# Learn Bass — Today

> Interactive page: [`routine.html`](routine.html)

A plan for the step of the book you are on. Pick the step, pick how long you have, and play down the column. Every row links to the drill or lesson card it means. Keep the same plan for a week before you change it.

**How a session runs:** wake the hands first, spend the most time on the one thing the step is about, and end on music. Metronome on throughout. If the 10-minute column is all you have, it is enough; done every day it beats an hour on Sunday.

**Sources:** Hal Leonard Bass Method Book 1 (short daily sessions: warm-up, new material, review, a song) · Berklee practice guidance (one focus per session, metronome throughout).

## 1 · Start here

An even pulse, clean crossing, ghosts that stay dead, then a song. Most of the time goes on holding the line under a chart without stopping.

| Block | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Wake-up · open eighths](drills.md#warmup) — strict i–m on the root string | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| [String crossing](drills.md#crossing) — E ↔ A, keep i–m through the jump | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| [Root + ghosts](drills.md#ghosts) — pitched on the beat, dead on the & | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| [Strict alternation](fingerstyle.md#alternation) — never the same finger twice | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| [Play along](songs.md#player) — roots only, then root–fifth | — | 5 | 8 |
| [Left-hand mute](muting.md#lh) — silence on command | — | 2 | 3 |
| [Closeout](drills.md#closeout) — one soft root, one bar of silence | — | — | 3 |

Move on when you can hold root–fifth through a [Play along](songs.md) chart without stopping, and every ghost stays dead.

## 2 · Neck and names

Positions, shapes and names. Say the root out loud as you land on it — every day this week.

| Block | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Wake-up · chromatic](drills.md#crossing) — finger per fret from fret 5 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| [Position cages](shapes.md#drills) — Position I, then V — one finger per fret | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| [Root–fifth tour](shapes.md#shape-drills) — frets 0, 3, 5, 7 — say each root | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| [Major scale](scales.md#major) — one octave, name the notes | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| [Reading](reading.md#rhythm) — one line of bass TAB with its rhythm | — | 4 | 5 |
| [R–5–8–5 through a chart](drills.md#r5o) — the chart from the options | — | 3 | 5 |
| [Two octaves](scales.md#two-octaves) — one shift, no stretch | — | — | 4 |

Move on when you can name any note on the E and A strings to fret 12, and play R–5–8 under any root without looking.

## 3 · Playing styles

A style a session and the kick every day. Solo lab is for when a style lab feels easy.

| Block | 10 min | 20 min | 30 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| [Wake-up · ghosts or gallop](drills.md#ghosts) — or one guided session | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| [One style lab](#the-style-labs) — Pocket, Walking, Gallop, Lead, Slap or Harmonics | 5 | 7 | 9 |
| [Kick lock](grooves.md#kick) — roots only where the kick is | 3 | 4 | 4 |
| [Write a groove](write-grooves.md#ladder) — one chart, your own line | — | 4 | 5 |
| [Walking · approach notes](walking.md#approach) — land the root on beat 1 | — | 3 | 4 |
| [Solo lab](solo-lab.md#path-a) — one path, one etude | — | — | 5 |

When a style lab feels easy, give the long block to [Solo lab](solo-lab.md).

## The style labs

For step 3, or any day the hands want a change. Each lab has a practice ladder and a session checklist.

- [Grooves & pocket](grooves.md) — kick lock, space, ghost-note grooves.
- [Walking bass](walking.md) — chord tones and approach notes, four to the bar.
- [Gallop](gallop.md) — the click lab, root–fifth moves, stamina bursts.
- [Lead bass](lead-bass.md) — phrases, double-stops, the groove/lead trade.
- [Slap & pop](slap.md) — thumb, pop, ghost slap, the coordination ladder.
- [Harmonics](harmonics.md) — node map, chime chain, pinch ladder.

## A week of sessions

Once you are on step 3, rotate the long block so no motion goes stale and no muscle does two hard days in a row.

- **Mon** — pocket: [Grooves](grooves.md) and the ghost drills on [Hands](drills.md).
- **Tue** — the neck: [position drills](shapes.md) and one shape tour.
- **Wed** — drive: [Gallop](gallop.md).
- **Thu** — songs: [Play along](songs.md) or [Write grooves](write-grooves.md).
- **Fri** — melody: [Lead bass](lead-bass.md) or [Harmonics](harmonics.md).
- **Sat** — [Slap](slap.md) and [Walking](walking.md), or repertoire.
- **Sun** — light review, or rest.