Hi, I've been taking bass lessons 2 years, and tbh I'm just not making the progress I'd hoped for. Practicing about an hour a day, yet I struggle with simple things I should have down by now, and learning anything new seems to take an age.
Wondering if I'm just not cut out for it, but I really WANT to play well. I'm middle aged and on my last lesson the tutor quipped he teaches an 11 year old who picks up things faster than me, which has further damaged my confidence.
I don't know whether I should just give up and pack it in, find a new tutor, or just come to terms with my own mediocrity. I'm pretty disappointed in myself right now.
Advice welcome!
Man.. sometimes things just click after time or someone points you in the right direction. IMO don't focus on being the best or fastest at anything. Focus on sounding good. Improving one's musicianship is a journey that lasts a lifetime.
What is it you're struggling with? If it's a piece just slow down the tempo and focus on what your hands are doing.. you might stumble upon something that's tripping you up and tell you which part of your technique needs practice.
If your woes are technique related.. the most you can do is keep at it, and make sure you're doing everything right. It might seem counterintuitive but don't try to play faster than you're capable of off the bat. Attempt playing just above a comfortable speed for about 5-10 minutes then slow it down 10 bpm or so and see if it's any easier, after you're comfortable with that bump the speed it up to 5bpm. Slow tempos is where muscle memory begins to happen, because you have enough time to examine every last detail of what you're trying to play and eliminate unnecessary movements and bad habits.
Don't be scared of playing the wrong thing.. get comfortable with it.. learn what it sounds like just as much as you'd like to be comfortable with identifying intervals by ear. Ear training and muscle memory come from repetition. Yesterday I gained the most musical insight I've found in quite some time just messing around with the chromatic scale, and listening to the notes relation to my chosen root note. Honestly it helped a lot that I was tweaking a new multi-effects pedal and got some killer tones out of a combination of cab sim, compression and EQ. The enhancement to my tone made me want to play.
Started playing a chord progression I recently came up with to a funk beat on my beatbuddy. Heard Victor Wooten's voice in my head.. "You guys want to know the most important thing you can practice? I guarantee you, you don't practice it. The chromatic scale. " (something like that anyway from his "Groove Workshop" DVD)
The first few times I tried to use that advice, it didn't click. But this time.. holy crap. I was shifting in and out of modes and chords like a madman. I went from funky, to melodic, to jazzy, to dark, then some metal and I sat there for two hours playing lines I didn't know I was capable of. All to a single beat at a reasonable tempo.
You are playing every day. That's good. Better than not picking it up at all. Your teacher should get a grip on the fact that you're not an 11 year old. We all grow at our own pace.
Don't rely on just a tutor.. read every book you can. Always play to a drum beat or a metronome imo, and keep searching for those exercises that make a technique or passage suddenly *CLICK*.
You never stop developing technique, you never stop learning. Every little step.. your hand feels like it's handicapped compared to people who have been doing it for years.. but after you attempt it enough times suddenly *Click" and it's easy. Artificial harmonics.. "How does he do that?" 500 janky muted *plunk* noises later.. *CLICK* you hear that sweet high pitch that you couldn't get with just fretting a note, with a little more practice you know how to do it anytime you want to. You know what it feels like.
Slap.. "thud thud bang bang bang bang.. *snap* *notes ringing out*" day after day .. months later you find an exercise that nobody else offered and within minutes, you are hammering out notes with your thumb like a piano. And on that first note or two where it was done right, you feel how it's done correctly. With more practice, you'll be able to recall that technique at will without having to think about it.
Sorry for the long winded reply.. but don't get discouraged. Musicianship is personal growth. You don't get better by giving up. Enjoy the ride. Have fun with it. Play with drums.. learn to groove with just a metronome. Always focus on the groove..if you miss a note keep the groove going, keep learning your theory, training your ear, and you'll eventually learn how to find your way to the root. JAM with musicians that are better than you every chance you get.
Your tutor isn't helping you improve? Find a new one.. buy some books.. buy some DVDs. Train that ear to hear music theory.
