How Much Do You Practice?

[rendevouz]

I´m on talkbass a lot so, not enough
I should practice more but what if someone finds the best bass for metal while I´m practicing

 

[Sparkl]

I'm sure this has been debated a million times, and I know a bunch of you are going to say "If you can't dedicate the time required then you shouldn't bother...." But seriously, for those of you who play as a hobby, guys who are NOT in a band, have no intentions of playing live, just like to sit at home and noodle on a chunk of wood, how much do you really practice? How often do you pick it up and how long do you goof around on it before you set it back down?

I'm not looking for any sort of "This is how long you need to do this" answer. I'm just curious. My days of playing in a band are long behind me. Been there, done that. Now days I just occasionally like to sit in my room and thump out some notes or goof around on some rhythm I came up with in my head at 2am when I couldn't sleep. I work a full time job, have a wife who I like to spend time with and have some other hobbies that eat up some time too. I'm just curious, of the guys out there like me, how much do you sit down and play, and for how long?

And to cap it off, for the guys like me who are NOT in a band actively playing and have no intentions of going down that road, where do you turn for improving your skills? Or do you bother with instruction at all?

Depends on the day but my fair average would be around 8 hours a day. Sometimes less sometimes more.
Also, I do not practice for 8 hours straight. I have breaks, produce music inbetween, mix or master stuff...

Also yes, music is my daily job.

 

[Just_Ethan]

An hour or two a day, sometimes my schedule fluctuates so it does vary but that's about the average.

 

[Mili]

Everyday 4-6 hours.
I'm not in a Band.

 

[LowActionHero]

Not nearly enough. But I need to step it up again. Our last couple gigs were great. But I do miss the days where I practiced my a$$ off and knew for sure that I nailed it and any mistakes weren't my fault. Plus it's addictive, when I practice our setlist a lot I start itching to practice other stuff and actually studying, then I make some real progress.

 

[rylie]

Need motivation to practice longer?

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/amPlugBassG2--vox-amplug-2-bass-headphone-guitar-amp

 

[Rocinante_x1]

not enough

 

[Nashrakh]

Depends on what you call 'practice'. Actually trying to improve your playing? The last time I looked, most TBers were comfortable running through songs they already know (topic comes up every few months), so that wouldn't fall under the practice term in that case.

I myself do too little of that. Others would call that 'getting lost in pointless exercises'. My repertoire is thus pretty small compared to the average TBer. I try to practice every day and lay out routines beforehand. How much I practice depends on my schedule, which is pretty volatile. Anywhere from 1 to 3 hours a day.

 

[baileyboy]

I practice 5 or 6 set list songs, so about 20-30 minutes daily... everyday... unless I'm not at home. Muscle memory is an important part of learning and maintaining the ability to play our set list live. I'm involved in lots of other things that occupy my time, so I don't waste any- I cut right to the chase and practice that which is going to be played in front of an audience.

 

[Kmonk]

I usually practice about 6 to 8 hours per week whether I'm in a band or not. I do a lot of music for television so most of my time is spent composing and recording.

 

[Koshchei]

Three hours a day, broken into repertoire, refining existing technique, new technique, and improv.

 

[bolophonic]

I try to play as often as I can. Sometimes every day, sometimes less than that. I obviously tend to put in more time if I’m preparing for something. I’ve been playing for 33 years, so I’m admittedly in kind of a rut right now.

 

[smtp4me]

I'm sure this has been debated a million times, and I know a bunch of you are going to say "If you can't dedicate the time required then you shouldn't bother...." But seriously, for those of you who play as a hobby, guys who are NOT in a band, have no intentions of playing live, just like to sit at home and noodle on a chunk of wood, how much do you really practice? How often do you pick it up and how long do you goof around on it before you set it back down?

I'm not looking for any sort of "This is how long you need to do this" answer. I'm just curious. My days of playing in a band are long behind me. Been there, done that. Now days I just occasionally like to sit in my room and thump out some notes or goof around on some rhythm I came up with in my head at 2am when I couldn't sleep. I work a full time job, have a wife who I like to spend time with and have some other hobbies that eat up some time too. I'm just curious, of the guys out there like me, how much do you sit down and play, and for how long?

And to cap it off, for the guys like me who are NOT in a band actively playing and have no intentions of going down that road, where do you turn for improving your skills? Or do you bother with instruction at all?

