Best musical advice you ever got

[armedlove]

"learn everything (scales, arpeggios, etc.) in every key in OPEN/FIRST postion first, before moving up the neck" - teacher

[Flyingfrets]

"Shut up and play."

[TheRealKong]

My mom told a famous german trumpet player that I am a musician (bass player), too. His advice:

"Make sure he will never give up his daytime job!"

[Biggbass]

shut up and play

[DiabolusInMusic]

"Don't put that in your mouth"

[nonohmic]

Originally Posted by zenlowend

Only girls slap! - me

YES! Oh how i despise slap bass.

Actually is there a slap bass haters group on TB yet??

[mikedyermusic]

"Don't compare yourself to other bass players so much, because no one can play bass like YOU do" -Louis Cato

Not exactly what he said to me, but along those lines!

[dtripoli]

When I started out playin' many, many years ago, a patient and kindly musician
upon listening to me hammer and whack away on my cheap bass suggested;

*Play through your mistakes
*It's not how many notes you play but what you do with the few you do.
*If in doubt about what to play/fill in between changes, play nothing
*Embrace the space
*Meter is king

It took me 20 years to really "get" what he said.

[basstoven]

Try to match your notes with the drum beat. - a drummer
you don't have to play like it's a track meet. - a teacher

[Gonzo64]

Originally Posted by Jim Breece

"You're playing great (I wasn't) but you look like you dropped your pick over there (pointed just past my headstock) and you've spent all night looking for it. You don't need to look at your left hand all the time, or even much at all." This from a guitar player in a band I was in long ago. He was right, I weaned myself off it and life got much better. I even look less nerdy on stage, and I need all the help with that I can get.

I agree completely. My neck hurts after playing 'cause i stare at my fretting hand. Actually breaking the habit is gonna take some perseverance. I might do the Les Claypool thing and watch tv while doing warm-ups.

[Lakland55]

My bass instructor used to say - "Slow down!" ...and from that I've learned to crawl, walk, and run.

[portlandguy]

middle finger on the root note, index finder on the 3rd, pinky finger on the 5th, pinky finger also plays the 8th/ocyave - that is for major chords - then adjust accordingly for minors, 7ths, etc

[Tbird70]

Take two weeks off.... And then quit

[tdelamont]

1) Keep a gig bag kit: Strings, Batteries, Toolkit, Tape, Flashlight.

2) Never argue with a chick singer who can't read music.

3) Don't start drinking until after you get paid.

4) Arrive early, start on time, don't abuse your breaks.

[zaubertuba]

Can't remember the artist, but we were playing a rehearsal with a visiting blues singer before a Summer Festival concert and she noticed I seemed a little stressed. She caught me at a break and asked me what was up, and I told her about my difficulty trying to pick a single major, focus on one instrument--alot of the myriad stuff that goes through a young college player's mind.

Her response was, "Sometimes, people are afraid to try do it all--because deep in their heart they know they can."

It was exactly what I needed to hear. Perhaps not specifically just musical advice, but it was a big life lesson that I'll never forget.

[SDMFJay]

Be Original, Be Yourself...

[McThumpenstein]

hope this hasn't been posted but:
"the quickest way to do something is to do it the slow way the FIRST time."

I got that all the time when I'd try to rush through learning something and he'd send me back to shed to learn it again.

[phillybass101]

Many moons ago I'm 17 and playing a gig in a club where they actually sold alcoholic beverages. My parents were cool that way. I'm playing on a Fender Music Master Bass through an Ampeg B-25B. I'm getting down. The next band comes up and their bass player says youngboy you sound good, now I'm going to show you how it's done. He had a Fender Jazz bass with maple board and black block Inlays and a big azz acoustic bass amp. Man he played hard and with conviction and finessed notes into submission. He played that bass like a man and he had that Larry Graham thing down. To this day whenever I play, I play the same way. Like I own it. Best lesson I ever had and never will forget it.

[BawanaRik]

Don't quit the day job.

Forget who.

[ryanfenderbass]

"Practice is where you learn your part, rehearsal is where you come to learn everyone else's." - Head of my college band program.