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What is your practice routine?
- Thread starter Acoustic356
- Start date
After having labored long, I hope to attain KOLINAHR!!!
...and now I am at 26 hrs 10 minutes of intense practice / learning. No noodling, no playing old familiar stuff....
My routine is to check tuning and tune the bass, check truss rod relief, check string height at the 12th fret, check intonation, by then I've lost interest and I put it back into the case.
When I'm in a serious mood of practice, I sit on the couch with the TV on with my bass on my lap and plugged into the amp and I noodle the hell out of the Blues Scale during commercials.
I need to do better.
When I'm in a serious mood of practice, I sit on the couch with the TV on with my bass on my lap and plugged into the amp and I noodle the hell out of the Blues Scale during commercials.
I need to do better.
Actually, that sounds like what it’s all about...fun. I am not satisfied with my bass playing but it is getting better. Really, most of the time I sound like some guy off the street fooling around with a bass at Guitar Center, some stuff sounds cool, mostly I look like a total amateur.
My personal goal is to be able to do fast 16th note 3 finger plucking and galloping. Each note should be clear, and distinct. Working through the Alex Webster book with self-discipline is helping get me there. I believe it might take a year to get greasy fast and effortless like Alex or Billy Sheehan. It’s gonna take some time and effort though.
Hint: A cup of hot black coffee, consumed throughout the practice session helps immensely!
I’m now at hour 33 of very intense learning / repetition / practice of new exercises and songs from Alex Webster’s “Extreme Metal Bass” book / CD.
Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve logged over an hour a day playing along with the CD, playing slowly with a metronome, and practicing several new techniques such as tapping, 3 finger triplets, 3 finger 16th notes, finger independence exercises and polyrhythm grooves.
If you want to get really familiar with playing a 5 string, this will do the trick. This book was a huge undertaking because the lessons are pretty difficult to play at full speed.
FWIW - My 100 hour plan is working. At the end of the book, there are 3 finale instrumental songs. I’ve almost got the 1st one down well enough to post on YouTube....almost. I should be through with learning new stuff in a week or two, then will come a month of repetition.
I’m not sure if anybody cares, but I’ve done this with guitar instructionals as well as other bass books. 1 hr of dedicated work until you’re through the book 100%.
Its working....
Over the past 2 weeks, I’ve logged over an hour a day playing along with the CD, playing slowly with a metronome, and practicing several new techniques such as tapping, 3 finger triplets, 3 finger 16th notes, finger independence exercises and polyrhythm grooves.
If you want to get really familiar with playing a 5 string, this will do the trick. This book was a huge undertaking because the lessons are pretty difficult to play at full speed.
FWIW - My 100 hour plan is working. At the end of the book, there are 3 finale instrumental songs. I’ve almost got the 1st one down well enough to post on YouTube....almost. I should be through with learning new stuff in a week or two, then will come a month of repetition.
I’m not sure if anybody cares, but I’ve done this with guitar instructionals as well as other bass books. 1 hr of dedicated work until you’re through the book 100%.
Its working....
Reviving the stagnant thread!!!!
It’s been well over 30 days and I’m at 52 hrs, 25 minutes of intense learning/practice/wood shedding.
Many of you know this tidbit already but I’d forgotten how beneficial 1 hr of serious practice a day can be. I’m almost all the way through the bass instructional book I’ve been working on, which is an accomplishment because that was an ambitious undertaking!!
Is anybody else out there still working on a difficult piece or instructional?
It’s been well over 30 days and I’m at 52 hrs, 25 minutes of intense learning/practice/wood shedding.
Many of you know this tidbit already but I’d forgotten how beneficial 1 hr of serious practice a day can be. I’m almost all the way through the bass instructional book I’ve been working on, which is an accomplishment because that was an ambitious undertaking!!
Is anybody else out there still working on a difficult piece or instructional?
My band just picked out some Stevie Wonder tunes. Once in my life, My Cherie, you are the sunshine of my life. I’m especially interested in learning for Once in my life to a “T” as JJ played it.
I’ve also got about a week to go on the Scotts bass lessons 30 day trial. I’ve been having a hard time navigating the content, finding lessons that are inspiring and the right level for me. I plan on spending the next week digging deeper to figure out if I will continue or not.
Working on actual songs is what it’s all about! Good luck with those, if played right - you’re a hero because chances are, the audience is familiar with those tunes. The bass lines from those tunes are classic!
I’ve never tried lessons via computer or iPad. There is something about music in print that gives a defined beginning middle and end which is why I’m into books. Well - I did learn the flamenco or flicking method from Rudy Sarzo’s old video, that was pretty cool. Check it out at the 6:30 mark:
Practice, practice, practice...gotta love it!
I’ve been working through learning the band Intervals songs...certain parts take me awhile to get down. Challenging and very fun to play once I get it.
I need to look up this extreme metal bass book.
Here’s my experience with that book... It’s designed for a 5 string player or a 4 string tuned BEAD. That right there was interesting so I bought it, detuned my 4 stringer BEAD and got started. There are examples of bass lines in there that I’d never even thought about playing because metal really didn’t exist when I started playing bass and guitar in the ‘80s. My bass sounded differently than it ever had, too. I made it to the halfway point and built a 5 string bass from a kit, mainly just to complete the book with it.
My playing went in a completely different direction. One of my best friends is a drummer who lives out of state. The next time we’re together, we’re gonna jam to the song examples from the book just drums and bass. The book gave me some new stuff to work on and expanded my playing because 90% of the material is played on the B and E strings.
Good luck with the practicing!
I am retiring in less than a year, myself! Music has kept me going through my entire career....well, that and a lot of black coffee!
