Learning to play bass can be a paradox.
The beginner's initial progress can be gratifyingly fast. Many noobies find that they can get pretty good tone and can play simple root-oriented lines pretty quickly.
A new bassist can literally play a few songs with a band in only weeks!
That is the good part about learning to play the bass.
Unfortunately, many beginners think that this early success indicates that they are already skilled bassists and fail to continue to learn and study the instrument.
I've seen many bands in my area of western Ohio. Nearly all have a good guitarist or two (a few are great!) - yet few have a bassist of equal skill.
From the bassists, I usually hear simplistic parts, poorly imitated lines on cover tunes, and weak technique that limits tone, speed and feel.
It often sounds like the bassist hasn't progressed past the 12-month mark of development.
Because the bassist's impact on a band is huge, the noobie should remember that good bass playing takes a long time to develop.
Good luck!
The beginner's initial progress can be gratifyingly fast. Many noobies find that they can get pretty good tone and can play simple root-oriented lines pretty quickly.
A new bassist can literally play a few songs with a band in only weeks!
That is the good part about learning to play the bass.
Unfortunately, many beginners think that this early success indicates that they are already skilled bassists and fail to continue to learn and study the instrument.
I've seen many bands in my area of western Ohio. Nearly all have a good guitarist or two (a few are great!) - yet few have a bassist of equal skill.
From the bassists, I usually hear simplistic parts, poorly imitated lines on cover tunes, and weak technique that limits tone, speed and feel.
It often sounds like the bassist hasn't progressed past the 12-month mark of development.
Because the bassist's impact on a band is huge, the noobie should remember that good bass playing takes a long time to develop.
Good luck!
