rockafellar

Guys, this is great stuff and makes so much sense. You can get into bad habits that are difficult to break unless you are willing to spend a few moments listening to others. Thanks for the links as well. Not had time to look at them properly yet so thats my evenings entertainment sorted once the kids are in bed. A few wise words can go a long way. Thanks again.

I'm new to this forum and am looking for some help on improving my playing. I've owned a bass guitar for about 15 years but have never actually learned how to play it properly. I've dabbled with it from time to time and jammed with mates on occasion, however, I still feel I am at a beginners level as I haven't applied myself or spent any proper time practicing. The advice i'm seeking is how to improve speed and fluidity without ragging up my wrist and tendons. My desire to improve has led to me to start practicing properly but after a couple of weeks i am getting dull aches in my fingers, wrist and forearm. My philosophy has been to train my muscles as an athlete would, repeating certain practice techniques over and over until my muscles hurt assuming that this will build strength and stamina. I'm now thinking that long term this may not be such a genius idea as this may cause problems such as tendonitus. I don't have a lot of time to devote at present as I have two very spirited daughters, 3 and 5 years old, so my practice time is restricted to the odd half hour here and there. They really don't give me a moments peace and my youngest has not even started any kind of schooling yet. Can anybody give advice on practice techniques to improve speed, stamina and fluidity without causing any possible future problems. I don't need any help learning how to play major/minor scales or identifying notes on a fretboard. My issues are learning how to move around a fretboard with guile so I can translate the grooves in my head into tunes a bass guitar. Thanks in advance for any help offered.