Is there an "Ideal" Practice Time?

1 hour blocks have been working for me

If you were to build your dream house, whether that’s a 10,000 square foot mansion or a 2 bedroom cottage, the work you put into achieving the goal would more than likely be the motivation that helped you maintain it. To finish it and then watch it deteriorate and wilt away would be tragic.

Much like that process of having a big life goal, I have spent the past 30+ years building myself into my vision of what I’ve always wanted to be as a musician. It’s only since becoming a father and seeing the hours in the day evaporate faster than ever before, that I’ve struggled with the practice and maintenance side of that goal.

I’ve been working harder than ever to clear my schedule of unnecessary tasks and dedicate more time to the music and to my instrument. I’m documenting that for the first time with much longer practice sessions than I’ve ever shared publicly before.

Today’s video was all about the pocket. Working with a couple of Nate Smith loops for an hour and finding places for improvement in my time and sound while I get used to a new bass.

Similarly, with another new instrument, my last post from a few days ago chronicles an hour of my process when it comes to melodic playing. I got to Capricorn, Got a Match?, and a bunch of other frameworks to work on melodic playing.

Is 1 hour the sweet spot?

As I work on finding more time in each day, and more consecutive days in a row to work on my playing, I’m back to “Gwizdala in his 30’s” levels of dedication to the bass. I’m averaging about 4 hours a day again, and the 1 hour chunk seems to be the manageable sweet spot where it feels good to take a break, stretch the legs, and then come back for another.

To some, four hours will seem like an eternity. To others it won’t be nearly enough. For me, it seems like a realistic amount of time to dedicate to the maintenance and growth of this thing I’ve been building over the past three decades.

I always think about giving the music all the respect it deserves, but I have been slacking on self respect and honesty lately when it comes to maintaining myself as a musician. That has been changing for the better over the past couple of months, and I hope this look behind the scenes of the process is of some interest, and more importantly help, to some of you reading this.

More soon,
Janek