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Best musical advice you ever got

#361
For me it was like "do it slowly first, feel the song, then after you can speed up".

And the best thing i did for me was "one finger per fret isnt necessary all the time, save your stamina instead of showing off how big are your hands."
 
#362
Just put in the hours. Week after week. Don't allow yourself to be lazy and not play for days at a time. It all adds up, and after you have enough hours under your belt, you can't help but be a good musician. -- my instructor for my small jazz combo class in college 22 years ago.


I've put in a steady 10-14 hours/week (over 13,000 hours total) playing my bass for the past 22 years and even though I'm the farthest thing from a "natural" musician, I gotten pretty good at what I do. Many people practice a lot more than I do and they tend to be a lot better than I am. I've noticed that there seems to be a direct relationship to how much time you have the instrument in your hands week in and week out and your overall skill level as a musician.
 
#364
hbarcat said:
Just put in the hours. Week after week. Don't allow yourself to be lazy and not play for days at a time. It all adds up, and after you have enough hours under your belt, you can't help but be a good musician. -- my instructor for my small jazz combo class in college 22 years ago.


I've put in a steady 10-14 hours/week (over 13,000 hours total) playing my bass for the past 22 years and even though I'm the farthest thing from a "natural" musician, I gotten pretty good at what I do. Many people practice a lot more than I do and they tend to be a lot better than I am. I've noticed that there seems to be a direct relationship to how much time you have the instrument in your hands week in and week out and your overall skill level as a musician.
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100 hours - know if you are able to learn the instrument or not.
1000 hours -- proficient to express yourself well on-stage or in studio.
10000 hours -- maximal efficiency with the instruments.

The numbers of course vary between musicians. But even Mozart had to go through the 10000 hours scheme -- helped that his father taught him since the early days and he was clocking 12+ hour days with music.
 
#365
BlackLake said:
"Don't play the song...let the song play you."
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Stop that right now- you have to be in control of yourself: You master yourself, in a context. Then you can stop thinking about the notes you have to play, and you can join with the music- as an influence.

That "disappear" idea we sometimes talk about is a metaphor- it means you are simply out of your own way.

Never be a passive-involvement person.
 
#366
Krowser said:
"No, when you slap, you have to MISS the string, don't land on it."

Oh?
Oh.
OHH!!!!!
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Can somebody please elaborate on this? I felt I'm the only one missing the punchline.

Also:
know how to tune your instrument, and do that every time you're about to use it
play with your heart - it makes all the difference in the sound
keep up and stay in shape; you don't want your fingers to get in the way of expressing the music that's coming from your head
 
#370
1. you have to be BRUTALLY HONEST with yourself - local bass player

2. when you see someone on stage shredding like crazy or playing a very complicated piece, remember that it is as easy for them as breathing. - not sure

3. also, when you see that complicated piece being played smoothly, remember that person is human - same as you. there must be SOME way to pull it off, if they are doing it.

4. one's ability either advances or retreats, but never stays in the same place. - someone on craigslist
 
#371
I was reading through the tips yesterday and I believe someone said somewhere to set your metronome to 30 (mine goes down to 40 bpm) and play to that tempo. Wow, what an eye opener. Keeping time is probably the most important part of bass IMO and this lesson showed me I still am rough around the edges in this area. So, thanks to that poster!
 
#372
deecher99 said:
I was reading through the tips yesterday and I believe someone said somewhere to set your metronome to 30 (mine goes down to 40 bpm) and play to that tempo. Wow, what an eye opener. Keeping time is probably the most important part of bass IMO and this lesson showed me I still am rough around the edges in this area. So, thanks to that poster!
Click to expand...

Good mention! Practice slow... it's harder! If you can nail it a slow tempo, it's easy when it's quicker.
 
#374
"You can't THINK and play, you got to KNOW and play" - Tony King

Practice scales and the boring stuff you don't like first.

Practice every day. If you practice 1 hour per day, and you miss a day, you need to practice 3 hours the next day.
1 hour to get back to square one, 1 hour to make up for the hour you missed and 1 hour for today. - one of my percussion teachers.

"Never pet a burning dog" - Steve Gadd, when asked What advice would you give a young musician trying to break into the music business?
 
#375
DanAleks said:
Practice every day. If you practice 1 hour per day, and you miss a day, you need to practice 3 hours the next day.
1 hour to get back to square one, 1 hour to make up for the hour you missed and 1 hour for today. - one of my percussion teachers.
Click to expand...


I'd say that some pressure is good- sometimes a lot is good. For an enthusiastic charging-rhino-music-student this might work (for a while)... but it also sounds like the beginning of a career as a certified neurotic! I never buy this kind of thinking, but if it works for you, then it's good advice. Just don't let 'burn-out' depress you when it comes!

I'm a carpenter for my day job when I'm not playing... Advice: Get good at something else too. ;)
 

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