Your practice routine?

[bassmonkey]

Do you even have one?

How do you structure it?

How do you keep things interesting?

How do you identify what you need to work on?

How do you monitor your progress?

 

[koogie2k]

Do you even have one? Yes I do

How do you structure it? Based on my instructors suggestions

How do you keep things interesting? By utilizing a scale or mode or line into a tune I want to learn or write

How do you identify what you need to work on? I video tape or record ALL my practices and watch and listen. I also let my instructor view them so I get a professional critique and where my areas of concern are

How do you monitor your progress?

By the ease of learning something. Once I have it down, I close my eyes and play. If I can feel where I am at and get it right, then I have progressed in my opinion. Plus, my instructor will tell me the truth.

That was for the last question....

 

[Bill]

I rarely practice. But every day I usually sit down, even if it's for a few minutes, and just play. I do a bunch of runs up & down the neck. Sometimes, if I have a lot of free time, I'll play along with some .mp3s on my computer.

When I do practice, I do it to learn new songs as opposed to new techniques. I listen carefully to the basslines, and I usually mimic them as closely as I can while still inserting my own style.

I really should learn some new techniques, though.

 

[TSanders]

Do you even have one? Daily, usually after work. I try for a minimum of one hour.

How do you structure it? I play to CDs of music Im digging, and practice tracks that Ill be recording soon.

How do you keep things interesting? By playing along with what music/artist Im enjoying at the moment, there can be a different style every day of the week. That interests me a lot.

How do you identify what you need to work on? When I approach a style thats not really "me", it quickly becomes clear that there is an area I can work on.

How do you monitor your progress? I monitor progress by how well I get from not really getting a certain style or feel, to the point where I feel like I have a good grasp on it.

I also listen to some recordings that I have in the works, and see how my feel has gotten better or worse (hopefully worse isnt as often as better). I pay attention to my timing, note length/placement, and tone to see if I feel a progression in my overall role as a bassist.

 

[kakobass]

Routine #1:

1-Get six-pack from refrigerator
2-Turn TV on: Star Trek, or the Food Channel
3-Play same licks that I have been playing for 20 years, until wrist turns purple, or until is time to go to sleep.

Routine #2:

1-Get 12-pack of donuts
2-Repeat Routine #1


No, really, I play so many gigs that I hardly want to practice, but when I do:

1-I play along with some random music and try to learn songs on the fly, by ear.

2-Grab any of the 20 music books that I have and randomly learn one thing at a time: a new song, a new scale, new fingering patterns, etc.


And the most fun:

3-I like to rent concet DVDs on Netflix and play along with them and learn the set - that is a lot of fun and keeps you motivated (unless you are playing along Chick Corea's Electric Band, or something).
.

 

[Bill]

Routine #1:

1-Get six-pack from refrigerator
2-Turn TV on: Star Trek, or the Food Channel
3-Play same licks that I have been playing for 20 years, until wrist turns purple.

Mine is kinda similar to that, too.

 

[maddog]

I stick to the old classical standby:

1) warmup/scales
2) etudes/arpeggios
3) sightreading
4) songs
5) open jam/ear training

 

[Psycho Ward]

Well since I usually play drunk, I usually get drunk when I practice.

The only other thing is that I prefer to practice naked in front of a mirror.

 

[bovinehost]

Well since I usually play drunk, I usually get drunk when I practice.

The only other thing is that I prefer to practice naked in front of a mirror.

We must have had the same music teacher.

 

[LeftyLB]

Practice? - What's Practice

Gigging most weekends for last 12 years and have three kids and very little time on my hands, practice is restricted to learning new songs for the band as and when required.

I believe my bass playing has not improved one iota in past 8 or so years - in fact it has probably got worse. But heah, that's life now and I played and practiced enough for the first ten years I was playing to get me through these days.

When I do have an empty house, there is nothing I like better than plugging my Ipod into my Pod XT Live stick on a set of headphones, grab a beer from the fridge and then set the Ipod on random play and off we go. That way I end up having to play along to Pussy Cat Dolls, Irish Folk, 70's funk, 80's Rawk all in one night.

 

[roballanson]

When I do have an empty house, there is nothing I like better than plugging my Ipod into my Pod XT Live stick on a set of headphones, grab a beer from the fridge and then set the Ipod on random play and off we go. That way I end up having to play along to Pussy Cat Dolls, Irish Folk, 70's funk, 80's Rawk all in one night.

Me too mate. I have one of those Cafe Walter devices.....so unforgiving. But the Ipod on shuffle is a great idea. Keeps everything interesting until you hit the Word of Mouth album...

 

[cdb]

Do you even have one?

