practical practice (chords/scales)

[havik180]

I've been playing for a few years . I realize my number one problem is that I don't play with other musicians nearly enough.My finger dexterity and timing are pretty good and I do have some knowledge of scales and chords (took lessons awhile back).

My problem is when I do go "jam" I have trouble letting go or knowing what to play. I freeze up. Now , since I know my scales and chords ok is there a practical way to practice these ? Like something that can be directlly applied to actually creating interesting basslines ?


thanks,

Rich

[Toronto Bassist]

1) Transcribe your favorite bassists and copy them enough to get a feel for what they do

2) When it comes to jamming, make up some riffs and chord progressions beforehand that you can use to play on. Nothing complicated though.

[MalcolmAmos]

When jamming I assume certain things. Most of my jamming will be to old classic Country songs. I bet you would find yourself in this same situation, may not be Country, but you pretty well know what type of songs you will be asked to jamm over. So you know Rock will be a dirt simple I IV V. Blues, grab a 12 bar dominant chord progression and hang on. Whatever is called I bet you have already played this type of music before and have a pretty good idea what's coming.

Back to our jamm. Key called to be G - I assume the chords will be G, C, D7 or I-IV-V7. As old time Country does not stray far from that. If I've never heard the song I'll start off with a root nothing or perhaps R-5 and listen for the rhythm flow and the chord changes. I cheat here as I also play rhythm guitar and can look over and recognize the chord the rhythm guitar is forming. I change chords when he/she does.

If I get lost or can not pick up the chord changes I'll play the tonic pentatonic to the groove the other musicians are following.

Nine times out of ten this will work. Jamming is not exact, close enough works. I'd suggest you assume and play what you think will work. If it does not, lay out, or adjust.

Practice jamming to the backing tracks on the Internet. No one will call out the key so you will have to figure it out. If you need help with that just ask someone will jump on it.
http://www.guitarbackingtrack.com/pl...eric/layla.htm
I hear E.

[champbassist]

Originally Posted by Toronto Bassist

1) Transcribe your favorite bassists and copy them enough to get a feel for what they do

2) When it comes to jamming, make up some riffs and chord progressions beforehand that you can use to play on. Nothing complicated though.

Great ideas. May I also suggest looking up and playing some classical music (esp. Bach). Lots of classical pieces have lines that, at least to me, sound like they could make memorable bass riffs.

[Toronto Bassist]

Also, remember that when you're jamming, the source of inspiration shouldn't be you, but the people you're playing behind. Listening is a huge part of playing with other musicians and if you're not listening, then it'll sound like you're off on your own, noodling away.

You should be getting your ideas from the guitarist or keyboardist or whoever is doing the solo. When they start to play busy, bring up the volume, play some busier fills that compliment what they're playing. If they're playing sparsely, bring the volume down and lay down a nice subtle rhythm for them. Things like that. Make sure to keep eye contact with the drummer. So once again, your ideas should be derived by doing what you can to support the soloist.

[251]

Originally Posted by havik180

I've been playing for a few years . I realize my number one problem is that I don't play with other musicians nearly enough.My finger dexterity and timing are pretty good and I do have some knowledge of scales and chords (took lessons awhile back).

My problem is when I do go "jam" I have trouble letting go or knowing what to play. I freeze up. Now , since I know my scales and chords ok is there a practical way to practice these ? Like something that can be directlly applied to actually creating interesting basslines ?


thanks,

Rich

When that happened to me I invited the people I met to my living room to jam. I could jam to BTs or Band-in-a-Box & always know what was coming. I needed to practice jamming with others to get over being intimidated by not knowing what would come next. It took a while to have confidence in my ability to respond to the music happening around me.

FWIW, I went through the same thing when the sessions happened in front of an audience. Sometimes life holds up the mirror for me to see, me. It took time to realize the audience heard what I played as music, even when I thought I'd made a mistake.

Let the music come out of you. Record it for study & to find ways to improve. Learn to not judge your music but instead, appreciate what you can already do. Time & practice will allow your music to grow.