Weekly Ramble 1/20/12

I spent a lot of time reevaluating my bass playing skills and practice methods this week. In truth, I think Friday the 13th got the best of me and I freaked out a bit last week.  I’ve since created a new practice routine, focusing on the foundations, and have come to realize that I know more than I had given myself credit for.  Major & Minor scales, got it, Intervals, check, Arpeggio’s, sure.  I will admit that I don’t know these things as well as I think I should, and am definitely finding it worthwhile focusing on them and practicing them more consistently.  My music reading ability is also a lot better than I had thought, both Bass & Treble Clef.  I think my problem lies in internalizing these things so that they come out naturally in my playing without even thinking about it.  It’s like the knowledge is there, but I just haven’t quite learned how to put it into practice.  Hopefully my new practice routine addresses this problem and helps me break through to the next level.

Establishing goals has also been on my mind lately.  I’ve come to realize that I need to set some realistic goals for myself in order to better track my improvement.  I figure if I miss a goal, I can reevaluate (there’s that word again, I’m sensing a theme here) and determine where things went a rye.  In fact I’ve already given myself an overall goal to be at a certain level by mid-June, if I don’t hit it I may have to think about changing things up again.  Additionally, I have set near term goals pertaining to different elements of Music Theory, as well as developing good practice habits.  Basically I think if I can regain my focus, I should see steady improvement.  Guess we’ll just have to see how it goes.