Whenever I can grab 20-30 minutes, I head down to the basement/woodshed-- 3 time per week, maybe

How do you structure it?

First I warm up with some finger exercises, then run thru songs my band plays as straight and accurately as possible, then I change things up... different rythyms, speeds, then I play stuff I have heard that might be challenging and cool from bands I like


How do you keep things interesting?
I play songs or riffs I hear on the radio or try different slap patterns

How do you identify what you need to work on?
i need to work on everything

How do you monitor your progress?

I never make any progress, so theres nothing to monitor

 

[silverburst]

I try for at least a half hour a day in the evenings after the kid has gone to sleep. Mostly I'm learning new songs using one of those Tascam bass trainers (the one where you can play along with, change the speed, etc.).

I love how it works, although it seems a bit fragile.

 

[Mobay45]

Whenever I can find the time, I put in the CD that I've burned of the songs my band wants to learn and try to learn them. If I don't have any new ones to learn, I try to go over the old ones that we play already.

 

[cat_empire]

Q: Do you even have one?

A: Yes i surely do

Q:How do you structure it?

A: Wel i spend about 10-15mins warming doing various scales up and down the neck. I'll make sure to stretch my wrists, arms and fingers. The after that I'll just play whatever comes into my head for about another 30-40 minutes

Q:How do you keep things interesting?

A: well i always am trying to listen to other people's playing styles and just watching other people play in general, whether live, with a mate or on youtube. i find that this is a realy important thing as if your not looking what other people are doing it can become very easy to just be playing the same things over and over again and then you wont really improve as your only training your hands to play in one way. But having said that, its important not to immitate. You dont want to just copy exactely what someone else is doing, you want to look at their over all style and learn from it. Its also very important to me to set goals for myself. So at the beginning of the year i told myself i wanted to be able to master the wooten thumb technique style and through practice and hard work after about 6 months i had it fairly well downpat. Same with all things, find something you want to e able to do, at a realistic level, and aim for it and NEVER tell yourself you cant.

Q: How do you identify what you need to work on?

A: Well again i find this comes from watching other people play and watching their styles. If i see something they do which i like, i go and try it and if i cant do it then i keep trying it untill i can. If you dont look at any outside influences (for bass playing) you will never improve a whole lot because you will never really know how to improve your style, so i watch other people and identify things which i would need to work on or would like to be able to do.

Q:How do you monitor your progress?

A: well this is a hard one. I dont really record myself playing, i just make a mental note of what i can play at a certain time. Its not the best way. but it works well enough for me.

 

[Colin]

Well since I usually play drunk, I usually get drunk when I practice.

The only other thing is that I prefer to practice naked in front of a mirror.

so practice for Chuck is holding a beer bottle with his left hand?
as for the question "How do you monitor your progress"? I record a lot of my gig's, which tells me what I need to work on .(this can be brutal on self esteem at times.)

 

[PocketGroove82]

Do you even have one?
Yes
How do you structure it?
Stretch/warm up/scales,Arps/play something fun to get in the mood/hit the serious stuff (sightreading, transcribing,), work on a tune or something from a book/jam with a recording all or some of these things happen depending on time
How do you keep things interesting?
by mixing things up all the time, using a practice log to record metronome tempos and then trying to raise the tempos the next practice session. Also, if I start getting burnt out on something, I'll go back to something fun that I like playing to remind me that playing music on the bass is a joy.
How do you identify what you need to work on?
For me, it's whatever music I have to prepare for the next gig, or jazz standards from the real book I know I should have memorized. But mostly, I just work on connecting my ear with my chops, but transcribing stuff.
How do you monitor your progress?

GET A PRACTICE LOG AND USE IT! Take 5min to write down what you worked on, then in a couple months you can really judge your progress!

I screwed this up..but those are MY answers to his questions..lol

 

[mobass]

I've been trying to practice at least an hour a day. I start with some warmups. Then do some scales/arpeggios. I move on to some theory. Next I try to pick out parts in songs. Then I play some songs I enjoy.

 

[strummer]

Do you even have one?
Not really

How do you structure it?
I don't

How do you keep things interesting?
It's more like fun, really

How do you identify what you need to work on?
By the amout of abuse I get from the band when doing different things

How do you monitor your progress?
By the amout of abuse I get from the band when doing different things

Basically, I am 40 and I know I suck so I have decided to just enjoy making low frequency noises. And I do

 

[Kirby]

I have just purchased on of the Tascam bass trainers in the last 6 months and I have to say this is one of the best tools I have ever used! It really shows you how well you are playing and identifies your faults from attack to time. It can really help when learning songs from cd's or if you have exercises recorded on cd.