Its Back to Basics for me...

[k5koy]

Seems I have hit that proverbial wall in my playing. As some of you who know me may know that I am a relative newcomer to all of this. (just over 2 years now) and I have hit that second hurdle where I have stagnated in my playing. I have come to the realization that I am not as defined as I should be in this step of the game. This came to me after atteding several open jams locally, and just being flat amazed by the bass player that sits in with the other amateur performers who take the stage. This guy knows every song ever written, or fakes his way through them with remarkable accuracy, and fills in on original stuff as though he wrote it after only a few minutes talking to the composer. Ok, so at 48, I realize I cant possibly live long enough to be where this guy is now as he has been playing for over 30 years and professionally for about 20.
So here is the steps I am currently using to step up my game.
I am working minimally at about 1-1/2 to 2 hours daily on nothing but running scales. diatonics, pentatonics, blues and major scales up & down and back & forth the entire length of the fretboard. In addition, I am also working modes & intervals. It seems to be working. After just 3 days of working this regimen, I have already noticed a speed increase of finding thew appropriate scale form for any given key. This is really helping me to navigate the fingerboard. It has also increased the speed at which I am able to play through the forms, and join them together. I do use a metronome, so I can keep an eye on the timing. I have just started working modes, and believe it or not, I am finding this aspect very interesting & fun. (Although that Damn Dorian mode really is a stretch at the nut end!)
With all this information now being supplied, Im wondering what other things I should be adding to my practice regimen to up my game.
Thanks in advance, and PLEASE, no one word answers! (Like "Arpeggios") Please elaborate on suggestive methodology.

Koy Carson
West Texas


**Fender American Deluxe P-Bass
**Fender FSR Silver Sparkle Bass
**Fender Geddy Lee Signature Bass
**Warwick Corvette 4 Standard Hybrid
**Tradition Fretless Bass
**Takamine Hollow body Bass
**Carvin AC175 Thinline Acoustic
**Ibanez EW20ZW Electric/Acoustic
**Arbor AJ145CR Jazz

Texas Bassist Club #66
Fender Jazz Bass Club #328

"You're Gonna Miss Me" By Carson-Blevins Blues Project
http://soundclick.com/share?songid=7216182

http://www.myspace.com/k5koy



The "PickPocket" The ORIGINAL Guitar Accessory
http://www.waxpatterns.com/customguitarpick.htm

[Asher S]

Do you ever get to play with other musicians or at least play along with some of your favorite tracks? That's when all the practicing can come together and make it all worthwhile.

[JimmyM]

Scales are good for building speed and stuff, but learn theory and learn how to apply it to playing actual music, writing your own basslines when given chord charts, etc.

[Stumbo]

Check out the link in my sig. for some threads that may help you along the way.
Good luck.

[dmusic148]

Play along with the radio. Play with CD's. Play-alongs. Other musicians. Tapes. Open mics. Whatever. Play songs, good ones.

[tedgilley]

This is not a suggestion for your practice, which sounds fine, but just a note.

I think the player that amazed you probably did know a lot of tunes, but he also probably understood quickly the structure of the song being played, that is, he was able to find the degrees of the key in question and was thus able to find the different chords for that key. My teacher is also a practicing musician, and what he can do is pretty amazing. Much of it is years of playing with all sorts of bands.

Just a thought.

[warnergt]

I've been learning/playing for about two years also and I, too, have
experienced those amazing bass players that seem to be able to play
just about anything. However, I definitely haven't hit the wall. I've been
digging through tunes giving me enough ideas to work on for a year.

On top of just learning tunes, what I've been doing is deconstructing
tunes to understand what is going on. I started with blues tunes. They
use what is probably the most recognizable chord progression. It is
very likely that you know 12-bar blues at this point. Once you know that
progression, it seems almost trivial -- but, in reality, there are infinite
possibilities. The chords used, the walk-ups, walk-downs and
turnarounds all make each tune a little different. Transcribe or dig into
some of your favorite blues tunes and try to understand these.

In the process, you will find that many blues tunes go beyond the
12-bar progression. Try to understand those as well. They are your
stepping stone to conventional tunes that use all kinds of progressions.
Interestingly, you will still find those I-IV-V's in there. The music is
not all that different.

Anyway, keep exploring and learning. You'll get tons of ideas.
Try to play with some guys and exploit these new ideas.
It is non-stop fun.