I just can't seem to stop making mistakes...

[glocke1]

Was listening back to a couple of recent recordings we made from shows...

Bottom line is a lot of stuff I'm playing really well on, but I can't seem to stop making some mistakes more often than I'd like to, and this is even on tunes that I've spent a considerable amount of time practicing.

Tips for getting some of this stuff more ingrained?

 

[eJake]

Make sure that youre practicing the things that you're bad at. Identify weaker sections and put on a metronome. Slow the tempo down and loop weak spots until they aren't weak anymore.

 

[honeyiscool]

Make sure that youre practicing the things that you're bad at. Identify weaker sections and put on a metronome. Slow the tempo down and loop weak spots until they aren't weak anymore.

Yep. Some people practice to validate themselves rather than to work on what they’re bad at. When you make a mistake while practicing, your brain might not register that mistake because you’re not being critical enough. Record your practice and play it as though you’re gigging. No stops. Stand. Don’t look at the frets. Record it. Then find what your weaknesses are and work on them.

 

[Badwater]

Record yourself solo into a interface and DAW. AKA isolated bass recording. And then you'll hear all the areas you need to tighten up.

 

[Element Zero]

When you say “considerable amount of time”, how much time are you talking about?

 

[glocke1]

When you say “considerable amount of time”, how much time are you talking about?

one tune in particular i knew would give me a problem, theres one section that always trips me up...spent about 15 minutes a day repeating that same part for several days in a row and I still messed it up..Its not even like it's all that hard of a tune and there are certainly much more challenging things I play that I don't screw up.

also, its actually a tune ive been playing for "years" and I always just kind of ghost noted that section because I was just too lazy to learn it and also because I could get away with playing it like that with the people I was in a band with at the time...That doesnt fly with the guys Im in a band with now, and I honestly want to put real effort into making this stuff sound the best it can.

 

[craigie]

one tune in particular i knew would give me a problem, theres one section that always trips me up...spent about 15 minutes a day repeating that same part for several days in a row and I still messed it up..Its not even like it's all that hard of a tune and there are certainly much more challenging things I play that I don't screw up.

also, its actually a tune ive been playing for "years" and I always just kind of ghost noted that section because I was just too lazy to learn it and also because I could get away with playing it like that with the people I was in a band with at the time...That doesnt fly with the guys Im in a band with now, and I honestly want to put real effort into making this stuff sound the best it can.

This is exactly the problem. You played it wrong so long it will take you 10x longer to pattern it right. That’s why the posts above are so important.

I find I make mistakes fo two reasons:
1. I zone out. Could be focused on singing or something else.
2. I have some doubt. Maybe didn’t play the song for a long time and didn’t have it solid.

 

[Fender_Bender]

Is your attention/focus wandering?.

 

[Bassngtr]

Two suggestions:
1. Muscle memory
2, cheat sheets

1. I play drums too which are very natural to me (much more so than bass) but for certain fills, muscle memory is what makes it happen...frequent frequent repetition until it works every time - not JUST the fill, but also importantly the lead-up to the fill+the fill. Some fills are hit or miss (literally...bwahaha) until my muscles REALLY learn the fill, then I never have to worry or struggle again. Bass takes a bit more time/practice for me but same exact principle applies. In fact I have found that even when I blank out on a part during a gig, my fingers already know what to do and save me...happens all the time.

2. Cheat sheets that I can glance at right before the songs (maybe on top of my amp behind me) really help me memorize/internalize. The very act of creating a small cheat sheet is sometimes enough, or having it handy removes the need to actually use it. 'Take It Easy' by the Eagles was one such song for me. The chord pattern is slightly different in each verse and it took me a few years before I finally got it right every time, so it's not always the hard songs.

Heard this a few years back and I apply it to these situations:
"An Amateur practices until they can get it right. A Pro practices until they cannot get it wrong."

Although I cannot devote the time to do this for everything ( I don't play for a living) the principle still applies and helps tremendously. Hope this helps!!

 

[Spidey2112]

... I honestly want to put real effort into making this stuff sound the best it can.

That's what I wanted to hear...

Are you having problems during practice, live performance, or both?

 

[AngelDeVille]

It’s not mistakes, it’s just the jazz version.

 

[gln1955]

Playing a song with a band is different than practicing alone. Is someone else doing something that throws you off?