I was a classically trained trumpet player in another lifetime, so I am very familiar with the structure of written music! My bass journey has been largely self taught. I set out about a year ago to improve my standard notation reading in bass clef, which was accelerated during quarantine. Still got a long way to go, but I’ve definitely grown in the past year.
This is my first foray into online structured, paid content. I can’t really afford a private instructor ATM, so this seemed like a good middle ground for some information that might be new, that I can’t find on the free lesson sites.
You’re playing and that’s the main thing. It’s good for the spirit!
I had a little taste of playing music when I was in 6th grade with violin. We had a recital and then later I got talked into playing football, ended up in Army ROTC in college, career in law enforcement, etc, etc....all about as far away from playing music as you can get. The idea of playing hard rock and metal felt really unprofessional. However, it’s the music I’m into. The right hard rock song can turn a sad day into a party in no time! Oh, and lifting weights to some aggressive metal...can’t beat that! Unprofessional or not, I love it.
I played rock guitar the whole time (Self taught) but mostly in private because those two worlds don’t mix. A lot of my friends took piano lessons, were in band, learned to sight read, and aren’t afraid of the stage. I played in front of people a few times with them but not much.
I’m reconnecting with what I really wanted to do in the first place....play bass and guitar, learn to read standard notation, perform and record music! Lesson learned - sometimes it’s better to do what you love.
Keep playing!!!
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Mostly just messing around, but I have a set of progressions that turned into a song that use a lot of different techniques and lets me guage how my strength/stamina is. Important to have a measuring stick so I know where I'm weak or can otherwise improve. Also some Bach piece I've played a lot over 20+ years, but it isn't as tough. Something or other in G I was taught early on.
I've really only just started playing seriously over the last couple of months. I'm a guitarist of some years who has written my own music that needs a good bass player to lay down what I hear in my head. So that's what a lot of my practise focuses on - the bass parts I've written for my own music. Might as well be me doing the job, right?
But it's become so much more than that. I'm enjoying practising bass in a way I've never enjoyed practising guitar. Now I feel like I'm practising to be a bassist, not a guitarist wanting to lay down a few bass tracks.
A lot of my practise I do at work. While I'm reading or on the phone to people I'll mute my strings and practise right hand techniques. When it's quiet I'll lay into scales or specific riffs/techniques.
In the morning, evenings, and weekends, I'll usually practise jumbled up scale patterns, working with various intervals, stretches, raking, or learning a song by ear.
One of my favourite things to do at the moment is find some kind of percussion track online, with actual musicians (usual African drumming, Indian classical music, etc.), really try to get into the vibe and get my right fingers working properly - even, clean attack, accenting in various patterns using two, three, and four fingers. It's not the same as being in a band of course, but it sure beats practising along to static click tracks or sampled drums.
But it's become so much more than that. I'm enjoying practising bass in a way I've never enjoyed practising guitar. Now I feel like I'm practising to be a bassist, not a guitarist wanting to lay down a few bass tracks.
A lot of my practise I do at work. While I'm reading or on the phone to people I'll mute my strings and practise right hand techniques. When it's quiet I'll lay into scales or specific riffs/techniques.
In the morning, evenings, and weekends, I'll usually practise jumbled up scale patterns, working with various intervals, stretches, raking, or learning a song by ear.
One of my favourite things to do at the moment is find some kind of percussion track online, with actual musicians (usual African drumming, Indian classical music, etc.), really try to get into the vibe and get my right fingers working properly - even, clean attack, accenting in various patterns using two, three, and four fingers. It's not the same as being in a band of course, but it sure beats practising along to static click tracks or sampled drums.
I’m at hour number 68 of my 100 hour goal and actually completed the instruction book. Now - repetition!!!
Here’s one of the instrumental songs at the end that the student plays along with. I barely have this down. It doesn’t sound great yet but it’s a little bit of 3 finger plucking improvement...I’m not quite there yet
Here’s one of the instrumental songs at the end that the student plays along with. I barely have this down. It doesn’t sound great yet but it’s a little bit of 3 finger plucking improvement...I’m not quite there yet
I'll pull a bass out and work through some songs at 80% speed to get going, then I'll work my way through a set list and practice a few songs until my OCD is satisfied.
Towards the end of a practice session of about an hour every day, I'll practice a technique I have trouble with: 3 finger gallops, fast tremolo picking, slapping/popping.
I only practice standing up
it burns calories AND you have to practice like you play!
Towards the end of a practice session of about an hour every day, I'll practice a technique I have trouble with: 3 finger gallops, fast tremolo picking, slapping/popping.
I only practice standing up
it burns calories AND you have to practice like you play!
I’m at hour 75 of 1hr/day intense practice. I’m surprised I haven’t quit because it’s been hard trying to fit in an hour a day.
I noticed a few things. Learning new stuff was driving me insane, because of the mental challenge. Once I got the songs and exercises I’m working on down, the repetition is a lot more fun. Here’s something else...some of the exercises and songs are fast and when working on playing a song up to speed, then switching to another exercise, the new one can be played faster, too! It’s like working on one thing improves almost everything else!
Once I’ve got my lessons down, it’ll be time to go to something different.
I noticed a few things. Learning new stuff was driving me insane, because of the mental challenge. Once I got the songs and exercises I’m working on down, the repetition is a lot more fun. Here’s something else...some of the exercises and songs are fast and when working on playing a song up to speed, then switching to another exercise, the new one can be played faster, too! It’s like working on one thing improves almost everything else!
Once I’ve got my lessons down, it’ll be time to go to something different.
very nice work out of you. And I agree sometimes, especially a pattern not natural to ones self, can be so annoying learning it, but once it’s down it’s like “oh yea this is why we practice.”
