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How to know if you are a bass player
- Thread starter TheGreatSealof
- Start date
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
I realize you're an adult, but when I teach middle-school students, we use a system similar to the merit badges I earned as a Boy Scout 50 years ago; set concrete goals, develop a clear path to achieve them, celebrate every success, and have fun while you're doing it!
The amount of time spent practicing isn't as important as practicing with clear intention and focus.
What are your goals? Be as specific as possible.
How, specifically, does your practice routine take you closer to achieving your goals?
The amount of time spent practicing isn't as important as practicing with clear intention and focus.
What are your goals? Be as specific as possible.
How, specifically, does your practice routine take you closer to achieving your goals?
I reject the notion that one has to be a "natural" to be good at anything. In my experience, and across many fields, I've seen people start out with zero-skill work their way up to considerable competence. Conversely, I've seen "naturals" who've never reached their full potential.
Almost none of the different skills I've acquired over the years came to me naturally. I had to work…no, more like bust my ass…to get to the levels I've achieved. And if I had more time to apply to some of them, I believe I could sharpen them further still. The same way I believe anyone, with hard work, diligence and decent instruction, can achieve all manner of things.
To GreatSeal: Maybe you need a decent teacher. Looking back, I wish I'd taken lessons in percussion on top of "learning by ear". Certainly I'm proud that I'd learned so much on my own, but I realize now that good instruction would've kept me from acquiring a number of bad playing habits or would've quickly corrected several basic mistakes that took me years to un-learn.
I don't want to make that mistake with bass playing this time around. I tried out an instructor that was conveniently located and had a lot of experience. Unfortunately, I didn't like his approach to teaching. Not to say what he was trying to teach me was bad. It was his teaching methods that didn't fit. To that effect, I'll keep searching until I find someone I "click" with and can make sure I don't develop a ton of bad habits.
To sum up, I suggest you seek out a teacher you click with and express your desire to learn even more. Learning may be hard work, but if it's reward gives you less pleasure and more frustration, find someone else. Don't take a "what's wrong with me" approach. With enough practice, decent instruction and maybe a breakthrough here and there, I believe you will do well.
Almost none of the different skills I've acquired over the years came to me naturally. I had to work…no, more like bust my ass…to get to the levels I've achieved. And if I had more time to apply to some of them, I believe I could sharpen them further still. The same way I believe anyone, with hard work, diligence and decent instruction, can achieve all manner of things.
To GreatSeal: Maybe you need a decent teacher. Looking back, I wish I'd taken lessons in percussion on top of "learning by ear". Certainly I'm proud that I'd learned so much on my own, but I realize now that good instruction would've kept me from acquiring a number of bad playing habits or would've quickly corrected several basic mistakes that took me years to un-learn.
I don't want to make that mistake with bass playing this time around. I tried out an instructor that was conveniently located and had a lot of experience. Unfortunately, I didn't like his approach to teaching. Not to say what he was trying to teach me was bad. It was his teaching methods that didn't fit. To that effect, I'll keep searching until I find someone I "click" with and can make sure I don't develop a ton of bad habits.
To sum up, I suggest you seek out a teacher you click with and express your desire to learn even more. Learning may be hard work, but if it's reward gives you less pleasure and more frustration, find someone else. Don't take a "what's wrong with me" approach. With enough practice, decent instruction and maybe a breakthrough here and there, I believe you will do well.
What exactly does talent or natural playing ability have to do with playing the bass ?
I have played bass off and on for.......let's see now.......carry the 2........30 years give or take. I have zero talent and no natural playing ability. Anything I can play on the bass, I have fought to scratch out and learn.
I have horrible retention. When the band learns a song, while everyone else can recall all the breaks and nuances and can shelve it for a month or two, I have to constantly play through what we do play in order to retain it.
Here is what I do have going for me:
1) I love both the sound and the groove of a bass across ALL genres of music. I love every single note. It is impossible for me to listen to a bass line and not shake my butt or tap my foot.
