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What is your practice routine?
- Thread starter Acoustic356
- Start date
Wow. I can’t even imagine that - 4 bands?!. You’re living the dream. Maybe I should get out more as I only know 2 people who can even play instruments - my daughter (she’s way better than me ) and my high school friend one state away who’s a virtuoso drummer.
I’m on day 75 of my self-imposed practice challenge. 96 hours and 20 minutes of deep daily technique practice with a metronome or backing track. No doubt, my bass playing sounds a lot better.
Sounds like a good routine. I took a few lessons last winter and the first thing the teacher did
was take out the metronome. Yes, 4 bands, schedule is sporadic so it makes it harder to remember
all the tunes but is a good challenge.
I have played for a while so I no longer practice fundamentals unless an issue comes up.
So these days, it goes like this.
Pick up bass, make a tune, flesh out other parts, warm up done.
If I have a gig with specific tunes. I play them first.
If I don't.
I have a 12 sided dice with each side having the notes on it. Throw dice, whatever key it is, that's what I'm playing in.
It could be creating tunes, jazz standards (in the key I roll). Or it could be something I've heard recently or just a song that I feel like playing.
It is extremely rare for me to run scales or arpeggios, I did that extensively for many years. I'm done with that sort of practice I'd rather use scales and arpeggios than practice them, the creative vs the mechanical.
So these days, it goes like this.
Pick up bass, make a tune, flesh out other parts, warm up done.
If I have a gig with specific tunes. I play them first.
If I don't.
I have a 12 sided dice with each side having the notes on it. Throw dice, whatever key it is, that's what I'm playing in.
It could be creating tunes, jazz standards (in the key I roll). Or it could be something I've heard recently or just a song that I feel like playing.
It is extremely rare for me to run scales or arpeggios, I did that extensively for many years. I'm done with that sort of practice I'd rather use scales and arpeggios than practice them, the creative vs the mechanical.
Since I was last here at this thread: I payed for one more month, then cancelled Scott’s bass lessons. I just wasn’t getting what I wanted out of it.
I have been keeping a journal again, which has been helping me stay organized and inspired. (It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a new bass in the house!)
Ive been working on the following categories; ideally I hit all every day, but sometimes I get inspired/ caught up in one and I just roll with it:
-songs on the band’s wishlist
-songs on my wishlist
-written jazz transcription
-improvising over changes. Sometimes jazz changes, usually something simpler like rock or blues.
I’m also going to add transposing changes to different keys.
I have “singing and playing” on the back burner. I really want to develop this, but most of my practice is late night headphone practice, which makes it challenging.
I have been keeping a journal again, which has been helping me stay organized and inspired. (It also doesn’t hurt that there’s a new bass in the house!)
Ive been working on the following categories; ideally I hit all every day, but sometimes I get inspired/ caught up in one and I just roll with it:
-songs on the band’s wishlist
-songs on my wishlist
-written jazz transcription
-improvising over changes. Sometimes jazz changes, usually something simpler like rock or blues.
I’m also going to add transposing changes to different keys.
I have “singing and playing” on the back burner. I really want to develop this, but most of my practice is late night headphone practice, which makes it challenging.
Mind if I ask you for more detail on this? I've looked at a few online courses but haven't settled on one yet (actual teachers are few and far between out here - and one-on-one lessons are currently banned due to covid).
My practice routine is simple - I work on rudiments (whatever scales, arpeggios, or chords I'm focused on). Then move onto techniques I'm trying to master. Then play a few songs that incorporate the above.
I had a few specific things I was looking for (fingerings, intermediate- advanced blues) and I just wasn’t finding it. But beyond that, I just didn’t find anything inspiring. I’d consider myself intermediate, and there wasn’t anything that I didn’t know/ wasn’t already doing. The courses weren’t very linear, don’t really follow a logical path. (I’ve heard the new “players path” is better. But that’s more $) Also a lot of fluff to wade through (which is fine on YouTube, but when I’m paying, I’m not really interested in gear reviews and interviews.)
I think if you’re more on the beginner side of the spectrum, it would be a decent course. I do like Scott’s energy, and I think he has a good way of explaining things. Just wasn’t for me. Here’s a recent, pretty thorough thread on Scott’s:
Scott's Bass Lessons - review for those curious
Good luck!
When I'm actually practicing, it's focused. Noodling is noodling, not practice.
