Practice

[TheCrazyJoe]

I am fortunate to be a in a good band with a friend who I know and trust. He is our leader and a very good guitarist with many years of experience.

I am a bass player with about 5 and a half years of experience with the instrument.

With COVID, our band has only had the opportunity to do two live performances this year, but we have supplemented that with 3 band videos. We are likely going to do a 4th video sometime soon.

When it comes to bass practice, I make it a point to work through all of the songs we have in our set lists once a week. This comprises 2.5 hours of practice time.

It's important to me to maintain the muscle memory and comfort with the songs. Sometimes I feel like I need to relax about this, but I always wind up practicing the 3 sets of music once each week.

I want to be ready.

Thanks for reading.

Joe

 

[WI Short Scaler]

We take a similar approach with the band by spending the first 1/2 hr of every practice playing songs that we know first. Good warm up, keeps them current and ready, then we go on to work on new stuff.

 

[mrcbass]

I wish the other members of my band had your practice ethics. Nothing drives me crazier than hearing "Wow, I haven't touched that one for a while!" when a random song from our active playlist gets called out at rehearsals. And the dress rehearsals can be absolute train wrecks. But I do have to say, that come downbeat on a gig, we somehow find a way to sound good, so I guess they all just cram the week before the gig. I might be scared if we had a dress rehearsal that went smooth.

While I haven't been real faithful to this approach this year (since March), when we're in gigging season, I typically have a similar approach: I'll cycle through one of our sets each day, which gets me at least twice a week on each song. We did do 3 "promo" gigs this year, so it's not like it's been several months since I've run the sets, but I'm not at all dedicated to running through l that familiar territory right now. WE are working up a dozen new tunes, so that's been the focus the last few weeks. I've spot checked of few of our regulars, but am certainly not running sets right now.

And by the way, congrats on being in a band with strong, adult musicians. It can be a very fulfilling experience with the right people. It can be a nightmare with amateurs and immature idiots.

 

[TheCrazyJoe]

I wish the other members of my band had your practice ethics. Nothing drives me crazier than hearing "Wow, I haven't touched that one for a while!" when a random song from our active playlist gets called out at rehearsals. And the dress rehearsals can be absolute train wrecks. But I do have to say, that come downbeat on a gig, we somehow find a way to sound good, so I guess they all just cram the week before the gig. I might be scared if we had a dress rehearsal that went smooth.

While I haven't been real faithful to this approach this year (since March), when we're in gigging season, I typically have a similar approach: I'll cycle through one of our sets each day, which gets me at least twice a week on each song. We did do 3 "promo" gigs this year, so it's not like it's been several months since I've run the sets, but I'm not at all dedicated to running through l that familiar territory right now. WE are working up a dozen new tunes, so that's been the focus the last few weeks. I've spot checked of few of our regulars, but am certainly not running sets right now.

And by the way, congrats on being in a band with strong, adult musicians. It can be a very fulfilling experience with the right people. It can be a nightmare with amateurs and immature idiots.

Thank you for your feedback.

Yes, I do feel very fortunate with the band I am in. We are a three-piece with a female vocalist. Each person is an outstanding individual as well as an accomplished musician. I am the newbie, but I have learned to fit in and serve the band. They have been very supportive of me, and recognize my efforts. When we nail difficult songs in a performance, the feeling is amazing.

 

[TheCrazyJoe]

I realize now that I wasn't entirely complete in the description of a typical week.

In addition to the 2.5 hours for my band, I sometimes play for church, which gives me up to 2 hours of practice time for the week where I play. I also am constantly working on picking up new songs. I may not play them for more than a few times, but I try to stay immersed in learning new songs and memorizing them. I also try to fit in some music theory and technique practice where I can. A typical week can be up to 8 hours of practice time.

 

[CallMeAl]

I’ve been using quarantine to deep dive into the kind of practice I never had time for: walking bass, reading, ear training, keyboard chops... I’ve definitely grown as a player, but recently I’ve been thinking I’m neglecting the set list. Gotta find my balance, cause some of those trickier tunes are probably getting rusty!

 

[MattZilla]

A typical week can be up to 8 hours of practice time.

Should be 8 hours per day. Minimum.

Slacker.

Should change your user name to TheLazyJoe.

All jokes aside, maybe you oughtta be recording and posting recently learned songs on YT.