You get good at what you practice

[FearNoEvil65]

I'm kind of opposite as I practice songs for the band, but always take about 15 minutes to read Melodic Etudes in the form of sheet music every time I practice (most days).
I honestly think I advance more from the small amount of time I spend on reading the music rather than playing and learning songs. Plus the Etudes I play work the entire board and can be tricky. it depends on what your goal is I suppose. I don't read music in the band I play with, we go by ear, feel and memory.
Runners may not just run, they may weight train and diet also to enhance their running. That's how I see it, but not everyone feels that way and not everyone reads music, will learn to read music or even wants to read music
That's my feeling, YMMV

 

[ProbablyTooLoud]

If scales, scales. If cycle of fourths, cycle of fourths. If blues, blues. If Ray Brown lines, Ray Brown lines. I learned this lesson playing golf (do you want to get good at hitting balls at the range or do you want to get good at playing golf?) but sometimes forget it with my music. Life is short. My motto now is spend your time practicing the material you actually want to play and NOTHING else. Yeah, I know, I might end up with limited technique as a result. I’ll risk it. You can’t have everything in life. YMMV…

Things I want to play include scales, arpeggios, exercises, and etudes, as well as songs I like from any genre from classical to trap to punk to stuff like Knower I see on YouTube.
I can and do have literally everything I want on bass.

 

[Geepers]

I’m gonna make one exception to my rule and continue to play Jim Stinnett etudes and jazz lines. I never met Jim but he has been profoundly important in my development as a musician and as a person. I am deeply saddened that he has gone and continue to get my “Jim fix” every day by watching his videos. I continue to find his love of bass, music and life incredibly uplifting. Love ya Big Jim.