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Anatomy Of An Exercise

Practice & Mindset Beginner 1 min read

Updated

When working on a bass exercise, get the mechanics right — fingering, timing, coordination — but don't spend too much time on the exercise in isolation. Balance academic work with applying the exercise inside real music. At some point you need to trust that you know the alphabet and start forming sentences.

Originally published June 6, 2013, lightly edited for clarity.

When working on an exercise it’s important, of course, to get the mechanics worked out, i.e. fingering, timing, etc. However, I feel it is also important not to spend too much time exercising and get into applying the exercise musically. I think it is always good to balance academics with the practicing of playing music and putting the exercise to work in a musical context. At some point you need to trust the fact that you know your alphabet and start talking. Practice method is one of the fundamentals I teach. If you want help balancing exercise work with musical application, online bass lessons via Zoom are available.

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