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Best musical advice you ever got
- Thread starter davec
- Start date
- May 4, 2006
- 1,891
- 879
- Disclosures
- Owner; Cody Electric Basses ( Now Closed) sales @ Sweetwater
" The Slow Way "...In terms of learning (or rather at this point, re-learning) how to play and improvise. Meaning that learning material and getting it ingrained in your subconscious is a slow process that takes time and only happens through repetition.
"Don't start over or back up when you make a mistake. Then you are just practicing a mistake."
A seasoned veteran on a session once told me:
"As a bassist, you also own the notes you don't play."
"As a bassist, you also own the notes you don't play."
"PRACTICE SLOWLY, PRACTICE PERFECTLY" - Christine Schaffer, Concert Pianist and Instructor around 1998.
Absolutely the best advise I ever got for playing bass or any other instrument. Thank you, Christine.
Absolutely the best advise I ever got for playing bass or any other instrument. Thank you, Christine.
not an advice, but pieces of knowledge
You can play any high-register note of a scale in diationic song built on that scale
When walking, start on root, move to 5th, move to 3rd, move to chromatic to next chord, rinse and repeat
It simply freed my mind from changing Cmaj -> D minor -> F major with minor 7th etc
Bass line creation became easy
You can play any high-register note of a scale in diationic song built on that scale
When walking, start on root, move to 5th, move to 3rd, move to chromatic to next chord, rinse and repeat
It simply freed my mind from changing Cmaj -> D minor -> F major with minor 7th etc
Bass line creation became easy
"you haven't study this week? no problem. I go for a coffe and I'll be back in 30 minutes"
my teacher
my teacher
This 9 minute video changed my life, not just my playing. Can't spare the time? OK, here is the best moment: Galper is talking about having to "think loud": "Dizzy Gillespie is at some high school with kids all around him. One of them asks him "What goes through your mind while you're playing?" And he says "Well, most people think its "ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-doo-bop." But it isn't. It's ba-doo-ba-doo-ba-doo-bop!"
- May 4, 2006
- 1,891
- 879
- Disclosures
- Owner; Cody Electric Basses ( Now Closed) sales @ Sweetwater
An observation:
To summarize all the “get a day job” type post, of which I think I have a few in this thread.
I have been blessed to work with several of my bass heroes over the last few years, I will not drop names, other than to say several have very popular signature basses, and much to my surprise and delight I can actually say many of them are friends. I also think of bandmates from years ago who have been far more successful than myself and have moved the needle of music, and I have to say at least as it applies to me, the have a back up plan would be the worst advise I ever got, I remember talking with a guitarist bandmate 30 years ago, and the look of utter confusion when I asked what his plan B was, my was if we don’t make it, Mine was going into the Army and joining the band. Failure wasn’t an option for him, or at least the thought of it wasn’t.
Having some of the high profile friends I have now and thinking back, my plan b, c. and d didn’t go anywhere like I thought they might, and may have just been a pre-acknowledgment of planned failure. The God of music seems to bless those ignorant enough to believe they can make it.
To summarize all the “get a day job” type post, of which I think I have a few in this thread.
I have been blessed to work with several of my bass heroes over the last few years, I will not drop names, other than to say several have very popular signature basses, and much to my surprise and delight I can actually say many of them are friends. I also think of bandmates from years ago who have been far more successful than myself and have moved the needle of music, and I have to say at least as it applies to me, the have a back up plan would be the worst advise I ever got, I remember talking with a guitarist bandmate 30 years ago, and the look of utter confusion when I asked what his plan B was, my was if we don’t make it, Mine was going into the Army and joining the band. Failure wasn’t an option for him, or at least the thought of it wasn’t.
Having some of the high profile friends I have now and thinking back, my plan b, c. and d didn’t go anywhere like I thought they might, and may have just been a pre-acknowledgment of planned failure. The God of music seems to bless those ignorant enough to believe they can make it.
Last edited:
- Sep 30, 2025
- 10
- 4
- Disclosures
- I'm a singer/songwriter & multi-instrumentalist known online as 'The Mad Pride'. IDK?
Music can be fun or stressful or anything in between. It's only sustainable if it's fun, though.
Not sure if things overseas are as dire as they are in Australia. Apologies if this is TMI.
Avoiding stress in the music industry is difficult due to recent changes including higher operating costs, fewer venues offering to pay performers and a growing number of venues requesting bands provide the P.A. system. Cultural changes can be good or bad but the normalisation of streaming as a platform that replaces CD sales reinforces the belief that musicians don't deserve or need to be paid.
Not sure if things overseas are as dire as they are in Australia. Apologies if this is TMI.
Avoiding stress in the music industry is difficult due to recent changes including higher operating costs, fewer venues offering to pay performers and a growing number of venues requesting bands provide the P.A. system. Cultural changes can be good or bad but the normalisation of streaming as a platform that replaces CD sales reinforces the belief that musicians don't deserve or need to be paid.
Don't quit your day job. 
Like everybody, I've received and ignored the advice to simplify my playing, over and over. What finally made it "click" was realizing that simple bass lines are not just a way to make space for other instruments or to satisfy an imagined social role in the band. Instead, you can really weave musicality into simpler bass lines by thinking about the quality of every note and how it relates to the overall performance.
Like everybody, I've received and ignored the advice to simplify my playing, over and over. What finally made it "click" was realizing that simple bass lines are not just a way to make space for other instruments or to satisfy an imagined social role in the band. Instead, you can really weave musicality into simpler bass lines by thinking about the quality of every note and how it relates to the overall performance.
I was bad for advice, as I was only willing to accept it from musicians I respected.
The best realization I ever had was that it was time to quit killing myself to try and sound like this one or that one, or play like this or that one, and realized for good or bad, I was always going to sound like me, and I was 1 of 1, as we all are. Then I was free to enjoy it a LOT more.
The minute I quit asking 'what bass is that' or 'what amp is that' and 'how does he DO that' or 'what strings is he using' and on and on and on, and realized it was all down to whether I could play the gig properly, things got much better fast, because for me, ALL of those 'beat myself up' and 'I GOT to have one of those' were simply roadblocks to expression . . . and enjoyment.
This is supposed to be fun. A lot of times, it was hell because I had my eye on the wrong ball, I kept getting strikes instead of hits. No more.
The best realization I ever had was that it was time to quit killing myself to try and sound like this one or that one, or play like this or that one, and realized for good or bad, I was always going to sound like me, and I was 1 of 1, as we all are. Then I was free to enjoy it a LOT more.
The minute I quit asking 'what bass is that' or 'what amp is that' and 'how does he DO that' or 'what strings is he using' and on and on and on, and realized it was all down to whether I could play the gig properly, things got much better fast, because for me, ALL of those 'beat myself up' and 'I GOT to have one of those' were simply roadblocks to expression . . . and enjoyment.
This is supposed to be fun. A lot of times, it was hell because I had my eye on the wrong ball, I kept getting strikes instead of hits. No more.
