Need Help with a steady practice routine

[Hroda]

Hello everyone.I find myself in a dilemma. I'm 19 & I bought my bass about 2 weeks ago (Ibanez SR-300M w/ Marshall MB-30 amp). I've tried looking on youtube and other free resources for learning how to play for a beginner. When I say beginner (just to give you an idea of my knowledge and background so far)

- Only know notes on the first 5 frets
- I know the treble clef, and can somewhat sight read (took classes in high school) just have problem with picking out rhythm sometimes
- For the most part I'm familiar with sounds play by ear
- All I know is the Major scale pattern
- Familiar with alot of Music theory terms

Now I know many of you would say "get a good teacher, they will guide you" but my budget right now (rent/bills) doesn't allow me to get one, living in NYC is expensive, although I do plan to in the near future.

For now though, I'm very enthusiastic about this instrument, but I feel like I'm just doing random things everyday, watching random vids, doing excercises, and not getting anywhere. Can anyone suggest a good thorough practice routine for me to do like say every 5-6 days for about an hour or two that I can stick with? Or maybe a routine that helped you become good? May be even a sheet or template (or app) for practice. I know things don't happen over night. So any amount of time you suggest is fine with me.

Also while noodling around online I ordered, and have these following books. If anyone has these or any insight Shoot it my way!

-Mel Bay Essential Bass Guitar Theory
-Bass Aerobics by Jon Leibman
-Bass Fitness by Josquin Des Pres
-Hal Leonard Bass Method by Ed Friedland

Very eager to hear your responses, any insight will be appreciated greatly, Thanks for reading and any help in advance

 

[R&B]

Hi Hroda,

I wish I had taken up the bass when I was your age. Your insight is impressive. You know something is missing and are taking steps to address it. Good on ya!

I will vouch for the Hal Leonard Bass Method. While there is no substitute for the right instructor, the Ed Friedland book and CD are thoughtfully put together. (The DVD moves a little too fast but is good as a supplement.) The program will help you develop an understanding of the fretboard, musical notation and various styles of music. It's fun and motivating to play along. It's my main framework as a slightly advanced beginner and my teacher endorses it. Don't forget scales etc. too.

Best wishes.

SL

 

[fearceol]

Hi, and welcome to the low end.

My first piece of advice is about when you practice. IMO a half an hour every day is a lot better than two or three hours once a week. Regularity is the key.

I am only familiar with the Ed Friedland book. Any of his books are good IMO.

A great all round site is www.studybass.com

It would be a good idea to start at the beginning of this site and work through it. It has a good section on CHORD TONES (see link below). These are what a bassist plays 90% of the time.

http://www.studybass.com/lessons/bass-chord-patterns/chord-tones-are-primary/



One more thing, dont forget to familiarise yourself with good right and left hand technique, before delving into some of those other books that you ordered. As you have just got your first bass, IMO this is where you should start. Lots of stuff on You Tube, if you do a search. The main message with technique is to have both wrists as straight as possible.


Good luck with it.

 

[JEBassman]

Hello and welcome to the bass! You've come to a good place for advice. You're right about finding a good teacher, early in your musical career. Perhaps there is some middle ground between having lessons and not having any: What about taking a lesson or two to get started, as a guide? They could be spaced apart; just something to consider.

You seem like a sharp guy, and seem motivated to delve into studying the bass. There is lots to explore! Please keep in mind that the biggest challenge to a beginner is not being able to "do it all" right away. Learning an instrument is a process; allow yourself time to get acclimated to the bass. While it's fun and stimulating to order books and get advice, please keep in mind that it's easy to take on too much at once.

Start with the Ed Friedland book. If you can afford to get his DVD that might be very helpful. Seeing a professional play gives you an important model to emulate. Ed is a seasoned pro and his books and videos are well-used by players of many levels. Give yourself time to work through the lessons in the book. The best advice I can offer is to start playing the lessons slowly, adding faster tempos after your fingers can play the notes in a steady tempo. This advice will apply to everything you ever take on with the bass. Playing slowly gives you time to think about your hand position, both right and left. Playing in front of a mirror can be helpful too, but is not necessary to do all of the time.

Spend time listening to music and concentrate on the bass. Listen to how the bassist coordinates with the drummer and other musicians. It's helpful to tap your foot or clap your hands along to the music, letting yourself get in sync with the beat. Memorize how it feels to keep time with the music, and be aware of how the bassist keeps the music going. Any style of music is fine; of course listening to bands you enjoy will help support your interest and motivation to play.