I keep a log and it's humbling to see the gaps where I didn't practice at all. FYI, I count transcribing as practice.
No.
Yes, sometimes I actually achieve them.
No.
If I have only a few minutes, I work on intonation on the DB in keys I don't commonly play. B, F#, Eb and Ab mainly...all of them have pretty limited options for using open strings.
When noodling, I like to play in D minor, the saddest of all keys.
Thanks - that's useful insight. I've been playing for a good few years, am happy with my progress, know where I want to go with my playing, but I am largely self taught so there's not always any meaningful structure to what I know. As in, I know what I know, but not always why I know it. So I'd be interested in a teacher or course that helps with that.
Part of my current practice routine was inspired by all this dead time that covid lockdown has brought (and we were genuinely locked down out here for quite a while, curfews and the works). I've been going back over rudiments that I know but trying to figure out where they fall in the larger body of music theory. It has been incredibly useful - revisiting those basics and keeping them fresh and part of a daily routine has brought some really unexpected benefits.
Yeah, I will say one of the silver linings of quarantines has been extra practice time! Even though cancelled gigs is a bummer, I’m normally busy learning/ maintaining material for my bands. I’ve been able to work on some more in depth stuff that normally is put in the back burner, like walking jazz and working on my reading.
Just finished 100 hrs of intense practice with a metronome over the course of a few months, 1 hr per day.
Gotta say - sometimes it just came down to discipline because I didn’t feel like doing a few of those practice sessions but just did ‘em anyway. Playing technique improved dramatically but it’s time to switch gears. 1 hr / day was a lot. I might trim it to 30 min from now on to avoid burnout. Much more and I’d be burned out and wouldn’t want to play at all. Didn’t happen but it’s time to play new stuff.
Just FYI info. Thanks for joining me on this practice journey.
Gotta say - sometimes it just came down to discipline because I didn’t feel like doing a few of those practice sessions but just did ‘em anyway. Playing technique improved dramatically but it’s time to switch gears. 1 hr / day was a lot. I might trim it to 30 min from now on to avoid burnout. Much more and I’d be burned out and wouldn’t want to play at all. Didn’t happen but it’s time to play new stuff.
Just FYI info. Thanks for joining me on this practice journey.
Totally agree with this. I am preparing to run 2 half marathons in one week, and it's been a matter discipline, getting up at 5:45 AM to go run the sufficient distance, and the spend a full day working. Motivation alone would not have cut it.
Yes, training for a half marathon, practicing for a performance - they’re both similar in that they involve preparation, dedication, and discipline. I learned I can’t keep up the intensity forever.
Probably the same as one can’t stay ready all the time to run two half marathons in one week.
My desire to play had dropped considerably so I’m not sure I’d recommend doing what I did. I did master that book, though! The downside is now I only feel like playing every other day for about 20 minutes at a time. - a far cry from one or more hours per day!!
Here’s what’s gonna happen...I’m going to slack off, then get really motivated in a few months and try to tackle something new. That works for me!!
Funny, I was thinking about you and your 100 hours just today. I ran my 2 half-marathons, and after that indulged in eating and drinking for a few days.
Tomorrow, I start what I like to think of as the interim period: run 2 or 3 times per week, try and get decent mileage but it's mostly maintenance.
A few months from now, I will start working towards a full marathon. But to get into that mindset right away would kill me. So I need some "time off".
With bass, I find that focusing some time on the ukelele (on which I mainly try to master instrumental versions of 50s and 60s standards, in a solo instrumental style) helps immensely to get me "back" to where my bass mindset needs to be.
Keep me posted on your next endeavor, please @Bassist59! Would be interesting to follow it again!
Congratulations on doing the two half marathons! I hope they were spaced at least 2 or 3 days apart! Hardcore! You need to eat, drink, and reevaluate after that. Good work!
I ran a half marathon years ago and man..,I realized I am way too heavy for that distance. I was about 250lbs when I did it, I didn’t stop to walk except at water stations. That experience taught me that I need very cushioned shoes to run in. Ascics Cumulous are my shoes now....I’ll never wear cotton clothing during a run like that again, either...I had chafing and abrasions everywhere...what a noob I was!
