Need some serious help guys.

[J. Crawford]

Okay guys. This is kind of a long post, but Im really needing you guys. I have been playing for just around 3 years, own a Fender Jazz bass that I saved up for for about 2 of my 3 playing years. I just dont feel as if I am what I should be related to my total "playing time".

1. I have been taking lessons since I started. I began being taught theory, minor major scales, Dorian, the positions, but left that teacher. Now, Im at professional lessons but its in a group, so personal attention is hard and we are right back to learning songs... not what I want.

2. For my playing time, compared to some of you guys and kids on YouTube, I feel like a total amateur. I dont know how to walk a line (fluently), soloing on the higher range frets, dont know every note by heart on every string. I dont know if this is a personal lack of determination, or because I have never been taught how to pursue this.

3. I am finally getting into a band situation, whom wants to play lots of open jams and jazz. Im saving for a six string to open the range... but yet again, I just dont feel as if I know how to accompany the guitarists amazing jazz playing skills.

I really need some help, opinions, IDEAS, anything!
I feel like some kind of emo bass player, like my bass and overall playing dont love me.

Anyone? Please?

[J. Crawford]

Bump.

[wdinc01]

Are you in high school? If so, see if there's a jazz band you can get a part of. I did, and I honestly feel like a better player.

But really, I'd say work on scales. And if you have, work on variations. You should know where the notes are on your fretboard. You don't have to so much memorize where each is as much as be able to tell what note you're on, and tell where a different note is. It's a system. And you do that for a while, you eventually get fluent and your brain just works immediately.

Seriously, don't be put off by people on YouTube. Guys on there have probably been doing it for years, so they're just more developed. And kids are probably just monkeys who can read tabs and play exactly like whoever they're trying to play like.

[Joe Nerve]

Perhaps you're too much into the theory end of things and not enough into the playing end. IMO music comes from 3 places, yer head, your heart, and your... yeah. Some players are all head. They can play a million notes per minute yet bore the crap out of you. Other are all lower area and can entertain you to no end, but not cover all that much ground. Ones that are all heart can make you laugh or cry with one note, but may not be able to do much else. A mix of all is what I think makes the best musician. Anyhow, maybe putting all the books away and doing what what seems a little more distasteful to you (learning songs) is exactly what you need. You're not going to lose what you've already learned. You might just become the player you want to be.

Getting out and jamming/playing with lots of different people may get you where you want to be also. Don't wait until you're ready to get out there or it may never happen. Get out there and learn while you're doing it.

[Skywalker83]

To be honest i dont really think a 6 string is needed at this stage of your playing. it can come in further down the line. Especially since you confess to not knowing some things. Stick with a 4 banger, and lets face it, all the great bassists there ever was did/do it on a 4 string! To follow what wdinc01 was saything, get into a band, best thing you cando is start plating with other people. The first band i played bass is was a wind/brass band who only had 1 tuba player and needed some extra low end "oomph", so i offered to play bass and they said OK. getting lessons is a great way to learn but unless you get the chance to put what you learn to use its pretty meaningless learning it in the first place,and can be forgotten quickly.

[von buck]

Originally Posted by Skywalker83

To be honest i dont really think a 6 string is needed at this stage of your playing. it can come in further down the line. Especially since you confess to not knowing some things. Stick with a 4 banger, and lets face it, all the great bassists there ever was did/do it on a 4 string!

+1
you don't sound as if your comfortable enough on the 4 yet, switchng to anymore strings will only set you back.
i think everyone said it already, play with people, and not a room full of other basses. IMO, playing in a class with other other bass players is only good for complete beginners.
if you want a techer, find one who can accompany you on another instrument, not bass, and who encourages to learn songs.
And get out there and play!

Andy

[JNowiski]

Originally Posted by Joe Nerve

Perhaps you're too much into the theory end of things and not enough into the playing end. IMO music comes from 3 places, yer head, your heart, and your... yeah. Some players are all head. They can play a million notes per minute yet bore the crap out of you. Other are all lower area and can entertain you to no end, but not cover all that much ground. Ones that are all heart can make you laugh or cry with one note, but may not be able to do much else. A mix of all is what I think makes the best musician. Anyhow, maybe putting all the books away and doing what what seems a little more distasteful to you (learning songs) is exactly what you need. You're not going to lose what you've already learned. You might just become the player you want to be.

Getting out and jamming/playing with lots of different people may get you where you want to be also. Don't wait until you're ready to get out there or it may never happen. Get out there and learn while you're doing it.

true that. take a break from lessons and just try and have fun. i've never taken a lesson and i've had fun just figuring how to do things out myself and just doing what i want to do and practicing what i want to practice instead of what someone else tells me to. i've know quite a few guys that always took lessons and could do generic solos and stuff like that (on guitar) but didn't really become good players until they stopped taking lessons and starting doing things on there own. don't rely on someone else to always teach you things (especially notes higher up on the fretboard), just figure it out and dick around with it. i think Joe's right though. just jam with people and have fun.

[mkbass84]

Don't get discouraged. Listen to alot of different music, and try to develop your ear. I'd recommend getting a bunch of Jack Johnson songs(recordings, not tabs), and trying to learn the basslines. They're very straight-forward songs but at the same time he throws some curves in here and there. Don't look anything up, just sit down and try to pick it out by ear. You'll be pausing the song quite a bit at first, but then after a while you should catch on. You'll be learning a song, but you'll also have to feel out where you need to be with the bassline. After some practice you'll start to hear where you are, and it'll be easier to hear where you need to go with the bassline. This only really comes with time. Also learning your notes helps, I still have some trouble with naming the notes at every fret, but for 3 semesters at college I drew this in the margins of all my notebooks:

http://www.zentao.com/guitar/theory/Images/notes.gif

Here's the site:

http://www.zentao.com/guitar/theory/notes.html

[Thankful birds]

Play with as many different people at a higher skill level in as many different styles as you can. I have played with folk guys, blues bands, prog metal, indie-rock, jazz and I can honestly say all of those styles influenced how I play in any given situation. I have learned way more about rhythm, phrasing, etc. from playing with great guitarists, keyboardists and drummers than I ever have in a class. (I personally think its very valuable to write original music in these styles so you can see how a song is constructed and get a sense of how to make choices in what to play).

Also, learn already written songs in different styles. It aids technique. Go with some of the greats. When I started almost sixteen years ago, my teacher taught me some Bob Marley and the Wailers, some Jaco, some Rush, some SRV and Double Trouble, etc. He was also an incredible guitar player and would play along with me so I got a sense of rhthym, and would talk to me about how the bass interacted with the guitar. I wanted to learn how to play like Cliff Burton, (who didn't in 1992?) He wanted me to learn to play the instrument so I could play however I wanted and develop my own style. It was VERY valuable.

Also, keep that four banger. I know there're big debates here about whether a four string or extended range bass is better, but I don't think there's any disagreement that there isn't a style that you can't play with a four string, and it's easier to learn on. If you get to a point where you feel you need an extended range bass, they'll still exist.

Finally, remember, it's supposed to be fun. Try to stop worrying about where you are techincally and it will come. Most bassists get stuck for a while in plateaus until, all of a sudden, you hit an "A-HA!" moment where you find yourself looking at the instrument with a far wider view and ability than you previously knew was available to you. It will come; the trick is to just keep playing and finding ways to have fun and grow.

[hbarcat]

Get some CD's of straightforward music that is in the style you want to play (you mentioned open jams and jazz) and play your bass along with them. Play them over and over again until you get good at playing what is on the CD. Of course this is "copying" the lines of other bass players, but you need to be able to play the standard stuff before you can develop your own style.

Just make sure that the CD's you get have relatively simple bass parts that aren't beyond your ability to play. Since you already have 3 years of playing the bass what you will be learning is note selection and how to improvise appropriate basslines rather than starting from scratch so you should be able to progress into more difficult bass parts as you get used to the more simple ones.

[tZer]

Don't let your feelings about your own playing be driven by how other's play. No matter how 'good' you get, you'll always know of someone who is 'better'. YOU, on the other hand, will also BE that 'better' player to someone else. So using other people's skills as a way to evaluate how you feel about your own is an exercise in frustration. There'll ALWAYS be someone better.

That's not to say that you shouldn't pay attention to, and learn from those who you feel have skills you'd like to acquire.

