Best TB advice ever?

[David Sutkin]

Hey all,

I've been a fretted bass player for 35 + years now and pretty much dedicate anywhere from 30 minutes to 2-3 hours per day either playing / practicing / noodling / writing / etc.

At least once a year I pick up one of my fretless basses and try to bond with it but I'm just never able to. I just can't seem to play in tune well enough to feel like I'm making any kind of progress. So ..... back to the fretted basses once again. I was always jealous as hell at fretless players who seem to play with ease and fluidity.

Recently I tried fretless again and went back to a TB post I wrote years ago asking about fretless bass playing technique tips and pointers. I reread a post someone wrote that, this time, seriously hit me in the head like a ton of bricks. They wrote "Forget the dots markers and / or the guide fret lines and instead play more with your ears, and less with your eyes." ..... And so I began practicing with that suggestion in mind. A few weeks later, it's pretty much changed my bass playing world. Once I stopped obsessing over rigid, surgical finger placement according to the fretboard markers, and instead landed on the board where the note was right aurally, I've now become wonderfully obsessed with playing fretless

Sorry for the long winded post but this advice I got (and embraced) here on TB really had a profound effect on my musicianship and bass playing.

I'm curious to know, what was the best piece of advice you came across here on TB that changed your bass playing for the better???

 

[Lobster11]

For me it was when I first came across this (oft-posted) video by Adam Neely in the Technique forum, which completely changed my technique for the better:

 

[Lagado]

Recently I tried fretless again and went back to a TB post I wrote years ago asking about fretless bass playing technique tips and pointers. I reread a post someone wrote that, this time, seriously hit me in the head like a ton of bricks. They wrote "Forget the dots markers and / or the guide fret lines and instead play more with your ears, and less with your eyes." ..... And so I began practicing with that suggestion in mind. A few weeks later, it's pretty much changed my bass playing world. Once I stopped obsessing over rigid, surgical finger placement according to the fretboard markers, and instead landed on the board where the note was right aurally, I've now become wonderfully obsessed with playing fretless

Sorry for the long winded post but this advice I got (and embraced) here on TB really had a profound effect on my musicianship and bass playing.

I'm curious to know, what was the best piece of advice you came across here on TB that changed your bass playing for the better???

You may be able to correct your pitch on slow tracks, you might just have enough time, but for the quicker stuff, you don't have time for pitch adjustment, most of it is done by sight and muscle memory. From 0.30 onwards:

 

[fearceol]

I am grateful to the people on TB for pointing out the importance of chord tones. When I first took up the bass I practiced mostly scales. When I posted some questions I received lots of advice to include chord tones when studying scales...i.e. how chords are made from scales, how to harmonise the major scale etc. I quickly found that "knowing" your scales involved a lot more than being able to play them all over the neck at a million MPH. As an absolute beginner I am also thankful that TB steered me away from modes until my knowledge of theory was more solid.

TB....take a bow.

 

[Groove Doctor]

Less TalkBass, more PlayBass.

 

[David Sutkin]

Less TalkBass, more PlayBass.

Wholeheartedly agree, but the point of the OP was regarding what TB advice helped a player become a better player. There is a lot of noise and filler in the TB forum section, but there is also a lot of great advice, tips, suggestions that I have personally found useful and a practical to help me become a better player / musician.

 

[mambo4]

learn to read music

I can't say it was TB directly that compelled me personally to pursue literacy
but it gets suggested here enough and it has had the biggest impact on my playing

 

[Drucifer]

I was happy to discover the wealth of information about which bass is best for metal.

 

[David Sutkin]

I was happy to discover the wealth of information about which bass is best for metal.

And what bass weighs what?

 

[Groove Doctor]

Wholeheartedly agree, but the point of the OP was regarding what TB advice helped a player become a better player. There is a lot of noise and filler in the TB forum section, but there is also a lot of great advice, tips, suggestions that I have personally found useful and a practical to help me become a better player / musician.

Its IS the best advice for me (doubly so during lockdown).

Knowledge is useless unless you actually apply it. Avoid distractions and stop trying to skip the long hours of hard work actually required to achieve your own success. Focus on your goals and work your butt off.

So to rephrase my original sentiment...
No distractions, no excuses.... just do it.