im gonna serve the army for afew years...and i can basically only practise when i get home on weekends for like 2days.but still i have other schedules which reduce my practisin time to basically none...

is there anything i can do to improve when i dont have an instrument with me? Im thinking about somethin along the lines of theory and whatnot...maybe i can study theory when i dont hav a bass on my hands.

http://www.twanger.com/

Its still not the same but you could try one of these

Sing the bassline of any music you are listening to.

you will find a way ... but in the meantime ... thank you for what you are going to do ... many years ago the norm was to mock and ridicule those serving in the armed forces ... finally our young men and women are receiving the kudos they deserve ... thank you and God Bless ... now thump on in your mind and on your thigh :)

Good luck , check this out :

http://www.harmony-central.com/Bass/Articles/Hanging_Ten/

The finger independence exercises could be useful .

Brandon, where do you live?

Best of luck to you.

They can't take away the fantastic bass in your head. You can do a lot of practice using the bass in your head. Work on sightreading figure out how you would finger the music. Clap the rhythms. Work on ear training by singing basslines you know and use bass in your head to start hearing the intervals in the lines. Then hand exercise can be done. Study theory. A lot your can do if you really want to be a musician.

I think I may be able to help you here

Psychological studies have found cognitive practise, that is practising in your head, very effective. Just make sure you're visualizing the movement of both your hands along with the sounds. I know it'll sound like I'm mocking you, but tests have shown that this actually works.

Playing air bass to songs you know will also help

Non knowing how much luggage you can have, I know of small bass guitars about 18" long that use thick, surgical rubber strings, usually with about 18 to 20 rather thin frets. I'm not exactly sure of what they're called, or where you can find one in a store or on the net, but I've tried one out ands they're suprisingly realistic, you can even slap. Unfortunately they aren't cheap; about $1000 Australian.
If you get one of those with active pickups or a stomp-box to carry the sound to headphones, you'll be able to practise bass

Ashbory bass here is the link :

http://www.ashelec.demon.co.uk/ashbory/

Do you think you can pack a travel sized guitar? Or a ukele or something? Something with frets.

Do you think you can pack a travel sized guitar? Or a ukele or something? Something with frets.

I was thinking the same thing as I saw a travel bass on Amercian Musical Supply's site. Maybe that would work.
Here is the link-

http://www.americanmusical.com/sort--travel-bass-guitars--m-2_22_687.html

Again, thank you for serving our country.

Brandon, where do you live?

Best of luck to you.

I remember his profile used to say somewhere in the Far East - but I can't remember exactly where...I suppose now his location is secret - on a need-to-know basis! :eyebrow:

This is about as small a "real" bass as there is:

Traveler (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Traveler-Escape-Travel-Bass-Guitar?sku=518730&src=3SOSWXXA)

I would think you can get away with one personal item of that size.

You can get a guitar even smaller:

http://www.stewartguitars.com/stowaway.htm

This could help you work on retaining your knowledge of the fretboard:

Bass Fretboard program for handheld (http://www.pocketgear.com/software_detail.asp?id=22849)

Gary Willis's site is probably worth a try for sightsinging, theres a few exercises in his book: 101 bass tips. I supose once you take the time to learn that kinda thing it'll become fairly intuitive (haven't tried it myself). Well done for joining the forces, you all deserve far more respect than you seem to be given.

Have you looked to see if there are any playing opportunities in the Army? All the branches have bands and not all of them are concert/marching bands.


Scott

Have you looked to see if there are any playing opportunities in the Army? All the branches have bands and not all of them are concert/marching bands.


Scott

Which army... I had the feeling that Brandon was somewhere in Malaysia, around there - could be wrong though!??

i also remember brandon being asian, i thought singapore but could be wrong. pretty sure its not the us though

I remember his profile used to say somewhere in the Far East - but I can't remember exactly where...I suppose now his location is secret - on a need-to-know basis! :eyebrow:

That's what I remember as well. In some parts of Asia, service to the military is mandatory if I'm not mistaken. I remember a friend of mine last semester basically told me, "I'm never going back to ------." When I asked her why it was because they started sending letters back to her place demanding her service time. I felt terrible for her. She told me that she deferred it by going to school, but eventually, they become really persuasive.

In any case... good luck, Brandon.

Yes they're certainly not going to be conscripting people to a marching band!

That's what I remember as well. In some parts of Asia, service to the military is mandatory if I'm not mistaken. I remember a friend of mine last semester basically told me, "I'm never going back to ------." When I asked her why it was because they started sending letters back to her place demanding her service time. I felt terrible for her. She told me that she deferred it by going to school, but eventually, they become really persuasive.

In any case... good luck, Brandon.

I have a friend that is a naturalized citizen that went through a nasty divorce. His ex tried to convince the court not to give him shared custody because she feared he would run away with their son back to his home country. He took letters like you mention in as evidence as why that would never happen.

music history.