If you haven't done so already buy a tuner that you can plug your bass into. There are many tuners available. If you can afford a pedal style tuner, that the bass plugs into, that will come in handy. There are also web sites that have tuners available online, which are handy but not as efficient as a pedal style tuner. An excellent tuner, that is very popular, is the Korg Pitchblack tuner:
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If you can't afford this type of tuner, you can either use the web sites until you can afford the pedal, or but something like this:
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You will eventually want a pedal style tuner. Korg is an excellent brand. Boss also makes some decent tuners, but I prefer Korg.

Well, best of luck with your new adventure! You will love the bass. Give yourself time to go through the book. It's also fun and extremely helpful to spend time listening to songs and trying to match the notes on your bass. There are also books available with bass parts written out (transcribed), for popular songs and bands. Look for books that have both standard notation and TAB. TAB is a fingering system that will help you find the notes to songs quickly. You can also find TAB charts online for many tunes. Just don't rely on TAB alone; you'll want to read bass clef too.
Have lots of fun!!
Joel

 

[BassNeo]

Here's another online resource:

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What helps me progress is learning songs. Scales, theory, modes, etc are essential but you need to have fun too. Pick a song a week and learn it inside out. It also helps to connect the dots between what you learn in theory versus what's played in a song.

Best of luck!

 

[Reflective]

A specific routine is a hard thing to nail down. I feel like maybe not doing the exact same cycle of exercises is better. I've wondered about the perfect practice routine since I started several years ago, and I must have given up on it somewhere along the line. I can still give you a few tips though:

LEARN THE NECK! - Spend a lot of time memorizing what note each fret is. Play in lots of different positions, and definitly don't neglect the fets from 12 up, as its basically a repeat. Learn all the different octave and unison patterns, i.e. 12th fret is an octave, 7th fret of a string is the octave of the one lower than it (in pitch), one string down (in pitch) and 5 frets over (towards the bridge) is a unison.

Train your ear - This is extremely important. Most people want to drown themselves in theory, or do physical exercises to become dexterity kings, but without the ear it's pointless. A great way to work your ear is to start learning songs by ear. At first, pinpointing the notes in the low range is difficult, but it gets easier. It doesn't have to bee the bass either, figure out melodies, twinkle twinkly little star, jingles off tv etc, anything really. Also, practice singing or humming the note right before you play, or as you play it on your bass. It's really important to know exactly what youre gonna get when you play a note, instead of relying on the muscle memory you've built up to play comfortable patterns, and getting notes you didn't plan on.

Memorize intervals!!! this is a big one - Learn the fingering for doing each interval. There are many ways to play each interval, but focus on the 2 or so most practical ways. Sing along when you play these ones definitely, want to imprint the interval sounds in your head.

Study chord tones- Practice the patterns for different types of chords. You can study a simple song, and figure out what the chord changes are, and play along just using chord tones for each change. You can walk up for each chord change (the root, the 3rd, the 5th, and the 7th if there is one), and then next time through walk down, and continue to switch it up.

Practice scales - Focus especially on the major scale, then the minor, and get yourself into studying modes, as they can be useful for adding fills around a particular chord. Should be focusing on the shape or pattern of the notes for each scale, learning different ways depending on what finger is anchored.

This is one I've neglected heavily, and with regret: Start playing with others as soon as possible. Don't be like me and let your self doubt get in the way. There's no shame in being a beginner, or really at being in any stage of playing. Music is not just about getting better, its about enjoying the act of playing. Play with as many different people as you can, as much as you can. There is no doubt that this will make you progress faster than those that don't do this.

Anyway... thats all i can think of right now.

 

[AuntieBeeb]

LEARN THE NECK!

^ He's right. By the sound of it, you already know a bit about music - what instrument(s) have you learned to play before? They may provide a useful guide.

Particularly if you already know some music theory, I'd recommend getting a scale book. Learn a few different shapes for major, harmonic minor, the pentatonics and some of the more useful modes (Dorian, Phrygian, Aeolian). Then try moving them up and down the neck. Initially you may have to count note-by-note up the E string to work out where to start a B major, but at least you'll be familiar with the location of the notes in that B major, and eventually you'll be able to put names to them. (One of the things that massively speeds up self-tuition on a guitar or bass is realising that you can directly transpose the shape of a scale anywhere on the neck - unlike, say, a piano where you just have to learn what goes where.)

Oh, also: your right hand. Don't feel compelled to play with your fingers or a pick, try both, and try different positions with both until you find something which is comfortable and provides a sound you like. I once had a student who was trying to play fingerstyle by resting his thumb on the top of the body - granted, he had huge hands but I've never seen someone look so uncomfortable trying to reach the G!