I'm not in a band and I currently have no plans to play live. Like you, I play as a hobby, and also like you, I have a wife, older daughter, and a job (not related to music). I personally would not rule out the possibility of playing live in the future, but I don't today.

Having said that, I do record cover songs with a work colleague. We both play multiple instruments and sing, and between the two of us, we have the equivalent of a full band. So for me, it is a little more than just noodling at home. I do have a very specific practice regimen that I follow at least 3 to 4 times per week. And I also occasionally just plug in and play along with songs or learn something new.

When I do play or practice, it's usually for an hour, maybe two. I also have to balance it between spending time with the wife and I have found ways around it. For example, I am up at 5:30 AM Mon-Fri for work, and on the weekends I still wake up early - maybe 6:30 at the latest. My wife does not get up at the same time, so I usually grab a bass and practice/play until she wakes. This way, I get at least two days per week without interfering with my time with her. Then if I play two evenings during the week, I'm getting in 4 days easily.

 

[eJake]

For some reason I'm kind of obsessed with practicing. At least 90 minutes a day but usually more. I'm a couple of months away from finishing Joe Hubbard's 2 year Bass Mastery course and also have other avenues of learning I've had in my practice regiment. I play in a basement band and we have an occasional gig. I'm 63 years old and sometimes wonder why I spend so much time doing this. I guess I just really enjoy learning this instrument and music in general.

I'd suggest keeping a practice log to anyone who wants to get into a regular regiment of practice. It really helps me keep on track. I just wish I'd started doing this 30 years ago.

I used to run a practice log. It really helped me measure if I was doing the work that I set out to do.

Now I set goals for the week and check in every Monday to see if I met/failed my goals for the previous week.

I switched methods because the log, though great for telling me what I had accomplished, told me nothing about what I set out to accomplish in the first place.

 

[Magthegrate]

1-3 hours per day that I'm not on duty (I work 24 hour shifts). I keep an acoustic bass in my locker at work, and sometimes I can sneak in an hour or so.

Man... typing those numbers, I'm thinking that I should be WAY better than I am!

 

[brianrost]

for those of you who play as a hobby, guys who are NOT in a band, have no intentions of playing live, just like to sit at home and noodle on a chunk of wood, how much do you really practice? How often do you pick it up and how long do you goof around on it before you set it back down?

Interesting question.

I've been gigging for 40 years, but to be honest if playing with other people had not been my goal I never would have bothered to put in the time for practice. In fact, until I did start playing with other people my practicing was sporadic because I had so little incentive.

For me, there's no point in practicing if you're not planning to play the instrument every day for many years. When I stop gigging I'll get rid of all my stuff and (doh) stop practicing.

 

[bbh]

I used to only practice new tunes. I only like to play with music. I’m a feel player and did it very well.
Lately, I barely play at all.

 

[waveman]

Currently, I practice less than I need to, but more than everyone else in the band, so whatever. I try to practice at home at least 2-3hours a week. But sometimes I get 1 hour. Then we try try to rehearse about 3-4 hours a week. Still getting it together.

When I first started gigging, I would practice 10-20 hours a week since I was trying to keep up with seasoned pro's who knew way more songs than I did. Did that for about a year, then 5-10 hours, then just did it before gigs at home when the band stopped rehearsing regularly.

 

[nickpc]

I play 2-3 times a month at my church. In the week leading up to that I'll spend a day on each song (we usually have 5), for maybe an hour, depending on my familiarity with the song. That's ~15 times through the song, so it's pretty adequate. Then the rehearsal on Thursday night with the rest of the band, then Friday and Saturday I'll work on anything that came up during rehearsal.

Outside of that I'll try to play 1-2x per day for 20-30 minutes, usually going through 5-7 songs I enjoy playing. The hard part there is remembering to rotate songs in/out of the list so I'm not sitting on the same set for more than a few days at a time. That helps me keep up on songs for other gigs (we do a few special events at the church a year where we aren't limited to praise songs) and keeps me having fun with it.

Because if you aren't having fun it's a job, and I already have one of those. Bass is my escape from that.

 

[ELG60]

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd have to say that I average about an hour a day. Perhaps a bit more during the weeks whereupon I'm not working out of town, or not working at all on a given weekend.