Good practice habits are the key to reaching your potential on the bass guitar. It's as simple as that.
And yet the whole area of practice can be very confusing. How long should you practise for and what do you focus on??
The good news is that with a handful of information and just a little bit of regular playing, you can improve much faster than you think.
The main areas to focus on daily are:
- Bass technique. You need the bass to feel comfortable and that means holding it properly and working on your strength, stamina, accuracy, and coordination.
- Timing. Learn to play everything in time whilst working on your inner clock.
- Listen. Figure out bass lines by ear, analyse them and then find things you can use in your own playing.
- Play. Have fun, improvise, and make music.
Scroll down for the exercises mentioned in this video lesson.
Resources
These will improve your bass playing fast:
- Bass technique:
Creative Bass Technique Exercises
Complete Fingerstyle Bass Technique
- If you're looking to push yourself further, I have a comprehensive course that takes you though all areas you need to learn to go from beginner bass player to intermediate and beyond.
Scroll down for links to the free bass guitar exercises mentioned in the video.
Here are a load more bass guitar exercises that you can download for free. These will give you so many ideas for your own practice routine.
If you're looking for a physical bass guitar practice journal I've designed one that also contains a load of pro tips and advice to really get the most out of practice:
The Bass Guitar Notebook is a physical book you can use to write down and remember all your bass shapes, scales, patterns, and riffs!
