• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How do YOU practice bass?

#21
I plug my bass into my amp (Line6 15w). If it's late at night I plug in my headphones, if not, I don't.
If I'm learning a new song, my amp has an mp3/aux IN, so I plug my laptop from the headphone jack into the mp3 jack on the amp and play along to the song.

SammyP, great idea re:slowing down using Windows Media Player. I hadn't thought of that.!!
 
#22
30 minutes technique very slowly
30 minutes Scales and Arpeggios and permutations

Break

1 Hour Transcribing
30 minutes playing what I just transcribed

Break

30min on a Bebop head
30min on a walking line over the changes

Break

30min on a random groove out of The Bass Bible could be Latin, fusion, funk, African, or whatever
30min of ear training which consists of just plugging in my iPod, hitting shuffle, and playing along to whatever comes on
 
#24
I have a collection of songs that really "blow my skirt up" that I play from my ipod through a powered mixer to pa speakers. Plug in to an amp either with or without effects, depending how I feel. Still need to get off the batteries. Then, after making a racket, take the bass into the living room and go up and down while watching tv.

Probably should reverse the whole procedure but....
 
#25
Permutations aplying 8th, triples, 16ths, quintuplets, sextuplets on the right hand with the click on 50

One octave scales going around the circle of fifths counter clock wise starting on F with a metronome

Then two octave scales, applying shifting and slides, then on thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths and sevenths

Arpegios on two octaves

Realbook and Band in a box

Budha Rope in front of tv

Learning bass lines from
http://www.how-to-play-bass.com/songs-lady-writer.html

If I have time transcriptions
 
#27
Bass plugged into an ibanez practice amp, a copy of 'Bass guitar for dummies' to help with theory scales arpeggios etc.

I'll usually do a 10 min chromatic warm up with a metronome gradually getting faster, once warmed up I'll go through scales etc, maybe learn part of a song i like and then jam along to a few drum tracks.

That's the plan at least.
 
#28
ipad into pod x3 live with headphones on. I jam along to soundcloud, youtube or itunes. I don't bother playing scales etc. i normally learn tracks by ear but if im struggling to pick out the line - usually in a heavy mix, I will search on songsterr for the tab to get me somewhere near.
 
#31
I plug right into my rig (GK 1001 RB II & GK Neo 410) and play away!! I play with my pedal board of course too :) if I need to be quite, I use a little rocket bass pocket amp with headphones. Or my iphone and an ampkit interface with headphones.
 
#32
Most of my practice time lately has been in working up things I have in my head and making them sound musical when I play. I hear passages in my inner ear and try to bring them to life all the while concentrating on muscle memory, dexterity, and delivery. I'm done with copying or cloning someone else's licks or practice routines or whatever. I'm working on sounding like me. If I hear another guy or gal try to sound like Marcus, or Victor or Jaco, or any other monster player out there I'll be more encouraged to continue as I am. I ask myself honestly. Am I going to spend hr after hr trying to play like Vicotor or play one of his signature licks or could that time be better spent working on my own stuff. In my mind it's working on my own stuff.
 
#36
Yeah well the point of transcribing is to gain ideas from the masters and then make them your own. Charlie Parker transcribed hundreds of hours of Lester Young and did he sound like Lester!? No! He is and will always be Charlie Parker. All of your musical heroes spent hours transcribing their musical heroes and then spent time using those ideas to develop their own voice. You will never sound like who you transcribe because you are not them. Does John Clayton sound like Ray Brown? Nope but he idolized the man. Does Patitucci sound like Brecker? You can't reinvent the wheel but you can make it your own wheel.
 
#37
But +1 to the loop and working out your own stuff. It's all good. Throw transcribing in that process and you will be a monstrosity of a musical library with more vocabulary then you know what to do with. That's my ultimate goal because I still suck. Now it's time to practice so maybe I can suck less tonight.
 
#38
Mostly, along with songs on my iPod. But I have times when I can't just take my hands off an unplugged bass, so I'm constantly noodling with it, doing repetitive exercises that I wouldn't normally do when plugged in to the amp.

I ocassionally use a metronome, but I no longer feel the need to use it too often. A drum track or drum machine does the same and it's more interesting.

I'm also trying to incorporate musical exercises without the bass. I'm learning how to read music sheets, so currently I'm just trying to name random notes, until I commit them to memory (both G and F clefs). And some rhythm patterns with either my voice, claps or the bass. I'm also working on aural training (singing the C, A, E flat and F sharp almost exactly in tune without tuner or an instrument). This sounds too basic, but I haven't worked on any of this formally, so now I'm committed to learning this stuff.

Right now, I'm taking some music/bass courses and one of such includes an ensemble, and I'm actually performing live again next saturday. Looking forward to it.
 
#39
2 hrs minimum daily scrolling through TB forums and if there is any time left

I play band tracks along with cd
play songs I like along with cd/itunes
learn something new and play along with that
noodling with my pedals for inspiration of tones and or riffs
should do metronome and scale work but I should do a lot of things that I don't
 
#40
Most often I run an iPad into the AUX input of my combo amp, then play through headphones. Either while the wife is watching TV or after she's gone to bed.

I use a few different apps on the iPad that are great. One is a metronome app called Tempo. Great controls, saved presets, etc. The other is called Jam Up Pro, which can play music files from your library. You can change the tempo on the fly and you can easily create A-->B repeats. Great for picking apart songs I'm trying to figure out.

I've also got a Mac Mini in my entertainment center, so I can play iTunes, YouTube videos etc. and practice with the headphones off when no one's around. Much preferable.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back