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How often do you practice your bass? POLL

How often do you practice your bass?

  • Never

    Votes: 10 1.7%

  • 1 hour a week, or less

    Votes: 42 7.1%

  • 2 to 4 hours a week

    Votes: 119 20.2%

  • 4 to 6 hours a week

    Votes: 146 24.8%

  • 1 hour a day

    Votes: 155 26.3%

  • 2 to 4 hours a day

    Votes: 109 18.5%

  • More than 4 hours a day (yikes!)

    Votes: 8 1.4%
  • Total voters
    589
#61
When I was full time, I would have answered 4 or more hours a day. Now that I am a week end warrior, it averages about an hour a day, not including band rehearsal. It may vary depending on what I have to learn and I may skip a day or two or I may play more. It depends on my needs and mood.
 
#63
I didn't count rehearsals, but I did count working up new material in addition to practicing the instrument itself.
I chose to reflect when I'm at my laziest and said 2-4 hours per week in the poll.

In truth, it's really a little more than that, but I'm not consistent and didn't want to give myself undeserved credit.
On weeks when I'm really being good, it's about 4-6 hrs on DB and another 2-3 on BG. Many weeks, I just don't have that kind of time and settle for 20-30 min a day, three days a week, or so.
Most of the time, it's somewhere in between.
 
#64
bass_case said:
Next poll: How often do you Really practice your bass?
Click to expand...
+1

How often do you practice your bass if you don't count gigs, band rehearsals, and playing your favorite song for the 500th time?

If you define practice like Anthony Wellington, I would bet most people don't practice much at all:

Ant Wellington said:
Hey Dave,

There are 5 things that I work on every day. Even if it's only for a short period of time.

1) Dexterity

2) Note Recognition

3) Theory

4) Ear Training

5) Reading

My practice and maintenance routine consist of this things. I read a page of music every day. Just 1 page is enough to get better and maintain what you have. But most people practice reading wrong(IMHO).

-anthony
Click to expand...
 
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#65
I try to play a little bit every day, just as a goal, but often can't simply for lack of time. If I have a weekend of gigs booked I often blow off practice time for a couple weekday evenings. Gives my head and hands a rest.
 
#69
I usually only practice when I need to learn new songs or before a gig. I used to practice 10-20 hours a week when I first started playing in a band to learn as much as I could. But, I also play guitar for my own pleasure, and I play that about 2-5 hours a week goofing off.
 
#70
2-4hrs/week.
I don't do structured practice really. Sometimes I'll practice my finger speed, my touch/dynamics, or my fluency in various chords, but mostly I'll just play whatever comes to mind on the spot. The most practicey thing I do is run through jazz tunes I like using my ireal pro app. I never seem to get bored of playing even the simplest songs, Caravan is a good example -- practically half the tune is V7b9, but I still struggle to keep my basslines interesting - that simple feedback of 'this doesn't sound good yet' is enough to keep me engaged and plugging away.
 
#71
I pick up the bass every day and play/practice from 1 to a few hours a day. I have done this for last couple of years for several reasons. One, this is my second coming playing .I stop playing back in the 90's because of the hold life style thing. Two the joy's of getting older , my hands ! let's just say they need to say warmed up , I think this falls under the joy's of getting older I also have sleep apnea as well so I have been kicked out of the room and I have my own little man cave /music room that I keep two of my girl friends (basses) next to my bed. With that said I play my self to sleep. Third, I really enjoy playing.
 
#73
Outside of rehearsal, I might play an hour per week if I add it all up. (Maybe a little more sometimes.) I don't think of it as practice. The only time I've done scales or exercises was when I was a little kid taking piano lessons. For guitar and bass, I've never thought in terms of 'practicing'. I found that once I got to a certain level of technical ability, I was just happy to maintain it.

I find that I get the most benefit out of rehearsal with the band, and then only need to do a little bit of playing on my own to keep my fingers from getting stiff.
 
#76
I kind of take the Ginger Baker aproach to practice... He says - "For a period of a couple of years 1959 thru ..1961… I used to practice up to 8 hours a day on my kit…. after this I do very little practice….too much practice can be very damaging as a drummer gets to where he wants to play some lick he’s practiced on the gig whether it fits or not, instead of listening to the band…."

I practice when I need to learn something specific, other than that, for me, it's more about just playing around and keeping my fingers loose. If I'm gigging a lot, then no problem. If I go a week without a gig, my fingers get slow.

The skilz I like are being able to play in an ensemble, on the fly, and responding to what the other musicians are doing. Hard to do in a solo situation.
 
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#79
I voted for 4-6 hrs a week. I really wanted to say an hour a day as on my good weeks when I don't have piles of paperwork to take up my evenings I can practice as much as 2 hours a day. But...this week I'm barely into the 4 hour territory and not likely to go much more than that. This is the most I've practiced since college but putting together a band takes work and it's work I wanna do.
 

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