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Best musical advice you ever got

"Subdivide the beat." - Mike DuVal - I always have my internal metronome running at twice the tempo. My subconscious meter is not "TIC-TIC-TIC-TIC," but "TICticTICticTICticTICtic." It has helped my control and precision greatly.

"The music is between the notes." - Dan Geldert - Music is what happens to each note after you have committed to it. It is in the playing that meaning and intent is conveyed to the listener. Playing notes is not playing music.

"Play the rests." - Keep the intensity going even though you aren't playing. A rest means "stop making sound," not "stop making music."

On a side note, it has been mentioned that some people don't learn/listen to certain kinds of music because they don't care for it. I have found that I have a lot more fun playing than listening. I just don't care for country; not to my taste. However, I'll play it and have fun with it when the chance comes. It is fun being able to hold your own in whatever situation you are presented with.

The more you know, the more you can do.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed] - Robert Heinlein ;)
 
Make it a point to regularly listen to all types/kinds of music, even if you don't "like" it. Expand your mind and give depth to your knowledge. Classical, jazz, etc. may be very enlightening once you begin to recognize that all music comes from the same place; it's just arranged differently.
 
"Once you can play jazz well, you can play anything"

Not quite, but you have a most solid foundation to build upon. But it also leads me to the other one, which applies very well to jazz:

"If you make a mistake, play it again. Then it sounds like you meant to do it"

Not quite, but I have become most adept at making my occasional bung notes sound pretty funky and give the song a push-the-envelope kinda vibe ;)
 
It all boiled down to this:

'Turn it down so you can turn it up'

Whether it's notes, amp tone, or using my volume and tone knobs, it all fits the bill.

I play less, but hit those notes that make everyone want more.
I get more flexible tone out of my passive bass
My amp runs better and hotter and phatter.

Turn it down so that you can turn it up!