Burns-bass Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 After a lay off of a year or two I’ve now got some time - and more importantly the space - to play DB. Aiming to do about an hour a day, with my focus on getting up to speed to play jazz. My practice is based on what I used to recommend to young students. (Just finished my hour now, hence the questions!) 15 minutes of scales and arpeggios through all 12 keys 15 minutes of reading practice. I use some jazz books that I own (currently the Ray Brown book and the Evolving Bassist) 15 minutes working on a track (Anthropology at the moment - but at about 100bpm) 15 minutes playing along with some tracks (John Martyn, Gregory Porter, whatever takes my fancy!) I hold no aspirations to be a pro, but I do practice with a couple of bands. Ideally I’ll be out playing a few jazz gigs within a year, but that may be fanciful. Does this sound reasonable? Am I missing anything specific to DB? Once I get a bit of confidence back I’ll start refular lessons again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 You might want to consider breaking your practice into smaller chunks to minimise potential injury issues for the time being. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 1 hour ago, SubsonicSimpleton said: You might want to consider breaking your practice into smaller chunks to minimise potential injury issues for the time being. Good point. I’ve got a reasonable hand strength but I understand it can be a strain and will never do anything that would jeopardise my health. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SubsonicSimpleton Posted February 10, 2019 Share Posted February 10, 2019 Its worth also considering that there is good evidence that 20 mins is about optimal for the purpose of mental focus, and both the DB teachers I have studied with have recomended that it is more productive to focus on a single key/scale/arpeggio per practice session (either on the basis of key of the day or key of the week) and prioritise quality over quantity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted February 10, 2019 Author Share Posted February 10, 2019 That’s a really interesting point. My job demands quite detailed mental focus, so I can remain engaged for quite a long time - but I take your point. Personally I think 2 or 3 shorter sessions would be better, but I don’t have that freedom sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petebassist Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 Sounds reasonable to me & a good variety of things to work on. If you do find a good teacher in the Bristol area, I'd be interested, I'd like to tighten up my technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexpea Posted February 11, 2019 Share Posted February 11, 2019 2 hours ago, petebassist said: Sounds reasonable to me & a good variety of things to work on. If you do find a good teacher in the Bristol area, I'd be interested, I'd like to tighten up my technique. Ben Groenevelt is a great teacher. he's in Bedminster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted February 11, 2019 Author Share Posted February 11, 2019 4 hours ago, alexpea said: Ben Groenevelt is a great teacher. he's in Bedminster Good advice. If you’re interested in jazz I had some lessons with the outstanding Greg Cordez who is a member here. Lovely bloke, brilliant teacher and formidable musician. I’m hoping to woodshed as much as I can then get some lessons when my technique is better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
petebassist Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 16 hours ago, Burns-bass said: If you’re interested in jazz I had some lessons with the outstanding Greg Cordez who is a member here. Lovely bloke, brilliant teacher and formidable musician. Yes I saw Greg in a foyer gig at the jazz festival at Colston hall last year, & I've checked out his Paper Crane video - amazing upright bass tone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burns-bass Posted February 12, 2019 Author Share Posted February 12, 2019 1 hour ago, petebassist said: Yes I saw Greg in a foyer gig at the jazz festival at Colston hall last year, & I've checked out his Paper Crane video - amazing upright bass tone! Absolutely. The last gig I saw he was playing electric bass. On my first lesson with him he very generously let me play his Martin Penning bass. It sounded incredible. I therefore assumed it was the instrument that made him sound great, before he started plucking my battered old Czech bass and I realised it was the other way around. Very reasonable price for a lesson and nice and relaxed and informal too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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