Best musical advice you ever got

[ramathorn1125]

if it ain't broke don't break it baby

[larryl]

Make it sing- Lew Tabackin

[ster]

I don't remember where I heard this:
"Don't practice until you get it right, practice until you don't get it wrong".

[SC Bassboy]

In college my Jazz teacher told me "if you make a mistake, do it again the next time around. Then people will think you meant to do it and were just adding tension". LMAO! I still do that to this day.

[69nites]

Originally Posted by SC Bassboy

In college my Jazz teacher told me "if you make a mistake, do it again the next time around. Then people will think you meant to do it and were just adding tension". LMAO! I still do that to this day.

sometimes it's actually true tho and you mess up and it adds a cool tension vibe.

[OrangeSun]

"The purpose of the bass is to hold the rythm and play the notes of the chord." - bass teacher in highschool who primarily played guitar

"Guitar plays fear what we do" - bass teacher in high school who played a 5 string upright

that same b ass teacher also had the nail on his pinky grown out to a point. He used it when he played the electric to get a pick tone. He said he started doing it in the 70's. It wasn't until much later that I figured out why he probably grew it out originally. He could play faster with three fingers then I could with a pick. that guy was insane.

[cowsgomoo]

my bass teacher told me that the most important thing is that when the baton comes down at the beginning of the piece, you're in there with your 1st bass note, right on cue... nothing is worse than a missed cue

and i've always followed that and even in non-conducted situations, always RELIGIOUSLY hit your first note... then worry about the rest...

the longer implication of this is that you MUST be ready to play when required... and having a really good excuse still isn't good enough.. you need to be ready to play.. an unreliable bass player is the last thing anyone needs

[E2daGGurl]

Thanks for that tip about the missed cue. I need to have that stapled to my forehead.

[GeoffB]

"If yer thinkin', yer stinkin'"

[DaveF]

Turn your metronome down to 30 BPM.
Now try playing along!

[getfunky]

When they say "bring the funk" they're looking at YOU.
--Some beginner's bass book, author unknown

[uethanian]

"music is nothing without conviction"

[Jerose]

"Breathe"

[Freddels]

Originally Posted by COOL AND DEADLY

I'm a big fan of never stop playing if you mess up too, Monstr. If the bass stops everyone stops!

So true b/c if the bass stops it means . . . drum solo

[staindbass]

i enjoy giving the same advice everyone gave me thru the years... dont bother, dont waste your time, youll never go anywhere, youll never make it... i was 10 years old, i had cut a guitar shape with the help of my dad out of plywood, had it slung on with some old shoelaces, and was strutting around the neighboorhood telling every one i was going to be a rockstar. they laughed, but now im the one laughing with all tis dough and diamond watches, HAHAHAHAHA. so, dont waste your time (wink) johnny a.

[basswave]

When you want to write a Melody

-Try playing a rhythmic/groove based line

When you want to write a Groove

-Try playing a melody


This was told to me by my old teacher Mike Turner (RIP Brother).

It might sound odd but it really works.

[whitedk57]

"Make haste slowly" - old trumpet teacher

[buckeyeshakr101]

As w/ everybody else I'm sure there's 15 hundred things I could think of, but many have been said, so I'm jus gonna go w/ what I haven't seen (I think...)
James Jamerson Jr (as told to him by his father) You'll never be me, and I'll never be you
I'm not sure where I read this but some online thing basically said to sing or hum along w/ everything
Every song you play, every scale, every note, and everything else from the outside world
It was a thing about training your ears

[Johnny StingRay]

When I was starting to learn to play bass, a salesman at Westland Music in Westland, Michigan told me this, "Guitar players are a dime a dozen, but great bass players are few and far between."

I once had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Jeff Baxter of the Doobie Brothers and he told me that, "Yeah, you can really get carried away learning all the technical theory stuff, but it doesn't mean a damn thing if the music doesn't come from your heart."

Johnny

[hentor]

From my Band Leader and mentor in High School.

"Stop being a bass player and start being a musician."

Predated Wooten's "The Music Lesson" by a decade...

From the same man 15 years later....

"FEEL"