 

[Hroda]

Thanks all for these great responses I appreciate them all,

@fearceol Thanks, i'll look into chord tones and implement that into my practice

@BassNeo I love this guy he makes bass fun & inviting, good idea on picking a new song a week

@AuntieBeeb I did take Music Theory class in High School, didn't get too deep but I wouldn't be lost in a musical conversation, started on keyboard, but I'm drawn more to bass, interesting idea, it's something i know but always forget to name the notes

@ShowLow Ed Friedland does plan out his books very well I will focus more on this, Thanks

@Reflective thanks, very interesting to hear from people who have been playing for years, all your tips help and I will keep all these in mind

@JEBassman I guess Ed Friedland is the way to go everyone loves this man. Thanks, I'll start with his method inside out and order other things from him

 

[Hulktopus]

I guess Ed Friedland is the way to go everyone loves this man. Thanks, I'll start with his method inside out and order other things from him

I just bought Bass Method 1 and 2 by Friedland yesterday. I found them on sale for $5 off each one (and the timing couldn't have been better because I was going to buy them anyway).

I started working through the first one yesterday, and when I looked up an hour and a half had passed. I LOVE these things.

Also, using a metronome during practice helps a lot. Start at a slow tempo (60bpm) and when you can do a portion of the music comfortably, increase the tempo by 3 or 4 bpm and repeat until you can play all the notes CORRECTLY at the desired bpm. This gets you fast very quickly.

 

[R&B]

I just bought Bass Method 1 and 2 by Friedland yesterday. I found them on sale for $5 off each one (and the timing couldn't have been better because I was going to buy them anyway).

I started working through the first one yesterday, and when I looked up an hour and a half had passed. I LOVE these things.

Also, using a metronome during practice helps a lot. Start at a slow tempo (60bpm) and when you can do a portion of the music comfortably, increase the tempo by 3 or 4 bpm and repeat until you can play all the notes CORRECTLY at the desired bpm. This gets you fast very quickly.

+1 on starting slowly and increasing the tempo gradually. My instructor makes me do this and it is remarkably effective. Of course I am too impatient to do this all the time...

MetroTimer is a free iPhone metronome app. Good one.

SL

 

[Mechanical]

My problem with the Ed Friedland instruction is that the examples in the beginning are not musical. I admire his skill, but the guy has no groove whatsoever. Might as well have a computer generated bass line. He's got no soul to his playing, which is why he appears on how many albums?

I would suggest Sharon Ray instead. Every bass line is musical.

 

[INTP]

There are a lot of good suggestions here. One thing that I will add that I wish someone had told me a long time ago, is to gave a general structure that you follow for your practice sessions. For example:
0) warm up
1) technique exercises
2) reading/theory
3) songs

This leaves a ton of flexibility, but gets you thinking about what you're doing to make sure your sessions are productive, not just noodling around.

Warm up This is some kind of exercise that isn't too mentally or physically taxing, but helps you get your fingers in position, loose, and ready to play. I usually do something that was once a technique exercise, but now has become fairly automatic. I numbered it zero because it's not the focus, but it's something that I always try to do.

Technique This is something that helps you focus on a smaller part of the skill of playing. At the very beginning, it can be simple things like working on alternating plucking fingers, shifting strings, etc. This will evolve over time. Start without the metronome, then when you can do it consistently, add the metronome, and gradually increase the tempo. I like to leave individual exercises in the rotation for several weeks at a time.

Reading / Theory This shifts focus from the movement of the fingers to which notes to play and when. I might do sight reading of a piece, or I might work on scales or arpeggios, for example.

Songs I like to finish with something that is less formal, more of an application of the above. I might work on learning a new piece or bass line, play along with some songs I enjoy, or sometimes improvise or walk along some chord changes (e.g. blues changes, or play along with iRealb). I find this to be energizing, especially when I've been working on a new or challenging technique. I think of it as my reward for having worked through the more tedious exercises.


My point here is not to be too specific, but to point out an approach. I chose 3 general categories because they encompass most of what you'll be working on, without being too rigid.

One last thing, don't sweat if there's overlap. In fact, I'll often combine the technique and the theory to keep my mind interested. Once I can play a particular technique, but I'm still trying to solidify it, I will find a way to repeat it during another exercise. For example, if I'm working on steady plucking hand, I'll practice that while doing single notes, then doing scales, then doing arpeggios, changing keys, etc. My plucking hand is getting the same reinforcement, but I'm also learning something else at the same time. My only caveat in doing this is to make sure that you're not sacrificing technique by doing more than one thing at a time.

I don't have the particular bass method book mentioned above, but I'm sure it has plenty of specifics that you could apply to the general framework, to make your own practice routine.

Also, I STRONGLY agree with the comments above that it's better to have regular, but shorter practice sessions than to have a marathon session once per week.

I hope this helps.