Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
musical advice to your younger self
- Thread starter skygzr
- Start date
Today is my 65th birthday. I've been playing bass since age 12. Sound like I've been playing since age 64 sometimes. All of the stuff about more discipline, formal study, reading apply. However, I'm quite happy with my life so pretty leery about changing my past. Butterfly effect and whatnot...
1) To become really good on an instrument takes far more hours of practice than I had put in, which was why I never became proficient on any of the instruments I played. Only now in my middle-age, after REALLY practicing for hours everyday (sometimes up to 7 hours a day, when I had the rare luxury of time), did I feel like I was improving significantly. If I had known how many hours it took to get good, I would have put the time in and mastered at least one instrument.
2) Really learn to read music and study music theory. No matter how difficult it seems, just chip away at it a little at a time, and don't slack off.
3) Study jazz much more seriously than I did. Learn the chord progressions, scales, modes.
2) Really learn to read music and study music theory. No matter how difficult it seems, just chip away at it a little at a time, and don't slack off.
3) Study jazz much more seriously than I did. Learn the chord progressions, scales, modes.
Last edited:
Practice more, and practice the right things. Don’t just jam with tunes you love.
Always study with an instructor. External, unbiased observation and leadership is important for growth.
Record everything! Practice, gigs, jams, recording sessions. Recordings don’t lie and you will be a better player for it.
Always study with an instructor. External, unbiased observation and leadership is important for growth.
Record everything! Practice, gigs, jams, recording sessions. Recordings don’t lie and you will be a better player for it.
Practice more, and practice the right things. Don’t just jam with tunes you love.
Always study with an instructor. External, unbiased observation and leadership is important for growth.
Record everything! Practice, gigs, jams, recording sessions. Recordings don’t lie and you will be a better player for it.
Always study with an instructor. External, unbiased observation and leadership is important for growth.
Record everything! Practice, gigs, jams, recording sessions. Recordings don’t lie and you will be a better player for it.
Learn Giant Steps in every key. Practice playing over II-V-I in every key. Learn to sight read on every instrument you play. Internalize the alt scale. Transcribe more solos and learn to play them note for note, not just the bass parts. Realize that all music is music, be it Bach, bluegrass, or bebop. Listen better. And follow Ron Carter's advice when you play live: "The job of the bassist is to make the band sound good."
To start before age 64 ... but glad I did start. Have a cigar ... the song, not the actual thing.
1. Focus on time, groove, & ears - don't worry about trying to impress.
2. Take care of your fingers/hands/arms - stretch, warm-up, listen to your body just like every high-level athlete does.
3. Setup your instrument to play as easily as possible and focus on using the minimal force needed to sound the notes.
When I was young I spent countless hours running my fingers mindless up and down the neck playing scale and scale exercises. I literally did this every day and night for years. Very few could say that they spent more time on their instrument daily than I did. Hours of running scales up and down the neck just to get fast, impressive, fluid chops. Wasn't even listening or paying attention to what I was doing. Just sat in front of a TV and ran my fingers. The sole purpose of this was to impress others with my chops. I'm 56 years old now and have arthritis in my left hand. I can't help but think that all of those mindless hours running scales took valuable miles off of my joints/hands.
I should have been listening more, working on my ear. Working on groove and time and feel. But that wasn't cool enough for young me. Now that I can no longer play those chops I've been forced to slow down and work on the only things available to me - ear, groove, time, feel, and tone. Wish I had done this LONG ago. Ego, stupid ego... Sigh...
2. Take care of your fingers/hands/arms - stretch, warm-up, listen to your body just like every high-level athlete does.
3. Setup your instrument to play as easily as possible and focus on using the minimal force needed to sound the notes.
When I was young I spent countless hours running my fingers mindless up and down the neck playing scale and scale exercises. I literally did this every day and night for years. Very few could say that they spent more time on their instrument daily than I did. Hours of running scales up and down the neck just to get fast, impressive, fluid chops. Wasn't even listening or paying attention to what I was doing. Just sat in front of a TV and ran my fingers. The sole purpose of this was to impress others with my chops. I'm 56 years old now and have arthritis in my left hand. I can't help but think that all of those mindless hours running scales took valuable miles off of my joints/hands.
I should have been listening more, working on my ear. Working on groove and time and feel. But that wasn't cool enough for young me. Now that I can no longer play those chops I've been forced to slow down and work on the only things available to me - ear, groove, time, feel, and tone. Wish I had done this LONG ago. Ego, stupid ego... Sigh...
Very good topic; thanks for throwing this out here!
