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Double Bass Your Practice Routine

#21
Major "props" to those of you who can focus on scales for 30-90 minutes at a time. I can never focus my mind and energy on scales for that long. I usually end up melding them with solo pieces - e.g. - G major with Bach 'cello suite 3 (in G, not C). Lately I've been doing the "scale-a-week" method as prescribed by Don Palma.

Usually it goes like this:

15-30 min - Fingering/Shifting exercises
10-20 min - Scale patterns (also in 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths and 7ths) and arpeggios
30 min - Bow exercises (Zimmerman book) - once you start, you just can't stop
5 min - Thumb position refresher warm-up - extensive use of the thumb
60-90 min - Solo rep (currently SLOW and fast Bach)
5 min - Lower position refresher warm-up - scales and arpeggios
60 min - Orchestral rep if I'm working on auditions

Sometimes I meld between the two and lose focus, but who doesn't? I'm working on my powers of concentration at the moment. Breaks are KEY. Usually I like to break while listening to Orchestral works. Also, I need to vamp up my technical exercises, so I'm working on that as well.
 
#22
i too have a 10-hour job, so most of my practicing happens between 7:00 and 8:15am before work.

I usually run through one scale / key per day, moving through the circle of 5ths each day:

15 mins: tracks 1-5 or 7 of the accompanied rudiments CD in that key - that's whole notes through quarter notes. i also play harmony scales with them on the 3rd and 5th. these CDs are kinda cheezy, but they do work to keep my ears on straight.

15 mins: carl flesch routine in that key with metronome at 80 bpm. this includes scales in 3rds, double-stops in 3rds and 5ths, 3 octave chromatic scales etc.

lately i've been expanding on this by playing the 3 octave scales at 80 bpm but subdividing the beat faster and faster (i.e. i'll play eighth notes, then triplets, then 16ths, then sextuplets, then my fingers fall off)

this takes about 45 mins, and if i have time, i'll play some pizz scales and play along with a record or work on a fiddle tune with the bow, etc.

oh, i forgot to mention that i don't play orchestral bass any more, but try to keep the technique up. thanks for posting all your routines, guys. i'm gonna change mine up!
 
#23
okay so im working through Rabbath book 3 right now and in it he says that you should practice scales for 2 hours straight, no breaks, everyday. The point of the 2 hours straight idea is to work on building both concentration and physical stamina. I'm gonna try this out the next few days since im on spring break....anyone have thoughts on Rabbath's ideas?
 
#24
MDEbass said:
okay so im working through Rabbath book 3 right now and in it he says that you should practice scales for 2 hours straight, no breaks, everyday. The point of the 2 hours straight idea is to work on building both concentration and physical stamina. I'm gonna try this out the next few days since im on spring break....anyone have thoughts on Rabbath's ideas?
Click to expand...

Yes, Rabbath does say that you should practice scales for 2 hours every day but he also says that it takes about a year to build up to that amount. This is very intense and there are literally no stops in your playing so if you're just wanting to start you should start out with five or ten minutes a day and gradually build up from there. This is what Rabbath recommends(or how I heard it).

I am currently working on Nicholas walker's scale cycle-which is a very structured form of how Rabbath recommends you play scales, or at least follows a lot of what Rabbath says to do. http://faculty.ithaca.edu/nwalker/docs/Prospective_Students/

I think it accomplishes a lot, is very efficient and you can also apply it to crab work, arpeggios and double stops as long as you make the necessary modifications that they require or you feel like making.

Also, remember to not stop playing during your scales because of intonation problems.
 
#25
thanks for the info on the scale cycle. ill definately work that into my scale practicing.

so just about 10 minutes ago i finished my first full 2 hour scale session. i did read that he reccomends working it up to 2 hours gradually, but since before i would play at least 1 hour of scales without a break per day, i just kept going until i lost concentration...and sure enough i ended up at 2 hours.

well....not bad. i can definately tell a difference in my technique already....i worked on all the different fingerings that rabbath uses in the scale section of his book 3, and this practice method really pointed out some things i need to work on. very interesting.

Oh and also....did i mention that my thumb is bleeding?
 
#26
MDEbass said:
thanks for the info on the scale cycle. ill definately work that into my scale practicing.

so just about 10 minutes ago i finished my first full 2 hour scale session. i did read that he reccomends working it up to 2 hours gradually, but since before i would play at least 1 hour of scales without a break per day, i just kept going until i lost concentration...and sure enough i ended up at 2 hours.

well....not bad. i can definately tell a difference in my technique already....i worked on all the different fingerings that rabbath uses in the scale section of his book 3, and this practice method really pointed out some things i need to work on. very interesting.

