we had premature twins, took about a year before things settled down enough for me to devote real time to music. Now they get tired of me being home all the time when I DONT have aband. Times flies, enjoy this stage 
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New Dad - Limited Time - What to practice?
- Thread starter Groovin1122
- Start date
My kids were able to sleep through me practicing. Later on, they were content to play with their toys while I practiced nearby.
Octaves? Scales?
Why not just songs?
‘specially with a young mind in the house
Why not just songs?
‘specially with a young mind in the house
When my kids were born, I pretty much went into “maintenance mode” where I would just grab my bass and play familiar riffs for as long as I could. I’ve never been into practicing scales, so I kept it simple. My main objective was to keep my fingers happy and my mind free.
Oh man that's such a great time! Play whatever when you can. I Dont over think it. Just enjoy playing when you get a chance. Enjoy the experience of being a new dad!!! It is one of the best times of your life!
Yeah one thing I didn’t mention is that your kid will be way more fun than a bass, and the time goes by faster than you can imagine. Really enjoy your baby while you can, because they aren’t babies for very long.
First off, congratulations on the arrival of your son!
I don’t have particular advice on what to practice because I’m not familiar with those resources, but my daughter is 3 and a half, and I'm at least familiar with what I did during that time, and am, frankly, still doing now.
For me, the most important thing was a consistent time and place that my wife and I both agreed to. In my case, it was 35 minutes after dinner. I used a course from an online bass teacher that had a weekly structure with exercises. I'd watch a video on Monday, then spend the time for the rest of the week working on the exercises. If you want bonus points, record your exercises so you can hear how they're different at the end of the week from how they were at the beginning.
Most of all, just try to keep at it a little every day. Good luck in this wonderful and challenging time of life!
I don’t have particular advice on what to practice because I’m not familiar with those resources, but my daughter is 3 and a half, and I'm at least familiar with what I did during that time, and am, frankly, still doing now.
For me, the most important thing was a consistent time and place that my wife and I both agreed to. In my case, it was 35 minutes after dinner. I used a course from an online bass teacher that had a weekly structure with exercises. I'd watch a video on Monday, then spend the time for the rest of the week working on the exercises. If you want bonus points, record your exercises so you can hear how they're different at the end of the week from how they were at the beginning.
Most of all, just try to keep at it a little every day. Good luck in this wonderful and challenging time of life!
Congratulation!
My bass ended up living in it's case for about 8 years after my son was born.
I bought a cheap piano (ask at your local piano shop, they get a lot of older trade ins most are junk but some are too good to dump but they can't put them in the shop because they would compete against the second hand yamahas, kawias, etc)
I learnt a new set of skills and there was an easy instrument for my son to lean on.(Which he did)
Enjoy!
My bass ended up living in it's case for about 8 years after my son was born.
I bought a cheap piano (ask at your local piano shop, they get a lot of older trade ins most are junk but some are too good to dump but they can't put them in the shop because they would compete against the second hand yamahas, kawias, etc)
I learnt a new set of skills and there was an easy instrument for my son to lean on.(Which he did)
Enjoy!
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
I like to practice songs and or cool bass lines from songs.
I love playing along with songs on youtube.
I also like learning new songs
My wife has a revisionist fantasy story she likes to tell people, in which she gave birth to our second daughter and I left her in the hospital to play a gig that very night.
In reality, our daughter came on Wednesday in the late morning. We were home on Thursday and the gig I had was an 11 AM festival set that Saturday. I was home by 1 PM.
Not sure where I'm going with this unless it's to say that your time might not be your own for a while. It did get better for me later.
In reality, our daughter came on Wednesday in the late morning. We were home on Thursday and the gig I had was an 11 AM festival set that Saturday. I was home by 1 PM.
Not sure where I'm going with this unless it's to say that your time might not be your own for a while. It did get better for me later.
Congrats on the kid! Month 3 was the breakover point for me where it seemed the kiddo was a little autonomous and I could enjoy them without thinking I was going to snap them in half if I changed a onesie on them.
I saw comments like "manage your expectations" and "arpeggios, scales etc." I also saw "maintenance mode."
What works for you may be different than me, your partner may do more (or less) than mine. Your kid might be more colicky (near impossible) than both of mine.
If you can pick up your bass for 20 min, be happy and enjoy it. Mine are 5 and 1.5 at the moment and that's about all I can swing. If I had a nice barn out back I could play more after they were in bed.
But I do play when they are awake, and they have an insatiable love for music. We play records and dance to everything from Motown to Wu-Tang. The little one won't leave my bass alone and the big one plays his bongos with us.
