I Hate to Practice

[Tim C]

Originally posted by getz76:

Hendrix played the recorded bass part on his cover of Bob Dylan's All Along the WatchtowerOn a righthanded bass. Played upside down.

.

 

good to know...

come to think of it it's not much a surprise that hendrix played some bass too considering his talent.

[RalphM]

>>I hate to practice<<

 

Welcome to the club! I hate it too and sometimes I let it slide and you know what? IT SHOWS.

 

Practicing can be fun or NOT - depending on what you're working on. According to a certain Mr Stanley Clark practice means working on the things you're NOT good at. Practice is not "jamming" or just "noodling".

 

The fun part is when you achieve a breakthrough or finally "get" something you've been trying to do. THAT can be very satisfying and provide a sense of "reward" for all the time spent.

[getz out]

Thanks for the link, Phil W. It was a nice read.

[g.]

Well, chad, you caught part of what I meant. The other part being, if you come to realize your raking sucks, then you need to practice it until you are feeling good about your use of raking. If you listen to yourself (the biggest part of the job for some I think) and find that when you play a run or fill and your time at the end of it has disturbed The One, then you need to get in there and at slower speeds get the articulation and placement and note durations right so that you can both play the fill and drive the band/rule the groove.

 

So context is important, yes, but also letting it inform you where the practice is currently needed. One needs to be able to execute the musical ideas well and hearing will tell one where they are deficient. If they don't attend to that (this applies to tone and mix too) they need to decide whether they really care about being involved with music, bands, etc.

[Chad Thorne]

Originally posted by Phil W:

I don't completely agree about practising scales and arpeggios meaning that's all you can play, Chad. Basically, they just give you more options. But I take your point.

One thing I spent years without realising is that when you do practise scales and arpeggios you should use a rhythmic feeling similar to that you use in your curent or preferred musical context.

I tend to prefer the 'sound you like' approach first and the 'find the theoretical reason' afterwards and then use the teory to be able to extend the idea and apply it to other musical contexts.

'K. It does work out that way for me; at one point of my doing nothing but scales and arps I started sounding really "DiMeola-y" to myself (on guitar). I do play scales and arps a bit still, to warm up and when I feel like it. When I start to get sick of 'em I quit. I do more of what I call "constructive noodling"; I blow over changes trying to think of fresh approaches, etc. I feel this helps me both in shred and non-shred situations.

[Eric Iverson]

Re: Dave Brown's point that it's very important to practice what you learned ASAP after the lesson is a great reminder! Thanks Dave.

 

Since my mandolin teacher and I write certain things down, and he hands me sheet music (or I buy it) I can't say I forget so much that it's not worthwhile. I don't forget the concepts! (In part because he's good at making his points in a humorous way, not pedantic!)

 

But one lesson he gave me some new fingerings for a Bach violin piece I love, and I didn't practice them right away, and I couldn't remember them now to save my life. (Not that mine didn't work, but his were BETTER!)

 

We used to tape the lessons and maybe we can start again, at least for certain parts. And making tapes of tunes we're working on to listen to on the train or at work when it's slow couldn't hurt - to get the sounds in my head better.

 

Any other suggestions from anyone about how to get the full benefit from taking lessons, in view of limited practice time some days, are greatly appreciated!

[Phil W]

I try to record lessons (and then listen on the way to work) and try to get the teacher to set me little assignments or at least give me some charts to work with. Sometimes I draw up my own charts based on the lessons. Often I try to transpose everything into other keys.

[Swed_bass]

If playing the bass is merely your hobby, you only need to practice when you feel for it. Practice more and develope faster, and vice versa.

 

Now that I´m not involved with any band, I have the freedom to play when ever I feel for it (if I´m at home) and what ever I feel for playing. My acoustic bass helps to keep it simple for short spontanious bursts, even in the middle of the night. But when I sit down to practice seriously, an hour or two may pass really fast. Then at some point I feel that I just need to let it all sink down into me. Sometimes it might take a couple of days with no playing at all, sometimes I´d pick it up 5 times a day.

 

Variation keeps it interesting. When scales get tough, I play melodies to ease up the monotony. One of my favorite ways is to just insert any good CD and play along until I bump into a song I want to learn properly. I guess there are as many methods as there are bassists. And each one of us changes his way to practice from one period of a time to another, as well.

 

But if you choose this for a job, then you´ll need to force yourself to go to work, or you´ll lose the job.

[SteveC]

Mostly I like to practice. I usually don't have time. It can get boring, but that's when you change it up a bit.

 

Like JeremyC said, if you don't, someone else will.

[Bassplayerjoe]

Not practicing is something that makes me very upset. I have a drummer in my band and as much as I tell him to practice, most of the time he doesn't, and it shows because there is little or no improvement in his playing.

 

Do you really have the passion to play bass?

 

That is the question because if you love to play bass you will get on it every chance you get. Sp do you like to play bass?