Help Improve..?

[FourStrings88]

Well Here it is.Latley my music teacher (who is great by the way)has been giveing me just sheet music to play I have been doing this FOR A WHILE and I would just like to know how to release the ability to be able to pick up a Bass and just start makeing GOOD riffs on the spot improve if you will.

I feel like I am not learning much and I feel as if I am stuck in a ditch is there anyway to help me boost up my ability with bass with a excersie to do everyday or what please help I am not sure if you understand but let me know if you dont respond when you can
Thanks! =)

[Whafrodamus]

You can know all the theory and stuff you want, but in order to really write a riff or a song, you need some insanity. Get with it, brotha!

[Dynna]

This ain't gonna be good for your reading, BUT, memorize what you're reading. Then you'll be adding to your repetoire of lines & chops.

A really cool Gary Willis exercise is to take a metronome, or program some hi-hats, and have them play hlaf notes at a tempo you find cool. Then play in such a way that the hats are on the off beat(2&4). Take a short phrase, ANYTHING simple and short. Play it once to set up the groove and leave a space for a fill. Play the short line a couple more times with the space to memorize it and set up the next part.

Now play the short line, and then start adding fills that come into your head. Just play anything, but DON'T stray from coming back into the original line/groove. KEY POINT: if you mess up a fill(and you will) stop the hat/metr. and teach yourself the fill. Play it slow, and get it until to can play it w/o thinking. Start the hats again and play the original line w/ the space. Keep alternating the groove with the fills.

Sometimes you'll hit the fills, and sometimes you'll have to stop and learn, but the clincher is that you're teaching YOURSELF your own bass lines and fills.

Try it with different speeds and feels. Then you can also tape your practice session to pick up cool stuff that you won't remember.

[Jace The Bass]

Originally Posted by FourStrings88

Well Here it is.Latley my music teacher (who is great by the way)has been giveing me just sheet music to play I have been doing this FOR A WHILE and I would just like to know how to release the ability to be able to pick up a Bass and just start makeing GOOD riffs on the spot improve if you will.

I feel like I am not learning much and I feel as if I am stuck in a ditch is there anyway to help me boost up my ability with bass with a excersie to do everyday or what please help I am not sure if you understand but let me know if you dont respond when you can
Thanks! =)

Good riffs on the spot? QUOTE
Does your teacher give you ear training exercises?
Learning your intervals for starters will train your ears
there's a few sites that have exercises to train your ear
either activebass site or [url] refer to the site that Tim below has
Another exercise is if you know your major scale play it slowly on your instrument but before you play the note sing or hum the note that you are going to play
Why do you say that?
By doing this it will start to bring what you hear inside your head out on to the instrument and will help you learn songs off CD's
But this must be done regulary maybe hard at first but if your willing to hang in there you will be rewarded and the goal here is to play what you hear inside of your head believe me it's the best feeling you can have then you will be able to improvise on the spot

So split your routine in sections ( still do what your teacher is giving you )

Here's an example
10-15 mins Learning intervals within a octave
20-40 mins Learning a song off CD
20-30 mins Learning what my teacher gave me
10-15 mins Scales arppegios
10-15 mins Techniques ( Slapp pick etc )
20 mins Reading
If you have other commitments just cut a few minutes off each sections
I think Jazzbo's thread is worth having a look has good points
Anyway Good Luck

[Tim__x]

That's http://www.good-ear.com not www.goodear.com