Practice schedual question.

tkav1980

Member
I can easily put in a good 3-4 hours on mondays and tuesdays. Wed, fri and sat I can get an hour in, but thursdays and sundays are out of the question do to my work schedual. Would anyone think that would be a major set back to progressing in skill? It's only been a few month back behind the kit so I'm still redeveloping my chops but would you think not being able to practice every day would be an issue?
 
On your "off" days, can you do some pad work? Practicing hand stuff on a pad is way better than not playing at your kit at all.

I think depending on what/how you're practicing a day rest in-between is a good thing. It can be good to let fresh/complex material settle better, and if you're doing a real workout (e.g. intense double bass stuff) I think you might actually need some breaks every few days to be refreshed for the next session. At least that's my experience - I feel tired doing hours of double bass for several days in a row. Some rest is due for the muscles to rebuild, the muscle memory to improve, and also for some mental refreshing. A few days ago I did some top speed tests on my hands. I wouldn't (rather: couldn't) do this every day. But I don't know your practice background and what is actually on your practice schedule.

I know you're doing intense bodybuilding. Using e.g. heavy sticks or ankle weights (for pedal practice) would be a way to utilize the time you have in a more intense way if you're into acquiring power/speed/endurance.

-> Overall you can have great progress not practicing every day. It depends on the quality of what/how you are practicing on the "on" days.
 
On your "off" days, can you do some pad work? Practicing hand stuff on a pad is way better than not playing at your kit at all.

I think depending on what/how you're practicing a day rest in-between is a good thing. It can be good to let fresh/complex material settle better, and if you're doing a real workout (e.g. intense double bass stuff) I think you might actually need some breaks every few days to be refreshed for the next session. At least that's my experience - I feel tired doing hours of double bass for several days in a row. Some rest is due for the muscles to rebuild, the muscle memory to improve, and also for some mental refreshing. A few days ago I did some top speed tests on my hands. I wouldn't (rather: couldn't) do this every day. But I don't know your practice background and what is actually on your practice schedule.

I know you're doing intense bodybuilding. Using e.g. heavy sticks or ankle weights (for pedal practice) would be a way to utilize the time you have in a more intense way if you're into acquiring power/speed/endurance.

-> Overall you can have great progress not practicing every day. It depends on the quality of what/how you are practicing on the "on" days.


Usual practice session goes something like this.
15 min warm up useing some differrent warm up's Ive seen online like stuff from Mikes lessons and some Thomas Lang stuff.
I spen about an hour working out of stick control
Then move through some old lessons in book I have from 10 years ago on independance( usually spend about an hour on this)
then a nice hard 10 min warm up with rudiments on the double bass
the spen 30 or 40 min working off of videos on youtube that teach some more complex rythims.


thats about 4 hours or so.

On the short days I warm up for 10 min, hit stick control for 40 min and try to nail down a measure or 2 of something more complex.
 
Teachers often advise that it's best to play every day, even if it's just for five minutes on a pad.

Its really a work schedual issue. I close wed night at 2-4 AM then back in thrusday at 9 AM, get out thursday night at 2 AM. this repeats itself going from saturday into sunday. Believe me I WANT to practice every day. Well except when it's leg day at the gym, cause my leggs are useless after that for a good 24 hours.. lol
 
It all depends how much you wanna learn and how quick you wanna learn it. I'm in no big hurry. Just as long as I feel like I'm progressing instead of sitting on a plateau. I'll probably be working on Petrillo's book all year, and I haven't even touched the Tough book yet. After that I'll probably get Bachman's book. So I got the next 3 years all planned out already.

It also depends on your muscle memory too. I have good muscle memory. I can go months and months without swinging a golf club, but when I go to a driving range, it just takes a few swings warming up and I'm right back to hitting them 250 yards straight as an arrow. It's the same with drums. Lots of muscle memory.
 
I have good muscle memory. I can go months and months without swinging a golf club, but when I go to a driving range, it just takes a few swings warming up and I'm right back to hitting them 250 yards straight as an arrow. It's the same with drums. Lots of muscle memory.

Lucky bugger. Mine can fall apart between the first and second shots!!
 
I'm taking my 7" pad and my sticks to work with me nowadays. I can usually get in 15-20 minutes after eating a quick lunch. If nothing else, it helps break up the work day a bit.
 
The amount of practicing you mentioned that you do is plenty of practice to progress you at a decent rate. The important part is that you do practice and that when you practice you are doing focused concentrated work on material that will help you to progress (there are plenty of things you can do that won't help much).

Taking days off at a time every now and then is not really a problem and it can sometimes help you to break through a plateau. As long as you are not taking months off at a time there is no problem. Also, keep in mind that there are things you can do to improve your musical skills even when you are not doing tradition practicing at a kit. Hope that helps.
 
A day off can be a good thing.


Limited practice time isn't necessarily a bad thing either if you're planning your practice and keeping a log. Make a plan and stick to it. Maybe even do certain things only on certain days and always have some sticks on you for those few minutes that show up sporadically throughout the day.

Use your quality practice time for stuff that needs complete concentration and do the mindless stuff while waiting for the buss, wating to get through on the telephone and stuff like that.
 
A day off can be a good thing.


Limited practice time isn't necessarily a bad thing either if you're planning your practice and keeping a log. Make a plan and stick to it. Maybe even do certain things only on certain days and always have some sticks on you for those few minutes that show up sporadically throughout the day.

Use your quality practice time for stuff that needs complete concentration and do the mindless stuff while waiting for the buss, wating to get through on the telephone and stuff like that.

I'm your typical 8 hours a day guy, but that would be pointless if I didn't have breaks and other stuff to do. A 2 hour burst is as far as most people can go before they are completely unable to focus. It's also amazing what you can get out of just practicing in your mind and just having a musicians mindset all the time, no matter where and in what situation you are.

If you work a lot on e.g. technique and conditioning you can easily get away with doing that only 3-4 times a week. Focus on music first and foremost and add those big technical additions to your routine during periods when you have the time.
 
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