How long to become good?

[Joe Lindley]

I just starting playing bass a couple of months ago. I am mostly interested in blues. I was wondering what someone like me could expect with regard to how good they might develop with time. I know it's a hard question to answer with any certainty, but does anybody have any ballpark ideas? Maybe true life stories, like after 1 year of practicing at least 1 hr per day, I was able to ... and then after 2 years I could... and so on. Or maybe "it took me a year for my notes to stop buzzing" etc.

[K2000]

Do you have any musical background (played piano before, played in band in school, etc). That will help (but it's not mandatory).

You can be good enough to be in a band in about 6 months to a year, if you work hard and go about things the right way. (Not a prog or jazz band, I mean a basic rock or blues band). Paul Simonen was only playing for 6 months when he joined the Clash. He became a really good player over time.

An hour is okay. See if you can increase that. It takes me an hour just to feel warmed up (not that I'm a monster bassist, I'm just saying, an hour is kinda minimal). The more time you spend working on it, the faster you will improve.

Play every day, too. Got a big test or super busy at work, no time? Play at least 15-30 minutes anyway (it's hard to imagine anyone who doesn't have 15 minutes).

Find a good teacher. This will accelerate your progress.

[Oratorio]

As a musician for the last four years, I find that the best thing you can do, is play everyday. Even if just for a half an hour, less is better even, just aslong as it is every day and not just two days of the week. Just abit every day will help. Play scales up and down the whole neck helps on technique, make it sound good, make it sound tight, and just play and enjoy yourself! Good luck!

[Joe Lindley]

Thanks for the reply. I do have some musical background. I played flute in high school in the band. Not the bass clef, but I learned to read music then. Lately I have been trying to do the modal exercises that Pacman wrote about - how to learn the fretboard by playing modes. So in 6 months you can get decent (especially for blues) if you practice every day?

[hbarcat]

Originally Posted by Joe Lindley

I just starting playing bass a couple of months ago. I am mostly interested in blues. I was wondering what someone like me could expect with regard to how good they might develop with time. I know it's a hard question to answer with any certainty, but does anybody have any ballpark ideas? Maybe true life stories, like after 1 year of practicing at least 1 hr per day, I was able to ... and then after 2 years I could... and so on. Or maybe "it took me a year for my notes to stop buzzing" etc.

I'm going to do something that's sure to be controversial and answer your question with an exact, short and simple answer; and I'm not even going to try to justify it. But I stand by it.

IT TAKES 10,000 HOURS OF PLAYING TO BECOME GOOD.

[fearceol]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

IT TAKES 10,000 HOURS OF PLAYING TO BECOME GOOD.

+1

Without wanting to sound pessimistic, some people spend all their lives playing bass (or any instrument) and still dont think they are good.
The golden rules still apply i.e. plenty of practice and patience

[Oratorio]

It will take time, anyways, ofcourse, and lots of patience .. :P But if you enjoy it, you will obviously just enjoy every step along the way and thing will come together nicely. Just .. don't start double-thumping after a week of practicing, like every "new kid" in town does. (not that I have anything against 'em, though!)

[MuzikMan]

I know you're looking for a simple answer but for most of us our expectations increase as we get better so we haven't gotten "good" yet. This is how I feel anyway and I've been playing for 23 years!

IMO the fastest way to get good is to be in a band. Get in one ASAP. Don't worry about whether or not you think you are ready. In fact, DO IT NOW!

[Deacon_Blues]

What is "good?" to you? The better you become, the higher you set the limit for what "good" means to you.

My advice to become "good":
Practice technique a lot. Learn music theory. Practice songs to train your ear to recognize common chord progressions. If you're interested in blues, learn the 12-bar blues pattern and all variations of it that you can find, and learn them in all keys (might sound hard, but once you know it in one key, the rest comes easily). I also strongly suggest you to start playing a little guitar or piano too, to become familiar with how different chords sounds. You need to know the chords and scales to be able to know which notes you can use in walking bass lines, for instance.

Timing is VERY important - always use a metronome or a drum machine when you practice. A metronome helps in learning to play tightly, (i.e. hit the notes on the beats as accurately as possible), whereas a drum machine is better (or at least more fun) for practicing grooves. Practicing along to records also helps. It is possible that you will hate the metronome in the beginning, but when you get better at playing tightly, you will consider it more as a friend, not an enemy. If you hate playing with a metronome, it means your timing is not good enough.


How long it takes to become "good" is up to you. Practice enough and THE RIGHT THINGS! And don't forget to just play sometimes, too. Find people to play with and have fun playing. Only to play by yourself, without a metronome and without focusing on something in particular, will mean it takes longer time to get where you're heading. If you don't push the throttle, you won't move forward as fast as you'd like to.

Finally, get a teacher. Preferably a pro that knows what he's doing and not an average guitarist that thinks bass is just a simple version of the guitar...

Good luck!

[202dy]

How long it will take to is impossible to answer. There are too many variables to put a specific amount of time to it. Some of the variables such as prior experience as a musician, have been cited above.

