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Becoming a good bassist?

#61
dreamadream99 said:
It takes a couple years to learn the basics, about five years to get pretty good, and about 10 years to become an expert. So if you’ve got 10 years, it can be done.
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And even after a couple of years you can certainly be having fun with it! I started playing bass in 1965 and played my first gig - a battle of the bands - in 1966. We knew 5-songs and played 3 of them. My girlfriend and I went to the movies every Saturday for 2-years as payment for partaking in that gig! Yeah, it was high school. Get to know all the notes in the Money frets first (first 5) then the next 7 frets and everything from fret 12 on up is a repeat of notes you already know.

Learn your arpeggios (root, 3rd, 5th, and octave for each chord guitars and keys play) because those are the notes you have available to use as a bassline behind the chords. You can spell out the chords by playing the chord tones on your bass. You can get by with Major and minor arpeggios at first, but you will want to also incorporate the minor 7th for the 7th chords like G7, the major 7th for any maj7 chords and the 9th, which is a whole step above the octave. All of those 7, maj7, 6, 9, chords etc. just supply additional notes you can use if you want to. You don't have to use all of them and just the major and minor arpeggios will get you started. But you need to learn and know your arpeggios.

Play along with songs you like and learn the bass parts. With a little knowledge about arpeggios you'll start to recognize what the bass players are doing. If you are practicing alongside a song and are stopping anytime you make a mistake, before you stop for the day, be sure to play it all the way through mistakes and all. Don't stop for mistakes. When you perform live, you are going to make mistakes from time to time and the band is NOT going to stop for you to try to do it over to get it right. So you'll need to learn how to recover from a mistake and carry on with a smile on your face so no one but you knows you screwed up. It is show-biz after all. :thumbsup:
 
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#63
Someone once said if you played/practised 3 hours a day for a year, you'd be pretty reasonable. I believe that. So, by that logic, 1 hour a day = 3 years, which is quite realistic for someone committed.
 
#64
Drucifer said:
The 10,000 hour rule of this book has been debunked somewhat, but still a good read and still a valid point, achieving success requires a substantial input of time.

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I second this book - it's been demystified or understood properly after enough years of explaining. It was widely mis-quoted, mis-understood and mis represented and anyone with an agenda would point to a prodigy or natural aptness for some skill as their flag. Time has been the biggest support as it consistently proves the rule. Either way the effectiveness of concept is very valid and very useful in real life and it's a good read. 7 years is a great timeline for any inspired goal.
 
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#65
Learn to read.
Hal Leonard complete Bass edition books 1 2 and 3 by Ed Friedland, niw under one cover. Easy to get through. It will have you reading in a couple of months with a halfway decent effort.

If you're interested in the effort there is another book that is kind of cool called "Brainjo," 10k hours and all that..sort of along the lines of "Effortless Mastery".

I've had a couple of gravity test accidents the last few years and I went back and re-learned how to read on my down time. I was reading back in the 90s intermediate charts for big band music and it really wasn't that hard and I sort of picked it up from scratch back then for the second or third time in my life and as I was stating, now I'm back to reading and it does help.
 
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#69
Frank Zappa didn't pick up the guitar until he was 21. EVERY pursuit in life will improve by spending time and effort towards reaching your goal. How much innate talent you have will determine the timeline and your personal plateau. Some people can achieve astounding results with seemingly meager talent, so don't let that deter you. There are only a couple of glaring defects that will ruin your chance of becoming a decent musician and bassist. The first is tone deafness. If you constantly play out of tune but in time, you may consider changing to a percussion instrument that doesn't play specific notes. The other problem is time deficiencies. This is the ability to play in tune at all the wrong times. The inability to play consistently at the correct tempo renders you useless as a member of the rhythm section. Jazz soloing (sax or trumpet) may be more for you. :cool: If you can play in tune and on time, there's hope. This does not mean you can instantly pick up an instrument and play like a pro. It does take time. The muscles in your hands have to do what they've never been required to do before. That will take time to train them and build them up. Learning where the notes are on the neck will take a bit practice, too. If you put in an hour or two three times a week and show no improvement after a few months there may be issues. Get a good teacher. If you can't get a good teacher there are plenty of online tutorials that many of us elder players wish we had access to during our formative years. Thirty is young. You're still a pup. There are rockers still going in their 70's. That can be with forty years of experience under your belt. Don't give up. Hope this helps.
 
#70
I got a lot better by doing two things: seeking out and playing with the best possible players I could find and pushing myself to play hard music. I started at 30 and at 46 I think I’m pretty good. Good enough to drop in almost any band and hold my own.
 
#74
DrThumpenstein said:
There’s no substitute for time spent with your bass in your hands, and good instruction can make the time you spend more efficient. Everyone has different aptitude and dedication.

There’s a theory that it takes 10,000 hours to become expert at something. I don’t think it’s that straightforward, because it doesn’t account for the quality of the time spent, innate ability, or prior experience with similar skill sets. A capable pianist, for instance, would likely advance on bass more quickly than someone who had never spent much time playing music. But it does take a lot of practice and dedication.

You’re relatively young when you look at how long a career as a bassist can last. So putting in the effort now can pay off for decades. And for me, personally, the time I spend playing music really restores my mind and soul after a hard day of work. So if it’s something you want and it brings you satisfaction and happiness, the time will be well spent and you will become a lot better than just good.

Good luck on your musical journey!
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yes, Quality time practicing, is priceless. learning to listen is another. Play with other musicians as much as you can! I had the opportunity to play in a band for several years. I'd say blessed because only 1 of them was bad or not self aware of his ability, the rest were very talented. unfortunately the "bad" one was the drummer,but it forced me to hear/listen intently to the others & not him.it forced me to be the anchor in the rhythm section!where the band leaned on me for that! a great responsibility! made me a real good player! If I say so myself. it did take a world of discipline, although It was not my strength at the time. You can do it if you really want it! GL
 
#75
I also found a little music theory helps a lot too. Once you understand chord structure and the various scales makes it easier to play any song in any key. As has been stated many times here, a good teacher will help you no end. I started playing bass as a teenager, and took up the guitar to better understand the bass, here I am 50 years later and have only recently returned to playing bass regularly. I consider myself competent but not good. Never having had any proper lessons does mean that I am behind the 8-ball when it comes to becoming mediocre let alone good. I do, however, know some music theory (albeit 50 years ago).
 
#76
Another thought. Do you play another instrument if you do then hang on to it and study that in tandem. I noticed my bass playing improved hugely after I started learning...yes wait for it....The Alto Recorder (my spouse plays) which we now play Baroque music on.....It really catapulted my bass playing. Its all music and its all great.
 
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