Best musical advice you ever got

[bass'n it]

...ALWAYS...ALWAYS lock in with the drummer and stay there
Advice from a bass player when I first started playing bass in the late 70's
to this day,his advice still holds true for me!

[idResponse]

i heard a terrible piece of advice from the bass coach in my youth symphony when i was younger... he said if you can't play this insane complicated run that goes up and down the neck, just SLIDE IT!

nowadays i'd rather learn to play the notes. that way i don't sound like an idiot.

[86pbass]

The best advice I've been given is "play to your standard". It took me a while to understand what that meant. In simple terms "you know what you can do and what you can't do".
The other advice from a drummer was "lock in with me".

I still remember both those some 20 years later.

[slackinatthebas]

when a chick is standing in front of you in a low cut shirt, make it look like an accident, just slip that tuning peg in there, and pull it the rest of the way down. those bouncers along the side of the stage? they're here to keep her boyfriend from kicking the sh*t out of you - the guy that ran lights at our last gig.

[DSW]

Don't quit your day job.

[Ellabuso]

sing your solo....

[unclejane]

Originally Posted by davec

What is the best musical advice that you have ever got?, and who gave it to you?

"for me it was record your practice" from a teacher.

come to think of it I don't do that as often as I should

Best technique/equipment advice I got, in no particular order of importance:

- don't get a jazz bass, get the g&l. More highs, more lows, more everything, it's a jazz with all the $$$$**-up $$$$ fixed (a dealer who sold both but knew what he was talking about)

- pluck over the pickup (read from a column by Billy Sheehan)

- switch to floating thumb technique (Todd Johnson)

- switch to fretless (don't remember where this came from)

- learn it slow first, as slow as needed to play it clean. Then speed it up (billy sheehan I believe).

- identify things you suck at, practice those (billy sheehan).

- don't use compression, try to get even sound without it (read in column somewhere).

Musical advice:

- follow the kick drum as much as possible (geddy lee)

- if you're thinking, you're stinking (billy sheehan)

- forget about the bass ASAP (victor wooten)

- don't overplay (lots of people)

LS

[thehangingmist]

start singing!

[jellew]

A eq is not suposed to change the volume, it's suposed to change the tone. Helped me get a bit "smoother" on the eq

Dont remember who taught me this.

[thehuntsbass]

more is less alot of the time

[willbass44]

The best advice i was ever given came from a guitar player in Philly, where I live, "Don't let people waste your time." People with good intent will keep you practicing in their basements, garages for years with out ever progressing to live gigging. Real musical progress can only come from gigging live. You can be a beast in your bedroom, but on stage in front of people is a whole 'nuther story.

[kenlacam]

I was told when I first started playing in church that no matter how much you practice at home, you don't really get good until you are in a live situation (in this case, playing in a church service). I found this to be true!

[kraigo]

Originally Posted by DocBop

You are never more than a half-step away from the right note.

The downside is you've got so little time to figure out if the right notes is one half up or one half down.

KO

[kraigo]

Originally Posted by vicvarado

Some nights that's a dangerous place when your drummer loses sticks

I tend to send them flying to my right, over the ride. Then again, they don't tend to have that much velocity in the horizontal, more in the vertical. If they're moving that much horizontally you've got bad technique (or too big a set).

KO

[standupright]

Make sure you are in tune

PRACTICE EVERY DAY

[kraigo]

My own revelation was "Be the player you want to be". Imagine what the cool part would be and find it. Don't let your technique drive your playing. Create the music you want to hear and develop the technique you need to play it. In my case, my technique is fine. Not terribly advanced but clean. It's more a point of thinking about what I want to sound like before I start playing.

This is true on any instrument you're trying to play.

A coworker was playing golf with his brother-in-law. He asked him if he inhaled or exhaled on his back swing. Messed up his whole round. I'm sure there's something useful in that story.

KO

[davec]

A coworker was playing golf with his brother-in-law. He asked him if he inhaled or exhaled on his back swing. Messed up his whole round. I'm sure there's something useful in that story.

yeah like what I'm gonna do the next time I play my brother in law...

[darincm]

play with the metronome until you can't hear it

[Mike Saville]

Learn to listen properly.

When first told this I shrugged it off. But now I realise this is key in so many ways. If you can't hear mistakes how can you correct them? If you don't know how you want to sound how can you achieve a good sound? How will you know if you are playing in tune? How will you know if you are playing together with other players?

[ksandvik]

Originally Posted by Mike Saville

Learn to listen properly.

When first told this I shrugged it off. But now I realise this is key in so many ways. If you can't hear mistakes how can you correct them? If you don't know how you want to sound how can you achieve a good sound? How will you know if you are playing in tune? How will you know if you are playing together with other players?

This is why listening to other bands and bass player is so important. Either you learn what to do, or you learn what not to do, so it works both ways.