Is 30 minutes practice time enough?

[kesslari]

You can cover a lot in 30 minutes.
Conversely you can do very little in 2 hours.
It all depends on your focus and organization.
If you mostly noodle or play stuff that you can already play well, you will slow yourself down.
If you figure out what you want to work on and work on that, and budget your time accordingly, you can improve a great deal, and as your ability to play for longer grows, you'll do more.

 

[P. Aaron]

I play in a fairly busy band doing about 4-5 gigs a month. Sometimes more, rarely less.

Personally, I practice almost every day, averaging 90 minutes. Mostly reading (1 & 2) or others and recreational playing. For ex: playing along to songs as they come up on a Sirius/XM channel or scouting YouTube for songs I’m curious to learn. And, of course, learning new material the band is performing.

Stay curious about music. Chase that interesting music, wherever it leads.

 

[NOVAX]

30 minutes at a time - four or five times a day. I practice in bed.

 

[Killing Floor]

If you practice for 30 minutes that is a fantastic start. It’s ultimately up to you how focused you will be. A proper lesson is about that long. If you’re a beginner at some point you’d exceed your lesson or skill goals so playing longer just for the clock’s sake isn’t going to be beneficial on its own merit.
As your skills develop you can always increase time as you need.
Good luck! You got this.

I would suggest learning some theory and learn to read music. I know that can seem intimidating but it will help you if you seek to become a professional.

Most important, be true to yourself and have fun.

 

[mcrawfordmusic]

30 mins of practice is better than no practice. However, it's important to make the most of your time.

 

[Iristone]

Will get things going, but I suppose you'd progress twice as fast if you could play 1hr each day

 

[Swipter]

Ariane Cap's music theory is good and will help you. I would also pickup the Bass Aerobics book but concentrate on the notes and not the tab. Dont rush through it. You won't believe the passive learning you will get from that book.

To be honest I believe it's a little past beginner level but you have to start somewhere. Just make sure and use good form.

 

[3bc]

Agreed that 30 minutes a day is not enough to develop “professional” level skills. Most of the truly great bass players spent years playing many hours each day. At least a few, I’ve known a few monster players who spent 8 hours a day playing, for years, when they were young. Now these are great players who can reasonably do about whatever you ask them to at the drop of a hat.

now you could be a Pete Wentz style/caliber bass player in basically no time at all and be way more rich and famous than Wooten, Jaco, Marcus Miller, etc combined. Just depends on what you’re goals are.

 

[BassFalcon]

Lotta good advice here. Not trying to be a wet blanket here, but these are all things I realized on my own journey to be a pro bassist. A goal which I ultimately changed, because I discovered I wanted a family and a house and insurance and stuff more than I wanted to be a pro bassist. I mention all these because most of it was stuff I was willing to put up with as a 20year old, but wouldn’t tolerate as a 30 year old
1. You’re 30. I don’t know what your income situation is like, but how do you feel about being broke for a long time. Maybe forever. The most successful bassists I know that aren’t big time names hustle. They teach, they produce, they gig, they do session work. It’s like an 18 hour a day job, but those guys make a decent living. That’s the only way to do it. You gotta get your fingers in multiple pies to make it work and have stability, so when one gig gets cancelled you can still make your car payment with other gigs.
2. As a pro musician, gigs occur when everyone else is having fun. Which means you work while everyone else plays. This can be a problem for family life for some people.
3. This may not be as big an issue for you, but it’s kinda weird taking your hobby, something you love, and making it your business. It can make it less enjoyable. You may find yourself playing a style of music you hate just to pay the bills. All of a sudden something you used to do to relieve stress actually becomes a point of stress. What do you do for fun now?
4. This may be different for you in the Netherlands, but in the U.S. you have to make a lot more money than you think you have to if you want to have things a normal job would provide. Things like a retirement plan and health insurance will have to come out of your pocket.

I’m not saying don’t follow your dreams, I’m not saying you can’t do it, I just want to share some things I learned along the way. To loosely quote Maynard from Tool, “this cloud is not the rock I thought it would be”

 

[Dbassmon]

Efficient practice requires that systematically, you address technique, time feel, theory, ear training, harmony. Your practice routine seems not to touch on all of these topics. A professional teacher is really key to cutting the learning curve exponentially. Combining some of these topics seems like a way to get more out of your 30minutes. Technique, time feel, ear training and, expansion of your vocabulary could all be combined into a single set of exercises. Moving up and down warming for 10 minutes? It's not going to make a better bass player and might be so boring you lose interest. Transcribing bass lines and solos will accomplish this unification of skill development as that task requires you to use most of the skills you need to develop as a musician.

 

[juancaminos]

If our band has a real busy week then I let it be. Other wise it's 2 hrs per night on week days.

