How many times a week do you practice (on average)?
Pretty much every day, several times a day.
How long do you practice for?
Averages out to an hour. Some days I only get 15 minutes, but others keep me inspired for several hours throughout the day.
Do you do your practice after a certain event in your day? Like: practice after feeding your dog? Practice after watching a TV show? Practice after dinner? Practice after the kids have gone to bed? Or is it kind of random for you?
Randomly, as the mood strikes. If I get to the end of the day and realize I was too busy to have picked up a guitar, I make it a point to go pick one up and at least try working on a few scales or whatever.
If you’ve had a consistent practice routine for months or years, what has helped you stay so consistent?
I would say I’m in the intermediate stage of bass playing, so the thing that keeps me going right now is having the instrument as a form of expression. As a beginner, I didn’t have that, so my own discipline and the mania to “not miss a day” was a big push.
Far and away, the best motivator for all stages for me was when you learn something new and have breakthroughs. Luckily, you’re learning new stuff all the time as a newbie, so that’s actually an easier thing to achieve. You start to rely on “muses” as you get better at the basics, and as we all know, they’re fickle. Let’s be honest – buying new gear helps, but that’s an expensive way to go about things.
Honestly, I joke about this, but one of the best things you can do is keep a guitar ready to play in every room of your house. Or at least, keep your bass handy enough that it isn’t a chore to get it plugged in and in your hands. I can’t stand to be in a room with a string instrument I haven’t played for myself at this point. I won’t stop thinking about picking it up.
Hope this helps! 