• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Hitting that brick wall

#61
I played guitar for many years and learned pretty much on my own. Watched Mike Porcarro (RIP) and became very interested in the bass. Picked it up at 48 years old. Learned a few things on my own and used my strongest asset of playing by ear to self teach me alot of things on guitars and bass! I did get a great instructor who taught me some theory and really hammered home me learning scales and the fretboard ( BEST MOVE I MADE). Of course I got/get bored as heck doing that but it is important! I too hit that infamous brick wall and got really frustrated. I got deployed over here to Afghanistan and wound up not playing at all (left my basses at home). When I went home on leave, my wife bought me a squier jazz bass and told me to take it back with me and practice. After 6 months of not touching a bass, it was nice and felt like I had a fresh start (not advocating laying down the guitar at all). But my learning capabilities became renewed and then for some crazy reason, my Fire Chief here on base introduced me to the German Wing Commander who had a little band here. He immediately asked me to come play with them. Of course my confidence level was NOT there, but after consulting with my instructor back home, he told me this would be the best thing for me. I went ahead and took a shot at it and after the first couple of songs we practiced, I was told you're in. The one thing that has been so valuable to me since being involved in this little band is, it has taught me my strengths and weaknesses in my playing. It has taught me to really key in with the drummer to be more effective in my timing issues! I was actually surprised at how picking up on songs I have never played became easily learned and also taught me the importance of just knowing your basic scales and patterns to where I can phrase the bass more and play some pretty neat riffs! That being said though, I now know where to focus my practice techniques and hone in on those issues and become a more confident player but the most important part I have learned is HAVING FUN playing with these guys!! Sorry for being long winded!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Winterglo, DiabolusInMusic and Slowpicker
#62
I am really really old school. When I think back years ago when I was starting out, I remember what I did when I felt like I wanted to really get serious. No internet, no u-tube, no online lessons, shucks the only books were Mel Bay books.

But I did have a huge record (vinyl) collection. I played my records through an AKIA (sp?) two track tape deck, and plugged my bass in the record input and played along. This would have been in the '60's and '70's and I would learn entire albums - Beatles, Stones, Zep, Allmans, Who, Queen, REO, 10cc, Steely Dan, EWF, on and on. I learned them note for note.

Of course I was playing in a band the first day I ever played a bass. I had played guitar a little and my brother and a couple of his friends were starting a band and needed a bass player. I played sousaphone in the school band, so I slid right into playing bass. Needless to say we were terrible, but for some reason the chicks always thought we were cool.

So there's my advice: Learn songs by ear, join a band - even if they blow snot. Use internet if necessary for lessons, etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mantis Tobaggan
#64
Joshuasmith21 said:
Any advice on which routes to go down in finding a band to play with? I've not really got many connections who are involved in the making of music.
Click to expand...


If you can't locate fellow musicians, start working with backing tracks. There's a bunch on YouTube to get you started. It's important that you begin playing actual music as soon as possible. Otherwise all the scales and theory you've learned will remain abstract. In music. it's not as much what you know as knowing how to apply it. And only playing actual music will get you there.

I don't know if you're much of a reader. But the book Mastery by George Leonard is a really helpful book to read. He addresses the very same issue of hitting a plateau and stalling out that you're experiencing. Highly recommended.
 
#66
Ditto on Join a band, Record, Learn more songs. Not sure if I read this already but buy a keyboard and stretch out a bit, learn some basic keyboard theory. Musicality and theory are common to all instruments. I think some musical ideas are easier to see on the keyboard and if you have the time to invest it will pay off.

More than anything find some band mates and have some fun!
 
#67
Can you solidly play to metronome and play-along tracks? Record yourself doing it, hear it, and most likely be horrified ;)
If you can, you should be able to play with a band. My first band was a hard rock band doing some original stuff and lots of covers from Judas Priest, Metallica, Kiss, Wasp, Saxxon etc...
That was not really my kind of music, but it was easy to play most of the time. Most of the time you are playing straight eighth notes. Those are easy to pull off and do "ok" enough to play in a band. But there's actually a lot into it if you want to do it right.

What I feel is super important if you play a lot to records/songs: try to play the songs bass grooves just to a simple drum beat and see if you can make it swing and live. The bass playing on the original record will always make you feel like you really nailed it when you most likely did'nt. THis is why good play-along tracks (songs with everything but bass) are important, they get you the closest to playing with a band, and you will hear your shag ups better.
 
#68
I know the "out of depth" feeling. It normally stems from this idea that when you get in the practice space everyone else is going to be fantastic and you will be lame. Bands should be fun, the guys I play with only ever gig at a rockschool event, 3 times a year. We end up in a room because we enjoy playing songs our way and having a laugh.

We are a band, just not a gigging one. But for moving your playing on, interaction with other musicians is the quickest way. Very few of us have metronomic drummers, the guitarist rarely wants to play the song without adding umpteen notes in stupid places because it " feels right" and vocalists are just a law unto themselves. But being able to match the tempo as it wanders, keep track of where you are when the guitarist finds a useful spot halfway through to suddenly go off on a tangent or the vocalist decides to change the lyrics without telling anyone because they'd had a traumatic day, what with the hamster dying and the girlfriend announcing she doesn't like Leonard Cohen, that's when you step up and show what bass is about. It's not notes per second or the ability to use both ends of a neck simultaneously, it's about glue. We tie the idiots at the front to the idiot at the back and make it sound like we all know what's happening. .

Just go have fun with people who wanna have fun. Six months of that's worth more than a year of scales imho
 
#69
I have been playing forever and still learning as many of the fine TB players on here have said about themselves. I still practice almost every day but I have found not to overthink it. What I mean is, you may practice and practice a song and it just doesn't seem to come together but then instead of thinking while playing along with the song or with the band just play from the heart and all that practice will come through and amaze you that you played it so well. Happened just the other day with a couple of songs. I was riding to band practice with lead guitar and told him I never felt so unprepared going to a practice. When the songs came up I just played and they were just about perfect. Although I was sweating a little while playing them.
 
#70
Joshuasmith21 said:
Hello all!

Been playing going on 4-5 months now and feel like I have hit that brick wall! I have been learning scales, arpeggios, triads etc etc. As well as learning songs on the side to break up some of the repetitive learning.

Now I feel like i've hit that dreaded 'brick wall' where i'm unsure where to go next to progres my playing.

Anyone else at this sort of stage/any advice on how they overcome plateau moments?

Also I am definitely not saying i've learnt enough/can no longer progress my skill. Just looking for ways and advice to get carry on from people who have done the same :)
Click to expand...
Hello, yes I was absolutely at that stage for a long time! I saved up 15k, spent it on a semester at Berklee College of Music and sought out the best bass teacher I could find.

IT WORKED! I found that teacher. To this day, I can feel my progress in leaps and bounds because I'm fortunate enough to study and work with the incredible mentor, Jim Stinnett. I feel in life you can only hit as high as you aim, so aim high! Study with the best and you get the best results.



Michael
Link Removed
 
#71
Been looking at teachers in and around my local area. Got in contact with a few and also sent out a few messages to some guys a know about jamming. Cheers for all the good advice and if anyone can think of any more hit me up! For the time being my choice of learning today is Pink Floyd as it's a PF kind of day.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Michael Barracato
#72
Brick wall at 4 months? Should be more like, what do I want to learn next? Sounds more like you are just bored playing scales and exercises. Keep that up but slip in something a little more interesting too.

I started learning simple rock tunes by then, kept me busy for a year, 100's of 'em, AC/DC to Zaapa learn some tunes you like youtube them to get examples of others playing them, adapt to your enjoyment as needed some aren't very precise but that is OK too. From there you'll find the next interest. I'm heading towards blues and jazz, but you may start with country and go metal, who knows?

Jamming with others definitely a good idea, no matter what the level, I did tons of that years ago on keyboards, if I could find other like-minded blues musicians, maybe some jazz "next" year musicians, around I would do that again. Find a guy or gal that has been playing the guitar or drums for 4 months to start jamming with. We used to sit around at weekend parties and jam, don't musicians do that anymore?
 
#73
moody said:
I got into a band as a bass player because I owned a bass.

Sure I had a little bit of experience learning guitar and piano - so I knew the fretboard and a fair amount of theory, but I was not a bass player before I was in a band.

If the other people in the band are aware of the level that you are on it is surprising what you can do - there are a lot of bands that would be happy with a bass player just thumping out the roots of the chords.
Click to expand...
Yeah, and those bands usually suck, because IMO I look at the whole band and what each person is doing. Bands that really make it have all great musicians in it, not just a so so Bass PLAYER, bands that are great got an awesome drummer, rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist, singer and BASSIST. There's a ton of bands out there where little do people know the Bassist started and is the founder of the band and that band is great because everybody in the band is special, not a boring bass player just getting by doing the bare necessity's of Bass playing just plucking the minimal of notes to barely get the job done, those are the people that give Bassist a bad rep. I have seen alot of people in my time guys and girls both that I have ran into in conversation, hanging out, bars, party's, clubs, somewhere in the conversation have said I don't like the Bass guitar, its a boring and easy instrument to play. So a lot of the time I will turn them on to a certain band or if its a friends friend invite them over or if where somewhere where my Bass is near by or if our band is there, we will do a couple of really intense songs with some badass Bass guitar licks in it and turn those people on to music that doesn't have a boring Bass guitar parts in the song. Like start doing a song or showing them a song that has a Bass guitar in the song that has clanging, tapping, slapping n popping or just a cool wicked sounding Bass part that really sounds good and is pretty difficult and stands out a lot in the song, just a cool Bass song, period, and afterwards all those people we or I have showed a cool sounding Bass in music have all ended up saying, WOW, I didn't think Bass guitar could sound like that or could be jammed like that and now those people are like, man, I like Bass guitar now, I had no idea Bass was so cool like that. I really dislike people that start playing bass because they think it's the easiest instrument to play and they play it the easy way where it sounds like crap and gives Bass a bad rep. :thumbsup: :bassist::bassist:
 
