A simple test for how much you need a teacher.

[Dr. Cheese]

Just ask yourself this question and answer honestly. Are you a detailed oriented person or do you think in sweeping terms and broad concepts? This is important because great self taught players master the little things like good time, good tone, note length, before they do all of the spectacular things that get our attention. A person who meticulous about the small stuff is most likely to do well self taught, at least until things get really complicated.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

"Details make perfecrion, and perfection is not a detail."
Leonardo Da Vinci

 

[AGCurry]

Good practice is often a matter of drilling oneself on things he can't do or can't do well. The primary purpose of practicing is not to prevent mistakes but to raise the overall level of playing so that a self-judged mediocre performance is good enough. One who doesn't care about details won't be able to do that.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

Good practice is often a matter of drilling oneself on things he can't do or can't do well. The primary purpose of practicing is not to prevent mistakes but to raise the overall level of playing so that a self-judged mediocre performance is good enough. One who doesn't care about details won't be able to do that.

I have been taking lessons about five years now. I honestly spent the first two and a half years unlearning 40+ years of bad habits, and then I had to learn how to practice. I know now that what I thought was good and what I really needed to be aiming for were not even that close. I know now that I did not pay attention to detail or “the small stuff” enough and it hurt the quality of my playing. It seems that really great self taught players have an awareness of detail that did not come naturally to me.

 

[BassyBill]

Just ask yourself this question and answer honestly. Are you a detailed oriented person or do you think in sweeping terms and broad concepts? This is important because great self taught players master the little things like good time, good tone, note length, before they do all of the spectacular things that get our attention. A person who meticulous about the small stuff is most likely to do well self taught, at least until things get really complicated.

I agree totally about the importance of “the small stuff”. The difference between good and bad is right there, one note at a time.

I was lucky to learn that early, the first time I played in the studio and the engineer switched the bass track to solo in the control room. BIG wake-up call! Forty years ago and I still remember that valuable lesson.

 

[Dr. Cheese]

I agree totally about the importance of “the small stuff”. The difference between good and bad is right there, one note at a time.

I was lucky to learn that early, the first time I played in the studio and the engineer switched the bass track to solo in the control room. BIG wake-up call! Forty years ago and I still remember that valuable lesson.

My teacher tells a similar story about hearing his mistakes during a playback.

 

[BassyBill]

My teacher tells a similar story about hearing his mistakes during a playback.

The “small stuff” you mention is about the inflection, integrity, phrasing and tone of each individual note, one by one, plus other stuff like damping/muting accurately, minimising fret or fingerboard buzz and unwanted string noise, dynamics and emphasis, conviction - it’s these elements that make for precision (no pun intended), confidence, accuracy and TIDINESS in your performance. You may not want to sound like some perfect bass playing robot machine, but you need to aim at being able to play like that in order to still sound good when you loosen up a bit, in my opinion.