2) I constantly practice my timing. Daily and without fail. My job as the bass player is to lock in with the drummer and become part of the groove. Just like a ticking clock. I am constantly reevaluating my timing listening diligently to ensure that I am not rushing the beat, nor dragging. I camp eighth note songs and beat on them. Timing ! Timing ! Timing !
3) I am content to play what is required of the song and no more. If the song requires me to be a root note riding fool, then by God I am going to not only embrace it, but I am going to play it with every ounce of soul in my body.
I am guessing that 80% of the people here on TB can play circles around me. Better chops, more creativity, faster fills, etc. But there is not a single person that walks the earth that loves the sound of the bass and the feel of the groove MORE than I do. And I would say that the 80% drops to 20% in terms of better timing/count for simple time sigs.
I will never be Clark, Wooten, Jamerson, Pino, Bootsy, Larry, Prestia, or any of the greats that fuel my passion for the bass. Yet I continue to go to go to rehearsal twice a week, Practice for a couple hours a day, every day, learn something new every day, and have as much fun as possible gigging every single time that I strap on a bass.
Am I great bass player? Nope. Am I even a comptetent bass player? Arguable at best. But I dare anyone to prove that I am not a functional, rock solid, live for the groove, passionate, bottom dwelling, brother of bass.
PS - Setting aside accents, ghost notes and stutters, bass players play 16ths or faster far less than 1% of the time.
If you love the bass, practice, practice, practice and PLAY !
I have played bass off and on for.......let's see now.......carry the 2........30 years give or take. I have zero talent and no natural playing ability. Anything I can play on the bass, I have fought to scratch out and learn.
I have horrible retention. When the band learns a song, while everyone else can recall all the breaks and nuances and can shelve it for a month or two, I have to constantly play through what we do play in order to retain it.
Here is what I do have going for me:
1) I love both the sound and the groove of a bass across ALL genres of music. I love every single note. It is impossible for me to listen to a bass line and not shake my butt or tap my foot.
2) I constantly practice my timing. Daily and without fail. My job as the bass player is to lock in with the drummer and become part of the groove. Just like a ticking clock. I am constantly reevaluating my timing listening diligently to ensure that I am not rushing the beat, nor dragging. I camp eighth note songs and beat on them. Timing ! Timing ! Timing !
3) I am content to play what is required of the song and no more. If the song requires me to be a root note riding fool, then by God I am going to not only embrace it, but I am going to play it with every ounce of soul in my body.
I am guessing that 80% of the people here on TB can play circles around me. Better chops, more creativity, faster fills, etc. But there is not a single person that walks the earth that loves the sound of the bass and the feel of the groove MORE than I do. And I would say that the 80% drops to 20% in terms of better timing/count for simple time sigs.
I will never be Clark, Wooten, Jamerson, Pino, Bootsy, Larry, Prestia, or any of the greats that fuel my passion for the bass. Yet I continue to go to go to rehearsal twice a week, Practice for a couple hours a day, every day, learn something new every day, and have as much fun as possible gigging every single time that I strap on a bass.
Am I great bass player? Nope. Am I even a comptetent bass player? Arguable at best. But I dare anyone to prove that I am not a functional, rock solid, live for the groove, passionate, bottom dwelling, brother of bass.
PS - Setting aside accents, ghost notes and stutters, bass players play 16ths or faster far less than 1% of the time.
If you love the bass, practice, practice, practice and PLAY !
You've got the first part of it licked, meaning the dedication to the craft. That's the most important part.
I've been playing since 1981. I don't think I really ever hit a spot where I thought I was "good" until about a decade in. Sure, I could hang with my friends who played, but it was at least ten years before the fretboard "opened up" and I saw the light, so to speak.
Just keep practicing and rest assured, you ARE improving. Play with a metronome if you can. It really does help with your speed, if that's what you're after. Start slow, and gradually increase the tempo as you become comfortable at each speed.
