It's all pretty much been said. But, I have been playing for years +. I never take any distractions into the studio. Especially the damn phone! Even if I'm there just to noodle around.
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I Learned Better When I Had No Money (& No Internet)
- Thread starter Smallmouth_Bass
- Start date
I learn better when I'm on a deadline for a gig. Throw anything at me then and it gets done.
I started playing when I was 34 (51 now) so I missed all the youthful learning that everyone talks about, but I know for a fact that I would not have had the conviction or discipline to commit to the bass as a kid that I have now.
Also - money and technology: I can afford to play whatever I feel like playing (within reason). Being able to afford nice instruments, amps, a decent Mac for recording etc has been a huge help. I know cheap gear is great nowadays, but I would have struggled to have any gear at all when I was younger. And the main thing that is rarely mentioned - it’s so much easier to actually learn stuff now because of audio editors, DAW’s, streaming media etc. I don’t know if I would have had the patience to learn anything bass related at all if I had to rely on vhs, vinyl, tapes and books. If I hear a phrase I like on an old record, I grab it from youtube, I throw it in an audio editor and in maybe an hour I’ve learnt it and can start working it into my playing.
On the downside - work and life sucks away a lot of energy. My brain hasn’t slowed down as far as I can tell, but adult responsibilities are stressful and they eat my energy.
Also - money and technology: I can afford to play whatever I feel like playing (within reason). Being able to afford nice instruments, amps, a decent Mac for recording etc has been a huge help. I know cheap gear is great nowadays, but I would have struggled to have any gear at all when I was younger. And the main thing that is rarely mentioned - it’s so much easier to actually learn stuff now because of audio editors, DAW’s, streaming media etc. I don’t know if I would have had the patience to learn anything bass related at all if I had to rely on vhs, vinyl, tapes and books. If I hear a phrase I like on an old record, I grab it from youtube, I throw it in an audio editor and in maybe an hour I’ve learnt it and can start working it into my playing.
On the downside - work and life sucks away a lot of energy. My brain hasn’t slowed down as far as I can tell, but adult responsibilities are stressful and they eat my energy.
Illustration.........the internet, spell check has not made me a better speller but worse then ever. Now, I don't even try to spell correctly because spell check does it for me. Thanks internet!
I used to spend time and effort learning basslines from Lps and Cds. This advanced my bass skills and ear training. But now, when I want to learn a bassline, I go to YouTube and find an instructional video on the bassline for a particular song. Too easy, no effort. Thanks internet!
Is the internet good for us bass players, really?
Back in the 60s and 70s, it was a time of little money. Even owning one bass was a challenge. Now, there are basses all over the place on Craigs List, Market Place, Reverb.com, TalkBass Classified, and all of the on line music stores. Basses from Indonesia, China, etc for very low prices. I think every bassist has more than one bass now. Some of us have "collections".
I remember at age 16 seeing a MIJ bass guitar at Woolworths back in the late 60s, it was $99. But, $99 dollars back then was equal to about $1,000 today. In the late 60s, a new Fender was around $280 or equal to about $2,800 in today's money. As a result, we had one bass and we played it!
Today, there are new Squire basses for $129 and some for $219. In 60s money, that $12.90 and $21.90. MIM Fenders for $59.99 and up and higher end USA Fenders for $240.00 in 1960s money. Compared to the 60s, 2024's prices are very affordable with today's income level.
So, basses and equipment are plenty and affordable in our day and age and as a result....................most of us suffer with GAS! Instead of playing bass and learning bass and becoming a better bass player, we are obsessed with Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
Sorry for my generalized comment related to this thread but there are some facts to it.
It's 2024, we can't go back into time. The culture today is different than years gone by. Nothing we can do about it.
Take Frank Zappa's advice for guitar and substitute the word, "bass".
"Shut up and play your bass."
I used to spend time and effort learning basslines from Lps and Cds. This advanced my bass skills and ear training. But now, when I want to learn a bassline, I go to YouTube and find an instructional video on the bassline for a particular song. Too easy, no effort. Thanks internet!
Is the internet good for us bass players, really?
Back in the 60s and 70s, it was a time of little money. Even owning one bass was a challenge. Now, there are basses all over the place on Craigs List, Market Place, Reverb.com, TalkBass Classified, and all of the on line music stores. Basses from Indonesia, China, etc for very low prices. I think every bassist has more than one bass now. Some of us have "collections".
I remember at age 16 seeing a MIJ bass guitar at Woolworths back in the late 60s, it was $99. But, $99 dollars back then was equal to about $1,000 today. In the late 60s, a new Fender was around $280 or equal to about $2,800 in today's money. As a result, we had one bass and we played it!
Today, there are new Squire basses for $129 and some for $219. In 60s money, that $12.90 and $21.90. MIM Fenders for $59.99 and up and higher end USA Fenders for $240.00 in 1960s money. Compared to the 60s, 2024's prices are very affordable with today's income level.
So, basses and equipment are plenty and affordable in our day and age and as a result....................most of us suffer with GAS! Instead of playing bass and learning bass and becoming a better bass player, we are obsessed with Gear Acquisition Syndrome.