The answer lies in the number of hours you are willing to put in coupled with the course of study you select. If you find a good teacher/mentor who has a good course of study it and you put in the hours you will progress much faster than most people will going it alone. Playing with other people frequently will keep you focused and the instrument in your hands for more hours every week.

Maybe a good way for you to answer it is to look at your life and skills. Ask yourself how long it took you to learn or master a skill set that required a combined physical and mental effort. Both are required to "become good".

This is a game played in hours, more or less. Rest assured more equals more and less equals less.

[ric1312]

Originally Posted by Joe Lindley

I just starting playing bass a couple of months ago. I am mostly interested in blues. I was wondering what someone like me could expect with regard to how good they might develop with time. I know it's a hard question to answer with any certainty, but does anybody have any ballpark ideas? Maybe true life stories, like after 1 year of practicing at least 1 hr per day, I was able to ... and then after 2 years I could... and so on. Or maybe "it took me a year for my notes to stop buzzing" etc.

I wouldn't consider myself, "good," but after 2 years and then reflecting and thinking back to how hard it was when I started, I've come a long way. Nobody complains, and my band even likes my bass lines.

My best advise would be to learn a bunch of songs, besides your theory or scales and practice them every day. Maybe even make up your own. Do a whole set list every day, a good hour.

I practice my bands set list every day, when I'm not too busy. At the end of the week I'm very fluid and rarely have to look at my fretboard. And I get that nice feeling where my hands are very relaxed and just know where to go.

Practicing an hour a day is better than cramming it into a 6 hour spree at the end of the week.

[Stumpy]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

I'm going to do something that's sure to be controversial and answer your question with an exact, short and simple answer; and I'm not even going to try to justify it. But I stand by it.

IT TAKES 10,000 HOURS OF PLAYING TO BECOME GOOD.

10,000 hours of playing/practicing the right stuff to become good.

+1

[Joe Lindley]

Thanks to everybody for replying. As I'm just a newbie, I'm not disagreeing with the 10,000 hr timeline to become "good," but just to put it in perspective, that is over 27 years of practicing an hour per day, or almost 14 years at 2 hours per day. I better set my sights at something like a year or 2 to get "kinda good" or "okay" and go from there. Thanks again!

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

I'm going to do something that's sure to be controversial and answer your question with an exact, short and simple answer; and I'm not even going to try to justify it. But I stand by it.

IT TAKES 10,000 HOURS OF PLAYING TO BECOME GOOD.

That is pretty wack that would be practicing like a 40 hour a week job for almost 5 years. I think people are focusing too much on hours the answer involves experience and internalizing a lot of music and developing your ear. The answer I hear from old pro's that sounds right to me is 10 years of playing. The person will be getting good enough to play early on and be playing with groups and so on. But to really become a professional and not only learn all the skills, but to learn to make music with them is about a 10 year process.

Now a Pro musician is much like any working person and should be spending about 40 hour a week at their job. For a musician that is about 20 hour a week of gigs and teaching and 20 hours a week of practice. Remember as you gain experince over the years what is called practice changes from scales, reading, and etc to writing and playing music and working on improvisation.

[Mickey Shane]

However long it takes you to become confident in your playing.

6 weeks?

[DocBop]

Originally Posted by Mickey Shane

However long it takes you to become confident in your playing.

6 weeks?

No too many are confident in what they are playing, they are just unaware of how little they know. As the saying goes... The more I learn the more I realize how much I don't know.

[Cristo]

Really, it depends on how much you practice, what you practice, how talented you are innately, and how you define "good."

One man's "good" is another man's "suck."

Keep playing, and eventually you will look back and know for sure that you are "better."

Whether or not you call yourself "good" yet depends on your mood at the moment - and the size of your ego!

[craizbass]

practice hard and don't think about it, then it will come that you're getting better

[Torch7]

Set personal milestones. Musicians mature at different rates, I have friends who after picking up an instrument were monsters after two years, and others who didn't mature for much longer.

If you can play with musicians who are better than you, it drives you to become better, and you can gleen from them. Once you are comfortable playing in public... see if there are any local jam sessions for musicians, and go and participate. Jump in there feet first.

[johnvice]

Originally Posted by Joe Lindley

how good they might develop with time.
.

Good is a relative term. Compared to some bass players, I must seem very ...pedistrian! Compared to others I'm good!
I have been playign bass for almost 30 years...and I am still getting better!

Originally Posted by Joe Lindley

Maybe true life stories, like after 1 year of practicing at least 1 hr per day, I was able to ... and then after 2 years I could... and so on.

IMHO, You need 20 minutes a day to sustain your current skill level. An hour a day of quality practice will make you better!

By quality, I mean trying to improve. This could be learning or improving a technique. (For example, I always have a method or transcription book on the go). If your playing songs that are easy for you, then work on getting them perfect.

Another aspect of practicing is experimenting. If you play with your fingers try a pick. If you play with a pick try finger style. Try playing really close to the bridge, then close to the neck. Try playing really lightly (and let the amp do the 'work')