Thats said - focus on what you know is right. Knowing that there is no "key" to great playing that you just get handed and there ya go - keep doing what you know you need to do. Practice, work on the areas of your technique you want to feel better about - like walking fluently - put in the honest effort and just have faith that in time you'll know whether or not you're the player you want to be.

Just don't base that feeling on anything other than your gut. One player will think what you do is the best thing since sliced bread, the other will think you're a hack - and still others will be completely indifferent about what you do. You are the final measure. If you work hard, deliver the bottom line every time you have to and are asked to do it again, then you're doing the right thing.

[J. Crawford]

I mean, guys, I am an honest bass player. I can hold my own when it comes to covers, jamming, etc., but I just dont feel as if I am where I should be after 3 years. I was feeling kind of emo in my original post, red the fine print. I had my first jam session yesterday, and it was great. All was well until the jazz oriented guitard said play a walking line based of a C#7 or something of that nature, and a 2-5-1 chord. I kind of understood, but not enough to fluently come up with a correct line.

[fendsboy417]

Originally Posted by von buck

+1
you don't sound as if your comfortable enough on the 4 yet, switchng to anymore strings will only set you back.
i think everyone said it already, play with people, and not a room full of other basses. IMO, playing in a class with other other bass players is only good for complete beginners.
if you want a techer, find one who can accompany you on another instrument, not bass, and who encourages to learn songs.
And get out there and play!

Andy

I agree, playing with other people, especially those better than you, will make you all the better. I also recommend finding a private teacher. Learning comes easier and the teaching is more tailored to your needs.

[tZer]

Originally Posted by Jordasch

I mean, guys, I am an honest bass player. I can hold my own when it comes to covers, jamming, etc., but I just dont feel as if I am where I should be after 3 years. I was feeling kind of emo in my original post, red the fine print. I had my first jam session yesterday, and it was great. All was well until the jazz oriented guitard said play a walking line based of a C#7 or something of that nature, and a 2-5-1 chord. I kind of understood, but not enough to fluently come up with a correct line.

You are answering your own questions. You should probably come to terms with the idea that for a LONG time, many of us don't "feel as if I (we) am where I (we) should be after 3(X) years".

That's the nature of being a person who cares about what they are doing.

To "get there" may actually be impossible and you may NEVER feel like you are where you should be.

That's not to say that you can't still feel really good about where you are.

OK - enough of that. What I did recently when I was letting the feeling of being behind get me down was to do what you are doing - define for myself what it was that I didn't feel was strong. Then I started working on those things. Using research on line - taking some lessons where I told the teach exactly what it was I wanted to improve upon - and doing it.

I can't tell you what specifically will work for you other than taking your comments like...

"or something of that nature, and a 2-5-1 chord. I kind of understood, but not enough to fluently come up with a correct line."

...and learning how to do it.

Start by searching on "playing a walking line" - here, first - then Google it... Read what you find - find stuff that makes sense to you - practice it.

You may have to take lessons elsewhere if your current situation is not working.

If you do that a little bit every day and learn how to appreciate the act of self improvement - you'll start to feel much better about where you are and what you are doing.

And there's no substitute for playing with other people - a lot. It's helpful if some of them are more experienced than you - but even if you are just playing with your peers, as long as you do it a lot, you'll improve. Just know that the more you focus on it, the more aware of it you are - and if you are not careful you'll start that whole, "I'm not where I think I should be" place again. Just know that that's normal when you care about stuff and don't think about it so much.

[E2daGGurl]

Don't let the guitar player get to you. If he says C# something or other, stay calm and locate your C#'s. If it's a chord based off C# 7 - then be sure you put a C# and a B natural in your line. He's just testing you. Things based on a 7th aren't that hard (just remember your intervals and know your notes on your fretboard).

Ask questions, don't feel dumb. Ask things like, "So is this in the key of C# or what" - put it back on him. IF the C# is the I, then figure out the ii and the V and you're good to go for awhile.

Tell the other band members what your own method is like (even if you're not sure of it), so say, "I need to play a song three or four times before I get it," and don't feel bad about that. And you WILL get it, if you're given the right information.

Someone should be able to tell you the key of every song, if they really want a successful jam session.