Practice when you can, and do what makes you happy the most. Enjoy the kiddo first and foremost, it happens fast.
I saw comments like "manage your expectations" and "arpeggios, scales etc." I also saw "maintenance mode."
What works for you may be different than me, your partner may do more (or less) than mine. Your kid might be more colicky (near impossible) than both of mine.
If you can pick up your bass for 20 min, be happy and enjoy it. Mine are 5 and 1.5 at the moment and that's about all I can swing. If I had a nice barn out back I could play more after they were in bed.
But I do play when they are awake, and they have an insatiable love for music. We play records and dance to everything from Motown to Wu-Tang. The little one won't leave my bass alone and the big one plays his bongos with us.
Practice when you can, and do what makes you happy the most. Enjoy the kiddo first and foremost, it happens fast.
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Currently having a 1 year old, a 3 year old, and a 60 hr/wk job, the bass is sitting in its case more than I would like, but the fire is lit more than ever.
Watching so many incredibly technically proficient bassists on Instagram and YouTube, it definitely feels like I’m losing ground some days, but I also think it’s easy to lose sight of what makes the bass such a powerful instrument - the timing and groove. If I were you, I’d focus on developing/retaining a rock solid feel, and then intensely focusing on each lesson you dive into in book, videos, etc.
Advanced theory knowledge and blazing fast licks don’t mean a thang if you can’t naturally apply them into your playing.
Watching so many incredibly technically proficient bassists on Instagram and YouTube, it definitely feels like I’m losing ground some days, but I also think it’s easy to lose sight of what makes the bass such a powerful instrument - the timing and groove. If I were you, I’d focus on developing/retaining a rock solid feel, and then intensely focusing on each lesson you dive into in book, videos, etc.
Advanced theory knowledge and blazing fast licks don’t mean a thang if you can’t naturally apply them into your playing.
These guys said perfectly what I wanted to say.
I’ll also second the suggestion to get a headphone rig so you can practice during nap time or after bedtime.
What you practice should depend on your goals as a player. You’re wise to have a plan so you don’t waste time trying to figure out what to do when you do get a few minutes to play. I’m not sure it even matters what you play, as long as it keeps your interest and moves to toward your goals. There is always more than one path forward.
Congratulations on the bambino!
But seriously,
Compile a tome of very short exercises, which do not require a lot of deep thought (because you won't have the focused capacity because you will be too tired) and which do not require much time to go through (I'm talking under 2 minutes).
When you get the chance, do one. Then do another, until you get interrupted. Everything in the tome has to be on the easy side. When you do one, check it off. It will make you feel like you are not losing ground.
And when I say "exercises," that can mean anything from working out in your head, with no bass in hand, going through rhythm changes in a key you are not familiar with to quickly blasting through an old standard that you know well where you tell yourself, "I'm going to focus on one and only one area of technique." Of course you can always play the traditional scales and arpeggios, but remember to keep everything in small bite size chunks where if you get interrupted mid-stream, nothing is lost.
As the kids get older, you'll get more and more practice time.
Compile a tome of very short exercises, which do not require a lot of deep thought (because you won't have the focused capacity because you will be too tired) and which do not require much time to go through (I'm talking under 2 minutes).
When you get the chance, do one. Then do another, until you get interrupted. Everything in the tome has to be on the easy side. When you do one, check it off. It will make you feel like you are not losing ground.
And when I say "exercises," that can mean anything from working out in your head, with no bass in hand, going through rhythm changes in a key you are not familiar with to quickly blasting through an old standard that you know well where you tell yourself, "I'm going to focus on one and only one area of technique." Of course you can always play the traditional scales and arpeggios, but remember to keep everything in small bite size chunks where if you get interrupted mid-stream, nothing is lost.
As the kids get older, you'll get more and more practice time.
Impossible to say without knowing your goals. Goals drive what you practice.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
This is not a time to expect to grow as a player. I would run through minor, major, and chromatic scales for finger positioning and positions skips, then play two songs, so it's fun.
My regular routine is to blast through some scales pretty quickly. Basic Major, minor, blues scales, and scales using double stops like tenths to get warmed up a little. Then I typically spend time jamming with my looper pedal. On the weekend if I’m home I’ll sit in my home studio and pull up videos on YouTube that are either popular songs that have had the bass removed or music that doesn’t have any bass (like ambient guitar, piano and so on) and jam along. Or I’ll pull up reaper and write music(I also play keys, guitar, and I have drum plugins) that I can write to. But yeah I try too keep things creative and fun. For me “exercises” are just for warming up. The night i shot this, I literally only had about 15 minutes to play. Most of which you see on the video, before this I just ran through some scales for a couple minutes
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