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Practice Routines

overgeared

overgeared

Aug 14, 2025
13
5
#1
What would your practice routine look like if you only had, say, 1 hour a day to practice? Finger exercises? Scales? Playing songs?

The more detail the better, so how long on each element, what scales, exercises, etc. links to anything also appreciated.

Just looking for some inspiration and ideas to improve that I might not have tried/thought of.

TIA
 
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#2
Amateur/self-taught hack who jams regularly & plays in a low key cover band with friends here. This is just sharing what I often do, NOT pro advice and definitely not suited for someone who wants to be a pro. I spend zero time reading because it's slow & I do not enjoy it, even though I know it'd be "good for me" ;)


15 mins scales including modes of the major scale. I pick I scale / week and play it up & down the neck, in 3rds, 5ths etc, along 1 string, 2 strings, always trying to make it sound musical. It helps a lot to have a looper pedal (I have a 50 buck cheapo)-pluck a triple stopped chord into a basic rhythm and play the appropriate scale over it, musically.

10 mins ear training-maybe try to figure out an unfamiliar song...maybe hum a an interval or 3 or 4 note run and try to play it
5 mins trying a fast or intricate riff that's a challenge for the plucking hand...beginning slowly & ramping up

15 mins of refining old songs (new ways to vary them, learning to sing backup vocals/ harmonies)

15 mins new songs or something new -3 finger technique? Learning to sing a lead? Adding ghost notes to busy up a previously sleepy line? Slowing a busy line and seeing if less is more? Harmonics?

Learning to get comfy with a very basic looper can help solo practice a lot.
 
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#3
I have been working through the Daily Practice for Bass books by Jim Stinnett.
There are 13 books available. Each book represents a months worth of work but it usually takes me a little longer.
The books break it down into 3x 15 min chunks.

It is usually something like:
15 min - Technique or Reading (changes every other day or so)
15 min - Motown or Funk or Jazz
15 min - Transcribing, Ear training, or one of the other styles of music not already covered in the previous 15 min.

Some of the stuff doesn't fit into a single day (transcribing or learning a particular song), so I will repeat it the next day.
There are audio files for a lot of the stuff, but not all. There are also videos he did on youtube that match up sometimes.
These books have been both rewarding and frustrating, but I'm the better for having gone through them so far.
Note - the books don't use tab so you have to be able to read a bit of bass clef to get started.

Good luck! I hope this helps.
 
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#5
edgewise said:
I have been working through the Daily Practice for Bass books by Jim Stinnett.
There are 13 books available. Each book represents a months worth of work but it usually takes me a little longer.
The books break it down into 3x 15 min chunks.

It is usually something like:
15 min - Technique or Reading (changes every other day or so)
15 min - Motown or Funk or Jazz
15 min - Transcribing, Ear training, or one of the other styles of music not already covered in the previous 15 min.

Some of the stuff doesn't fit into a single day (transcribing or learning a particular song), so I will repeat it the next day.
There are audio files for a lot of the stuff, but not all. There are also videos he did on youtube that match up sometimes.
These books have been both rewarding and frustrating, but I'm the better for having gone through them so far.
Note - the books don't use tab so you have to be able to read a bit of bass clef to get started.

Good luck! I hope this helps.
Click to expand...
This is a great resource and what I do. This is well-structured and nicely laid out, covering all the needed skills. The first half hour or so of practice is spent on the day's lesson, then I practice songs in the repertoire: new ones first, then others I want/need to work on or just do a practice review to keep the skills up.
 
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#6
Sorry but it depends. If I have songs to learn I probably would just focus on them. If I had a gig coming up, I would focus on any songs I thought needed attention. Just day to day practice, I would do scales, arpeggios, a few songs I like to play and maybe try out a technique I felt rusty on.
 
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#9
overgeared said:
What would your practice routine look like if you only had, say, 1 hour a day to practice? Finger exercises? Scales? Playing songs?

The more detail the better, so how long on each element, what scales, exercises, etc. links to anything also appreciated.

Just looking for some inspiration and ideas to improve that I might not have tried/thought of.

TIA
Click to expand...
I find the best way to practice is to play with other musicians, either live or with prerecorded music. As you continue to work in this manner, you will build stamina. When you find a problem with your technique, you allocate time to resolve it. As to what percentage of that hour you allocate is driven by how much work you need to master a specific issue.

For working with prerecorded music I use recordings of past performances of my band, and or the Chordify app for songs not on our set lists. The reason why I suggest playing with other musicians is because playing the bass without the interaction of other musicians while trying to build stamina is boring as hell, unless you have some specific technical skill you need. JMO.
 
