I've been having this problem since i started playing bass, I'm no les claypool or flea, but i can slap and play chords and such. People tell me im good but i dont feel i am because i can write some cool sounding things, but i feel i should be able to play things other people have already wrote. Like i sit down and try and learn a RHCP song and i look at it and i think i should be able to play that. but i sit down and read the tabs and try and put it on the bass and i can't play it. Anyone else have this problem or have any advice. I'm sure its just practice practice practice, but maybe its that some people are better off playing their own licks they wrote etc.

Thanks

Try taking lessons.

hows that going to help?

Someone asked our guitar player the other night if it was difficult to learn to play.
He said "Not really if you just stay at home and play for yourself. You can come up with all sorts if interesting things that you like to play. The question is: Will anybody else like it?"

The point being is that if you isolate yourself from other music and other musicians, you'll have little to offer anybody else except your own enthusiasm for what you're doing. That might work well with your non-musician friends.
You can tell yourself that you've come up with something totally unique...and this might be true but if very few other people dig it, what's the point?

Slapping and playing chords on a bass isn't going to get you a gig. Learn to play "bass". Find out what that means. Listen to all styles. Bite the bullet. Get some discipline. Do the work. There are no short-cuts.
...otherwise just go ahead and enjoy your hobby.

Keep trying and messing up until you try and don't mess up. That's pretty much how this whole thing works. Listen to a song, and turn up the bass. Listen to what it's doing, and then do that. Don't be afraid to rewind and listen as many times as needed. There's no easy way here.

hows that going to help?

A professional bass teacher can offer you alot more in the way of learning the instrument than you can offer yourself - you made that clear in your first post.

Lessons aren't necessary, but they certainly couldn't hurt. It sounds like your biggest problem is putting musical ideas you have in your mind (with regards to other people's music) onto your fretboard. This is a skill that takes time and the right practice, not just mucking about doing 'uniqie' things that sound good to you which in all reality, and with all respect, may not be very good.

Not trying to disrespect you, but you asked advice.

What do you mean you can't play it? As in, can't play it up to tempo?

hows that going to help?

A teacher can give you guidance on how to learn a song in such a way that you'll be able to finish it.

My friend Mr. Hammon is dead on right ...

Ya just gotta get out and play ... with others

I learned to play live on stage, literally just went out and did it (and boy was I bad) :rollno:


:cool: ... Blues jams is how I started, but getting together with your buddys in a garage is a good start!

I think you 'can'. What I hear you saying is that you don't have the patience for it. You're going to need patience with yourself so I'd maybe work on that. And while you are thinking about patience, listen to a lot of music. Don't play until you hear something you really want to figure out. Skip the tabs, use your ears. That's like paint by number, no wonder it's boring.

Give yourself a break man!

thanks for all the help emblymouse helped the most.

I am having this EXACT same problem. Only I'm performing these songs live in a couple of weeks and it is driving me crazy because they are so damn hard. I am practising 7 hours a day, and I still can't do it. I have always felt like I can't play other people's riffs. I don't think I am a bad bass player, but I feel like there is no way to play up to speed and improve my dexterity in such a short amount of time.

People keep telling me I can do it, but when I work so hard for so long on something (like one godamn riff) and still can't do it, it really shoots down my confidence.

Just take your time and keep working on it. Learn four bars one day, then four the next and if that's too much trouble, try learning 2 bars.With practice and persistance you can achieve just about anything. Oh, and a teacher will help greatly as well.

I've had this problem for longer than I care to admit ... played guitar since I was 11 and now 41, and switched to bass just three years ago. Emblymouse hit it on the head with patience, and I am a very impatient person by nature and not interested in what I will call the classroom approach of theory - is great for some, not for others. So I was fine playing in original bands, coming up with decent basslines, but utterly useless with covers.

Two tools got me over the hump in a big hurry ... one is a program call Guitar Pro Tracks which is similar to any other recording program. Allows me to import a song and loop certain parts, even a single measure, so I can really listen to what the bass is doing. The other tool is the Tascam BT-MP1 which does the same thing, but in a more portable unit. Still takes patience, and a lot of time ... but it works for me.

The funny thing, now that my confidence is built up, as I go along my knowledge of theory, while still weak, is developing. Ass backwards, but I'm very happy with my progress. And eventually you cross a threshold where suddenly you just naturally start picking up any song faster ...

All comes down to hours spent with the instrument ... but also finding a method that works for you to keep motivated. Jumping in with both feet and joining a cover band is a good motivational tool too ... I'm serious!

Don't fix what's not broken. You cannot figure out a good solution unless you are convinced of a problem. I'm not saying learning songs is not important. I'm just saying you need to convince yourself first that it is really needed in your playing, so you will have your motivation as well as a better perspective.

I am done using tabs. I go by chords. Once I know the chords of the song I can at least play along, allowing me to start to remember the the tune by heart, then work on the actual bassline's details and fills...

To the op: When you figure out a new riff you like, do you try to play something that's in your head or are you just picking some notes according to some well-known pattern (e.g. blues scale)? This might be a difficult question to answer, and the answer might not be as simple as one or the other of the alternatives. However, I feel it's an important question to ask yourself.

I have a feeling that this "play what you hear" stuff is what you need to work on. Try doing this little exercise every now and then: Sing and play a random melody, so that what you sing is the "master melody" that you copy on the bass (slave). Also play well-known simple melodies in major and minor.

In time, I think this exercise will help you to play what you hear in your head, instead of just patterns that are worked into your muscular memory. If you can sing a melody or bassline, you can learn to play it.

Well, it evolves somehow. Hard to describe - but eventually the bassline adapts itself to the song. It's mainly thirds, fifths and the octave anyway, the rest is fill, slides, hammering, dead notes, triples, and so forth.. :)

OP: I don't know how long you have been playing, or how much theory you have - so take that in consideration with my comments.

First - bass tabs tend to not make a lot of sense if don't have at least a little bit of theory or basic instruction first. They can just look like a bunch of notes that need to be played without respect to chord structure.

Second - Another TB'er mentioned followling the chords. I couldn't agree more. IMO - when learning bass lines for rock music, understanding what chord you are playing under is one of the most important points to bass playing. If you have a basic understanding of major and minor scales, you will be able to form bass lines more fluently (and cheat a little till you get really get the hang of things).

Third - I say this a lot to newer players because it was something I resisted ealier in my playing....but a little bit of theory will go a long way. Whether you take formal lessons, or do something like studybass.com, it will help you recognize common patterns in different genres of music as they relate to the chord structure in the songs.

Once you understand how your bass relates to chords/melody, you will start to recognize patterns in bass lines. Then it's just a matter of slowing down the licks, learning them to the note, and then building up to speed.

You'll get there - be patient.