I need help D;

[kuuri]

im going to be completely honest in the following text below.

Iv been playing bass for about 10 months. Thought out that iv gain and lost modivation, took several brakes. The reason why I wanted to play bass besides having fun is to play live/on stadge. I dont care if that means playing for millions or 10, I just want to play live. But the problem is I am not good at all ( I think.. this is were you come in )


10 months ago I has some sort ov plan.
-At 1 month I would have liked to learn several scales. That didnt happen till month 4
-At 1.5 months i would have liked to learn a full song, that didnt happen till month 3
-At month 3 I would have like to have tabbed my first song, that didnt happen till month 8.
-at month 5 I would have liked to tab a song ov a little more difficulty. That I am working on now. ( and is almost done ^_^!!! )
-At month 10 were I am at now I would have LOVED to see my self on stage. whether it be by my self or with a friend with 1 or 2 in the audience. I didnt care i just wanted to have played on a stadge by this point. It seemed a little out there and I knew that that was just a hope.


As for the hardest song I know ( sort of I know most the song ) would be Phantom ov the opera by Iron maiden. What do you guys think? Is this good enough for month 10? I My self is very dissapointed in my self I should be doing better then this In my honest opinion.

now my question to you is. When you first started what was it like for you? How long did you play a day/week? Cause TBH I think im very slow at ths stuff D: !!

[funkybass]

It varied how long I played a day, but I'll say 30 min. I picked up on bass pretty fast. Everyone learns at different paces. Don't give up. I joined my church's praise team when I first started, and that really helped.

[kuuri]

when you played for that time what stuff did you learn? scales thoery tabs ect?

[waleross]

Join a group with players on your same level or willing to give you a chance. Playing at home alone ,can only go so far.

[funkybass]

The very first thing I learned were the names of all the notes. I practiced scales and arpeggios. Also simple basslines.

[fearceol]

Two words....PRACTICE : PATIENCE
Everyone is different and learns at their own pace. Ten months is a very short time to be playing bass. I'll guarantee you that all the bass icons were not as they are today, after ten months of playing. The main thing is that you are making progress (albeit not as fast as you would like ) at your own pace. With more time and those "P" words, you will get to where you want to be.

[MalcolmAmos]

Originally Posted by kuuri

when you played for that time what stuff did you learn? scales thoery tabs ect?

Here is a cut and paste that I did a while back. Might help.

Most bands pass among themselves fake chord or lead sheet music, so it makes since you should be able to play from this type of sheet music.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnMdOdF8x5k Now this type of sheet music will not have the bass clef, therefore, it is up to us to come up with our own bass lines.

http://www.8notes.com/chord_chart/autumn_leaves.asp Yes roots right at first are fine.

We play chord tone accompaniment, i.e. we lay down the beat and call attention to the chord changes, we do that by playing the notes of the chord - in play at this specific time in the song. We take care of the beat and the harmony. When they pass the lead to us - then we play melody notes. 95% of what we do is chord tone accompaniment. Here are the intervals (scale degrees) of the chords. http://www.smithfowler.org/music/Chord_Formulas.htm

Can you see a chord chart (fake chord) and come up with a bass line? Here are some that normally work. •Just roots work. Change as the chords change. R-R-R-R
•Roots and fives give a little something more. Of course, change as the chords change. R-5-R-5
•The root, five and eight are considered generic and will play a lot of bass, i.e. R-5-8-5 or any combination of those three notes.
•Then the correct 3 and 7 enter the picture. See a minor chord grab the b3 and the b7 (. R-b3-5-b7) see a major seven chord grab the natural 3 and the natural 7 (R-3-5-7).
Get some generic bass lines into muscle memory and practice playing from fake chord. See a chord name and have a generic bass line in muscle memory you can pull up and use.

Sing the song under your breath to know when to change chords and have a feel for the tempo, beat, etc.

Let Google find you some backing tracks to play over. http://www.freejamtracks.com/play-bass-blues-02.html Look up the 12 bar blues progression, that fish thing, and use that. Yep you gotta know how to find the key, something else you need to find yourself so you will remember how. Google is a friend.

Have fun.

[MalcolmAmos]

Some more stuff.


Code:
Major Scale Box.

G|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string

Place the root (R) on the C note 4th string 8th fret and the C major scale await you.
Place the root (R) on the C note and play the R-3-5 and you have just played the notes of the C major chord aka C arpeggio. Chord progression for this song is G-C-D. Place your box root on a G on the 3rd string. Where is your C? Where is the D? The next song's progression is C-F-G. Place your box root on a C on the 3rd string. Where is your F? Where is your G? Yep, piece of cake.

Basic Chords
Major Triad = R-3-5
Minor Triad = R-b3-5
Diminished Chord = R-b3-b5

7th Chords
Maj7 = R-3-5-7
Minor 7 = R-b3-5-b7
Dominant 7 = R-3-5-b7
½ diminished = R-b3-b5-b7
Full diminished = R-b3-b5-bb7 Harmonic minor and melodic minor will use the full bb7

Scales
Major Pentatonic = R-2-3-5-6
Minor Pentatonic = R-b3-4-5-b7
Blues = R-b3-4-b5-5-b7
Major Scale = R-2-3-4-5-6-7
Natural Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Harmonic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-b6-7
Melodic Minor Scale = R-2-b3-4-5-6-7

Good luck.

[JetBlackJazz]

never plan something like this

[LowDown Hal]

I started out committed to 1/2 hour per day.
As it turned out I soon averaged 1 1/2 hours.

But I had a teacher and a defined "practice plan"

[Papa Dangerous]

I hope that you learn to spell "of" before you learn to spell any chords..

[hrodbert696]

Originally Posted by waleross

Join a group with players on your same level or willing to give you a chance. Playing at home alone ,can only go so far.

This. Find some people to jam with -- a drummer, guitarist, whoever. Ask your teacher if he knows anyone, or knows other teachers whose other students want a jam partner. Learn some blues progressions and do them together, or pick three or four songs to work on playing together. Nothing motivates like knowing you have to be ready for practice next Thursday night. Once you've got a song or three down, hit an open mic and voila! -- you're playing in front of people.

[JimmyM]

Your main problem is you have devised a lesson plan that not only sets unrealistic goals, but does you no real good. This is why a good teacher who knows jazz is so valuable. You're not a teacher and you shouldn't be expected to know anything, least of all what to practice to make yourself improve. And any time the word "tab" is involved in any lesson plans, it is a complete waste of time. You don't learn anything from tab except where to put your fingers so you can copy someone else. That is a joke.

If you're serious about improving, get a teacher who knows jazz concepts. I don't care if you never ever want to play jazz in your life, it is clearly the best and most efficient way to learn. If you can't find a good jazz teacher, then I would recommend buying Roy Vogt's Teach Me Bass Guitar series. But if you continue on this path you're on, you're never going to get any better.

[Papa Dangerous]

OP: Check out what I just posted. Its packed with so much information but will get you on your feet to being able to play in any key, following any progression, and overall get you on stage with the confidence you need to play in front of people

Fretboard Logic via Intervals, Scales and Chords. This is your one spot!