Hey everyone,

I'm very curious to know what other Stick players practice as part of their daily/weekly routine.

I've been messing around with a ton of things, but having a hard time maintaining a routine. Alas, but for a fracktured brain...

Throughout the course of a week (and trying to make daily!) I'm working on:

-Stick Control (by George Lawrence Stone) - method for snare drum. I used these as warmups. Fantastic book!
-Scale Studies/Technical Exercises for about an hour or so if I can...
-The Jazz Theory Book (Mark Levine) - not nearly as much as I'd like!
-Bloom School of Jazz(.com) studies: Transcription, composition, ear training, improvisation, sight reading, deep listening, piano, etc...
-Busking Repertoire (want to get up to a solid 3hrs)
-Transcribing - Classical, Jazz tunes, Avant-Garde bands, Video Game music, etc...
-Ray Brown Bass Method
-The ii-V-I Book (by David Bloom)
-Composition - "Trying" to get several EP/LPs done this year: DjM Trio, Destroyer Or Liberator, Solo Album (finally!), Solo EPs (1 jazz/1 classical/1 pop) Duo Project w/ a former death metal jazz drummer...

Needless to say, I don't come very close to getting this done everyday, though I'm trying to. There aren't enough hours in the day or enough coffee in Colombia...

Matt

http://www.amazon.com/II-V-I-Book-All-I ... 409&sr=8-2

I work on technique for about two or three hours every day. This includes speed drills for the right hand and some independence exercises (many of which came from Greg's book ). I'm also working hard on something that I really don't hear much on Stick, and that's right hand legato technique. I'm talking Satriani or Holdsworth-type runs with that liquid slurring kind of feel. It seems to be one of the toughest things to do on the Stick, for me at least. I used to be quite good at it on guitar, but I still need a lot of work on Stick legato. I dedicate another hour or so to interdependent playing; trying to come up with new and exciting patterns.

After all that is done, I give myself some time to work on or finish original pieces.

I'm starting to wonder if there's any hope for me. It sounds like you get as much musical practice in a day as I usually get in a week.

Though a Stick Satriani is something I definitely look forward to hearing!

Hey.

NewbieOneKenobi.

I made myself a firm promise almost 2 years ago now, that I would never be unhappy with my Stick development if I just put my hands on the board everyday. That sometimes means just 10 minutes. This also requires that I relax immediately, get into the zone and play softly, usually some sales (always double octave, bass & melody range together) and simple melodies.

Sounds like there are some great suggestions for practice on this post already. One can learn to develop a broad practice routine, however sometimes just working on a single idea for a few days allows me to feel like I'm getting somewhere.

I'm currently transcribing "Local Hero" by Mark Knopfler, the hard bit is incorporating the basic rock chords section. I'm finding cool ways to negotiate the changes as I go.

I always make sure I have a little stretch before I practice, just so I can go for longer and don't bust myself.. ha.

Looking forward to more on this post.

Cheers.

Yeah, I second the importance of getting some practice in every day. I often pick the Stick up and am immediately able to get through a trouble spot I had the day before just by letting my brain work on it by itself in the off time.

I'm managing to get a good 1.5-2 hours in on weekdays lately and 2-4 on sat and sun. I warm up with scales and then what I do next depends what I'm working on. Right now it's Requiem for Persephone. I know there are some exercises and techniques I should probably spend more time on, but I really want to get one under my belt.

- Dan

Not that I recommend this method- since focusing on the Stick in earnest in 2004 I've done nothing but write and learn tunes (making exercises as needed out of tricky sections)... never did get around to rudiments and other kinds of drills. Perhaps it's reflected in my playing.

And ironically I'm spending so much time finishing my CD I haven't even practiced much at all in a couple months (used to average an hour a day or so). My Stick playing is going down the tubes!!!

That is good advice Radkon, and I've decided to incorporate it for all future practice sessions. Just the act of accepting contentment is a wonderful way to loosen up. It feels better to say, "Okay, this is my daily practice and it's also my time to relax" even if it's very short.

I also find that starting, stopping, and returning to music helps me to learn it more than continuous practice. Maybe my brain works on it while I sleep or work throughout the day so I get better for the next practice session? That happens a lot even as a relative beginner at two handed technique on the keyboard as I attempt to learn it now. Hopefully it will prep me for EXTREME METAL MAYHEM (said like a monster truck announcer) on a stick when the time comes. Or at least something that sounds reasonably cohesive.

To answer the specific question of this thread, my main practice is to play new songs I want to learn to the point of memorization or old ones I want to polish. When I find a sticking point I isolate two-four measures and run over them again and again with my synth's a drum machine as a metronome in hopes of feeling what it's like to get it right repeatedly so I can get it right for the future.

Aside from the fun of being able to play a song correctly later, at the moment of practice you can feel a "song within the song" as the vibe of that particular section becomes magnified. Two hard measures that make up only a few seconds of a song feel very different when you've been playing them for five minutes straight, and it's especially significant to someone who is just starting out with two hands and it's like I can feel my brain working into something new. It's a very different state of mind than working on bass or guitar.

Like buried treasure, I wouldn't have found that particular vibe without working for it. And I'm not the kind of guy who says "vibe" all the time either, it's just the most effective way to describe that state of mental and musical sensation. It's meditative, relaxing, intense at the same time...pretty hard to describe to non-musicians but a reward in itself.

Musically, I use most of my playing time trying to get what's in my head to the board. I spent years trying to be "everybody's bitch" (scuse the language) as a bass player, so I'm dedicating my life as a Stickist to ME. A lot of this isn't as much about notes as it is about sound. IMO most people who play electric instruments spend too little time working on the sound they get with their hands vs. the sound they produce with amps and electronics. I rarely "practice", but I do play for about 4 hours most days.

For learning, I enjoy using chord charts from the Real Book to get away from my comfort zone. Anything that makes me use my ears.

My biggest bugbear is my poor standing posture, which still reverts to a hunched position, mainly when performing i.e. when there's some tension or nerves involved (well documented on this forum!). This also includes working towards not looking as much at my hands while I'm playing. I'm determined to keep improving in this area.

Cheers,
Andy

Where do you guys FIND all this time to practice each day??? My god you make me look like such a a slouch! I'm lucky if I can devote 5 hours a week to the Stick! (Guess it also shows in my slow progress) Oh well.

[quote="adde65"]Musically, I use most of my playing time trying to get what's in my head to the board.

Right there with you on that one, Andy. The only reason I practice technique and build "chops" is because the things I hear in my head are most often beyond my abilities! That's very frustrating, so I work hard on technique. I don't want any potholes between head and hands.