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Help me! In need of goals!

#21
Jon McBass said:
Agree. Obsessively listen to and play along with records and learn your heroes' bass parts, that's what worked for me. Repitition until the bass lines were indelibly imprinted in my mind. That and ignoring my high school studies were key.

I would take the advice above that recommends staring with the blues because it's simpler, structure-wise, so easier to focus on your basic mechanics, timing, etc. Plus a lot of Greateful Dead and Phish material is just downright complex by comparison, for someone getting started...
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:roflmao: :thumbsup:
 
#22
I suggest you study classic Blues chord progressions.
  • 8-bar blues
  • 12-bar blues
  • 16-bar blues
  • 32-bar-blues
Then, you have 80% of pop, rock, country and R&B covered. In addition, you get an entry level starting point for Jazz.
 
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#24
Chris Gamba said:
Im 20 years old. I first picked up bass as my main instrument but was pushed into playing guitar soon after. I am in a band right now and i have recently been displaced from my position on guitar to a new place on bass. I have never played bass with a band before and I think I'm a bit lost on what i should be practicing. We are a jam band with influences like the grateful dead, phish, goose, etc. Please suggest things that i should be learning to get better at improv and improve my bass knowledge. I know my minor and major scales but since I've taken such a long hiatus from bass, I feel like I am just not as sharp as I should be at this point. I just want to get better and improve my playing style. All suggestion are welcome!
Thank you so much!
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You're 20.
You've only just started.
Your title suggests you have no goals and yet; in your post you say 'I just want to get better'.

Listen to everything that you come across, with open ears. Try playing everything you get your ears on. Read everything you get your hands on as reading is an important skill that opens doors. At this early stage, be indiscriminate and soak up all the music ou can.
 
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#25
At your stage I agree with focusing on learning songs and, as much as you can, play with other people. I strongly recommend getting a bass teacher but that's your call.

When you want to really work on technique I suggest starting with a visit to jazzbooks.com and get Diatonic Major and Minor Scales for Electric Bass by Damon Mazzocco. There's mountains of lesson material online and in stores so try not to get overwhelmed or buried in it. It's far better to do a small amount of material very well than it is to do it all. Good luck to you!
 
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#26
cnltb said:
You're 20.
You've only just started.
Your title suggests you have no goals and yet; in your post you say 'I just want to get better'.

Listen to everything that you come across, with open ears. Try playing everything you get your ears on. Read everything you get your hands on as reading is an important skill that opens doors. At this early stage, be indiscriminate and soak up all the music ou can.
Click to expand...
Ive had goals, but acheived them years ago. I want to advance
 
#29
cnltb said:
Then you need goals, more difficult to achieve.
Maybe audition for something outside your comfort zone(big band maybe or whatever else that may be)?
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I think the OP should take this to heart. I don't think it's goals he needs, but INSPIRATION and MOTIVATION, however that comes. The goals will find him. If I may digress into an anecdote or two...

Years ago I was into bicycling. It was kind of boring getting out and just riding for the sake of riding. I had some friends that were into amateur bike racing and they invited me to come along. It looked like fun, so I started practicing and riding to be able to participate. I was never any good at it as my system wants to go anaerobic prematurely (heartrate at 185 within 5 minutes of riding!). But the OCD person that I can be I started grinding miles; about 80/wk. Not huge miles, but significant for one who doesn't like to exercise. One day I was reading a bike magazine and the title of one article was
DO YOU TRAIN TO RACE- OR DO YOU RACE TO TRAIN???​
It occurred to me at that moment that I was using the racing to give purpose to the training, which is what I wanted so the training would translate into health benefits. The racing (which I sucked at btw) gave me the motivation and inspiration to train (and build a couple of nice bikes).

To get back to cnltb's post, taking that step into something bigger might produce the goals through being inspired to rise to the occasion that is required for that step.

Sorry for the digression. Carry on.
 
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#30
You'll find your own voice on bass. Until that happens, I recommend really listening to the bass lines of the bass players who inspire you. Find out from the guitarists or keyboard player what chords they're playing on the songs you play (if it's not obvious), and learn theory to help make sense of the bass lines you're hearing. Having a context for theory makes it easier to learn. To help you really listen to a bass line, download one of the "loop and slow down" software packages. Listen to a short bass line over and over until you can't get it out of your head and try to play it exactly like the recording. This process will expand your musical vocabulary and eventually allow you to develop your own lines that have been influenced by your favorites. Imagine hearing the perfect bass line in your head and playing exactly that. That's a realistic goal from this process, but it takes lots of ear training in the context of some applied music theory.
 

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