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Is it wrong to practice all day everyday?

#21
One thing I don't think others have covered well enough (though I agree with most of what has been said) is that if your goal is to be a musician, you need to be making music and practicing on your own to records or a metronome is not the same as playing with other musicians, especially on an "ensemble" instrument like bass. You MIGHT be able to get away with it if you were a pianist-singer, but bass you need other musicians and you need to know how to play with them and react to them and ultimately how to steer a band and you won't learn these things alone.
Get out there and PLAY, have some fun - if you are the introvert you seem to be join a band that allows you to stay "in the shadows", but play.
You will also never REALLY know which kinds of music you are best at and enjoy playing the most until you are doing it.
Finally - if the goal is to be a professional musician, performance is a part of it (sorry - I know I just like to play and ignore the audience too) and the other part is making MONEY - that's what differentiates a "pro" from an "enthusiast". And to start you'll have to do some pretty crappy gigs until people get to know your abilities - just like any other job, you start at the bottom.
EDIT: Oh, yeah - and get your homework done - you're at college for reason.
 
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#22
Funk$tar said:
I don't have much of a life, don't have any friends here at school, and Prefer to be alone most of the time with my bass. I mean All I do is go to my college classes and then arrive back at my door to practice bass until it is time for me to go to sleep. I'm very dedicated to my bass and I practice real hard so one day I too can be a great bassist. I just want to know if it is wrong to practice so much?
Click to expand...

Good for you! This is what separates good musicians from great ones (applies to athletes too). I wish all instrumentalists had your level of dedication...keep it up. I applaud you!
 
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#24
For a time in the late 1980's I attended, then worked at, Musicians Institute.
I heard a lot of guys (gender neutral word here) who literally practiced all day.
Because this limited their life experiences, they generally had very little musical to say - just a lot of technique with which to say very little.
The heartbreak of not being able to quite nail the 63rd bar of a Paganini piece does not scale to the heartbreak of lost love.

Whereas the guys who balanced practice with life had life experiences to put into their playing, and could move you.

Just my experience.
 
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#28
I spent a great deal of time just playing along with MP3s in my room during high school/college. It helped my ear and timing. What it didn't help me with was other people screwing up, or recovering from mistakes from yourself or others. Always playing with a metronome or pre-fab drum beats is going to make you only proficient with a flawless player or pre-recorded track. This was my problem until I joined a band and was forced to. I learned to stay locked-in with the drummer during tempo changes and to help cover each others mistakes. Keeping your "Stage face" intact is something I'm still working on, but just playing alone deprives yourself of an essential soft skill in performance.
 
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#30
Everyone seems to have covered the reasons to not just practice by yourself for hours on end. One thing that may not have been stated is just plain old burn out. Sooner or later you might pick up your bass one day and just have no desire to play it at all. The best way to keep fresh and enthused is to play with others any chance you get.
 
#32
There is nothing wrong with practising all the time, nothing at all as long as you are doing it properly. Although even if you prefer to be alone you are going to struggle in music (especially with the bass) if you aren't social, you can be the most badass player on the planet but in this line of work it is also very much who you know so go out to gigs and jam with musicians etc. It might not feel like your normal social encounter but it is and it has the bonus of making contacts in music.
 
#33
Get out there and chase some tail. It's what young guys do. You want to be like me, an old guy with some great memories of my younger days, not an old guy who says "Damn! I could have been out there chasing girls, instead of wasting my time practicing that stupid bass all day long!" Remember, YOLO - You Only Live Once. Make the most of it while you're still young.
 
#35
Funk$tar said:
I don't have much of a life, don't have any friends here at school, and Prefer to be alone most of the time with my bass. I mean All I do is go to my college classes and then arrive back at my door to practice bass until it is time for me to go to sleep. I'm very dedicated to my bass and I practice real hard so one day I too can be a great bassist. I just want to know if it is wrong to practice so much?
Click to expand...

So why are you wasting time on Talkbass? Get off the computer and go back to practicing! :)
 
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#36
All-work-and-no-play.jpg
 
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#37
Playing with other musicians, especially players more advanced than you, is a critical componet to becoming the best musician you can be. College is ripe with those opprotunities and you need to avail yourself to them. Immerse yourself in the music scene at your school and the surrounding community.

I would also encourage you to to get involved in some form of physical fitness/excercise program. Most colleges have very good facilities for this and many different types of activities. Now is a great time to find something that you enjoy and establish the habit of being physically active. Believe me, not only is playing and performing made easier by increasing your physical fitness but it is also a great way to relieve stress and keep your mind clear and focused.

Good luck.
 
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