 

[SteveCS]

...
also, its actually a tune ive been playing for "years" and I always just kind of ghost noted that section because I was just too lazy to learn it and also because I could get away with playing it like that with the people I was in a band with at the time...That doesnt fly with the guys Im in a band with now, and I honestly want to put real effort into making this stuff sound the best it can.

Write out the parts - as you play them - in standard notation. With as much detail as possible. Dont write something once with 4 repeats - write out every measure. When you get to those ghosted parts you wont know what to write because you don't actually know what to play. This may well be true for other parts. If you can't write standard notation - not TAB - then learn.
Transcribing your own lines, in full, is hhe quickest way to learn them...

 

[Renaissance]

I have a whole process for learning songs and committing them to memory. One thing I do is write the song out. I break the sections down and use standard notation but use whatever works for you. I can then visualize the song structure and it makes it easier for me.

 

[Renaissance]

We must have been writing the same things about the same time!

My Mom always said great minds think alike.

 

[BrianVengeance]

Without judgement (aside from my own practice).

Amateur: practice until you get it right
Professional: practice until you can’t get it wrong

 

[Chango Malo]

Without judgement (aside from my own practice).

Amateur: practice until you get it right
Professional: practice until you can’t get it wrong

qft
an prof I had in college added a little to the end of it: "practice just makes permanent, perfect practice makes perfect". He was a stickler for practice regime like no other I've ever run into. Like "just play the last measure of the piece over and over until it's perfect, then play the last two measures until they're perfect, then three, then four...." . "work the piece at a tempo that you can perform the entire thing at all the way through and then work the tempo up gradually with a metronome until you're above the performance tempo". He was also a demon for working scales, scales in thirds, working from oddball instrument's method books and pedagogical etudes. I used to hate having to read C clef, it never stays in the same damned spot. He like to give me French violin parts to sight read, too. I think he thought it was funny. Sure made me a better sight reader. For a whole semester he gave me stuff to work on each week and never listened to a single piece. I sight read music written for other instruments in random keys.
Anyways, look for some new practice techniques, rudiments, scales, patterns, etc. If you're spending that much time in the woodshed, maybe there are more effective ways to work. It's obvious the OP gives a rat's behind and is willing to put in some effort.

 

[whero]

I'll be the one: You knowingly played it wrong for years, but you think you can get it right in 15 minutes? I don't think that's anywhere near enough to start with (although it will be plenty after you've pretty much nailed it). This is the process I use:

1. First break down your old ghosting habit, by listening to that part of the track over and over until you can confidently hum all the right notes in exactly the right places.
2. Find those notes on the neck, and if you read/write music (or tabs if that works for you) transcribe them onto paper.
3. Figure out the fingering until you know which frets on which strings to use, and you've got the pattern clear in your head and in your hands.
4. Practise it at a reduced speed, as many times as necessary until you've nailed the sequence and you develop some kind of muscle memory for it.
5. Practise it several more times, picking up the pace until you're at the correct tempo.
6. Practise the changes several times, i.e. play a few bars before the bit you're having trouble with, transition into that new pattern, play it all the way through, then go into the first few bars of whatever comes next.
7. Then put the song back on and try putting it all together.

I don't think you can do all that in 15 minutes. I once spent about an hour going through this process for a measley eight bars in the bridge of a rock song that sounded so easy when I hummed it in my head, but I just couldn't get right on the bass.

Oh, then do it again tomorrow, starting at #4. And the next day. On the fourth day you can probably start at #6. On the second week you're probably OK to just do #7.

 

[bfields]

For me I find it's often just a matter of time.

And I'm not even talking about time practicing, just time passing. Banging my head against the same wall over and over doesn't help as much as just giving it my best for a short time, setting it aside, and coming back to it. Sometimes I think it even helps to set it aside for a little *longer*--if I did it OK today, I'll give it a miss the next day and see if I still have it the day after.

Frustrating answer if you really want it perfect for a gig this weekend, I know.

Also a fan of trying to isolate the one part that's a problem and turning it into an exercise--drill it in different keys, with different rhythms, whatever.

 

[jamro217]

It helps to sing the part, regardless of what kind of voice you have or if you have to transpose. The mechanism of internalizing the line through the act of singing helps you to understand it better. When the time comes to play it, you automatically break it down into small bites (when singing you breathe). That allows you to concentrate on one segment at a time, rather than trying to tackle the whole thing at once.