Oh and also....did i mention that my thumb is bleeding?
Click to expand...


Do you have a teacher who knows the Rabbath method? It would definitely help to understand the pivot and Rabbath's philosophy on the left hand in thumb position from somebody who has real experience with his technique. I see you're in Houston, have you heard of Ted Botsford? He studied with Rabbath for a year and is now getting his masters at Rice.
 
#27
my teacher knows rabbath's method well, and also, this summer i'm going to start studying with Sandor Ostlund, the bass professor at Baylor University, and he studied with Rabbath, so I'll get some good help with this. Looking forward on working on it more.
 
#28
I used to keep a notebook with everything I wanted to get done in each particular session: X minutes for scales and arpeggios, X minutes for string crossings, X minutes for each piece I was working on, X minutes for bowing techniques, etc. That way, I kept chipping away at everything all week, regardless of how much time I could devote to practicing each day. Try it!

Jon Liebman
Invalid Link Removed
 
#29
I am a junior string bass performance major with Dr. Hans Sturm at Ball State University. When practicing, I often times think that people get too carried away with how much they have to do therefore neglecting what really needs to happen.

1.I play one hour of scales every single day switching keys weekly(This includes double stops, arpeggios and scales in thirds). I do a major key one week and the relative (harmonic) minor the next week studying all of the fingerings out of the Rabbath book also using bowings from Strokin'.
2. After scales I take a 15 minute break and come back and playing some technical excercises such as Vomit, string crossing, Galamian, etc. But not all of them everyday only a couple.
3. Solo repetoire(always including Bach)
4. Orchestral excerpts

We must also include stretching and listening to recordings and studying the score outside of the practicing room. We must practice 5 or 6 hours a day but only 3 with the bass in our hands or we take a chance on hurting ourseleves. If anyone is having a problem dealing with practicing, the "The Art of Practicing" is an amazing book that really helps practicing efficiently and lets people understand that if they love music they will always want to practice but we must learn when we should or shouldn't. I read this after hurting myself while over practicing. I now practice three hours six days a week with absolutely no pain anywhere. It was a scary time.

The key is being able to stay focused. Workin on 6 solo works a day and 5 excerpts is to much. There are seven days in a week and most of practicing six therefore we must divide up our time and not practicing every single thing every day. There is no way that a person could play every fingering for C major, all of the different bowings, Vanhal concerto, Bach suite, and 5 excerpts in one day. In my mind you will learn less even though we think we learn more. Rabbath says that we must play scales for two hours everyday(after we build up to it slowly) and then solo piece for an hour. He says no more then three hours a day. We must not kill ourseleves or we will learn less then we think we are learning. Patience is the key.
 
#30
i am reading alot about Vomit and other warmups. another warmup possibility to think about is playing excerpts really slowly with a metronome... even playing the bowings backwards. sometimes i do this (never in substitution of my normal warmups like vomit, but it's okay i think) to cut out the middle man of scales and arps... there are plenty of hard excerpts with arpeggios and difficult scalar pasages. two birds with one stone. it'll get you intellectually stimulated and get blood flowing and familiarize you to the pieces more. i even practice measures of bach suites for warming up my thumb position stuff.
 
#31
I don't think anything replaces the practice of scales, arpeggios, and intervals. They are the most basic you can get - the fundamentals of the fundamentals, although it does not always mean that they are easy. The better you are at the basics, the easier the hard stuff will come. For example, like bcarter just said, "there are plenty of hard excerpts with arpeggios and difficult scalar passages." If you are very familiar with the scale patterns, arpeggios, etc, then these excepts should become much easier to learn. I would disagree that you should learn excerpts as a replacement for practicing scales. Scales should help your excerpts, not excerpts helping your scales.
 
#32
The way I approach practicing is a little different. Since I have a few instruments I am trying to keep chops up on all at the same time, I tend to count time in order to LIMIT my amount of playing, rather than to say I need to do "minimum of x number of hours." I tend to give myself a task, and if I have all the time in the day, I will keep working towards that task until I either get it, or am completely fatigued. Like right now; I really need to take a break from Beethoven 5. I also am ready to go to bed because of it. So I need to force myself to go on a break to let everything rest.

