Practice Interview #2 of 5. Chris Tierney, Bass.
Photography: Alyssa Jane
Do you have a practice routine? If so, what is it?
My practice routine varies day-to-day, depending on the amount of rehearsals, gigs or Uni work I have to complete for the following day/week. But typically, my practice routine involves twenty minutes of sight reading, twenty minutes of individual bass material that I have to work on for class, about forty-five minutes to an hour of practicing songs that other people have asked me to learn or for gigs, and about ten to twenty minutes of any kind of practise that I think is fun or that I enjoy, whether that be playing a song that I like or learning a new technique.
What do you think is a productive and efficient practice routine?
A productive and efficient routine for me doesn’t involve sitting and playing one thing for an hour at a time, but rather shorter increments of practising, otherwise you get stuck in a loop and it gets very boring very quickly.
People say ‘practice makes perfect’ but that’s not true; perfect practice makes perfect. If you’re not getting something right every time and are tripping over yourself at the same spot, work on that one area that troubles you, don’t just bypass it think “I’ll work on it later” - if it needs attention, give it some.
It’s also important to have fun while you’re practising, otherwise everything you do with your instrument soon becomes a task or a chore that you don’t want to do, which I’m sure is not why you play music in the first place.
What are you currently having the most trouble with in your practise, and how do you go about overcoming this?
Right now my main problem is reading music. When I was younger, I used to play the piano and be able to read music decently, but I didn’t keep that up and it’s set me back quite a way. Really the only way for me to overcome this is simply just repetition and practice. Usually I get up an hour or so earlier than I normally would and get out any bass book that I have and just read the notes, clap them out and try to play what is written in about twenty minutes or so. Again perfect practice makes perfect.
However, I also have time management problems because I have committed to a lot of people at once and it’s hard to find time for everyone with Uni, work and just things that I want to do.
What do you enjoy practising the most, and why?
I think I find practising most enjoyable is when it’s with other people. Being by yourself and working with a metronome or reading from a book gets tiresome and you get over it very quickly, that’s why I set myself twenty minute goals for each specific area. But, when you’re practising with other people it can last for a few hours and you can almost (not entirely) relax, just enjoy playing with your friends and have a good time.
Can you describe the pros and cons of doing this?
I am limited to the amount of people that I do practise with though, usually I need two or more other instruments to play with so sometimes it can get frustrating when you don’t have the numbers to play a certain song.
People can also have a tendency to wander off on tangents, whether it be talking or jamming out. So it’s important to set goals and make sure you complete them within the session you organised, and if you finish those goals then sure, go ahead and jam and talk about whatever you want.
Practising with other people can help expose your weaker points, if something isn’t clicking with a band and a song, usually it sticks out pretty obviously what the problem is, and it could be you or it could be someone else, either way you need to work on that area as a group and an individual.
Helping other people out with something is pretty crucial as well. If someone doesn’t understand something or can’t play something for one reason or another, there’s a massive chance that they will play it wrong to everyone else, so it’s beneficial to help others as much as possible.
Playing with people who also play your instrument is beneficial as well. Playing in a room with more than one or two bass players can get overwhelming and messy pretty quickly but it’s helpful to work on your improvisation or melody skills if someone can hold down a tight line and you improvise over the top and vice versa.