Your Honest Practice Routine

[Tricia]

That definitely works. I only have to work in a structured manner because that's all I really have time for. I have a girlfriend that takes up a lot of my time, so whenever I have free time to practice I have to take full advantage of it. If I had all day open to me though I'd be practising just one thing and taking a break and then doing a little bit more and taking a break and so on.

I remember the days of being the girlfriend. I wish I tried an instrument back then! I could be much better now.

 

[TobyBass55]

I have ADHD, so any structured, extended practice routine doesn't work for me. A few minutes of the OP's practice routine and I'd be out walking the dog instead! I'll pick up my bass and run a few lines for a minute or two, then later on I'll play along to a song on my computer for a while. Or I'll practice some of my band's songs for a minute or two or three. Works for me!

I also just practice one thing for a while, then take break and practice another thing, take a break and so on. I just seem to feel like I need those breaks.

 

[GianGian]

I do endurance sports, makes this stuff seem like a piece of cake! Different personality types come into play, I don't find the 'work' aspects of learning an instrument too terribly tedious. After a while it all becomes a part of the routine of daily life. If anything I am working on becomes tedious I immediately stop. We are all rewarded if we push ourselves just a little bit past our zone of comfort, just do this gently, not until blue in the face.

I understand where you come from. I do some weightliftings everyday and I live it.

It doesn't ever feel tedious because I always see improvement and so I'm constantly motivated. Also there's a very zen quality to practising these things.

Also regarding the difference between practising and noodling, I personally prefer messing around while practising. It adds a nice break while practising, has a good ear training quality to it, and adds a bit of fun. Usually I'll be noodling around with something that I'm practising, so it kind of adds a musical practice and it gives me material to start up on at jam sessions. Plus, when I've cooled down by messing around a lot, then I can get back into practising with a fresh mind. So, I see no need to avoid noodling.

One of the only things that I see that I might be missing out on is playing along with music and a lot more transcription.

Once a lot of people have replied I think it'd be cool to do is to put together everyone's practise routine into a big ultimate practise routine.

I understand the getting better aspect.

I get what you people say, but I have never really practised properly. I remember I used to keep playing song in the wrong way, until I got them right. I never felt the need, or had the patience to really practise like you guys do.
I have a tendency to be a very methodical person, so I try to keep music more spontaneous, it is one of the few things that allow me to be free.

 

[IPA]

I play along with whatever songs I heard on the radio that interested me, then sit here reading TB with my bass in my lap for 3 hours.

 

[BlakeJustBlake]

I have a tendency to be a very methodical person, so I try to keep music more spontaneous, it is one of the few things that allow me to be free.

See, I'm from the school of thought that things to be truly spontaneous and free, you have to have everything technical down. Before I can truly express myself I feel like I need to have every possible movement that I'll be making perfected and every pattern and every function completely internalized. To quote charlie parker (I think) "Learn the rules, then forget them"

But I can see people coming from a different approach. Whenever I first started playing guitar (I played guitar mainly before bass) I would practice scales all day long with no end and never learned any songs ever (partly because I didn't have the attention span to learn any songs, I already knew the scales so there wasn't too much to that.) but mainly because I thought that would seep into my songwriting and I wanted that to be a completely organic, untampered process of expressing the song from inside myself.

I later learned that was a really ridiculous way to approach things, but I still practice technical things much more than learning songs, but just in a much more comprehensive manner than running them up and down the fretboard. I have much more attention to spend on learning things that I don't know and pushing myself, and I mainly don't learn too many songs because I'm not confident enough in my ear or it just frustrates me sometime. (I know, the only way to get better is to keep trying and push through it, but I just haven't been able to break that barrier yet.)

 

[bassicmelodies]

It's called Relative Pitch. I've been real pleased with it.

Karajin Ear Training is another great one I've been pleased with, although much more applicable with the iPad.