Usually, I tend to pick two instruments to hit during the day, and I will plan something along the lines of "trombone until 5, bass the rest of the day." If I have a gig or rehearsal that night, I will either shorten my time on both instruments, or just practice one for the day instead. Since all I had today was two bass students, I didn't really count the time I have been shedding today. Hell, I don't even know what time I started. All I know is it's been a few hours.

Nick
 
#33
Awesome thread, gentlemen (and ladies?). Routines like David Potts's are just amazing -- if I only had the time (and the stamina) for that sort of thing.

I am the rankest of amateurs, and am working my way through Simandl and Zimmermann (I love his "droning" exercises as warmups), but I have found I really like the Bottesini etudes (from his Method, now published by Yorke Edition).
 
#34
look, guys, obviously an efficient bassist/practicer/conductor in a rehearsal/whatever isn't going to say we are JUST going to practice y for x amount of hours/minutes and not pay any attention to the music.

At this level, I assumed everyone understood that when I posted that routine above. For me personally, when I have a blank slate as a schedule on some days, it helps to have a vague idea of how much time I will spend on a certain subject. I think this is a balance; one is wasting their time if they say "oh, I'm going to practice until I think I play can the Brahms two finale licks at a reasonable level." You will always find more to work on in any given work. If I were to practice without any regard to time, I would be neglecting the vast majority of my repertoire and I think I would waste time. The other end of the scale, however, is if you don't accomplish anything and keep your eyes glued to the clock. Also not effective.


@MDE- I don't know how much I agree with this. Fundamentals are Fundamentals, agreed.. However- you can (and should) slow down anything to make it an etude. In an etude, your goal should be musicality, and building the technique that the piece requires. I've never understood how this necessarily differs from solo/orchestral playing. The double fugue in beethoven 9 taken VERY slowly during the morning warm up session can be an effective use of scale time. Ditto for last of Brahms two. Ditto for licks in the bottesini concerto. Et cetera, Et cetera. I'm not saying that you should ignore technique, I'm just saying that there are other avenues of achieving the end goal.
 
#36
Ok....to clarify. In no way did I mean that scales, etc. are replacements for excerpts, solos, etc. I just meant that excerpts and solos are not replacements for the practicing the fundamentals. Neither is a replacement for the other, and neither should be overlooked, as scales, arpeggios, etc. commonly are.
 
#38
MDEbass said:
Ok....to clarify. In no way did I mean that scales, etc. are replacements for excerpts, solos, etc. I just meant that excerpts and solos are not replacements for the practicing the fundamentals. Neither is a replacement for the other, and neither should be overlooked, as scales, arpeggios, etc. commonly are.
Click to expand...

i agree. but i think this really is a matter of the way you plan your practice time. does my whole musicality equal the sum of my techniques? practicing excerpts slowly or as etudes is just another way of making technique applicable.

i can't remember how many times i've gone through the circle of fifths practicing scales and arpeggios and thought "how is this [insert scale name] scale going to matter?" or "should i really practice augmented arpeggios?" but i can find an excerpt and validate that scale or arpeggio.

i'm not sure if there are many scale afficianatos out there, but i'll speak for myself: sometimes, not often, scales can be very mundane. i really got the idea from max dimoff, scott pingel, and bela fleck after a pretty inefficient week of not practicing warmups.

so, warmups are essential but i don't really see any negative effects if i don't practice them in their original form.
 
#39
Breaking your practice time up into certain amount of time is not very benificial because then if after a certain amount of time one has not completed what he-she wants to then the work has now been wasted.
It is more efficient to break your our practice time up into goals such as: I want to play Rabbath's Etude No. 21 at 3-4 tempo with no mistakes. Or I want to make my spicatto even at 125bpm. Then after you "feel more comfortable" with it you can move on. If the mind is not excited or totally into what your doing it is a waste of time. Scales should not be played if you are overly bored of them because then you just rush through it.
I have found a really a good way of warming up for me is to turn on a drone and then play root-4th-5th over the drone perfectly tuning each one. The goal is to play it perfectly intune without fixing it. It really opens up the bass in the afternoon. I have also been working on playing vomit in the opposite direction. Starting at the top and shifting down so instead of starting with low A each time one starts with the High A and then shifts down. It is weird!
The most important parct of practicing is being aware and having fun. Rules and strict time keeping just makes one tense and un focused
 
#40
but also dont forget it is most important that you get better! what ever one must do to get better was he or she must do. Being a drill sargent to yourself is not my idea of fun! An idea of what you need the most work on is what you should work one while also doing a bit to maintain what you already have. That is why Etudes can be a beautiful thing. Pick a select few that really point out your issues.
 

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