How often do you practice? For how long?

Practice is a very subjective thing, the premise being, the more you do it, the better you get. But there are no rules as to time.

Pros are no different than anyone else. Some practice almost constantly (Vinnie always has sticks with him) and others gig enough where practice isn't really necessary to maintain chops. For some, they only 'practice' when it's time to learn something new. I shouldn't admit it, but I fall into the latter category. I don't even keep a kit set-up anymore... it was just taking up space.

Bermuda
 
I at least try to do something everyday, but I don't beat myself senseless if life gets in the way either. Sometimes that's 5 or 10 mins on a pad, sometimes it's half an hour to an hour on a kit, sometimes it's a couple of hours jamming out with mates and other times it's just not possible to do anything at all.

Pro's? You'd have to ask 'em. Like everyone else in life, some would practise heaps, others wouldn't do much at all outside of their playing schedule.
 
I try to practice at least an hour a day.

F
 
I practice whenever I have time. It may be every day when while I am not busy, or it may be once a week when I am busy.
 
Practice is a very subjective thing, the premise being, the more you do it, the better you get. But there are no rules as to time.

Pros are no different than anyone else. Some practice almost constantly (Vinnie always has sticks with him) and others gig enough where practice isn't really necessary to maintain chops. For some, they only 'practice' when it's time to learn something new. I shouldn't admit it, but I fall into the latter category. I don't even keep a kit set-up anymore... it was just taking up space.

Bermuda

Well, that is very impressive then.

I would have thought that someone that has to nail songs to the degree that you do would have to practice for several hours to get it just right. You sir, have excellent chops.




As for the OP's question, I try to get in at least some time every day. That doesn't always work though.

I probably average a couple hours a day. Some days I can do 5-6 hours, on others I'm lucky if I can get 1.
 
i practice 5 days a week monday - friday.... about a hour a day, plus band practice so id say about 6-7 hours a week.. I dont practice on the weekends cause my studio is located at my work and i live too far to come and play.
 
My goal is to get at least 4 hours a day on classical percussion. This week has been really good so far. Got to spend 8 hours (1 of them in ensemble) at school on monday, 3 and a half hours + almost 2 hours band practice (post-hardcore drum kit playing) yesterday and a little over 5 hours today (1 of them on a teeny weeny little kit). I also practice saturdays and some sundays, depending on how the rest of the week went by. Usually I have at least 1 weekend practice session on my own in addition to the odd weekend band practice, I don't very often get my 4-6 hours a day in the weekdays.


The best days (from a practice perspective) has been like this:

Up at 9am (breakfast, shower, etc), at school about 11am. Practice until 4pm. Home, eat dinner, back to school and practice from about 6pm till 9 or 10pm. Of course, this happens very rarely. And I won't be able to do almost anything else constructive. And I don't practice 4 hours straight. On an average it's 45min practice and 15min break. Some times 35-40min practice, then a break. And other times it's 1h 30min practice and 30min break. But I study music, so maybe I'm kind of a special case :p
 
Well, that is very impressive then.

I would have thought that someone that has to nail songs to the degree that you do would have to practice for several hours to get it just right. You sir, have excellent chops.

Well, in all fairness, there are times when I do practice diligently in order to learn a part or fill. But in terms of maintaining technique and stamina, I am able to do that with my playing schedule in town, so when I hit the road, I am 100% the first night. It's been a long time since I sat down for a gig and thought 'ech, I'm outta shape!'

Bermuda
 
I'm weird about it. After a day or two of not making it to the kit, when I do sit down, I feel as though I can't play at all. So my answer is literally, as much as possible. Sometimes I miss days, but in general I get a good 10-15 hours a week playing music or hitting the pad. If I didn't have to go do this stupid "real job" every day, I have no doubt I would be playing more.
 
Four hours, two nights a week with my band mates and probably 10 hours a week by myself.


You'd think I'd be better by now :)
 
I largely fall into the 'practice when you've got something new to learn' camp. It's not enough in all honesty but, as I work two feet away from my kit, I sometimes dip in and out when I need a break from the screen.
 
How often do you practice? For how long?