I've been playing since 1981. I don't think I really ever hit a spot where I thought I was "good" until about a decade in. Sure, I could hang with my friends who played, but it was at least ten years before the fretboard "opened up" and I saw the light, so to speak.
Just keep practicing and rest assured, you ARE improving. Play with a metronome if you can. It really does help with your speed, if that's what you're after. Start slow, and gradually increase the tempo as you become comfortable at each speed.
This is good advice. But there is more:
music is not a competition, it's an art form. Set your goals towards the style of music you want to play, and make good music.
Also, getting together with other musicians might help you to understand the concept of making music better. The interaction between musicians is much more important than being able to play 8th notes or a specific scale or whatever. Try to find similar minded people like you and get into making music.
As I've told my son, there will always be someone better, and someone worse, regardless of what you try to do. So, the only person you need to worry about is you!
Check out Carol Kaye on facebook... She gives free advice nearly every day (unsolicited), and stories of her music life, etc, and offers lessons for aspiring bassists. She is one of the great bassists I have always admired and respected.
Here’s one of her bass lessons she posted on facebook this past weekend (also available on CD and other formats from her):
G7 - play this in triads: G Bmb5 Dm F Am C Em G
once you get past the m7b5, it's "minor-major-minor-major" triads
Best teachers are the players you already listen to. Learn the bass lines you like. Move on from there. Try something new when you get "stuck."
Most importantly, enjoy it! Music is joy! Go on now... Make that joyful noise!
Check out Carol Kaye on facebook... She gives free advice nearly every day (unsolicited), and stories of her music life, etc, and offers lessons for aspiring bassists. She is one of the great bassists I have always admired and respected.
Here’s one of her bass lessons she posted on facebook this past weekend (also available on CD and other formats from her):
G7 - play this in triads: G Bmb5 Dm F Am C Em G
once you get past the m7b5, it's "minor-major-minor-major" triads
Best teachers are the players you already listen to. Learn the bass lines you like. Move on from there. Try something new when you get "stuck."
Most importantly, enjoy it! Music is joy! Go on now... Make that joyful noise!
I think you would be surprised when you actually jamm live with a band, I'm not a great player and try and keep it simple ,but when I got comfortable with the jamm and got used to the others, I opened up a little and I was surprised myself, keep it up its there you will see!
you know who else isn't a "natural born musician"? jimmy haslip. keep working. and consider this- you may be a lot better than you seem to think.
also, there's a lot more to playing bass (or any instrument) than playing as fast as you can... that's the easiest thing to forget unfortunately.
If you can find the time, I would invest in three or four lessons, or go to a bass clinic on your next vacation. A good teacher can force you to listen to yourself more objectively, which is enormously helpful.
When you are playing, and want to work out the kinks in your playing, break down the difficult parts into small, manageable chunks. Play them slowly. Listen. Play them right, slowly. A lot. Reduce the knots to manageable loops.
Something which I just started doing (after 30 years of playing music publicly in some form or another) record yourself playing. It's very scary but ultimately very helpful.
When you are playing, and want to work out the kinks in your playing, break down the difficult parts into small, manageable chunks. Play them slowly. Listen. Play them right, slowly. A lot. Reduce the knots to manageable loops.
Something which I just started doing (after 30 years of playing music publicly in some form or another) record yourself playing. It's very scary but ultimately very helpful.
I have to agree with the folks who stuck up for 8th notes. A lot depends upon the sort of music you want to play. Good bass players are SOLID and have GOOD TONE and play GOOD NOTES. It has nothing to do with how many notes they play in a measure. Listen to this. Is that good bass playing? It's JUST RIGHT for the tune. Can you do that? By the way--always remember that it's harder to play solid and clean all the time than to play fast and sloppy. And that is what gets you the gigs.
