How many hours to learn bass?

[Nephilymbass]

Whats your guess?

BTW, this article says it takes 10,000 hrs to learn to play sax.

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I’ve heard the number 10,000 hours used by many top notch musicians as the time it takes to reach virtuoso status. But most musicians aren’t virtuosos. Most music is simple and doesn’t require that level of skill. I’ve talked to players who had only been playing for a year who I thought played pretty darn well. I think it’s really a case by case thing. Some people learn faster than others, there are also times when learning goes through jumps in levels, I know with my own playing there has been times where my improvement has stagnated and other times where I seemed to progress more.

 

[Volker Kirstein]

Two.

 

[GreyBeard]

I've been playing since 1968 and I'm still learning.

 

[Sid Fang]

"Minutes to learn...a lifetime to master."

More seriously, it depends ENORMOUSLY on whether one already plays another instrument well, particularly a string instrument.

 

[interp]

About three.

 

[waynobass]

Two.

Two, if you have natural musical ability. Bass is not difficult.

 

[Bassic Needs]

I probably have 10,000 hours in playing of guitar but I still suck. I would say it is innate ability, discipline (of which I had none of before) and commitment to improving. I did more of just hacking around, if I had done things properly, who knows how good I would be now.

I guess that's a moot point now since I have fallen in love with bass. I am starting at almost square one but maybe even less as I have some bad habits from guitar I need to break.

 

[brianrost]

It takes 10,000 hours to master any musical instrument. Even more to become a virtuoso.

It takes less than 100 to learn the basics.

 

[sabre79]

Harold Ramis said Bill Murray's character, Phil, lived 10 years of Groundhog days. In that time, he learned how to ice sculpt and play the piano among other things.

 

[1bassplayinfool]

I started playing when I was 8 years old. I'm 67 now... always learning new tricks.

 

[Slevage]

Two, if you have natural musical ability. Bass is not difficult.

Unless you want to play Coltrane’s solo to Giant Steps,

See 4001’s post above.

 

[Humbled]

I started playing when I was 8 years old. I'm 67 now... always learning new tricks.

I started at eight on piano, and I'm only 61 now, so I've got some catching up to do.

I've been playing in bands since 14 more or less nonstop. That's helped a lot. But I've also run across 14 year olds that already understood music at a depth I never will.

Talent is the variable that is not taken into account here. We’ve all known people that slave away practicing and other peopl that are gifted enough to just show up and kill.

Yeah... What he said.

 

[Honkey tonk]

how well does one practice

 

[Tom Bomb]

1+hrs

 

[CryingBass]

I have found that the true “prophets” cut corners...

 

[CryingBass]

10,000 hours is a myth based on a study of violin players at a school for performing arts. Researchers found that a correlation between grades and how much students practiced (shocking). Most "A" students estimated that they had practiced over 10,000 hours in their life, while students below that GPA had practiced less than that.

If that one study is valid (and that's a big if because it hasn't been replicated) it means that 10,000 hours is how much you need to practice to get an A in music school, not learn an instrument.

It's very easy to practice ineffectively and waste a lot of those hours without getting better.

10,000 hours is a lie.

Let’s see: 4005 / 10,000 = ???

 

[Mannyinnewyork]

Yeesh.

 

[LBS-bass]

How many hours do you have? 40 years later I'm still learning.

 

[IamGroot]

OK, I am going to stick my neck out....... (again)

I am going to assume the following - a "Benchmark student":

a) The student is highly motivated
b) Has an average aptitude for music
c) Has no previous background in music but is receiving effective class instruction in music fundementals including sight reading, and ear training,
d) Has a decent personal instructor and meets with him for an hour each week
e) Practices technique 1 hour a day (7 hrs a week). Practicing technique more has declining benefits
f) Practices Repertoire 4 hours a week.
g) & most importantly - "Practices Perfectly"

12 Hrs a week * 52 weeks a year = 624 hrs

I believe such student could be holding down simple cover band jobs in one year (~600 hrs), jazz jobs in two years (1200 hrs).

This assumes the bench mark student with a productivity factor of 1.

The average student is closer to a 0.6, so use 1000 and 2000 hrs respectively for the average student to get to those targets.

The productivity factor gets better with time for many students in professional programs and can go to 2.

BTW, this is my guess. I am not a professional educator, but I attended music school.

Edit: The folks over in the DB section probably have a better handle on how long it takes to learn DB, especially if you go by a programmed syllabus starting with Simandl or other.

 

[MrLenny1]

4 years at 8-10 hours a day, 7 days a week should do it. lol