Best musical advice you ever got

[Count Bassie]

My bass teacher told me that there are only three important elements that make a good bassist:

RHYTHM, RHYTHM, and RHYTHM.

He also told me that, while a guitarist needs to focus on his/her fretting hand, as bassists our focus should be on our plucking hand. Always.

Like Rocco.

 

[5StringBlues]

"You will never make a dime trying to be Chris Squire.They already have one"

From the same guy-"Learn and listen to as many styles as you can.The more styles you know,the more employable you'll be"

 

[rtav]

use a digital tuner... for real...

the song (or piece) is god, not you...

the key to bass lies in the snare, kick and high hat... listen to drummers to be a better player and gain fluency in the language of percussion.

PRACTICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Count Bassie]

My bass teacher told me that there are only three important elements that make a good bassist:

RHYTHM, RHYTHM, and RHYTHM.

He also told me that, while a guitarist needs to focus on his/her fretting hand, as bassists our focus should be on our plucking hand. Always.

You know, this makes such inherent sense to me I feel like it's really true. No matter how much I've practiced, the "Bass Player" in me has always known this. It's as fundamental as it gets.

You are a rhythm instrument. Not the bass- it's YOU!

 

[pianoandbass]

Practice makes perfect. It's just like the cut shot in pool. It's the toughest thing to do consistently, but all your other bag of tricks may mean nothing without it.

The first corollary to this is "practice what you like to play". Yeah, I'll get hacked to pieces over this one, but until you develop the work ethic to practice because you want to, you'll absolutely need the motivation of playing what you like if you want to make real progress. I agree that you should expand your horizons as you progress.

The second corollary to this is "recognize that the basics of music are fundamental to whatever you play". Scales, arpeggios, etc.. 'Nuff said on this one.

 

[LeftHandedFrog]

Always try to serve the music whoever you are playing with and wether they are good or terrible...Make the best out of every situation. If you are bored playing the same song for too many times , at a bad gig , try to concentrate on your sound , your attack or whatever will keep you awake and make you improve anyway. Could also be playing the whole tune using only 2 strings or a different fingering that the one you are used too.
When it comes to soloing , the best advice i got joins what i read above... Music is not a competition and always remember you play for the AUDIENCE first , not to impress felow musicians

 

[johnpaulglover]

"Improvised music should feel composed, and composed music should feel improvised." - John Sinton (New York avant-garde saxophonist/composer)

 

[byrdmaniac1983]

hi there, my first post ever.

A friend of mine sent me this, which I printed and put above my desk-table at home: Thelonious Monk advice to his band.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]

the best ones:

make the drummer sound GOOD.

Jus because you're not a DRUMMER doesn't mean that you don't have to keep TIME

 

[Count Bassie]

I liked the "stop playing all that bulls**t / all those weird notes and play the melody!" bit. Thanks for posting that link!

 

[5StringBlues]

hi there, my first post ever.

A friend of mine sent me this, which I printed and put above my desk-table at home: Thelonious Monk advice to his band.

[Invalid or Expired Link Removed]


That link isnt working anymore,but thats one of the coolest,deepest things I've ever read.But coming from Monk,I wouldnt expect any less.Thanks Byrd!

 

[santucci218]

my one buddy told me not to suck so bad.

 

[A.Denis]

Become the music - Inner Game of Music

Play outside your instrument - Stewart Copeland

Do your thing! - a Funk Brother to another Funk Brother

Don't use 1 finger per fret! - Dave Marks

Barely use any thumb pressure with your left hand - TB!!

 

[Jake of Bass]

The 2 most important rules/advice for a bass player:

1) Play in tune.

2) Play in time.


Everything else is secondary.

I'd say playing in time is more important than playing in tune, but only marginally.

 

[byrdmaniac1983]

here's the link again, easy to find anyway

http://jazz24.wordpress.com/2009/02/06/thelonious-monks-advice-to-musicians/

 

[Count Bassie]

Have an instrument you like playing. It should be so comfortable that in the most ideal moment, you ought to not even know it's there, except for the music coming out of it.

 

[jellew]

I see this advice: If you mess up don't stop, keep playing all, over this thread. Which I believe is wierd due to the fact that I would give the advice: if you mess up take a mikro paus and then simply "jump" in to the song.

It is just taste, no right or wrong. Just saying that it may be worth trying.

 

[Count Bassie]

I see this advice: If you mess up don't stop, keep playing all, over this thread. Which I believe is wierd due to the fact that I would give the advice: if you mess up take a mikro paus and then simply "jump" in to the song.

It is just taste, no right or wrong. Just saying that it may be worth trying.

I understand the idea here. But just think of it from the audience' perspective a moment... they're not really inside the song like you are- they're not playing it. In all likelihood most of them aren't musicians, they're just folks getting their kinks out, steam-letting, having a good time. That's all they're paying attention to.

The bass has this strong, low, authorative sound, very rhythmic, bumping it along. If you take that away from someone who's dancing away on top of it, well, consider that they've learned by this point in the evening to depend on that strong rhythmic bump. It's become their dance floor, metaphorically speaking. If you take it suddenly away for a moment, you've pulled the floor they're dancing on right out from under them. "YAAAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!!!" they say... "Whoah! Okay, we're back..." (you started playing again).

That's cool if you want to do that- Phil Lesh says some pretty cool things about that kind of toying with the listening/dancing audience- but if you're doing that to try and get yourself back to where you belong in the tune, then you've done two things:
1) You've messed with somone else's good time, and
2) You've given away the fact that you got lost.

Letting the bottom drop out is pretty much to be considered a cardinal sin, generally speaking, for a performing bass player. I've done it though, and if you can integrate a correction into the figure you're supposed to be playing, well god blees ye! In fact that's the point of not stopping! And it does put you under a certain kind of pressure to get it figured out in a hurry!

Any way you choose to deal, if you're relaxed and not befuddled by your micro-error, you'll just step back in without anyone noticing at all. Except maybe the drummer...

 

[UncleFluffy]

These are more general than musical, but still appropriate (I hope):

1. Don't do anything half-assed. Either put everything you've got into it, or just don't bother. Doing things half-assed is just a waste of the finite amount of time you have in this world.

2. (more business than technique) One in ten is out to f--k with you, one in ten is out to help you, eight in ten will just treat you like you treat them.

3. There's no substitute for sweat.

4. Clean up when you're done.

 

[Microbass]

One that got me thinking about music more seriously was (slightly embarrisingly!!!) a quote from the Curious Case of Benjamin Button, when the old lady in the home teaches him how to play piano:
"It's not how you play it when you play, but how you FEEL when you play it"

Some great quotes in here.
*goes back to jazz theory*

 

[Elmo Oxygen]

"It's not how many years you've been playing, but how many hours." Belive it or not, this was a fellow bassist who's last name is actually Wiseman. Ha! I'll never forget that and say it everytime that conversation comes up.