100 Hours of Practice & Underwhelming

[ESPweasel]

Yep, all this helps. I need to use my teacher and ask the right questions or at least tell him I'm not sure what to do from here.

Again, It's not him. He runs a studio, teaches bass, guitar, drums, piano and Spanish (heh) to all ages.

He was referred to me by my best friend. He taught his son guitar and he's become a family friend (Teenage son is now playing Rush and just went to the Who concert last week)

Like I said I practice everyday. Sometimes more than an hour and sometime if I'm out late and get home after midnight I'll play for like 15-20 minutes, but I play everyday.

 

[Spin Doctor]

You need a new teacher. You are wasting your time. A good teacher has a lesson plan to allow you to accomplish your goals; it doesn't sound like he has any road map for your growth.

Get some recommendations and a new teacher.

A teacher asking what you want to learn isn't some automatic sign of bad instruction. I studied with literally one of the best bass teachers in the country and he would occasionally ask me what I wanted to work on, if I wanted to work on something in particular or give me some options of stuff to work on. Generally though, he would dictate the curriculum as one would expect him to.

I'd hesitate to get too dogmatic over the mention of a single phrase, where you don't even know the context of his conversation with his teacher.

 

[Jamvan]

Been playing many years (off and on) and am still learning. Every day. I was just reading and digesting this earlier today as it came from Scott Devine at Scott's Bass Lessons. I share because you mention that you're playing scales over and over along with playing the melody lines of songs on Pandora. This 'lesson' might be a good bridge between those two elements and could help you breakthrough. Invalid Link Removed

 

[ESPweasel]

Scott Devine at Scott's Bass Lessons. I share because you mention that you're playing scales over and over along with playing the melody lines of songs on Pandora. This 'lesson' might be a good bridge between those two elements and could help you breakthrough. Invalid Link Removed

Listen to Scott all the time Funny, I read that "Scales" article before posting this thread. It's what got me thinking to ask questions here.

 

[Jrussblues]

Give it another 9900 hours.

Yep

 

[Mushroo]

My instructor's in the school of learning the hard stuff, not...

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--3-----3-----3-----3----0--2--3-----3------3-----3----0--2-
-----3-----3-----3-----3----------3------3-----3------3------

Too bad, because that is the type of bass line that can get you started playing with other people at campfires, BBQ, garage/basement jams, open mic night, etc. If you can play root-five over I-vi-IV-V (and various permutations thereof) in all 12 keys, then you have a very solid foundation to play in a band or support a singer-songwriter.

 

[ESPweasel]

Too bad, because that is the type of bass line that can get you started playing with other people at campfires, BBQ, garage/basement jams, open mic night, etc. .

I was just being a smart ass

 

[flam]

Parroting others, you should be able to tell your teacher what you want to do, and they should figure out how to get you there. Might be time to look for a different teacher, even if this one isn't bad. Every teacher has different things you can learn from them.

In terms of practice, 100 hours isn't very far, unfortunately. When I started playing seriously, I would practice for 5+ hours a day, and then lay down and practice finger speed and dexterity until I fell asleep. I know not everybody has that kind of time, though.

Absolutely go out and play with as many other musicians as you possibly can. You'll learn a lot, and have fun doing it.

 

[Fat Freddy]

I started playing this year at about the same time as the OP.....

I'm 59 yrs old and I've found that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks....It just seems to take much longer to learn them than when I was younger!

At this point, I think that I'm making progress but it's taking longer than expected to do so.....

Got a few health issues that I have to work around (Simply can't play a full scale because of hand issues.....Also heart probs mean that I tire more quickly than I'd like).....

Plan is that I'm just going to stick at it, get as much practice time in as life will allow and enjoy myself doing it....

Maybe, one day, I'll be able to consider myself a 'proper' bass player....Who knows?...

Hope the OP doesn't get discouraged and quit....

 

[brianrost]

there's an Open Jam Session this Sunday that I want to go to

My advice:

Go to the jam. Do not bring your bass.

Just listen, talk to the other bass players.

Assuming there is a host band, talk to the host bass player and everybody else in the band. Ask them if they can recommend material that commonly comes up at the jam.

I will take a wild guess here they will not mention any Rush or Primus

Go home and learn those songs. Ask your teacher for help if you need it. Once you know a number of those songs, go back with your bass. Expect to have your a** handed to you on a plate the first time you sit in and have fun.

 

[ESPweasel]

I started playing this year at about the same time as the OP.....

I'm 59 yrs old and I've found that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks....It just seems to take much longer to learn them than when I was younger!

At this point, I think that I'm making progress but it's taking longer than expected to do so.....

Got a few health issues that I have to work around (Simply can't play a full scale because of hand issues.....Also heart probs mean that I tire more quickly than I'd like).....

Plan is that I'm just going to stick at it, get as much practice time in as life will allow and enjoy myself doing it....

Maybe, one day, I'll be able to consider myself a 'proper' bass player....Who knows?...

Hope the OP doesn't get discouraged and quit....

Right on man Yeah, I have a bad left wrist and need to wear a brace. Learning good technique and seating position helped a lot. On!

 

[ESPweasel]

My advice:

Go to the jam. Do not bring your bass.

Just listen, talk to the other bass players.

Assuming there is a host band, talk to the host bass player and everybody else in the band. Ask them if they can recommend material that commonly comes up at the jam.

I will take a wild guess here they will not mention any Rush or Primus

Go home and learn those songs. Ask your teacher for help if you need it. Once you know a number of those songs, go back with your bass. Expect to have your a** handed to you on a plate the first time you sit in and have fun.

I actually laughed out loud. No, I'm not bringing my bass.

 

[Spin Doctor]

Tell your teacher you want to learn to play chord tones over various chord progressions. Learn the fundamentals and you won't need to have your instructor teach you songs. Besides, you have only been playing for 4 months and believe me, that is like nothing... No time at all.

Stick with this guy for awhile. It's way too early in your development to be trying to understand another teachers concept of music. Once you really understand it well enough to teach yourself, then you can look at other points of view i.e. other teachers. The whole point of this lesson thing is so you can figure out how to play what you want at any level without anyone having to tell you what to do...

And be sure to spend enough time with the lessons that you really understand the concepts. The biggest waste of time is to try to learn every aspect of everything, and never learning anything well. It's a brick by brick process...

 

[rtslinger]

Okay this is a tough one actually if it is your last lesson and you haven't gone into detail of what he has taught you? but I would say bass triads which well help you to understand what to play for what chord, and great tool for writing your own lines some day. Have him show you a few to get you started then you can find more info online. hope this helps RTS

 

[EatS1stBassist]

Timing and how you touch it. There you go! I can bill you.

 

[Remyd]

My instructor's in the school of learning the hard stuff, not...

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--3-----3-----3-----3----0--2--3-----3------3-----3----0--2-
-----3-----3-----3-----3----------3------3-----3------3------

I spend more time with this pattern than any other. By a lot.

 

[ESPweasel]

I meant no disrespect

 

[Mushroo]

I meant no disrespect

None taken.

Did my comment about playing "root-five over I-vi-IV-V" make any sense to you? Is using Roman numerals to describe a song's harmony a concept your teacher has taught you? Do you include it in your practice time?

 

[13lues]

Playing with people is what making music is all about for me. Play with people who know what it means to "Keep it in E" or whatever key you choose. Know what that means yourself, and start playing. Everything else will fall into place in it's own time. Just remember to have fun.

 

[RED J]

hang in there a couple more hours buddy, you'll be a virtuoso.