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How long does it take to get decent at bass?

M

melancholyflowe

Sep 17, 2012
16
0
#1
I've asked this before and mainly got answers saying that "one never gets 'good' cause you can always be better" or something to that accord... So, I guess what I'm really asking is how long does it usually take to hold your own and actually be past the beginner-intermediate stage. I've been playing for almost 5 months, and I'm self taught. I pretty much get discouraged often though because I feel like I can't tell whether I'm progressing or not. Some days I feel it some days I don't. So, how long did it take you guys to get decentyl good at bass. Did it take at least year? 6 months? do tell.

and I would say I'm "alright", I can pop and slap but not well.. and everything else is in the air.
 
#5
melancholyflowe said:
I've asked this before and mainly got answers saying that "one never gets 'good' cause you can always be better" or something to that accord... So, I guess what I'm really asking is how long does it usually take to hold your own and actually be past the beginner-intermediate stage. I've been playing for almost 5 months, and I'm self taught. I pretty much get discouraged often though because I feel like I can't tell whether I'm progressing or not. Some days I feel it some days I don't. So, how long did it take you guys to get decentyl good at bass. Did it take at least year? 6 months? do tell.

and I would say I'm "alright", I can pop and slap but not well.. and everything else is in the air.
Click to expand...

The truth is that it depends upon 3 things:

1. How you define "decently good";
2. How much you play; and
3. Natural talent.

Number 1 is most important.

For me it took about 4 years of playing various instruments before i reached the point where i was happy to call myself a musician without feeling self concious about it.

Set yourself goals to measure your progress. Like find an album you like where the bass parts are not too easy (but not too hard! - Sort of a "goldylocks" album) and learn all the bass parts.

Edit: Speeling
 
#7
Depends on a lot of things. Some people get good in little time and with little practice while others take years and have to work hard at it every single day. I had the advantage of having some musical experience before picking up bass so it came a little more easily for me than I've seen it for others. That said, I've been playing for about 7-8 years now and I'm only now beginning to feel (genuinely) decent at it. Still, almost every time I get to this point I'll see or hear someone else play and then I start to think I suck at it again lol.
 
#13
If you practice hard it doesn't take long to learn the finger dexterity. You can play almost anything in a year of hard practice. But that won't make you good at playing bass. You can learn all the theory, or most of it, in that same time. But that won't make you good either

The thing that makes you good is experience playing with other people and listening to other people, and making the song you are playing better instead of just getting through it. It's making music instead of hitting the right notes. You can be playing in a band within a year, for sure. I still haven't figured out the rest, and I'm over 50 years old. It's hard to explain. A good band has dynamics, people lay back and then step up, they listen toeach other, they make music instead of just getting through it.

I would say that one hour of playing with other people is worth ten hours of solo practice, and one hour of a gig is worth a week of solo practice
 
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#14
Don't worry too much about your long-term goal of being able to play amazing, blazing, and chops-tastic bass just yet. Start simple so as to make progress without getting frustrated.

Stay focused on getting a little better each day at something achievable.

1) Dexterity exercises. (Like playing 1234 with your left hand in different positions, then 1243, 1324, 1423, 1432, 2134, etc.) This will help your hands to work together. You will get results faster than you think! If you have been playing only 5 months, it is pretty likely that spending 15 minutes a day on technique exercises is a good choice .

Playing music required more than just the technique to get around the instrument, of course.
2) Pick out lines from your favorite songs. Your ear needs to work with your hands to make the technique exercises do you any good at all. So add 15-30 minutes of picking out lines by ear.

3) Work on your time! Next thing to do is use a metronome and practice playing the beginnings and ends of the notes in your phrases in time to the click. Do this 15 minutes a day also. Use click on every beat then just 2 and 4, so you have to get the 1 and 3 in the right place to stay with the metronome.
 
