Everyday Practice or Take a Break?

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

I finally got the rythmn of the concluding vamp of River People. I can finally put it all together. This will be the first Jaco composition I have learned from beginning to end instead of a few riffs here and there.

What really gets me is that often I play a piece better if I don't play it for a day or two. Anyone else like this?

No, in my case, if the tune requires skills close to my current limit, I need continuous practice to become acquainted with it .. however, I prefer practice on that tune and also on other stuff at the same time in order to avoid getting bored !

 

[Dr. Cheese]

No, in my case, if the tune requires skills close to my current limit, I need continuous practice to become acquainted with it .. however, I prefer practice on that tune and also on other stuff at the same time in order to avoid getting bored !

Switching to other things is a mental rest, even though you keep your hands moving.

 

[JimHouchin]

Oh, Dr. Cheese, absolutely!

I'm the don't play it for a while, and get better at it type, and have been since my teens.

The way I learn something, retain it, and get better at it, is to practice it everyday or almost everyday intensely, and then to not play it at all, not for a few days, but for up to a month!

I don't know why I'm like this.
I guess the intense practicing forces the piece into your brain, then, when you don't practice it for a while, it gets a chance to soak into your head, and the next time you play it, your proficiency at playing it goes up a couple of knotches.

Case in point: I bought a Telecaster (Michael Kelly) last September in an effort to try and get better at guitar. I'm no fast chord changer, but, I'm not bad at copying lead riffs.
I've been practicing the intro to, "Hot Rod Lincoln," since I bought the guitar, and while it's still rough around the edges, not practicing it for about 2 months, and recently coming back to it has made it flow much more smoothly.
I'm going to keep at it for as long as it takes until I sound like the record.

The human mind is both wonderful and mysterious.

Brag photo time: here's my Tele.

Mike
View attachment 3368339 View attachment 3368340

.... I don't see a guitar in this picture... :-D

 

[ryco]

Practice every day - usually twice a day.
However don't take bass(es) on vacation trips anymore.
Only takes a day or two to get back to where I was.

And yah -- sometimes walking away from a tuff piece for a couple of days works.

 

[Tottery]

I try to practice everyday even if its just for 15-30 mins. The only times I do not at all is if I'm simply not feeling it. Like today. I haven't picked up my instrument all day. I've been known to not pick it up for nearly a week. It can be refreshing.

Congrats on hitting your goal.

 

[gkella]

I need a steady routine.
My practice session is from 4:00 to 6:00 every day.
Sometimes I practice for the full two hours, sometimes 45 minutes to an hour.
Sometimes, I take a day off from it.
But I always have the 4:00 to 6:00 window to work with.

 

[Julian G]

I try to keep going to get a song nailed down, so I keep coming back to it every day.
However, I've been using a tab to practice Jaco's tune The Chicken which seemed Ok, but I just wasn't getting any feel into it so I gave up on it. Then yesterday before heading out to work I'm doodling around on my bass and suddenly I found myself playing Chicken but playing it not quite as per the tab as I found myself instinctively playing it without using open strings and now it sounds and feels right. So yeah taking a break from a tune and going back to it I believe can make you have a fresh perspective on it.

 

[BOOG]

I try to keep going to get a song nailed down, so I keep coming back to it every day.
However, I've been using a tab to practice Jaco's tune The Chicken which seemed Ok, but I just wasn't getting any feel into it so I gave up on it. Then yesterday before heading out to work I'm doodling around on my bass and suddenly I found myself playing Chicken but playing it not quite as per the tab as I found myself instinctively playing it without using open strings and now it sounds and feels right. So yeah taking a break from a tune and going back to it I believe can make you have a fresh perspective on it.

I can definitely relate to this. It's like I am telling myself to go easy and don't rush into trying to learn something, it'll come along naturally.
It's pretty cool when that happens. I'll spend a lot of time beating my head against the wall trying to get some rhythm and/or pattern under my fingers, get frustrated, walk away, and then pick up the bass another day and it all just happens and works.