#11
disclaimer: I'm a day jobber, so My bills do not rely on my bass playing.

1 hour of aimless noodling / mindful exploration
unless I have a gig, then 1 hour of
  • charting the material, if needed
  • playing the material alone with a metronome
  • looping slowly any parts that need attention
I younger days, before I had achieved "good enuff to follow a chart",
it was always just running scales and arpeggios, which I could benefit from returning to.

If bass was my day job, and my family relied it, I would re prioritize my approach for certain.
 
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#14
The leader of my ukulele group of 35 members, for which I play bass uke, puts out a different 5 song setlist for each of our Monday and Thursday Zoom practice sessions. She also puts out a different setlist of 18 songs for our in person meetings every other Sunday and Wednesday. She also gives us a different setlist of 18 for each upcoming gig. I run the setlist at least a couple times a day as soon as I receive it.
 
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#16
My general rule with such little time as an hour is at least half on technique (scales, arpeggios, exercises), because that's what makes you better

In reality recently I often spend more time on repertoire because I don't want to eff up on the bandstand.

Given an hour, ideally I'd spend 30 minutes on scales, arpeggios, and exercises in 12 keys, major minor dim dom, etc. and 30 minutes on repertoire (to include reading, transcription, and/or rote learning).
 
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#17
Semi-pro hobbyist here, weekend warrior bar band guy. Half a century on bass, but I call myself a bassist rather than a musician (see below). With all that in mind:

Practice at home is mostly homework for the various bands I gig and sub with: charting out new-to-me songs, or brushing up on the more complex ones that I've already charted, as well as those I know well enough without a chart. Most of the songs are covers, but one of my bands plays all original blues/funk/rock.

During the pandemic shutdown when the gigs disappeared I created some YouTube playlists of fun/challenging songs and played along with those to keep my fingers in shape. I should probably return to that every so often.

But again, my focus is on my gigging bands: charting/learning new-to-me songs, also polishing the ones I don't quite "own" yet. Every so often I'll learn a song just for fun. Guiding principle: the more songs you learn, the easier it is to learn new songs.

If I were a musician I'd do more formal practice: scales/modes, melodic improv over changes. I'd resume my theory lessons. But I'm comfortable enough with most of the skills I've learned in 50-plus years.

That is not to say I lack ambition. I always try to get better/faster at learning songs, and becoming a better performing bassist: to me, sub gigs count as informal lessons (but not as a "practice routine", which is the topic of this thread).
 
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#18
Lately, if I’m not sure what to play, I’ll just open up an app like iReal Pro, Quartet, or Moises and put on a backing track for myself. I’ve been focusing on a lot of jazz recently, so it’s fun to just make up basslines over chord changes on the fly. I’m sure there are “better” ways to practice, but honestly, I just do this for fun, and this seems to check a lot of the boxes for what makes a practice session good.

I think it’s important to practice with something keeping time, whether that’s a metronome, drum machine, backing track, looper, etc… being able to stick to a tempo is huge.
 
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#19
overgeared said:
What would your practice routine look like if you only had, say, 1 hour a day to practice? Finger exercises? Scales? Playing songs?

The more detail the better, so how long on each element, what scales, exercises, etc. links to anything also appreciated.

Just looking for some inspiration and ideas to improve that I might not have tried/thought of.

TIA
Click to expand...
I rarely have even that long to practice these days. I stay busy between work and running three kids to practice and games. I tend to blast through a few scales to get warmed up (no more than 5 minutes) and then I pull up a playlist I made on YouTube. Making the playlist can be done anytime. I listen to music on YouTube on my lunch break and if there’s a song I want to play I add it to a playlist. I got an iPhone headphone adapter and plug my phone into the aux in of my mesa subway head and use a set of sennheiser hd 490 pro headphones. I know not everyone likes headphones. And yeah I’d prefer to crank up my rig. But I mostly practice when the wife and kids are sleeping so using headphones greatly increased the time I can practice.
 
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#20
I suggest regularly brainstorming what you need to work on. There's no way you will cram everything you need to do into 1 hour, or even 1 day. So, in order to cover everything, your practice routine will need to vary. To some extent you should prioritize based on upcoming performance requirements.


It's also helpful to have some basic understanding on how motivation works. The rate in which musical skill increases can be very slow, which tends to be demotivating. It can help to record yourself or keep a journal. Additionally, available time should be split between work and play. In other words, your practice time should include some activities that give you joy.
 
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