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How long will it take to be able to play like this?

#21
After some consideration, I decided I would take a stab at this since when I started playing bass, I ignored the basics and went straight to trying tapping classical music ala Stuart Hamm style. Based on my own experience and assuming that you want to play this piece specifically and this well, I'm going to guess right at about 4 months.

HOWEVER, there's a huge catch. That's going to be the only thing you can play. If you want to learn another song of similar style and complexity it will take you a little less than another 4 months. And every song after that will take a similar amount of time.

The alternative is to learn the basics and start teaching yourself some basic music theory, Practice common chords and arpeggios and scales in a structured comprehensive approach. You need to teach yourself rhythm by playing with a metronome or drum machine and it would be wise to get some practice in playing with others even if you just want to play solo pieces. You are going to have to break down and do all this eventally unless you want to struggle at being a musician on every thing you do.

The amount of time for all that? I'd guess 4 to 6 years depending on various things. After that, you should be able to learn songs such as that in a couple weeks or so.
 
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#24
Julian Kim said:
As the title says. How long will it take to be able to play like this if an average person practices for about an hour each day?

Click to expand...

Can't say how long one would have to practice to be able to play like that. I will say that's the best example of "classical music piece to bass" interpretation I've ever heard.
 
#25
If you learn decent technique and get a year of learning and practicing the basics every day, THEN you get a metronome and woodshed that piece of music for an hour a day, you'd be able to learn that in a few months tops. The problem is you'd be able to play that one piece and not much else. It's much more impressive to me to be able to come up with decent basslines and solos on the spot by ear and also if someone tells you the chords or puts a chart in front of you. If you learn those skills you'll be able to play just about anything with other people at any given time, eventually including that chordal kind of stuff after a lot of playing and progressively adding little tools to your arsenal.
 
#27
Its a very good interpretation of a classical piece. There isn't much that is difficult about his technique, what he is demonstrating is the creativity to think outside the box when playing the bass. That can never be really learned. Creativity is either there or not.
 
#29
I'd say if the choice is to learn how to play this versus learning how to read music and play almost any song in the history of the bass universe on sight then...

In all seriousness, learning to play one complex piece doesn't do much toward the next complex piece, and doesn't do anything to enable writing at that same level. Approach it from the bottom up. Like was said before, learn the underlying chord progression first.

I find that I almost never have the will power to learn complex passages from start to finish simply for the fun of it. I get about 1/3rd of the way through and say to myself "that's all that is?" and then I reclaim the additional hours of my life that would have been dedicated to transcribing and rote memory.
 
#33
For me?
Never!
I can't do those stretches with my short fingers.
For someone with bigger hands and enough basic talent and knowledge?
Probably not that long to play it with reasonably fluidity.


That's about the only solid answer I can come up with without being sarcastic or humorous.
 
#34
When clicking this thread, I was thinking "Ok, not uncommon question, let's see what kind of play the OP means"...and ready for the answer to help the OP.
But after I watch the video, I'm a bit disappointed,...I think it's better to be learned to play on guitar than bass. Well, I can't answer the OP now, cause I never learn to play that type of bass playing and never intend to. Sorry, OP. I wish you luck.
 
#36
A-Step-Towards said:
There are so many variables to that question. For one we all learn differently and some of us can never get to the levels others achieved. There are guys that have played everyday for thirty years and tried there hardest but they wont ever be able to play as good as John Entwistle was when he was 25. Thats why their isnt a ton of bass "gods" or professional athletes. There is no formal to X amount of hours equals X amount of skill. Slash said he practiced up to 12 hours a day from 14 to 22 years old when he recorded guitar for Appetite for Destruction .

I have played for 10 years and if I wanted to play that bass line I could learn all that, it may take me a few days of practicing a few hours each day but I could play it. That said could I write something that detailed? no I couldn't.

Those strings look super thing, light gauge?
Click to expand...
was John Entwistle really that great??? I never really cared for the Who or their music and when I did hear it I really never noticed his playing ??
 
#37
Pachebel's Canon is a fundamental Music 101 composition, and I recommend you begin learning it immediately. :)

You don't have to play all the parts yourself, like in the video. Just practice one "voice" at a time (first the bass line, then the melody, etc.) along with the recording. Learning and analyzing each voice of a classical composition will make you a better musician, regardless of how many years it takes you to develop the song into a polished performance piece.
 
#38
Kukulkan61 said:
was John Entwistle really that great??? I never really cared for the Who or their music and when I did hear it I really never noticed his playing ??
Click to expand...

Therein lied one of his skills.

I wouldnt say Enstwistle is a super technical wizard but watch a few videos online, you'll see he was a very very good player and also, he changed things. He was one of the early pioneers in rock bass.
 
#40
it's also a matter of his personal style and/or the bass he's using.

some people have a different thing going on in their fingers than others, a certain touch, and you can't exactly do everything on a gretsch that you can on a jazz.
 

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