 

[GreyBeard]

I've been semi-pro most of my life. Meaning playing bass in a working band as my side hustle. It takes me 30 minutes just to get warmed up. When I went on tour for the 1st time back in the 70's I went from playing on the weekends to playing 6 hrs a night 6 nights a week. My hands were not ready and I was in a lot of pain for a while. I learned the value of playing with a pick............lol

 

[buldog5151bass]

Playing every day is more important than long practice sessions.

 

[thewildest]

Statistically speaking, you’ll be better than folks that practice 29 minutes a day or less.

Jokes apart, 1 minute focused on correcting your technique is worth way more than spending 10 hours repeating the same passage wrongfully. Using your 30 minutes wisely is the key.

 

[Jaycat]

Almost all "professional bass playing musicians" make tens of dollars. My advice= relax and have fun. Play along with your favorite songs, write your own bass parts, howl at the moon.

 

[tb-player]

30 minutes practice time is plenty... as long as you do it 3-4 times per day. YMMV.

 

[Slevage]

Hello, I want to introduce myself, my name is jordi and I just picked up the bass again for the first time after months of not playing it. I have decided I want to become a professional bass-playing musician, with the focus on bass playing cover songs and later on do some record producing for myself and other musicians. Is 30 minutes enough to get started? For more detailed information I created a Practice Routine and also a practice Log so I can notate what went right and what I should be changing, etc, here:

https://2056c4d3-5c1c-4db2-b7a5-8f7...d/b26b48_7d102f6a64204e3498ec1df9d7f2c4bb.pdf

please let me know if this is the right approach I am taking, or atleast moving in the right direction, is maybe a better way of saying it?

I wish you well in your quest. I strongly advise you to learn to read standard notation. A teacher can help you avoid going down the wrong path, even if you take a lesson every other week.
Don’t waste your time learning tab.
I’m in my 50th year of playing the bass and have NEVER been paid to read tab.

 

[Carl Hillman]

Hello, I want to introduce myself, my name is jordi and I just picked up the bass again for the first time after months of not playing it. I have decided I want to become a professional bass-playing musician, with the focus on bass playing cover songs and later on do some record producing for myself and other musicians. Is 30 minutes enough to get started? For more detailed information I created a Practice Routine and also a practice Log so I can notate what went right and what I should be changing, etc, here:

https://2056c4d3-5c1c-4db2-b7a5-8f7...d/b26b48_7d102f6a64204e3498ec1df9d7f2c4bb.pdf

please let me know if this is the right approach I am taking, or atleast moving in the right direction, is maybe a better way of saying it?

Don't count your warm up as part of your 30 minutes.

Also, I wouldn't take two consecutive days off a week. Spread them out, or, better yet, just take one day off.

I'd try to get away from TAB also. Either memorize what you are learning, or better yet, learn to read standard notation.

Good luck!

 

[Kipp Harrington]

I'm not sure if you understand the commitment involved in becoming a professional musician. It requires many, many hours of dedication and most importantly, passion for the instrument/music.

I have a huge passion for music and the bass. However, I am too late in life to start thinking about playng professionally.

I am content with learning other people's music and enjoying learning it. For you, it may be more than that, though. It really comes down to how bad you want it. If you really want to excel as a musician and become a professional, that really needs to be your priority at this point. If you have the time and passion to commit to that, you'll be successful.

Me, on the other hand... I'm very content with what I am doing at this time. Just remember, passion for the instrument requires commitment and hard work. It should be a pleasure, however and something that you will grow with day by day.

I hope the best for you. Enjoy the journey!

 

[SteveCS]

Hello, I want to introduce myself, my name is jordi and I just picked up the bass again for the first time after months of not playing it. I have decided I want to become a professional bass-playing musician, with the focus on bass playing cover songs and later on do some record producing for myself and other musicians. Is 30 minutes enough to get started? For more detailed information I created a Practice Routine and also a practice Log so I can notate what went right and what I should be changing, etc, here:

https://2056c4d3-5c1c-4db2-b7a5-8f7...d/b26b48_7d102f6a64204e3498ec1df9d7f2c4bb.pdf

please let me know if this is the right approach I am taking, or atleast moving in the right direction, is maybe a better way of saying it?

30 minutes per day is OK for sustainment, keeping a level of polish on your technique or learning new songs. But as a regime to develop your technique, musicianship and stamina to a level commensurate with your aspirations it is nowhere near enough, IME. It is difficult to say what is right. I know when I started out, and for many years, I was playing several hours every day - scales and arpeggios in all keys and all octaves, chord-tone studies, harmony, melodic structures; dynamics, articulation, intonation, muting, timing, synchronisation, harmonics, double-stops, posture, shifting, fingering, vibrato, and so on. And studying music theory. And reading practice. On top of that, if you have gigs, there is repertoire...