics - legato, staccato, vibrato and all kinds of their combinations.
 
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#17
@GastonD This is the kind of stuff I wanted to see come out of this thread. Not that I'd adopt that into my own routine. That's a little complex for me. :D
@mambo4 Yeah, the notation is odd considering you're transposing the exercises on the fly in virtually all the keys (among other reasons).
 
#18
I just feel like the book is good for maintaining or improving overall technique in certain areas. I've considered doing an exercise one day playing with my fingers and the next day playing with a pick to keep those chops up. You could do all sorts of things with that. When playing with a pick, I tend to use economy picking more than alternate picking but I can still alternate a bit if I focus on it. After reading up on that subject alone quite a bit, a lot of people agree that it's best to get used to both and consciously use one method over the other when the song calls for it. If I were to start going through the book using a pick, I may go up the octave economy picking and go down it alternating. Either way, it's good to throw some ideas out there.
 
#19
I didn't get around to explaining that the whole singing thing should improve your ear in a practical way, i.e. helping you to develop connections between what you are hearing and seeing. IN other words, you will gain ability for quicker aural recognition and its transfer to the instrument.
 

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