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Practicing in the car

J

J.Nuno

Aug 8, 2010
362
45
Portugal
#1
I spend a lot of time stuck in the traffic everyday. Alternating as the driver and the passenger.
All that time, I'm always listening to music. So from that alone I know I benefit a lot. But I've been thinking about what else can I do to practice while in these wasted times?
Some times I just move my right fingers as if I was playing to increase right and speed and rhythm. What else can I do? Is there any tool I can bring with me?
 
#3
J.Nuno said:
I spend a lot of time stuck in the traffic everyday. Alternating as the driver and the passenger.
All that time, I'm always listening to music. So from that alone I know I benefit a lot. But I've been thinking about what else can I do to practice while in these wasted times?
Some times I just move my right fingers as if I was playing to increase right and speed and rhythm. What else can I do? Is there any tool I can bring with me?
Click to expand...

If you don't want to bring a small bass like a Ubass or a Steinberger with you, the best thing you can do is mental practice. Start by visualizing where on the neck and with which fingers you would play the sounds you're hearing.
 
#5
I do isotonic and stretching excercise in the car, mainly on my left hand. I don't bother with one of the grip trainer things, I do exercise 1 from here: [Invalid or Expired Link Removed] plus gentle (never bounce on a stretch) stretching my fingers back, and stretching them apart - I'm mainly after more flexibility, my fingers are not very stretchy. It's already making a small difference to my playing, alongside plenty of practice.

On top of that, I do some listening practice, this week I'm listening to what the drums are doing on a load of my favourite albums, then I'll listen back again and see what the bass is doing vs the drums.

Every little helps.
 
#6
Google "hand exercise music" there is a plethora of tools and such I use in the car. My first day buying one, I used it for hours and it helped my control tremendously. I got mine at a local music store for $10. I also use a grip exerciser I got from the dollar store.

I have played my mini bass in the car, when parked or when someone else is driving.
 
#7
Something I do when driving, which is a big part of my job, is to kind of mentally dissect drumbeats. I count the rhythm count the kick then the snare understand what is going on with the hat. It's not "bass" practice as much as music practice. I think that all bass players can benefit from understanding what is going on in the other half of the rythm section, and it is easy enough to do while paying attention to the road.
 
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#8
Consider listening to recordings of your rehearsals and performances. There's little point in having a bass in your hands when you're listening to these recordings anyway. I use a Zoom H4N to record the entire session and then I use Audacity to chop the session into individual MP3 files for each song. The quality is surprisingly good. Make notes about what works and what needs work. If you're driving, use a voice recorder (e.g., voice memo on an iPhone) to record your comments.

You can also pretend that you're playing the bass line to gauge whether you anticipate everything correctly. Visualize your finger movements.

Listening is an important part of learning and you might as do all your listening in the car rather than at home. In my case, there are certain kinds of music that are not popular with my wife. The car is a great place to listen to this music.

Of course, you don't want to do any of this to the point where you're distracted as a driver.
 
#11
Listen to songs. Flash cards for learning notation and the fret board. Stretches. Mentally - playing, singing, any song you are trying to get down + the fret board in various patterns. Mentally playing a song you know in different positions.
 
#12
I like the metronome and flash card ideas. A drummer friend of mine gave me rhythmic notation for 68 different four measure patterns. Being able to play a rhythmic pattern on sight can be just as tough as recognizing the pitches. Given the importance of bass as a rhythmic instrument, you can't spend too much time on rhythm. If the flash cards are too basic for you, try arpeggiating 7 chords in any key and the popular modes (major, minor, dorian, and mixolydian). For example, C major is Cmaj7, Dm7, Em7, Fmaj7, G7, Am7, Bm7b5, Cmaj7.
 

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