Anything I'm missing?

KingRazor · #1 10-05-2010, 08:23 AM

Okay so I actually have some pretty solid theory understanding under my belt, I know some songs, I have a little bit of technical proficiency. I know my fretboard really well (can find any note on it, some just take longer than others

)

Now I'm at the point where there's just a few things I mainly want to work on: cleaning up my playing and increasing my endurance and then being able to improvise.

So far in order to handle the cleaning up and endurance I've been playing along to songs to which I have the chord charts for and that's helping a lot. I'm definitely going to continue that.

When it comes to improvising I still feel kind of in the dark, I know lots of theory but applying it to improvisation has proved challenging.

Things I plan on doing to help with this:

Listening to more complicated bass lines and trying to break them down into patterns so I can see where other bass players get ideas for improv parts.
Practicing my scales/arpeggios and making sure I know the notes I'm playing and not just the frets my fingers are on.
Umm I was going to put a third point but I don't have one.

So, anything else I could be doing that might help me get this down?

JTE · #2 10-05-2010, 09:07 AM

SING everything you play. And sing the note BEFORE you play it. You want the sound of the next note fixed in your head so the music leads your fingers, not the other way 'round.

To much of bass (and guitar for that matter) instruction is based on fingering and shapes. But it's music we're wanting to make, not pretty patterns (sorta like drawing pictures with the graphic EQ instead of listening and equalizing the speakers to the room, but that's a whole other thing...).

So when you practice your arpeggios, sing the name of the note before you play it- for an Amin7 arpeggio you'd sing "A the root", then "C the third", then "E the fifth", then "G the seventh", etc. Same with licks, patterns, lines, riffs, etc. SING what you're doing. It's slower and tedious. But, it'll get your fingers connected to your music faster than anything else ever will.

Then when you cop a bass line off a record, you'll be able to hear it, have several ideas of where those notes are in relation to each other, and be able to execute them faster. Do this with any melodic bit- "Happy Birthday" for example. Sing it, while your bass is in its case. Visualize where those notes are in relationship to each other (that is, it doesn't matter whether you start it on a D or an Ab, the key is where is the NEXT note from wherever you start). THEN and only then, pick up your bass and work it out.

That's the exact same process you'll need to figure out "Everyday People", "Good Hearted Woman", or "Donna Lee'. And it's what's going on when people improvise- hear something in your head that sounds good to you, then make it come out of the bass.

Your first point then plays into this- having good ideas of what sounds good comes from hearing a lot of different people playing a lot of different things. But instead of just copping what David Hood did on "I'll Take You There" or Jack Bruce's line on "Badge", dig into it and look at how those notes work with and against the chords and the melody. See how Jack outlines the Amin chord in the intro to "Badge", how Hood's brief solo on "I'll Take You There" is almost totally chord tones.

Then use those ideas as springboards to the music that's in YOU.

John

dalconthenovice · #3 10-05-2010, 01:21 PM

but JTE! taking all that time to sing each notes takes way to much time! whats the REAL benefit?

codeinedreams · #4 10-05-2010, 02:00 PM

join a band if you're not in one already. that's where you'll really get practice improvising and being on the ball with interacting with others on the spot, feeding off each other, and advancing your skills to the next level.

**Staccato** · #5 10-05-2010, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dalconthenovice

but JTE! taking all that time to sing each notes takes way to much time! whats the REAL benefit?

It's about ear training...sing the notes!

Ear training or recognition through aural means is a skill. When a bassist learns to identify, solely by hearing, intervals, chords, rhythms-
he or she continues to evolve as a musician.

62Jazzbass · #6 10-05-2010, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by codeinedreams

join a band if you're not in one already. that's where you'll really get practice improvising and being on the ball with interacting with others on the spot, feeding off each other, and advancing your skills to the next level.

Exactly. How well do you play with others? How good is your timing? How about your musical instincts? How well do you recover from a mistake? How well do you follow? Can you lead?

And forget notes, what about right hand technique? Muting? Note duration? The little subtlties that make someone a musician rather than just a bass player.

The OP sounds just a bit too academic to me. And almost like he feels he will get to an end point of some sort ("there's just a few things I mainly want to work on").

Really?

It NEVER ends if you are doing it right. There is always more to learn.

KingRazor · #7 10-05-2010, 02:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 62Jazzbass

Exactly. How well do you play with others? How good is your timing? How about your musical instincts? How well do you recover from a mistake? How well do you follow? Can you lead?

And forget notes, what about right hand technique? Muting? Note duration? The little subtlties that make someone a musician rather than just a bass player.

The OP sounds just a bit too academic to me. And almost like he feels he will get to an end point of some sort ("there's just a few things I mainly want to work on").

Really?

It NEVER ends if you are doing it right. There is always more to learn.

Honestly my right hand technique is basically where I want it at already, at this point it's mostly dexterity I need in that area.

I've had pretty limited experience playing with other players, I don't really get much of a chance to. Too busy with life currently.

My "end point" will be the day that I can play whatever I want. I'm no where near there yet, but I'm hoping I get there someday.

Once I do reach that point, there will obviously always be things I can improve on, but that's where I'm headed.

MalcolmAmos · #8 10-05-2010, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingRazor

My "end point" will be the day that I can play whatever I want. I'm no where near there yet, but I'm hoping I get there someday.

Once I do reach that point, there will obviously always be things I can improve on, but that's where I'm headed.

That's the great thing about music. It's a journey that can occupy the rest of our lives. Finding new and exciting things along the way.

Stumbo · #9 10-06-2010, 10:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KingRazor

My "end point" will be the day that I can play whatever I want.

IMO, your "end point" exists only in your mind. Music is forever and you'll continue to find new things to learn until you die. Music=life journey. Reaching a certain goal, while certainly a good motivator, will not make all things right and whole. I suggest enjoying the fork in the road you've taken until you reach another one. Whatever you choose will be fine. Enjoy the journey.

Good luck.