Maybe you're practicing too much... is that possible? Sometimes I think the answer is yes. I had trouble learning the intro to Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" because I tried too hard. When I limited my practice sessions to only about 10 minutes 3 times a day over a weekend, I was able to learn the part. When I try to "force" myself to learn the part I think I over concentrate and it can be counter-productive. When I relax and pull myself away from it, then my sub conscious brain learns the part when I'm out doing something else.
Good luck and hang in there. It sounds like you're enjoying playing bass and that's what will ultimately help you improve.
Good luck and hang in there. It sounds like you're enjoying playing bass and that's what will ultimately help you improve.
lessons and find some people to jam with. nothing pushes you further faster than other people. I try to join bands that I'm the weakest link in. then I have no choice but to get better.
"If you want to play fast, practice slow. If you want to play REAL fast, practice REAL slow."
When I prepare a song that's original, I spend a bunch of time at home trying out LOTS of oddball notes and different rhythm options. I look for those brilliant licks that maybe nobody else would find. Then, when I'm on stage and it's showtime......most of those notes go out the window and I focus on creating a good, solid groove. I might interject a few cute licks, but I concentrate on the basic rhythm groove. In fact.....I concentrate on the EMPTY spaces. The cadence. Note decay and attack. It is the empty spaces that make the rhythm. In other words......less is more. Fast-gun bassists.......suck. They should go back to guitar. Bass is not about speed. It is about taste.
When I prepare a song that's original, I spend a bunch of time at home trying out LOTS of oddball notes and different rhythm options. I look for those brilliant licks that maybe nobody else would find. Then, when I'm on stage and it's showtime......most of those notes go out the window and I focus on creating a good, solid groove. I might interject a few cute licks, but I concentrate on the basic rhythm groove. In fact.....I concentrate on the EMPTY spaces. The cadence. Note decay and attack. It is the empty spaces that make the rhythm. In other words......less is more. Fast-gun bassists.......suck. They should go back to guitar. Bass is not about speed. It is about taste.
Again LOTS of great advice here.
I do really want to stress that :
a) you may actually be better than u giv yourself credit for...
and 2) there are plenty of bassists..even some famous ones..that arent that great.
heck..my band is awesome..but im really not that good at all
then i just tell people that i dont wanna show off..and "i just keep solidly locked with the drummer" ..and " i just play whats right for the song"
i think youll be fine..just stick with it.
I do really want to stress that :
a) you may actually be better than u giv yourself credit for...
and 2) there are plenty of bassists..even some famous ones..that arent that great.
heck..my band is awesome..but im really not that good at all
then i just tell people that i dont wanna show off..and "i just keep solidly locked with the drummer" ..and " i just play whats right for the song"
i think youll be fine..just stick with it.
That never stopped me. I'm musically talented about like a gerbil, but I actually gigged for a long time. Getting fed up with drunks and drug dealers everywhere, injuries and hearing damage ended that career about 15 years ago, but I still play even today.
So I can personally tell you don't know what you're talking about.
As for playing fast, it's not really what it's cracked up to be in about 99% of cases. For example, here's me the other day on my new fretted Jazz bass, playing at about the limits of my speed:
https://soundcloud.com/unclejane/modern-player-series-jazz-bass
But pop quiz time: do you think playing like this on a gig would get you fired? (Hint: not yes, but hell yes yessiree you'd be walked out the door instantly). How about a callback later? (Hint: not no, but hell no).
So, out in the real world, 8th notes are absolutely fine and will get you work and you'll still have a great time. Once you can hold a groove and play roots, you're a bass player and ready to start gigging. Don't listen to anyone who says you don't have any natural talent. That's nice to have, but it's not anything that can't be overcome with hard work and enjoyment.
LS
just in case you disn't recognise the name:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfsH3MkRgE0
told me directly he had no "special talent" as a kid, all this is just hard work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfsH3MkRgE0
told me directly he had no "special talent" as a kid, all this is just hard work.
