People who play rock (or not jazz/classical), how do you practice?

[DuluthDank]

I come from an upright bass background focusing on mostly classical with some jazz mixed in, and am fairly familiar with how people from these styles tend to approach practice. Now I find myself playing bass guitar in a rock context, and am wondering what a day of practice might look like for a bass player who focuses mainly on rock, or other popular styles. I have a pretty good idea of what would work for me, but I'm curious to hear from others from a different background to get some outside input.

 

[Mushroo]

Learn your favorite songs by ear and then play them with your friends.

 

[IamGroot]

Was tab mentioned yet?
Need to practice with effects and amp up load.

 

[JRA]

8th notes, for 4 minutes+, at any tempo above 128BPM are your friend. good luck!

 

[DuckSoup]

I take a song, throw it into riffstation and follow along.

 

[Russell L]

I come from classical and jazz training, too. Actually, I don't find my practice to be much different, although I don't study Simandl so much anymore or sit playing etudes. Mostly, for me, it's more like trying to remember the form of the song and what the changes are. Also, paying attention to the proper articulation needed for different songs, and establishing a groove feel where appropriate. Basically, for me, practice simply means listening to the song and then going back and playing along with it until I have it. Then I'm ready to play it with the band.

 

[IamGroot]

Ok, more seriously.

On jazz, the metronome is on 2 and 4. In rock (and Latin) its good to practice straight time feel as well as 1 2 3 4 or 1 3. Need to be able to turn the swing down to zero like in classical. On the other hand, need to be able to lock in on shuffle grooves esp. In 12/8.

Listening to drummers and being able to adjust your bassline to fit the pocket is a key skill.

Know the pentatonic scales inside out. Know all the sharp keys cold, esp. E , A,D and G.

Since you read, there is wealth of free sheet music out on the web and lots of artist and compilation books at low cost.

Take a structured approach to building repertoire.

 

[ryco]

I turn my iPod on to rock songs on shuffle and play to whatever song comes on and learn it. Stopping the song - turning it off and on at parts I'm not sure of and going over 'em until I've close to nailed 'em. Repeat thru the song 'til I can play licks and passages competently. And then going thru the whole song 'til I've got it nailed. With certain licks I'll either learn 'em, approximate 'em, or make my own. Riffs I'll learn pretty darn faithfully.

More advanced ---> then I'll dial up a streaming rock station and play whatever comes up cold. What I'm listening for is chord qualities ( = Major, minor, Dom, dim) and chord progressions = what chord follows what chord. There are a bunch of standard "progressions" you hesr again and again that will become really familiar.

1. Mostly what you will hear in rock bass lines is chord roots (a LOT) and fifths of the chord. Then prolly thirds (Major? minor?). Then 7ths usually minor (also called "flat")). then 6ths.

2. Mostly in a Key you're going to hear I* (Tonic, root), then a V7 (also called Dom = major triad 1, 3, 5, with a minor (also called flat) 7th.) Then the IV. chord. In rock next you'll probably hear a vi*, or a iii, or maybe a ii; or a bIII, or bVII, or a bVI. (b before a chord numeral = flat sign)

Have FUN! Play WHAT YOU HEAR and then play what you want to hear!! Easy peasy


*Note that some Roman numerals are upper case = which means Major chord (major 3rd)
some Roman numerals are lower case which indicates minor chord (minor [or "flat"] 3rd). Hint: Get a beginning theory book, or take a class (FUN!!!), or dial up Rick Beato, Michael New on YouTube. ☮

 

[Bob_Ross]

Take a structured approach to building repertoire.

QFT

 

[lokikallas]

Memorizing the next batch of songs.

 

[bherman]

For me, practice would be the same (although not on DB if doing rock). Practice is about mastering the instrument so scales, arpeggios, etc. still useful. Whatever else you'd typically work on, then workin on whatever songs you need to learn. I've played rock, fusion, jazz, Western swing and now Newgrass and practice the same stuff.

 

[jpmcbride]

(1) Arpeggios (major, minor, and 7th) going through the circle of 5ths. Then playing common patterns (also going around the circle of 5ths).

(2) Working on new songs that have something in them that is difficult for me. For example, I can't keep up on my right hand.

(3) Learning new songs.

(4) Playing the songs I already know.

(5) Wasting time on TB instead of practicing

(6) Looking at basses on Reverb instead of practicing

 

[MalcolmAmos]

I just practice the songs, all the basic stuff has been put to bed. I also use fake chord sheet music transposed to Nashville numbers. I no longer play out so I just thumb through what I've saved in "OpenSong", pick one and go over it till it flows. I play what I want to play now days.

I may call up a video of the song and armed with my NN sheet music play-a-long. Playing a long is more fun, kinda like being with a band again.

 

[geesharp]

I practice one hour every day. Sometimes it's two hours, but I limit my practice session to one hour. This how my daily practice looks like:
I practice scale and mode for 5 minutes, as a warm up. It can get longer than 5 min if I for instance go from G up to F and back down to G again.
After scale and mode, I read etudes for about 10 minutes. Sometimes it's longer, especially if the etude(s) is or are difficult.

Then finally, I learn new songs that our band agreed to be added to our set list. I learn by ears... and once I get it, I play along. Then move to the next song. And lastly, I play along the songs that already in our set list, not all of them, just 3 or 4 songs.

That's how my daily practice looks like.

 

[dreamadream99]

I think you're asking the wrong question. I think the question to ask is, "how do bassists with a classical and jazz background tackle practicing for a bar cover band?" You have certain skills. It'd be a shame to waste that. Utilize that knowledge.

When I'm learning a new song, I transcribe it. Not a real transcription. Not a thorough one. I write the tempo and style at the top, I notate all the chord changes, But only the first few bars of the bassline to get me started. Then I use that chart to practice along with the recording, until I have the song memorized.

If I'm not learning any new songs, then I just practice technique. Scales, arpeggios, that kind of stuff.

 

[JeffJ2112]

Speaking for myself, I go through modes, chord tones, chords, then learning the songs.

All that theory stuff makes learning the songs a helluva lot easier.

 

[Lownote38]

Get one of those finger exercisers, and every other snake oil item that's pushed on rock musicians. I'm joking of course. I personally still work on sight reading, improvisation, and techniques I don't have a good handle on.

 

[Gravedigger Dav]

Was tab mentioned yet?
Need to practice with effects and amp up load.

Nope.

 

[alembicguy]

I sit down with the radio on and play along with everything I hear including commercials. I also do the same with TV.

 

[Russell L]

Listen to the song, pick out the licks, take note of the form, maybe write a chart, if needed, play along with the song until I have it down. Done. It's the same with other genres, except classical. Then, I just read the music and work out fingering.