Greetings to my fellow bassists! Not sure if there's already a thread about the topic I'm about to present; nevertheless, it's something that has been bothering me for quite some time. I've been playing bass since I was 16 (currently 25) and I do have some musical "knowledge," if you can say so. I played piano, sax, and guitar before I picked up the bass. I also took classes for piano and sax in elementary & middle school, along with my private lessons. My brother gave me my first bass for my 16th birthday and I just started playing (by ear). I started taking private lessons at 20 until I was 23, and started to acquire this weird feeling. My lessons were mostly different songs, licks, slap technique, etc... the cool stuff I was so excited to learn, but there was something missing. Currently I play in 2 wedding bands and a worship band (sometimes the keys). I'm trying to reboot my learning process because I want to grow as a bassist and a musician overall. I feel like maybe I need a fresh start, yet there's also a sense that I might just waste time. Basically, in desperate need of advice.
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Feel like starting all over
- Thread starter bass_session
- Start date
I like to know why things work. Perhaps that is what you are looking for. Google has always been a friend and I use it all the time.
Ask Google about harmony.
Ask Google about how to write a tune.
Ask Google about how the tune and the harmony are related.
Happy trails.
Ask Google about harmony.
Ask Google about how to write a tune.
Ask Google about how the tune and the harmony are related.
Happy trails.
More detail please...
Best advice I got was to pick ONE bassist and transcribe a heap of songs they’ve recorded. It’s vitally important to do this by ear as you hear every nuance of their playing and understand the context within that moment of the song.
You want to go deep to grasp their mindset, their approach, etc. Basically learn to ‘channel’ their playing. Go beyond copying licks & memorising notes - you want to grasp/understand their mindset & how they approach music.
I did this in detail with about 40 songs that Double Bassist Ray Brown had recorded. Took over a year, but I still benefit from that 25 years later. Had several people compliment me on creating solid Ray Brown feel (esp in a Jazz trio context).
Next I learnt about 50 Paul McCartney bass lines (esp the melodic bass lines) and still draw influence from him today too. Then later Dee Murray (Elton John’s bassist, my brother owned every album on vinyl), then Chris Squire, etc.
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How much music theory have you learned? Familiar with progressions...
I - vi - VI - V7, or ii7 - V7 - I maj7
Have you learned in detail Chord theory? Scales/modes? Inversions?
Are you a passionate about any genres - rock, Jazz, gospel, funk, etc?
Any favourite bands, artists or church groups music ?
PS. Welcome to TB. You’ll get a very wide range of advice here.
I - vi - VI - V7, or ii7 - V7 - I maj7
Have you learned in detail Chord theory? Scales/modes? Inversions?
Are you a passionate about any genres - rock, Jazz, gospel, funk, etc?
Any favourite bands, artists or church groups music ?
PS. Welcome to TB. You’ll get a very wide range of advice here.
Thank you for the warm welcome! Let me tell you a bit more of my background. I come from a "musical family," not in the sense that my we're very educated but that we have a good ear (always in tune). My siblings sang in choir and played different instruments (piano, trombone, tuba, bandura - Ukrainian instrument). They took private lessons during certain periods of their lives, but it wasn't a "career" type of subject for them. The same thing happened to me, but I guess there was always something more that I wanted. I am married, work a 9-5 job, sing/play in choir, play in a band, go to church, and it seems as if I don't have time to learn something. I do know basic theory (scales, modes, chord progressions, etc.) and I understand how it works. I tried transcribing certain bass lines or licks, but I'm not a good "sheet music person." Samba, gospel, jazz, bosanova, and Latin-jazz are my favorite styles. My current status is "frustrated."
Find another band. Learning the set list will keep you busy and being with new members will open new friendships.
Not sure you play at church. I really like playing Praise music, if your church has a Praise band talk to them, offer to sub. Rehearsal time is all you would be adding to your schedule as you already attend.
Good luck.
Not sure you play at church. I really like playing Praise music, if your church has a Praise band talk to them, offer to sub. Rehearsal time is all you would be adding to your schedule as you already attend.
Good luck.
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It seems to me that you're asking two different questions: One is about what you can/should do in order to "grow as a bassist and as a musician," and the other is about what you can/should do to find time the time to do those things. We can probably offer helpful advice about the first, but only you can solve the second.
buldog5151bass
Kibble, milkbones, and P Basses. And redheads.
Why not have a discussion with some local teachers? Explain your situation, and see if you can find someone who understands what you are seeking.
Two things come to my head:
1/ Maybe you have the technique, but lack the know how on how to 'apply the theory'. The kind of questions like 'I know a scale, but don't know what to do with it'. In that case, you might benefit from Aebersold playalongs, and/or Talkingbass topics.
2/ Maybe you feel you are not progressing, even though you know what to learn. In this regard, what I find very helpful is writing a practise journal. Date, time spent, what I played, today's strong/weak points, and what I realized about my playing. I do it because I tend to forget my hard earned ideas, and more than once I caught myself reinventing what I already invented and forgot. After some two months, you can plainly see where you make big leaps, and where you are not getting better; then you can start think about why.
1/ Maybe you have the technique, but lack the know how on how to 'apply the theory'. The kind of questions like 'I know a scale, but don't know what to do with it'. In that case, you might benefit from Aebersold playalongs, and/or Talkingbass topics.