How often do the Pro's practice? For how long do they practice?

I'm able to sit down and play everyday for at least 2 hours. Whether or not I do, and if I do, actually getting anything done, is another matter. But when I was younger I got better by leaps and bounds. The longer I've been at this, I notice that new things don't happen everyday like they used to, but I practice to maintain my edge, and when there's something new that I need to know for something, then I spend the time.

But if you're trying to figure out how much time you need to put in, I would say "as long as it takes".
 
Right now I'm averaging 4-6 hours on weekdays by myself and I have rehearsals five days a week (two on Tuesdays and Fridays) plus practicing vibes (abour 30 minutes-1 hour per day). Saturday is my day off and I usually don't touch the sticks, maybe I'll work on a transcription or listen to music. Sunday I'll get about 1-2 hours of pad work.

It's a ridiculously busy schedule, I am usually too tired to go out, in fact I mostly go out to either play a gig/jam session or to hear live music. I get home from college at around 9-10PM and I go straight to bed. It's a big sacrifice but I'm extremely happy about it, I feel that my playing is getting better everyday!
 
Right now I'm averaging 4-6 hours on weekdays by myself and I have rehearsals five days a week (two on Tuesdays and Fridays) plus practicing vibes (abour 30 minutes-1 hour per day). Saturday is my day off and I usually don't touch the sticks, maybe I'll work on a transcription or listen to music. Sunday I'll get about 1-2 hours of pad work.

It's a ridiculously busy schedule, I am usually too tired to go out, in fact I mostly go out to either play a gig/jam session or to hear live music. I get home from college at around 9-10PM and I go straight to bed. It's a big sacrifice but I'm extremely happy about it, I feel that my playing is getting better everyday!

Wow. That is busy. You gotta get out and make sure you know how to meet girls ;)
Most of my friends who kept really busy college music schedules were really socially challenged when they graduated and didn't quite get to that exciting part of being a player, ever.
 
Wow. That is busy. You gotta get out and make sure you know how to meet girls ;)
Most of my friends who kept really busy college music schedules were really socially challenged when they graduated and didn't quite get to that exciting part of being a player, ever.

Jaja I know what you mean Bo! Thankfully that has not been my case. I've having a blast meeting with and playing with people at jam sessions. Actually the weekly jazz gig I have was because the owner of the place heard us at a jam session. I also have a lovely girlfriend that understands how hard it is to be a musician and helps me any way she can. I just really want to get the most out of these two last years of college. Recently I began organizing jam sessions at the campus to foster more social interaction between the students. I know how important it is to get out there and actually meet people!
 
Jaja I know what you mean Bo! Thankfully that has not been my case. I've having a blast meeting with and playing with people at jam sessions. Actually the weekly jazz gig I have was because the owner of the place heard us at a jam session. I also have a lovely girlfriend that understands how hard it is to be a musician and helps me any way she can. I just really want to get the most out of these two last years of college. Recently I began organizing jam sessions at the campus to foster more social interaction between the students. I know how important it is to get out there and actually meet people!

I was kidding. Do what you gotta do - it'll pay off!
 
I remember Gavin saying he practiced til he got tired and went to sleep. I like that answer and live by it. (but like some said, you'd think i'd be way better by now...)

Practice for me at this point in life is not a ball and chain-I'd say rather it's exactly like a novel that I just can't put down cuz I can't wait to see what happens next.

I didn't even know what practice was before. I guess in my case there wasn't enough love for the craft until now.

I may have told this before, but once when I had a day where I could just practice all day on the pad, my woman said-how can you practice for 8 hours without stopping? The only answer that made any sense to me was, "Easy- cuz I can't practice 20??"

It's a huge blessing to be in that space. It gets me out of bed in the morning. It keeps me up late at night. It doesn't even matter if I get to document some of it before I die. I could die in peace on that level(but don't get me wrong-documenting some writing and playing is exactly what I'm shooting for!).

I just say this stuff for the young guys who are truly wondering about drumming as your craft. If it's just a hobby, or something fairly serious, that's totally cool...any relationship is totally okay in that sense.
 
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