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#16
Get a teacher, or look up videos on youtube, play to music, there are thousands of resources out there. Make sure you have the proper technique so you don't develop bad habits that will create problems later on.
Learn music theory!!!! You don't have to be able to sight read Dragonetti to know music theory. Learn the notes on the fretboard.
Listen to everything! Not just this punk band and that emo band. I mean listen to Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, count Basie, duke Ellington, miles, jaco, Sinatra, muddy waters, sly stone, and heck throw slayer and Madonna in there too! Eastern music? learn some indian or middle eastern music and the theory behind it, dissect it. digest it. Just listen, then play it.
You will hit plateaus in your playing. Happens to everyone. Pick up double bass, or piano, or guitar, harmonica... It'll help!
 
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#17
5 months isn't a very long time to learn anything that you've never done before. Think about it - become great at math in 5 months? Speak Russian? Building race cars? By yourself with no teacher or outside help?

How long it takes totally depends on you, the time you put in and how you approach it. Some people may have a little more natural aptitude but nobody picks up a bass and starts sounding like Flea or Marcus Miller in 5 months. The best shortcut I know is to make sure you are spending time learning the things you need to know to become a good bass player, not just noodling around.

My advice - forget the slapping and popping for now and focus on the basics. Learn how to play some simple rock and blues tunes with easy to learn bass lines. Learn the names of the notes on the fretboard. Listen and play along with the music that you like. Pay close attention to what the bass player is doing. Learn a few basic scales. Major, Minor pentatonic and blues scales cover a tremendous number of tunes. Practice with a metronome. Record yourself and listen to where you need to improve. Pick up a bass method book. The ones from Ed Friedland are great. Ideally get a local teacher who can help you figure out what you need to know. There's also a huge wealth of resources on line for learning this stuff. Find some other musicians to play/jam with.

Non of this is going to happen in a week or a month but if you spend an hour a day working on some or all the items above I'll guarantee you'll be a much better bass player 5 months from now.
 
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#18
thank you everyone, especially britbonic. I guess I've been one of those people who got straight into not just slap, but flea styled slapping. I can see why and how this is an error on my part. I guess I'll start learning some basic scales and what not. The main reason I picked up bass was because I've liked the intstrument for years and was under the dumb impression that it was easy... Well, it is easy for really simple songs, considering all you can do is just play root and 8th notes. But yeah, I love it now, I know I won't be great in less than a year but I guess this was the proper reassureance i needed.
 
#19
Britbonic said:
My advice:
1) forget the slapping and popping for now
2) focus on the basics.
3) Learn how to play some simple rock and blues tunes with easy to learn bass lines.
4) Learn the names of the notes on the fretboard.
5) Listen and play along with the music that you like. Pay close attention to what the bass player is doing.
6) Learn a few basic scales. Major, Minor pentatonic and blues scales cover a tremendous number of tunes.
7) Practice with a metronome.
8) Record yourself and listen to where you need to improve.
9) Pick up a bass method book. The ones from Ed Friedland are great.
10) Ideally get a local teacher who can help you figure out what you need to know.
11) There's also a huge wealth of resources on line for learning this stuff.
12) Find some other musicians to play/jam with.
Click to expand...

There you are....step by step! :)

Learning bass is less about learning a "style" (slap, pop, etc) and more about learning music and how the bass fits into it.

Check out my >500 links below for more great TB info.

Good luck.
 
#20
Sometimes I start to think I'm getting decent, then I'll hear someone really good live and just want to toss my bass in the trash lol.
Objectively, though, I played guitar off and on for a few years, and then a friend of mine in a good local contemporary music church band asked if I played bass, since he knew I played guitar. I said, "sure I'm no pro but I'd be interested". He said "great, our current bassist is moving, so we will need you in about a month". I didn't own a bass, nor had I ever played one! He gave me a list of about 20 or so songs, and I practiced about 2 hours a day, 5 days a week. After the first rehearsal before my initial gig he said "you're hired". Of course the gig didn't pay, but still, I was happy. Everyone in the band was a better musician than me overall, but I feel like I held my own at least.
 
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