The secret of how to improve your playing.

[Axtman]

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND PUSH YOURSELF!

If you don't play a 5 string...play a 5 string.
If you don't play fretless...play fretless.
If you don't play solos....play solos.
If you don't play chords....play chords.
If you don't read music....read music.
If you don't slap and pop....slap and pop.
If you don't play above the 12th fret.....play above the 12th fret.

I know that this sounds obvious but it really works. Doing something different forces your brain to wake up and really concentrate on what you are doing.

Personally I have found that playing 5 string and fretless has really improve my 4 string fretted playing.

So get out their and challenge yourself!

[milothefultz]

I agree. Well said!

I give your essay an A+.

[dvh]

or.... just practice

[Matt Dean]

Originally Posted by dvh

or.... just practice

But, I think what the OP is suggesting is that we push our selves. If we just practice the same old things/exercises/our favorite songs/etc., we will not improve. By practicing things that are initially beyond us, we get better.

[Jeremy Darrow]

I couldn't agree more.
With regard to practice, I once read an account from an Edgar Meyer (classical double bassist and composer) master class. I'll mangle the quote, so I'll paraphrase, a student asked Edgar what his thought were on practice routines, he replied that he thought routines were comforting and little else.

I love that.

[Shovelbone]

QUOTE=Axtman;8030259]GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND PUSH YOURSELF!

If you don't play a 5 string...play a 5 string.
If you don't play fretless...play fretless.
If you don't play solos....play solos.
If you don't play chords....play chords.
If you don't read music....read music.
If you don't slap and pop....slap and pop.
If you don't play above the 12th fret.....play above the 12th fret.

I know that this sounds obvious but it really works. Doing something different forces your brain to wake up and really concentrate on what you are doing.

Personally I have found that playing 5 string and fretless has really improve my 4 string fretted playing.

So get out their and challenge yourself![/quote]

Well said!
I think that I am going to print this out and post it on board in my music room!

[Yerf Dog]

Play and sing at the same time.

[dvh]

Originally Posted by Matt Dean

But, I think what the OP is suggesting is that we push our selves. If we just practice the same old things/exercises/our favorite songs/etc., we will not improve. By practicing things that are initially beyond us, we get better.

Agreed, but sometimes the most familiar and mundane things can become the biggest challenge. What's that old saying?

"An amateur practices until he gets it right. A professional practices until he never gets it wrong."

[MysticMichael]

Originally Posted by Axtman

GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND PUSH YOURSELF!

If you don't play a 5 string...play a 5 string.
If you don't play fretless...play fretless.
If you don't play solos....play solos.
If you don't play chords....play chords.
If you don't read music....read music.
If you don't slap and pop....slap and pop.
If you don't play above the 12th fret.....play above the 12th fret.

I know that this sounds obvious but it really works. Doing something different forces your brain to wake up and really concentrate on what you are doing.

Personally I have found that playing 5 string and fretless has really improve my 4 string fretted playing.

So get out their and challenge yourself!

It needed to be said. You said it. You rock!

MM

[Valerus]

Originally Posted by Yerf Dog

Play and sing at the same time.

i wish!

[SteveC]

Originally Posted by dvh

"An amateur practices until he gets it right. A professional practices until he never gets it wrong."

While the OP is very correct, this is about as true as it gets. My students think they are practicing all the time - once they get it right, they think they're done. When I am supervising a sectional or lesson or something and they get it right, I have them do it again and again - at least 5 times in a row correctly - before I let them move on. Try it. If you get to 4 and mess up, you start over. It takes a while to do it right 5 times in a row. In the mean time, you have been practicing.

I am not a pro as I almost always never get it right all the time - a majority of the time - but not always.

[Axtman]

I found that I got very bored with my playing and thought that I was pretty good. (Ha!) So I decided to try a fretless bass and a 5 string bass. Wow! It was like starting all over again.

On the fretless bass I really had to concentrate on where my fingers were up and down the fingerboard and making sure that I was on pitch. I had to really listen to how I fit in with the other musicians. I also simplified my playing because it was easier (and better) that way.

With the 5 string bass I had to really concentrate on where my fingers were on what string. I found that looking at the strings got confusing so I just looked at the side markers. It really made me think what note of what string I was on. It also challenged me to play in different positions on the neck.

It's been hard and my playing in the short run suffered, but in the long run I have become a better bass player! So I encourage you guys to do the same!

[dvh]

The ultimate challenge... learn to play an upright.... well.

[AJ Brown]

Well yeah...

A "rut" is created by doing the same things over and over again. The brain gets conditioned to just playing the same stuff every time you pick up the bass. The only way to get out of that rut is to play something or do something outside the usual.

I really like two things to get going with this...

1) Just play miscellaneous notes in varying spots on the fretboard. All over it, go nuts. They don't have to mean anything.

2) Sing along while playing to work on being able to play what you sing.

That reminds me that I need to get out of my own rut.

[Nashrakh]

Originally Posted by Axtman

So I decided to try a fretless bass and a 5 string bass. Wow! It was like starting all over again.

No sh**. I was trying out a nice 5er at my local store, sounded like I've never played bass before lol.

Originally Posted by dvh

The ultimate challenge... learn to play an upright.... well.

If they only weren't so damn pricey...

[MusicBokonon]

I remember reading something along the lines of "Practice is just more than the brute strength of going at it 5 hours a day - we have to practice smarter too."

[george.c.]

Originally Posted by Yerf Dog

Play and sing at the same time.

agree 1000% especially if you want to improve soloing phrasing

[PBass101]

Nothing made me appreciate playing four-string fretted than playing a 5-string fretless bass for the first time last weekend, which I hated.

Also just started slap and pop... Sort of. Still have some work to do before I get the hang of the basics.

[T-MOST]

Rule #1... there is NO substitute for practice!

[PBass101]

Except band rehearsals. You learn pretty quickly whether or not all that bedroom practice has paid off when you have three or four other guys counting on you to get it right the first time, everytime.