was discussing this with a friend the other day...
what was the best advice you ever got from an old guy (experienced player), that you found to be both true and useful?
I have 2...
1.) old dude in Chicago ( Blues player, probly in his late 60's at the time... I was in my late teens, so he seemed older than God to me at the time) once told me... "never store your Bass in a case, if you don't see it you won't think about practicing as much"... turned out he was right, I keep a Bass right next to "my spot", and not an hour goes by that I don't at least pick it up and noodle for at least 15-20 minuets at a time and that doesn't include my normal 4 hours of actual practice every day...
2.) had a fairly well known studio musician in L.A. once tell me... "Music is the universal truth, it doesn't matter how good you are technically... if you play with passion,conviction and confidence... it will be good, and people will dig it"... I'm far from the best player in town, but I've never heard any complaints... even from musicians that are way better than me, because even if I'm not playing exactly the right notes (as written) it still sounds kool (and I've been told, sometimes even better than the original) and the crowd always seems to like it...
I started playing in 1972, as a Bassist...(thank you Geezer Butler, Chris Squire, Greg Lake, and John Wetton!!)...
and have gotten so many pieces of useless advice I couldn't begin to count them (no money above the 5th fret type of nonsense)... just was curious if anyone else has had this experience...
what was the best advice you ever got from an old guy (experienced player), that you found to be both true and useful?
I have 2...
1.) old dude in Chicago ( Blues player, probly in his late 60's at the time... I was in my late teens, so he seemed older than God to me at the time) once told me... "never store your Bass in a case, if you don't see it you won't think about practicing as much"... turned out he was right, I keep a Bass right next to "my spot", and not an hour goes by that I don't at least pick it up and noodle for at least 15-20 minuets at a time and that doesn't include my normal 4 hours of actual practice every day...
2.) had a fairly well known studio musician in L.A. once tell me... "Music is the universal truth, it doesn't matter how good you are technically... if you play with passion,conviction and confidence... it will be good, and people will dig it"... I'm far from the best player in town, but I've never heard any complaints... even from musicians that are way better than me, because even if I'm not playing exactly the right notes (as written) it still sounds kool (and I've been told, sometimes even better than the original) and the crowd always seems to like it...
I started playing in 1972, as a Bassist...(thank you Geezer Butler, Chris Squire, Greg Lake, and John Wetton!!)...
and have gotten so many pieces of useless advice I couldn't begin to count them (no money above the 5th fret type of nonsense)... just was curious if anyone else has had this experience...
Last edited:
