How are you trying to improve on bass

[nilorius]

Improve on bass comes automaticaly in days and years. How fast, depends on you.

 

[TortCult]

I use carrots. They contain luteolin, which boosts brain health and thereby enable me to become a better bassist.

 

[Jason Hollar]

I voted on Jobs (but no rehearsals lol) because most all of my gigs are either cover band functions or jazz casuals.

My primary practice is learning & reviewing material and the gig is a blessed opportunity to bring it all together.

Secondary practice is plugging away at etudes like easier Bach cello suites or transcribing jazz bass solos & bop heads.

Biggest challenge for me is remaining proficient on both upright & electric.

 

[oldfretless]

The last couple years, learning the Stick. It makes you rethink all your fingerings. And work your lines in with your chords.

 

[fhm555]

...But at my age, I know I will never acquire the mastery I wish I could have achieved if I hadn't put the bass down for so many years. So I'm grateful for the ability to do what I can for however many years I have left to do it...

Almost identical except i took two very long breaks. I’ve never been one to wish for something i know is unobtainable and time and life have taken their toll. The last time i started back it was like i never left. I was back up to speed in a couple weeks but i took about five minutes to wonder where i might have been had i not dropped out before i was content to be grateful i was not having to go back to square two or three.
As happens from time to time, a few years back father time started robbing me of the dexterity in my left hand. Stubborn as wifey claims i am (she’s wrong BTW ), i continued to play thinking i could just push through. When my pinky and ring finger began to curl in to my palm i kept going. It was not until my pinky became completely useless i went to my doctor and wound up having a surgical repair for entrapped nerves in my left elbow and wrist. These days, my left hand is much more flexy than it was before the cutting, but i’m now relearning my left hand as i spent my entire life as a bass player covering four frets, something i can no longer do. My pinky straightened back out but it’s too weak to fret on a four fret stretch so i’m learning to do everything with three fingers and only bringing the pinky into play above the seventh fret. That said i went to a music store with my dad about a month ago to get him some strings and while he was at the counter i spotted an Ibanez Mikro and gave it a quick spin. It’s been on my mind a lot since then. If i was currently working more playing i’d grab one just to see what happenes, and i may yet anyway.

 

[Mantis Tobaggan]

Lately I have been improving by focusing on guitar and drums. When I pick up my bass, I am doing some really different stuff. Mixing in more chords.

 

[BassPilot]

As far as online materials, studybass.com has been a great resource. Andrew has put a very well thought out site together coupled with an excellent curriculum. I opt to pay the $10/month as I believe supporting a resource that I benefit so much from is important (come on, $10/month? That’s 2 freaking starbucks!).
I also buy books like “Blues in all keys”. It has a great CD to play along to.
I do think that when someone is getting started they should take lessons from a GOOD teacher. Technique (especially) is something that needs to seen as well as heard. I had a teacher that cleaned up my technique right out of the gate. Fretting technique is a huge part of “your sound” so getting it right is really important. He would also stop me and say, what’s that when he heard errant notes - muting is equally important.

 

[nonohmic]

I've decided with life as crazy as it is, I'm just going to focus on sight reading for the foreseeable future. Therefore self taught with books i.e., resources other than the internet.

 

[glocke1]

Choose the answer that best fits.

Well, a few different ways..

Private instructor for double bass...

Putting myself into situations where I am playing with people who have a better/deeper understanding of music, time, and rhythm than i do. That latter is paying off as it forces me to focus on things I am weak on.

Really at this stage of the game, for me its all about becoming a better player and better soloist and that really just means more time playing with folks in a studio and less time spent playing live...As a matter of fact it's pretty safe to say i just don't even care about playing on a stage these days as I am finding better musical opportunities in rehearsal studios.

 

[Yellow Bang66]

Choose the answer that best fits.

I love Scotts Bass lessons it's showed me so much especially the early lessons with drills & etudes. other than that I when I get bored, I'll buy books on amazon("improve your groove"& bach for bass), both to strengthen weaknesses & help sight reading, I know what i need to work on, so I concentrate on those things. I consider myself pretty solid, My guitarist has remarked he can hear an improvement at practice! when i get bored i try learning a difficult song or style I don't normally play in.IMHP thats what I do.

 

[ZedLepp]

I chose "other" because, besides regular bass play time, I'm also learning to play drums, and that's really helped me with groove and pocket and nailing the note.

I also started learning drums to help me learn to be a better bass player. Having an idea of where the drummer might go when working on a new song has helped me stay in the groove if the drummer does something weird, like they always do.
Another big help was getting a Fretlight.

 

[GastonD]

Like with many others, it is really hard to pick just one of the offered options. However, since I started before the internet and had amassed a collection of printed and audio/video material, I still use those for the most part, but with other avenues of learning,too. I attended a music school for 3.5 years, took private lessons, had membership with the grand majority of paid internet "academies", use free material often, etc.
Depending on the task at hand, I will normally pull on all those experiences and/or materials to put together a practice regimen to achieve the desired results...hopefully.

 

[vickerekes]

Picked up the bass as I finished school a theory/comp major in ’75, “self” taught. Been playing with recordings 6-10 hours a week and using a recorder to keep me honest; you know, timing, voicing, phrasing, etc. I’ve been working weird hours for over 12 yrs now so don’t play out, but still getting hit up regularly. Looking to retire this year at 68 and be back at it immediately. I want to be Pablo Casals “…when Casals (then aged 93) was asked why he continued to practice the cello three hours a day, Casals replied, "I'm beginning to notice some improvement...".

 

[Groove Master]

Easy: Work on your weakness

 

[MichelD]

With no music programs in the schools I attended except for grade 12 when I had a cursory introduction to treble clef, I've had to self teach.

What I have been doing lately is:

1. Re-learn treble clef so that I can read the melodies on the real book songs my jam buddies do

2. Get good enough reading bass clef to study the walking bass and other instruction books I have

3. Study the exercises in those bass books, particularly the walking bass one

4. Study the James Jamerson bass lines from the book "Standing in the shadows of Motown"

5. Apply the above in my two jam groups; the jazz book guys and the country-rock guys.