Sorry for my generalized comment related to this thread but there are some facts to it.
It's 2024, we can't go back into time. The culture today is different than years gone by. Nothing we can do about it.
Take Frank Zappa's advice for guitar and substitute the word, "bass".
"Shut up and play your bass."
I always work better with a deadline and I always seem to be working to my next gig or rehearsal. There's nothing like the motivation of looking like a fool on the bandstand!
Over-reliance on technology can allow us to mentally atrophy - like spelling skills regressing due to spell-check or loss of spatial awareness due to the prevalence of GPS.
But mainly I think it's just a fact of how our brains acquire skills and information as we age.
I think there is well-documented neurological science explaining why people learn skills more quickly when they're young.
Neuroplasticity is part of it, as is the still-forming prefrontal cortex.
When we're younger, we make those connections more easily - but after a point, we lose the ability to acquire those skills on a native level.
Phonetics are an example - people who aren't exposed to certain sounds until later in life will have trouble integrating those sounds into their speaking, no matter how fluent they are.
Personally, I learned to read before kindergarten and was always several grade levels ahead.
But I didn't start reading music until 5th grade - and my proficiency at sight-reading music was always mediocre, at best.
Several years into it, I'd still be thinking "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge - so that note is a D" which is WAY too long of a mental process to keep up.
Then I joined a band, and everything was based on playing by ear - and I found my niche.
Similarly, I've built dozens of stompboxes and repaired lots of electronics - but I still have to pull up a chart to read the color code on resistors, every time.
It's frustrating, but that applies to most aspects of getting older.
But mainly I think it's just a fact of how our brains acquire skills and information as we age.
I think there is well-documented neurological science explaining why people learn skills more quickly when they're young.
Neuroplasticity is part of it, as is the still-forming prefrontal cortex.
When we're younger, we make those connections more easily - but after a point, we lose the ability to acquire those skills on a native level.
Phonetics are an example - people who aren't exposed to certain sounds until later in life will have trouble integrating those sounds into their speaking, no matter how fluent they are.
Personally, I learned to read before kindergarten and was always several grade levels ahead.
But I didn't start reading music until 5th grade - and my proficiency at sight-reading music was always mediocre, at best.
Several years into it, I'd still be thinking "Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge - so that note is a D" which is WAY too long of a mental process to keep up.
Then I joined a band, and everything was based on playing by ear - and I found my niche.
Similarly, I've built dozens of stompboxes and repaired lots of electronics - but I still have to pull up a chart to read the color code on resistors, every time.
It's frustrating, but that applies to most aspects of getting older.
You learned faster when you were younger because....you were younger. No big surprise, but....there is a way out.
When I was younger, there was a band where I learned new material from time to time. The material was mostly stuff that was playing on the radio (remember that?) all the time, so it was already kinda in my brain.
Now...a bunch of decades later, I play church gigs every week (unless I'm o vacation), and - pretty much every week, I'm learning a new tune ()sometimes more than one). I learn tunes faster now, but it's because I'm doing it all the time. What you focus on, you get good at. Not any more complicated than that.
You can teach an old dog new licks.
When I was younger, there was a band where I learned new material from time to time. The material was mostly stuff that was playing on the radio (remember that?) all the time, so it was already kinda in my brain.
Now...a bunch of decades later, I play church gigs every week (unless I'm o vacation), and - pretty much every week, I'm learning a new tune ()sometimes more than one). I learn tunes faster now, but it's because I'm doing it all the time. What you focus on, you get good at. Not any more complicated than that.
You can teach an old dog new licks.
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I just turned 63, and my processing speed and mental agility is definitely less than when I was younger. My memory was never great, but now it’s terrible. On the other hand I’ve gained “wisdom”, which IMO is really the ability to use your existing processing power more efficiently.
However, I think that the technical advances have been very positive on the whole. Online lessons and videos and applications to help with transcription, notation and other musical tasks have been invaluable. I’ve been going back to basics, getting my technique and fingerboard knowledge up to the level it should have been years ago. My fingers may not be as fast as they were, but I can play faster and more accurately cause of my increased knowledge and perspective.
I’ve just retired and one of my goals for music (and also to keep my mind sharp) is to REALLY learn to play jazz. I’ve played it for decades and I’ve fooled a lot of people.
But i want to be able to hear and play jazz as easily as I can play rock, to become a native speaker so to speak. We’ll see how that goes.
However, I think that the technical advances have been very positive on the whole. Online lessons and videos and applications to help with transcription, notation and other musical tasks have been invaluable. I’ve been going back to basics, getting my technique and fingerboard knowledge up to the level it should have been years ago. My fingers may not be as fast as they were, but I can play faster and more accurately cause of my increased knowledge and perspective.
I’ve just retired and one of my goals for music (and also to keep my mind sharp) is to REALLY learn to play jazz. I’ve played it for decades and I’ve fooled a lot of people.
But i want to be able to hear and play jazz as easily as I can play rock, to become a native speaker so to speak. We’ll see how that goes.Similar threads
