A Good Practice Routine For All Around Improvement
A good practice routine should basically be approached as a workout. You work out to get faster, stronger, increased endurance, flexibility, and all around fitness. Just as a workout, you should be practicing to improve in ALL areas! To practice well and work out all areas of your musical "body", you will need to come up with a routine where all areas are used. A simple hour long jam session is not enough for some areas. Doing this, you will limit yourself. Your routine should start with warmups, then the areas you need to work out are technique, theory including scales and modes, timing, improv, reading, songs you may want to practice, then end with something challenging all areas! You read my first article on "Effective Practice Methods", if not please do, we will use those concepts here too! This is just a bigger organization of those ideas with additions!
I will outline a good effective practice routine.
WARMUP: Start with finger stretches,they will increase flexibility and dexterity. Then play one or maybe two pretty easy songs off the top of your head that you can play without trying too hard to get you loosened up and ready to go.
TECHNIQUES: Do some slap. Work on doing it to a fun improvised tune, pick a scale or mode and keep within it, and go at it maybe 5 minutes or until you feel the tune should end, just DO IT! Set a metronome to help you, it will work your timing! If you know any songs using slap, play some! If not, start learning them, playing songs requiring you to do it will enable you to work.
Work on tapping next. Again, start up an improv tune. Set a metronome. Pick a scale or mode and focus on keeping it within there! Keep it going until the tune should stop or until youve reached beyond the pinnacle of your tapping game (just as with the slap part!).
SCALES: Pick a scale. Play through the scale until you feel you know it without reading it from a book thats in front of you. Now start playing an improv tune, keeping within the scale. This wil make you learn this scale inside and out with ease, and you'll have fun doing it! Repeat with different scales playing with 3 scales per practice session, you don't want to overwhelm yourself!
MODES: Pick a root, pick a mode, and figure out the mode in that key (use my Modes Made Easy! article to help!). Play through this until you know it well without reading it in front of you. Now improv within that mode! You will learn it with ease! Pick another mode and repeat this process in a new mode! Play with 2 modes per practice session so you are not overwhelmed.
READING: Grab 2 pieces of sheet music, any skill level will do. Sight read them! Do the best you can and dont stop when you make a mistake.
END: End with a freestyle improv using everything you've done so far! Pick 3 different scales and 1 mode in the same key as one of your chosen scales and incorporate them throughout the piece. Also, throw in some slap and tapping parts. Example: (Part 1) F# scale, (Part 2) Bb scale, (Part 3) A# scale, slap, (Part 4) F# in Mixolydian mode, (Part 5) Bb, tap.
This will challenge you every step of the way, but that is exactly what you want! It will not go stagnant after a while if you play according to this routine. All areas are challenged in one session and if you are persistent and make it through an intense practice session of this style you will improve constantly!
Keep challenging yourself!,
Mark McAnaney, Solo Bassist
A good practice routine should basically be approached as a workout. You work out to get faster, stronger, increased endurance, flexibility, and all around fitness. Just as a workout, you should be practicing to improve in ALL areas! To practice well and work out all areas of your musical "body", you will need to come up with a routine where all areas are used. A simple hour long jam session is not enough for some areas. Doing this, you will limit yourself. Your routine should start with warmups, then the areas you need to work out are technique, theory including scales and modes, timing, improv, reading, songs you may want to practice, then end with something challenging all areas! You read my first article on "Effective Practice Methods", if not please do, we will use those concepts here too! This is just a bigger organization of those ideas with additions!
I will outline a good effective practice routine.
WARMUP: Start with finger stretches,they will increase flexibility and dexterity. Then play one or maybe two pretty easy songs off the top of your head that you can play without trying too hard to get you loosened up and ready to go.
TECHNIQUES: Do some slap. Work on doing it to a fun improvised tune, pick a scale or mode and keep within it, and go at it maybe 5 minutes or until you feel the tune should end, just DO IT! Set a metronome to help you, it will work your timing! If you know any songs using slap, play some! If not, start learning them, playing songs requiring you to do it will enable you to work.
Work on tapping next. Again, start up an improv tune. Set a metronome. Pick a scale or mode and focus on keeping it within there! Keep it going until the tune should stop or until youve reached beyond the pinnacle of your tapping game (just as with the slap part!).
SCALES: Pick a scale. Play through the scale until you feel you know it without reading it from a book thats in front of you. Now start playing an improv tune, keeping within the scale. This wil make you learn this scale inside and out with ease, and you'll have fun doing it! Repeat with different scales playing with 3 scales per practice session, you don't want to overwhelm yourself!
MODES: Pick a root, pick a mode, and figure out the mode in that key (use my Modes Made Easy! article to help!). Play through this until you know it well without reading it in front of you. Now improv within that mode! You will learn it with ease! Pick another mode and repeat this process in a new mode! Play with 2 modes per practice session so you are not overwhelmed.
READING: Grab 2 pieces of sheet music, any skill level will do. Sight read them! Do the best you can and dont stop when you make a mistake.
END: End with a freestyle improv using everything you've done so far! Pick 3 different scales and 1 mode in the same key as one of your chosen scales and incorporate them throughout the piece. Also, throw in some slap and tapping parts. Example: (Part 1) F# scale, (Part 2) Bb scale, (Part 3) A# scale, slap, (Part 4) F# in Mixolydian mode, (Part 5) Bb, tap.
This will challenge you every step of the way, but that is exactly what you want! It will not go stagnant after a while if you play according to this routine. All areas are challenged in one session and if you are persistent and make it through an intense practice session of this style you will improve constantly!
Keep challenging yourself!,
Mark McAnaney, Solo Bassist
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