#74
Dan Bass said:
Yeah, and those bands usually suck, because IMO I look at the whole band and what each person is doing. Bands that really make it have all great musicians in it, not just a so so Bass PLAYER, bands that are great got an awesome drummer, rhythm guitarist, lead guitarist, singer and BASSIST. There's a ton of bands out there where little do people know the Bassist started and is the founder of the band and that band is great because everybody in the band is special, not a boring bass player just getting by doing the bare necessity's of Bass playing just plucking the minimal of notes to barely get the job done, those are the people that give Bassist a bad rep. I have seen alot of people in my time guys and girls both that I have ran into in conversation, hanging out, bars, party's, clubs, somewhere in the conversation have said I don't like the Bass guitar, its a boring and easy instrument to play. So a lot of the time I will turn them on to a certain band or if its a friends friend invite them over or if where somewhere where my Bass is near by or if our band is there, we will do a couple of really intense songs with some badass Bass guitar licks in it and turn those people on to music that doesn't have a boring Bass guitar parts in the song. Like start doing a song or showing them a song that has a Bass guitar in the song that has clanging, tapping, slapping n popping or just a cool wicked sounding Bass part that really sounds good and is pretty difficult and stands out a lot in the song, just a cool Bass song, period, and afterwards all those people we or I have showed a cool sounding Bass in music have all ended up saying, WOW, I didn't think Bass guitar could sound like that or could be jammed like that and now those people are like, man, I like Bass guitar now, I had no idea Bass was so cool like that. I really dislike people that start playing bass because they think it's the easiest instrument to play and they play it the easy way where it sounds like crap and gives Bass a bad rep. :thumbsup: :bassist::bassist:
Click to expand...

Wow. If those are the only bands anyone should be in then bands probalbly wouldn't exist. No one would dare be in a band if they weren't an absolutely incredible bass player to begin with.

My first band was pretty easy to play in, I got better as I went and my parts got more interesting, but I still love the sound of the songs that I first started on. They were easy to play but catchy and fun a . Yes, I was playing roots and fifths a lot, but believe it or not that is what the songs needed.

Everybody has to start somewhere and there isn't anything inheritently wrong with being the weakest link in the band at least when you are starting. There is definitely nothing wrong with being in a beginner band where everyone is doing simple stuff.

Ps, I have seen a cover band with an absolutely incredible show off bass player, at the expense of the rest of the band. It was not pretty.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dan Bass and iain westland
#76
moody said:
Wow. If those are the only bands anyone should be in then bands probalbly wouldn't exist. No one would dare be in a band if they weren't an absolutely incredible bass player to begin with.

My first band was pretty easy to play in, I got better as I went and my parts got more interesting, but I still love the sound of the songs that I first started on. They were easy to play but catchy and fun a . Yes, I was playing roots and fifths a lot, but believe it or not that is what the songs needed.

Everybody has to start somewhere and there isn't anything inheritently wrong with being the weakest link in the band at least when you are starting. There is definitely nothing wrong with being in a beginner band where everyone is doing simple stuff.

Ps, I have seen a cover band with an absolutely incredible show off bass player, at the expense of the rest of the band. It was not pretty.
Click to expand...
No offense, i didn't mean anything negative, its just in some certain songs I don't like when you can't really hear the bass in a song and its ridiculously simple and the sound of the bass guitar isn't good either, also when its not even a catchy Bass line all dull and lifeless sounding. Thats just not the way I like Bass guitar, and there's millions of other people, musicians and Bassist that feel the same way I do. Don't get me wrong, I love all kinds of music, even songs that don't have the Bass the way I like it, there's songs I love that have not that good of Bass guitar in it but the song is so awesome and cool that I don't care that the Bass is bad in it, I just wish they did the Bass guitar better in that song because it would be that much better IMO.:) Also I wasn't talking about beginner Bass guitarist in bands, I'm talking about songs that you like hear on the radio, even if I like a song, I still hate when the Bass guitar sounds like crap.That's just my opinion and a lot of other peoples opinion that also like the Bass guitar like I do.:)
 
#80
Mr Gaston said:
I would recommend to the OP that he not wait until he is good enough to play his part in a band that's "going somewhere" before hooking up with other musicians. I would in fact advocate that he join what ever crappy group of hacks that will have him and Dan's delicate sensibility be dammed.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but I think it's better to join a band where everyone else is a better musician than you are. You are then forced to keep up. It helped me. My first band I had only just learned how to tune a bass. No one had tuners, I learned to tune by ear. It trained me to have a good ear for learning songs. 2 months later, I was on stage to a crazy good crowd.
Even with "easy" songs you can always do things like work on timing, stage presence, accentuation, you know technique.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Joshuasmith21

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back