Making the jump from hack to musician...

[tothemax]

Sorry for intro here but some might have a shared story. I've been playing guitar for many years on and off, played with small pickup bands and even made the trip to the Hollywood scene in my 20's (playing by ear with a few hot licks...). Anyway... like many others, my love of music was not paying the bills and that dream took a back seat. Fast forward to about 10 years ago. My wife knew that I had played at one time let me know that a club we belonged to had a band and needed a guitar player (I still had my 70's Strat tucked away in the closet). So, I did my first audition in 20 something years and got the gig, and immediately the band leader handed me a bass (which I had never played before). My wife had no idea of the pull that playing music creates, buts shes been a great sport about it. Now three bands later, I'm playing with some really talented guys and we have a lot of fun - but I'm still basically a hack and beyond a few standard patterns really don't have a good working knowledge of the fretboard. There are so many resources out there it's really hard to find a place to start. When I need to work out a new song I can find a youtube and get up to speed to cover my part but it's a simple version and I would really like to get a better foundation. I've watched a few of the Rick Beato youtubes on Why this song is great, and it really drives the need to learn home. Would appreciate any suggestions...

 

[Mushroo]

Next time you learn a new song, instead of learning a simplified or "close enough" version, try to transcribe the song note-for-note (as best you can with your current skill set).

Once you have transcribed the song in the original key, then take the song's main riff or lick, and copy it out in all 12 keys. Then practice playing it in every key. Learning material in all keys (and seeing how it relates to the written notes on the page) will really help you gain "a good working knowledge of the fretboard."

 

[bholder]

First suggestion: All italics are very hard to read! Edit: OK, too slow. Second suggestion. And what @Mushroo said!

 

[MalcolmAmos]

What Mushroo said. My take on all this is we are to call attention to the root. Keep the beat going and fall into a groove with everyone else. It's not all that complicated. Why?

The songwriter has placed the chords so that the chord's "spelling aka makeup" share some of the active melody notes. When this happens we harmonize the melody and sound good with the rest of the song.

So follow the chords and play notes that harmonize with the melody. Yes I know which ones? I stick with the root, 3 or b3, 5, 6 if major, and the correct 7 or b7. I leave the higher chord notes to the solo instruments. The 9, 11 and 13 may be what you want to explore.

A walk here or there and some of the fills seem to fill out most of what we do.

Less is usually more and the groove is everything. Beyond that it's style, and/or technique.

Happy trails.

 

[tothemax]

I Appreciate the feedback, with a few years of bass under my belt and playing a fair amount live my goal is to move beyond my 1-3-5 and hanging on the root safety net. I do have a good ear and for some reason early on with guitar the pentatonic scale came without much effort (could tell you what notes I was playing, probably not). I can pull off a good bass run, some walks, keep a groove going - maybe simplistic but not awful. I guess what I'm looking for is good place to start merging basic theory without going back to a Mel Bay 101 book. MalcomAmos - hit it dead on - I've got the 1, the 3, and 5 - would never think to use the b3 or b7 until I go there unknowingly on a run or changeup. I guess by "learning the fretboard" I mean learning how to use it to my advantage rather memorizing patterns and noodling until it fits.

 

[Russell L]

Learn basic theory. You'd be surprised how much it will help.