I'm bored....give me something to learn!

[Harper]

I do have Standing in the Shadows; Jamerson is up there for me in the heroes department, but haven't really tackled his style.

I know people have been recommending his recordings already, but if you want to get into sightreading with some fun stuff (assuming that you know the basics?) I highly recommend the book Standing in the Shadows of Motown, with dozens of notated James Jamerson basslines, and a Cd that is great fun to play along with. For some simpler reading stuff (I think I sort of started with these), try some of the Bach cello suites, assuming you're at least somewhat into classical music and wouldn't kill yourself playing them. I used the Josquin des Prez book (not the composer, the writer), and taped over the tablature, which really helped.

 

[lomo]

I just posted this elsewhere, IME it's waaay more fun than learning someone else's tunes (although that's obviously a ggod tool as well).

One thing that's helping me a lot is using a looper to make my own tunes. Pick a chord progression, either from a tune or your your own head. First play the chords high up on your bass, either plucked in unison or individually in a cool rhythm, then add a beat by layering ghost notes (plucked or slapped), then let the loop play and improvise your baseline underneath it. This is fun because you're making your own tunes, and will make you practice many facets at once. Limitless possibilities...