Pretty obvious question about practising.

[fezzza]

Little bit embarassed be asking this considering i've been playing a good 3 years, but i'm new to the forum, so what the hell.

So.. how do you exactly practise, properly, I understand there's no set times and everyone's gonna be different depending on how good you want to get, but I feel i'll make a load of progress in a week, then make none in the next month, I'm guessing a more "consistent" practise schedule would fix this? One day I might practise 15 minutes, then I could do 6 hours straight the next.

Should I spend the time practicing songs, different scale positions, Modes, Speed, slap, etc?

I could sit down and play scales and for countless hours but I can't seem to be able to apply anything at all! How do all you guys do it?

Cheers!

[jezzaboy]

I don`t think there is a "proper" way of practacing. What works for me might not work for you. It depends what you are looking to get out of it.

Do you want to be technically proficent? Do you want to play with a band doing a particular type of music-eg Jazz?

Me, if I`m going for an audition, I`ll learn the material or just work out songs that i like to play. I try and play every day even for 20 mins or so. Sometimes I think I`m decent and other times I just can`t get it together.

I can`t be bothered learning all the triads, scales, etc. But that is just me

[steve-soar]

Do whatever suits your life. If you want bass playing to be your life, you will spend more time with your guitar and more importantly, other musicians.

If not, then enjoy all the time you spend making music.

[Adrenochrome]

If we're gigging about 4 times a month and have the same band rehearsals I often won't practice outside of that. If I'm learning new songs I might do an hour every day so it really depends. I like to think that I'm being careful not to overdo it, but maybe I'm just lazy!

[Lozz196]

I play everyday, and I have a few warm-up exercises/patterns that I play on the bass, to keep my fretting fingers quick and flexible, plus to keep my picking hand quick. Other than that, I just play whatever songs I feel like playing.

[BottomE]

I record a lot of stuff when playing at home through a laptop. I have found listening back to things that i think i have nailed has been educational. It's a great way to try out different bass ideas along with some chords and drums.

Other than that theres some really good internet based stuff like Marlowe if you want to start getting some nice licks together quickly.

If you want to understand why they are nice then you can go the Majors boot camp on this very forum

[Doddy]

I think the first question to ask is where are you in your playing right now?

You say that you can play scales all day,but can't apply them? To me this indicates that you don't fully understand
how they work and how the notes relate to each other. That is something to practice right there. Then you are only
a step away from chord tones,which gives you a whole new set of material to practice. Modes come straight out of
scales too,but I recommend approaching those later on. You mention different scale positions-I'd say you should be
doing this as a matter of course.Play them all over the bass on 1,2,3 and 4 strings and over 2 or 3 octaves,not just
one fingering shape.
If you break this up by learning songs that you like you will begin to see how scales and arpeggios are used all the
time.
Can you read? It's not that hard,and even practicing it for 15 mins a day will see marked improvements in a short period
of time.Learning even basic theory won't hurt either-there are many benefits to doing both.
I wouldn't worry about speed exercises too much-the more you play the quicker you will naturally become.I think it's more
important to know what you are doing and to play things accurately.There's no point being able to play fast if you are making
mistakes.

Practice what you can't play and learn what you don't know and you will improve every time you pick up the instrument.

Keep in mind that I'm assuming that you are serious about wanting to learn,and not just play your favourite songs over and over
(although you should still do this). Otherwise feel free to ignore everything....but with just what I mentioned above,you can have
material to study for years.

[shizznit]

I try to break up my practice and studying. This won't work for everyone, but I have a 6 month schedule whereby I concentrate on specific things for 3-4 weeks at a time. Example - 1st month (theory) 2nd month (technique) 3rd month (dexterity/strengthening) 4th month (music study) 5th month (composing) 6th month (combination of all and have a laugh).

That sounds very rigid and regimented, but in reality I only get 4 or 5 days in the month whereby I have enough time to sit down to practice and study. Its the discipline that's important...very similar to going to the gym. Once you leave it for a while it's harder to motivate yourself to get off your backside.

Above all, have patience. There are days I feel that I have gained something and feel on top of the world and other days whereby I feel like throwing my bass off my balcony, go to the nearest church tower, head to the top and take down anyone passing passing by with a sniper rifle. Thankfully, there isn't a church close by and I just have a cup of tea and a Jaffa Cake instead and harmony is restored! Learn not to be too hard on yourself if you struggle every once in a while.