2/ Maybe you feel you are not progressing, even though you know what to learn. In this regard, what I find very helpful is writing a practise journal. Date, time spent, what I played, today's strong/weak points, and what I realized about my playing. I do it because I tend to forget my hard earned ideas, and more than once I caught myself reinventing what I already invented and forgot. After some two months, you can plainly see where you make big leaps, and where you are not getting better; then you can start think about why.
I’ve been listening to the audio book “TheMusic Lesson” by Victor Wooten and it has a lot of great...well, lessons!
If you want to get better, you’ve got to pay the price - work harder, make sacrifices, believe in yourself, pick yourself up after a failure, stop dreaming and start working.
How many hours of bass are you willing to commit to each week?
Find a CAPABLE teacher you vibe with.
Set achievable goals together.
Make a plan together to achieve those goals.
Achieve those goals, then set new ones together.
Make a plan together to achieve those goals.
Achieve those goals, then set new ones together.
Make a plan &c.
Best of luck!
Set achievable goals together.
Make a plan together to achieve those goals.
Achieve those goals, then set new ones together.
Make a plan together to achieve those goals.
Achieve those goals, then set new ones together.
Make a plan &c.
Best of luck!
The amount of time you put in playing at a church varies. There are places where people practice a couple hours,then show up 15 minutes before services - I don't play those. For someone like me (I play at some decently large places, we have really good musicians, and the standard is pretty high - everything memorized, etc.). A typical week is about 10 to 15 hours practice at home, one evening rehearsal (Wednesday or Thursday evening I'm busy from leaving work to the time I go to bed), and Sunday from the time I get up to the time I get home is a little over 8 hours - shower, half hour drive, very early rehearsal (somewhere between 6 and 7 AM, depending on the place) a full run through before services, 2 services, some time between them, and a half hour drive home.
All I'm saying is, before you say "hey, I'm willing to sub", know what kind of commitment you're signing up for.
I don't know if this is helpful or not, but I've been playing bass for 45 years and progress seems to ebb and flow... sometimes, I just take a break for a week or so and things get back on track. Bon chance.
You are partially correct. Though regarding the second question, it's more about how I can use that time productively.
I should state I'm definitely not looking for an easy way out, or some "shortcut." I'm willing to put in 8hrs a week. In the end, I'm looking for quality guidance in how to utilize my time in a beneficial manner.
I’d definitely recommend picking ONE bassist and learning a bunch of their bass lines.
- Just write the letter for the note if you don’t know music notation. Writing it down increases your attention to detail and forces you to work on your weak areas.
- it expands your song repertoire
- you understand and absorb their approach to music on a deep level.
Do you have an app that can slow down songs, loop sections you’re learning, etc? I use Amazing Slow Downer. There’s a bunch of other apps too, discussed in dozens of other threads.
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I also took music lessons from kindergarten thru high school. Took up the bass in my mid-20's. I was utterly buried in theory, endless practice, all the '10,000 hour' stuff to the exclusion of virtually everything else that life had to offer.
To the extent that not once, but twice, I sold everything and walked away for about a year each time as 'I thought I wasn't making the progress I should', which in my older age I realized was actually my teachers' pounding on me having now become a Puritan-like drive almost welded into my very DNA.
I now see that I really wasn't making the progress I should have because my life had become a singular pursuit of music to the exclusion of anything else. I fully understand that a certain exclusion and single-mindedness and discipline is required to become good at anything, but I had crossed waaaayyyyyyy over the line of having room for anything else to feed my heart and mind: Some folks can be that single-minded and make it work, but I needed experiences away from it from time to time to keep me feeling human and I didn't do it, and I may have been a better player in a few ways, but I was far less successful as a basic human being.
So my advice to this when it comes up (and it always does) is: Go Fishing. Read new books. Watch old movies. In other words, maintain your gigs and practice enough to stay at your proficiency, but otherwise, take a walk. You're at a skill level where a little time away isn't going to hurt, and it will help far more than you can imagine.
There's a whole world out there away from music, and letting your mind out of the practice, method books, videos, and the whole ball of bass wax from time to time will in my opinion help people out of the bass-bent-my-head cul de sac dead end quicker than anything else. I've heard lots of guys say they could never work on an assembly line instead of being a musician, yet so often, we mentally put ourselves on one . . . . . .
This is what I found worked for me. Your results may vary . . . . . .
To the extent that not once, but twice, I sold everything and walked away for about a year each time as 'I thought I wasn't making the progress I should', which in my older age I realized was actually my teachers' pounding on me having now become a Puritan-like drive almost welded into my very DNA.
I now see that I really wasn't making the progress I should have because my life had become a singular pursuit of music to the exclusion of anything else. I fully understand that a certain exclusion and single-mindedness and discipline is required to become good at anything, but I had crossed waaaayyyyyyy over the line of having room for anything else to feed my heart and mind: Some folks can be that single-minded and make it work, but I needed experiences away from it from time to time to keep me feeling human and I didn't do it, and I may have been a better player in a few ways, but I was far less successful as a basic human being.
So my advice to this when it comes up (and it always does) is: Go Fishing. Read new books. Watch old movies. In other words, maintain your gigs and practice enough to stay at your proficiency, but otherwise, take a walk. You're at a skill level where a little time away isn't going to hurt, and it will help far more than you can imagine.
There's a whole world out there away from music, and letting your mind out of the practice, method books, videos, and the whole ball of bass wax from time to time will in my opinion help people out of the bass-bent-my-head cul de sac dead end quicker than anything else. I've heard lots of guys say they could never work on an assembly line instead of being a musician, yet so often, we mentally put ourselves on one . . . . . .
This is what I found worked for me. Your results may vary . . . . . .