 

[Buslady7803]

I just do what I feel like, I'm a rookie so it's all technique for me right now. Some warmups and work on the 2 pages a week my teacher gives me to work on. In lesson we go over it, work on my problem areas and then it's my homework. I try to get an hour at the minimum, if I'm not all that busy, I'll get 2 hrs a day in.

my 2c anyways..nothing spectacular

 

[blakelock]

hey blakejustblake (cool name, says blakelock)

your routine is damn impressive! you spend a lot of time on the details of technique. this is good but i'd mix a little jamming too. especially since that's your main goal and you want to keep it fun so you don't burn out. if you can't fit it in every day, try just a couple days a week to mix up your routine. throw on a record or maybe an internet radio station and just start jamming.

also, i think asher s has an awesome routine (i've quoted part of his response below).

My routine:

• Arpeggios, several main chords (maj7, 7, m7, dim, aug, maj6 etc) around circ 5 with smooth transitions via inversions
• Improv along with Band in a Box tracks I created
• Reading: random page selection out of the Real Book
• Transcriptions of favorite lines/solos of stuff that I'm listening to
• Review tunes on my group's active playlist

cheers,
blakelock

 

[iceboxbass]

I usually practice what our band is going to play that week until I make no mistakes and other songs in our book. I'll do some sight reading from books of various genre. Usually practice any where from 30-90 minutes depends on how much time I have between my full time job and life.

 

[GlennPagano]

I don't have that much time to practice anymore due to my full time job and studying physics. I have been traveling for the past week but my routine usually goes something like this.
Warmup
Scales
Work on stuff my teacher gave me
Ear Training
Free Time
- Work on band stuff
- Learn new songs (tabs and by ear)
- Refresh old songs
- Noodle around and make up riffs with different chord progressions.

 

[ErikP.Bass]

A ways back (2002) I got the following advice from Dale Titus:

The first concept that you need to accept is that you do not need to practice for a long time on each subject. Studies show that a small, focused practice times per subject are actually more effective. For example, instead of studying reading for an hour a day (leaving little time and energy for the other subjects) you should practice your reading 10 minutes every day. It is through daily practice that is consistent that you will see progress without burning out. Here is a suggested practice routine:

1. Warm-up (5-10 minutes) - Use fingering exercises to warm up and build your technique. Start slow and gradually get faster.

2. Reading (10 minutes) - Alternate between rhythm reading and melodic reading. Read something new every day.

3. Chord Studies (10 minutes) - Pick one chord quality and one root (ie: D Major 7) and practice the arpeggios all over the neck. Change the root and chord type each day.

4. Scale Studies (10 minutes) - Pick one scale type and one root (ie: A Phrygian) and practice it all over the neck. Change the root and scale type each day.

5. Jazz Walking (10 minutes) - Take a tune and practice a walking bass line. Play through a few times using chord tones only. Then expand your lines to include scale and chromatic tones.

6. Specialty Techniques (10 minutes) - Practice your slapping, tapping, chordal playing.

7. Ear Training (10-20 minutes) - You can either work on formal ear training or pick something to transcribe.

8. Playing (Unlimited) - Just play baby. Have fun.

This routine has worked well for me. A couple of things I find helpful as well are using a timer, so you are aware of when the allotted time has elapsed and it is time to move on, and keeping a practice journal so you can keep track of what you have done and of the progress towards the goals you set for yourself.

 

[Charles Obscure]

I've been playing bass for only a few years, self-teaching after 30 years with guitars. I have plenty of lesson plans, books and ideas, but I don't seriously practice enough, other than noodling and playing with backing tracks in brief periods of free time. If anything, the backing tracks are helping me immensely since I don't have people to jam with on a whim.
I think I need to seek out a teacher who will encourage me with assignments and goals, rather than trying to learn it on my own without the benefit of some coaching.

 

[Gawd]

Right now I don't have much of a practice routine. I spend some time tweaking my bass arrangements for my bands songs, practice the songs. Usually spend some time on chop exercises, go through scales and modes and practicing playing chords in tune on fretless. Than I'll spend some time focusing on specific theory that I'm learning at the time, right now it's Arabic maqamat.