Awkward stage in my bass playing

[JordanDelap]

Hey, sorry i wasn't sure wat section to put this in so sorry if it's in the wrong one.

Anyway, yeah i've reached a stage in my bass playing where songs are either too easy or ridiculously hard.
Could anyone give me any suggestions how to get to the next stage?

If you have any questions about wat i mean just ask.

Thanks

[fretlessman71]

Without knowing more about your situation I'd say you're at a plateau, and you have a big hill to climb. It happens.

Dive into the "ridiculously hard" tunes, taking a bite at a time, and you'll get through it.

[Tusknia]

I'm at exactly the same stage.
YYZ seems so far away!

[kenlacam]

I agree with FretlessMan 71-learn a ridiculously hard song one part at a time. You will find yourself breaking out of the plateau really quickly. I don't know what kind of music you are into, but when I get in a rut, I throw on some Dream Theater and have at it, especially some of their instrumental tunes, with different time changes, etc.

[JordanDelap]

ah im into any kind of music, been going through a beastie boys stage recently LOL, however my fav band remains as System of a down, their basslines arn't challenging at all tho, i shall get some Dream Theater now, see wat they're like.

I've been working on Classical thump by Victor Wooten but i'm not sure about the technique in some places so i have changed to working on You Can't Hold No Groove.
I'll try some other bassists stuff, if u have any ideas wat i should try let me know

[Turkeybasster]

Jaco!!!!

Who doesn't want to be able to play Donna Lee? I only got to... 190ish bpm but hey, anything is possible. With the hard stuff, take it slow, maybe at half time (you can slow a song down with WMP to half speed I think) and work you're way up! Make sure to start out slower than you think you should to avoid any mistakes that inevitably result from playing a tune too fast. Work on clarity and accentuation in the slower speeds then the fast stuff will be a breeze.

[Mike Saville]

You're not alone. Every musician has peaks and troughs in their development. Improvement is not a linear thing - you will have times when you improve quickly and others when you don't seem to be making any progress at all.

I think all you need is a plan, some focused practice and most importantly some patience - stick in there and it will come

[karl e. hungus]

yeah everybody gets those.

when i plateau, i just work on another instrument and try to hit something else. ive been a drummer for years, so i just work my chops on a pad, or go pick up one of my $50 pawn shop six strings. i was surprised how my hands changed for the better once took a week or so off and started learning how to play chords on a guitar.

[JordanDelap]

Originally Posted by karl e. hungus

yeah everybody gets those.

when i plateau, i just work on another instrument and try to hit something else. ive been a drummer for years, so i just work my chops on a pad, or go pick up one of my $50 pawn shop six strings. i was surprised how my hands changed for the better once took a week or so off and started learning how to play chords on a guitar.

Yeah i been going through a stage of writing music, and trying to get a band started so i can play it, but also been trying to get back into bass playing but not sure wat to play to help me get any better, however working on You Can't Hold No Groove

[Disappear]

Originally Posted by kenlacam

I agree with FretlessMan 71-learn a ridiculously hard song one part at a time. You will find yourself breaking out of the plateau really quickly. I don't know what kind of music you are into, but when I get in a rut, I throw on some Dream Theater and have at it, especially some of their instrumental tunes, with different time changes, etc.

I have bestowed upon myself learning Dance of Eternity. It's way the heck out of my league but what the hell?

[Thunderthumbs73]

Originally Posted by JordanDelap

Hey, sorry i wasn't sure wat section to put this in so sorry if it's in the wrong one.

Anyway, yeah i've reached a stage in my bass playing where songs are either too easy or ridiculously hard.
Could anyone give me any suggestions how to get to the next stage?

If you have any questions about wat i mean just ask.

Thanks

Listen to more music, and figure out if you enjoy any of the music you're playing. There's plenty of music out there for all ability levels. With iTunes and Amazon.com and Youtube, I'm very sure you can find it.

[Scot]

Don't underestimate the difficulty in making simple bass lines sound great, groove hard and complement the music. For example, some of the best bassists around can be heard playing on Country music recordings. Why are the best players being hired to play on those recordings if the bass lines are so simple to play? Because of their feel, sound, duration of their notes, consistency in sound and control over dynamics, reading abilities and ability to quickly learn songs to name a few reasons.

[tasty sweeps]

i find when i start to stagnate on an instrument, i'll either change my tuning for a while or change instruments. try playing songs you know already on an instrument/tuning you're unfamiliar with. interesting things happen. if nothing else, it sparks creativity from time to time, and that's always a good thing.

[dvh]

Originally Posted by Scot

Don't underestimate the difficulty in making simple bass lines sound great, groove hard and complement the music. For example, some of the best bassists around can be heard playing on Country music recordings. Why are the best players being hired to play on those recordings if the bass lines are so simple to play? Because of their feel, sound, duration of their notes, consistency in sound and control over dynamics, reading abilities and ability to quickly learn songs to name a few reasons.

a HUGE +1; even if you can cop YYZ, Jaco, Wooten, can you do it with FEEL?

Mechanics is only the half of bass playing. Feel, emotion, timing, those are equally as important.

edit to add: try playing something you know well at half speed, or double speed if it's a slow song (this is best done with others, of course). The feel will be totally different. That's when you can tell if you're a bass player or just someone who plays bass by memorizing others' bass lines.

[funkybass4ever]

i sight read as much as possible, it can be very difficult and demoralizing but it makes me better faster

[pankykapus]

Well if you had a teacher and you feel that you're bored of the practises and stuff he/she keeps giving to you, don't take a B road and deal only with song learning. I made that mistake not so long ago, so keep mastering your technique and you'll be surprised how easily will you play those 'thought-to-be-hard' songs soon. I of course don't know what stage you're in, and if you're learning on your own, get some instruction books, those will get you ahead believe me

[wagstaff]

I'm at that stage, I've decided to try and learn songs I know on an unmarked fretless neck, definatly keeps things interesting.

[Jools4001]

Well I guess reaching an awkward stage in your bass playing is better than awkward bass playing on stage.

Have you thought though, why are you finding some songs ridiculously easy? Have you ever thought about stripping it right back?

Let's say you have a song with only one whole note in each bar...should be pretty easy eh? So where exactly do you put that note? Do you put it right on the beat, or do you lay back, or do you push? What attack do you give it, do you play it percussively or give it a softer feel. How much vibrato do you give it? None or Loads? If you give it vibrato, when do you do that? Straight away, after 1 beat? or at a random time? How do you deal with the way the note decays? Do you let it fade or do you damp it? How do you deal with the other strings, do you damp them or do you let open strings resonate when you're fingering the octave? What fingerings do you use for certain notes? Do you barre adjacents 4ths or finger them separately?

Why not try playing a really simple, slow 12 bar blues and see how many different vibes you can give it just by varying your technique? I guarantee that when you speed up again you will think about what you are playing differently.

[dvh]

Excellent post ^^^

Playing bass is a whole lot more than just learning songs.

[henk5718]

jools, you're so right!!!
I was fortunate to have a bg teacher emphasize this to me a long time ago. I always am aware since.