Gauging My Progress.......Opinions?

[rydin4lifebass]

I’m quite new to the site and new to bass in general but I was hoping to get some opinions. I started playing in June 09, my first lessons and first time with the instrument, or any stringed instrument. I take weekly lessons and practice, sometimes 2 hours a day, sometimes 30 minutes, sometimes only 30 minutes a week depending on work and school, so it depends on how much OT I work and how much homework I have. The biggest things I have trouble with are hearing the flow of a song, right now I’m working on Soul Stripper by AC/DC and I just can’t quite get the chorus down, like I have trouble following it..others come pretty quickly…Of course everything comes with time and practice and everyone is different..I just wanted to get a feel from some of you long time players if you thought I was making decent progress or where I fell in the grand scheme of things…Below is a list of the songs that I’ve learned so far and others that I have parts of but don’t feel comfortable playing all the way through. My instructor also teaches from a progressive bass book and we use the bass grimoire for scales, patterns, and other theory….Any experiences or any opinions are appreciated……thanks guys…

Finished
AC/DC-Squealer
AC/DC-TNT
AC/DC-War Machine
Cream-Sunshine of Your Love
Fleetwood Mac-The Chain
Marilyn Manson-AntiChrist Superstar
Marilyn Manson-The Beautiful People
Marilyn Manson-Dope Hat
Marilyn Manson-The Dope Show
Marilyn Manson-I Put a Spell On You
Marilyn Manson-I Have to Look Up Just to See Hell
Pink Floyd-Another Brick in the Wall
Soft Cell-Tainted Love
Talking Heads-Take Me To The River
The Beatles-Birthday

In Progress
Everclear-Santa Monica
Green Day-Long View
Rick James-Super Freak
Lenny Kravitz-God Save Us All
Modest Mouse-Float On
Marilyn Manson-Leave A Scar
Motley Crue-Smokin in the Boys Room
Pink Floyd-Money
Queen-Another One Bites the Dust
The Zombies-Time of the Season
The Offspring-Gone Away
Lenny Kravitz-I Belong to Y ou
AC/DC-Back In Black
AC/DC-Money Talks
Blues Brothers-I Can’t Turn You Loose
Blues Brothers-Soul Man

 

[Funkturnal]

Self-evaluation of progress can be a difficult thing to do sometimes. However, IMO in the earlier stages when you first start playing, it's easier to notice because so much of the challenge is in the "physical" aspect of being able to get around the neck and jam along with the records. So from a physical aspect, I'd say keep challenging yourself to play songs that you might consider a little difficult. Slow things down as much as you need to. If you can't play it up to tempo for now, then don't worry about it. Of course, keep practicing other things in the meantime. You'll probably find that 6 months later when you return to the thing that was causing you difficulty, you may very well be able to play it with ease. Then you'll know that you've made some progress!

Also, it's important to work on the theoretical aspects of music (which you said you're also working on) so that you understand how and WHY these basslines work and so that you can come up with your own. This kind of progress takes more time as you need to internalize your understanding of theory to a point where you can apply it in your playing so that it's automatic.

Also, to add, ear training is another good way of gauging your progress. If you're not doing so already, I'd recommend you to start figuring out the bass parts yourself. When I started playing, transcriptions weren't as readily available as they are today, so it forced me to sit down with my CD player and really work stuff out. Again, there were times when I just couldn't hear the lines. But the more you do it, the better your ear will become, and the more experience and theoretical knowledge you have, you'll be able to identify what you're hearing easily.

 

[flareaga]

Pretty much that ^^^

I do recommend learning standard notion while you are still developing. It sucks having the chops and not knowing how to read <_<. If I could go back and do it again, I would have done it and probably would be much better now. Plus it makes theory a lot easier to grasp when you know key signatures and how notes, triads and scales relate to each other on ledger lines.

 

[Admiral Axtell]

I'm a newbie too so I can't really give advice, but it's cool to see a Manson fan who knows some good Manson and not his new stuff.... ewww

 

[Subrage]

I would say get out and jam with people/friends. It tests you in your theory, and it's a lot of fun just rocking out!

 

[JimmyM]

here's my standard advice for newbies who show promise:

learn to read, study jazz and jazz concepts, learn chords and how they're formed, and get a strong background in the facts. then that tricky chorus in soul stripper will be amazingly easy for you, and you'll be able to play pretty much any of those songs you want just by listening to it a couple times. but even better, you'll be able to make up your own lines.