Hey, thanks for the interest in my adventures through the world of electric bass, lol! I’ve shifted gears a bit and stripped and rebuilt a neglected instrument (My very cheap 10 year old Dean Zone 4 string)
I’m using my resurrected bass to learn everything in this 1957 book that I bought on eBay but I’m only working on it when I feel like it. I’m a little over 1/2 way through. Working through basic stuff like this is making me a better player, plus, it’s just fun diving into something this old. The electric bass was only around maybe 6 years before this book came out. I think it’s the first electric bass instructional method.
We gotta keep it fun! Bass, guitar, ukulele, it’s all awesome!
Most of my individual practice these days goes toward supporting my cover band project. On weeknights, I do 1-2 hours maintenance play-thrus on songs already in the band's catalog. On non-gig weekend nights I do 1-2 hours on new songs we're working up. If we're not working up anything at a given time I'll pull catalog songs that need extra attention and give it to them.
If I have the time on weekend nights I'll also do another 1-2 hours (sometimes more) on songs in *my* catalog or new songs *I* wanna work up. After all... I gotta take care of #1. But to be clear, when time is really short this self-indulgent block is the first to get cut.
If I have the time on weekend nights I'll also do another 1-2 hours (sometimes more) on songs in *my* catalog or new songs *I* wanna work up. After all... I gotta take care of #1. But to be clear, when time is really short this self-indulgent block is the first to get cut.
Obviously you play Rush. Coincidentally, one of my best friends is a virtuoso drummer who could play that live YYZ solo to perfection...it was freakin’ awesome and that was way back in ‘82 when we were kids. Oh, he played all that stuff with a single bass drum - he eventually got two but he really didn’t need it, oh he played with a traditional grip like a jazz drummer!
Rush is seriously cool, but I learned very little of their songs. I’ve been meaning to work on YYZ on bass but just haven’t gotten to it yet.
Geddy Lee Jazz Bass!!! Cool tone! I started out with a Jazz copy bass...really, really good memories! It was big, heavy, buzzing all over the place, had those big metal bridge covers and pickup covers on....lol! I never should’ve sold it!
I used to do the Rush tribute thing and have a pretty solid command of most of their catalog. It's been a long time since those days... but I was seriously ate up over it at the time. Pumped alot of time and effort into it, and learned a ton. But gigs were few and far in-between so motivation waned.
Then I was part of an originals band for a while... our style was like a fusion of alt, funk, and prog. Great for a college town, not so much for the dive bar circuit.
My project today is mainly 80's covers. It's equally as rewarding but in a different way. I will tell you this: learning these songs goes alot faster in most cases and good lord, do we ever have a blast lol.
My bedroom work now has turned toward learning Porcupine Tree, Yes, and Tool and a whole bunch of other 80's and 90's songs. Good times! But maybe this weekend I should pick up the Geddy Jazz and hit some Rush with the ol' clank-n-buzz for old times' sake.
I used to do the Rush tribute thing and have a pretty solid command of most of their catalog. It's been a long time since those days... but I was seriously ate up over it at the time. Pumped alot of time and effort into it, and learned a ton. But gigs were few and far in-between so motivation waned.
Then I was part of an originals band for a while... our style was like a fusion of alt, funk, and prog. Great for a college town, not so much for the dive bar circuit.
My project today is mainly 80's covers. It's equally as rewarding but in a different way. I will tell you this: learning these songs goes alot faster in most cases and good lord, do we ever have a blast lol.
My bedroom work now has turned toward learning Porcupine Tree, Yes, and Tool and a whole bunch of other 80's and 90's songs. Good times! But maybe this weekend I should pick up the Geddy Jazz and hit some Rush with the ol' clank-n-buzz for old times' sake.
You are a true musician! You just reminded me of something...my friend’s Rush band played Jacob’s Ladder and on that instrumental part 2/3rds through, the crowd started to clap along with the beat...then it turned into a broken syncopated rhythm and they just couldn’t follow it. I recall that was pretty funny. Rush is some advanced music, no doubt.
Me....I don’t know anybody who can play a guitar, bass, kazoo...lol!
One of these days I’ll learn some well known rockin ‘80s songs, round up a few guys, teach them and maybe play somewhere one more time.
For now, I’m enjoying building basses from kits - I’ve got a custom 5 string Flying V Type bass kit coming in soon. I’ll build it, play the Hell out of it for a while, and drive on to the next project.
Keep playing. It’s good for body, mind, and spirit.
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