Devising a Practice Routine

[JeSuisSkeleton]

So I recently took up bass again after taking a break. I've landed a gig as reserve bassist for an improv night every couple of weeks. It pays a little which is all good, but I'm playing with some incredible musicians, and at the moment I'm having to blag a fair bit to get through the gigs. It's contemporary stuff, rooted in jazz/fusion, funk, 12-tone... so I need a pretty full bag of tricks. There's also some written stuff thrown into each gig.
Apart from anything, the blagging mentality is causing more stress than it should in the days leading up to each gig, so I'm thinking I need to pull my finger out and sort a proper practice routine so that I can feel a part of the band, rather than some amateur who's dead weight they have to drag through the gig. Also I figure it can't hurt to have a general routine for when I get some work with other folk.

I've never had a solid practice routine. I'm too easily distracted to do the hour or more every day, so I'm thinking that 20 mins a day would be doable, and a lot better than nothing.

So basically, I'm thinking that I need to work on the following areas:

Reading - Rhythms mostly. Once it gets to dotted things, I get lost in the counting and the notes go fuzzy. Pitches I'm passable until it gets to two or more ledger lines
Dexterity - The free improv sections almost always have a section where everyone is playing fast and/or intricate lines

Those two are the main areas that I'm letting myself down with. I'm thinking for the dexterity (I don't mean shredding here, just flexibility to play fast or tricky things when I have to, if that makes sense), I could work on that with some modes to kill two birds with one stone. Something like going over modes across a couple of octaves in 3rds/6ths or something. I'm open to ideas here!

Beyond the basic ideas, I'm a bit stuck for how to actually go about this. For the reading I suppose I could just get any old score and try and play through it, but I always get stuck on dotted rhythms, and the classic 1e+ a 2e etc. or sub-dividing the bars doesn't do any good. Like I said above, it just goes fuzzy so I don't know how to get around this.

I hope all this makes sense! In short I need to find a way of getting around rhythm reading issues, and improving dexterity. I'm also pretty broke so the more resources that can be found online the better - I don't have the cash to buy a load of books at the moment.

Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[Doddy]

[quote name='JeSuisSkeleton' timestamp='1350832537' post='1843972']
Beyond the basic ideas, I'm a bit stuck for how to actually go about this. For the reading I suppose I could just get any old score and try and play through it, but I always get stuck on dotted rhythms, and the classic 1e+ a 2e etc. or sub-dividing the bars doesn't do any good. Like I said above, it just goes fuzzy so I don't know how to get around this.
[/quote]

Why doesn't the counting method help you for reading dotted rhythms? For example,for a basic dotted quaver/semiquaver
rhythm you will be playing 1(e+)a,2(e+)a..etc. Just take it steady while you are reading and learning them.

[lobematt]

I'm still trying to get my reading up to scratch too but I find reading songs that I can already play helps me recognize common rhythms that crop up in other songs.

Also as far as dexterity I'd say practice everything super slow with a click if you wanna be able to play fast and CLEAN. Or just transcribe a load of Miles' licks and fill up your solo with slow tasty playing

[JeSuisSkeleton]

[quote name='Doddy' timestamp='1350847051' post='1844255']
Why doesn't the counting method help you for reading dotted rhythms? For example,for a basic dotted quaver/semiquaver
rhythm you will be playing 1(e+)a,2(e+)a..etc. Just take it steady while you are reading and learning them.
[/quote]

Hard to say really, but I see something like this: http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Beamed_notes.svg/105px-Beamed_notes.svg.png and can't see where the beat falls, or where any of the notes fit. Obviously that image has no context but any group of three notes that combines quavers, semiquavers, dots and whatnot I always read as triplets, and get stuck with that.

[Doddy]

[quote name='JeSuisSkeleton' timestamp='1350906142' post='1844808']
Hard to say really, but I see something like this: [url="http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8e/Beamed_notes.svg/105px-Beamed_notes.svg.png"]http://rpmedia.ask.c...d_notes.svg.png[/url] and can't see where the beat falls, or where any of the notes fit. Obviously that image has no context but any group of three notes that combines quavers, semiquavers, dots and whatnot I always read as triplets, and get stuck with that.
[/quote]

If you take that example,you can sit and work it out,so that when you see it again you will recognise it.
If you break it down-let's assume that the quaver is on 1, the dotted quaver will then be on the '&' and last for
the equivalent of 3 semiquavers ('&a,2),and the last semiquaver will land on the 'e' of 2. The next note,therefor,
will start on the '&' of 2. Even by working it out slowly like this,you will learn how to recognise those type of
patterns so that it will become familiar.
Incidentally,I usually see rhythms like that where the first quaver is not beamed to the dotted/semi-which I
think is also easier to read.

[CrackerJackLee]

For anyone who would like to read music, I would strongly suggest, at the very least, to procure a music teacher for a half-dozen lessons in counting / reading. This will give you the answers you need if you are serious. Here are a few well known tricks that may be helpful:

Pitch vs. Time
Music is like reading a graph - pitch (vertical axis) with respect to time (horizontal axis).
Pitch is the easier part of reading. The harder part is counting.

Rhythm Figures
Isolate the rhythm figures from your music sheet and practicing them alone - divide and conquer.
Often, many measures use identical rhythm figures even if the pitches are different.
You may only have to master a few rhythm figures per song.
A rhythm figure for one measure may be four crotchets, while another measure may contain a dotted crotchet, a quaver, a crotchet and a crotchet rest.

Tapping
Use your foot to count. Move your foot up and down evenly, eight times to each measure and count
"1-and-2-and-3-and-4-and"
Toe down on each number and toe up on each "and".
Down is the downbeat, up is the upbeat. Now you can count quavers or eighth notes and rests.
Counting sixteenth notes /rests is more advanced. You would count "1-e-and-a-2-e-and-a-3-e-and-a-4-e-and-a".

Look Ahead
While playing a measure, you should be looking at the next measure so that when you get there you will already know what to play.

Memorise the Notes
Know the open string notes and fingerboard notes for the first four frets (20) and part way up the G string, eventually to the 12fth fret (8).
Know the notes on the Bass Clef staff (17).
Remember that the bottom ledger line is E, the bass clef line is F, the first upper ledger line is C (middle C), the first line is G, the fifth line is A, the lines are G B D F A, the spaces are A C E G.
Realize that the upper ledger lines, after middle C, are part of the Treble Clef Staff (look at piano music sheets).

Sing
Sing the notes as you play them to internalise. You will learn to read sooner if you do.

Accidentals
There are a maximum of five accidentals (the black keys on the piano).
Know where they lie on the fingerboard for each key.
Memorise the circle of fifths with key signatures.

Practice, Practice, Practice
Read everything you can find. Start with nursery rhymes and simple folk tunes.
Buy the primer recommended by your teacher for your instrument.
Learn the patterns and fingerings for scales and arpeggios.
Find one hour for daily practice.

Rudiments
Learn the musical rudiments. Most primers have about five pages that cover the basics.

Edited May 9, 2014 by CrackerJackLee