As I'm completely self-taught, I would emphasise studying theory and learning to read music, even just a little bit, so as to be able to improv more on-the-fly. I don't read music; even though I was in choir and band in school, my ear is such that I could easily pick out my part within a couple of listens at most without having to learn to read music, which made me extremely lazy, so I'd also recommend ~not~ relying on my innate ability to pick out notes/parts. Basically, don't leave any tools laying unused in the drawer. I now know juuuust enough theory to hold me back from experimenting while playing, which is something I didn't give a crap about when I was 14 and first learning the bass.
That being said, I'm still learning from all the players around me, so it's not a case of arrested development; more along the lines of unrealized potential.
1. Learn to read music (I did...it’s invaluable
2. Learn your various scales (again...invaluable)
3. Practice every day for at least an hour.
4. Don’t worry about the bass you buy. There are lots of good ones out there.
5. Learn to play piano. Helps with writing music.
6. Don’t be afraid to play different styles of music (I did!). Jazz, blues, country, rag time, etc all make you a better and more diverse musician.
7. See #3.
8. Take care of yourself physically.
9. You don’t have to impress anyone. You ate backbone of the band. Be solid.
2. Learn your various scales (again...invaluable)
3. Practice every day for at least an hour.
4. Don’t worry about the bass you buy. There are lots of good ones out there.
5. Learn to play piano. Helps with writing music.
6. Don’t be afraid to play different styles of music (I did!). Jazz, blues, country, rag time, etc all make you a better and more diverse musician.
7. See #3.
8. Take care of yourself physically.
9. You don’t have to impress anyone. You ate backbone of the band. Be solid.
To my younger self:
Believe in yourself, and promote, promote, promote. Seek out work constantly, even after the phone starts to ring regularly. Take every gig you can find, and go on the road at a moment's notice.
The reality of my life has been I was too humble and timid which made me look like I had no self confidence. I sometimes turned down gigs because of the logistics which was just plain lazy. I also turned down road work due to a hatred of being on the road, which was just plain stupid. These were big mistakes because I lost the opportunity to get more experience, meet and network with other musicians, and put myself in the spotlight in front of large audiences. The result was I ended up a somewhat unknown session musician (ala the Wrecking Crew), and now that I am old and fat, I will never be hired to back up Katy Perry. LOL. The good thing is I am still working, and there still is a need for solid bassists out there.
A perfect example of how I took the low road and a friend of mine took the high road is the following. Back in the late 70's, I was playing as a clinician at NAMM. There was a guy my same age and similar skill level named Vail Johnson at NAMM, and we often hung out together or played together in various booths to bring people around. Vail was much better at networking and promoting himself than I was, and it was not long before he had started working with Kenny G, producing his solo album, and setting down roots in Nashville. Today, he is well known and has travelled the World many times over.
My choice to stay in L.A., and live a more insular life in the studios has kept my name, Trevor Lindsey, unknown to the general public, and unrecognized except to people in the industry. I still can't complain, and the anonymity is nobody's fault but my own, but sometimes I dream of what could have been.
Believe in yourself, and promote, promote, promote. Seek out work constantly, even after the phone starts to ring regularly. Take every gig you can find, and go on the road at a moment's notice.
The reality of my life has been I was too humble and timid which made me look like I had no self confidence. I sometimes turned down gigs because of the logistics which was just plain lazy. I also turned down road work due to a hatred of being on the road, which was just plain stupid. These were big mistakes because I lost the opportunity to get more experience, meet and network with other musicians, and put myself in the spotlight in front of large audiences. The result was I ended up a somewhat unknown session musician (ala the Wrecking Crew), and now that I am old and fat, I will never be hired to back up Katy Perry. LOL. The good thing is I am still working, and there still is a need for solid bassists out there.
A perfect example of how I took the low road and a friend of mine took the high road is the following. Back in the late 70's, I was playing as a clinician at NAMM. There was a guy my same age and similar skill level named Vail Johnson at NAMM, and we often hung out together or played together in various booths to bring people around. Vail was much better at networking and promoting himself than I was, and it was not long before he had started working with Kenny G, producing his solo album, and setting down roots in Nashville. Today, he is well known and has travelled the World many times over.
My choice to stay in L.A., and live a more insular life in the studios has kept my name, Trevor Lindsey, unknown to the general public, and unrecognized except to people in the industry. I still can't complain, and the anonymity is nobody's fault but my own, but sometimes I dream of what could have been.
Last edited:
Learn everything you can to the best of your ability practice like he'll and sell absolutely NOTHING!
Don't lie to yourself, that you are allredy good enough. Don't be so arrogant to think "if I can't play it, nobody needs it anyway".
Don't displace the things you can't play, accept them as a challange to get better.
Have less prejudices.
Listen to people, that are older and more experienced than you. Don't take them as old farts....
Don't displace the things you can't play, accept them as a challange to get better.
Have less prejudices.
Listen to people, that are older and more experienced than you. Don't take them as old farts....
Hmmm... how about a top 10?
1. Keep learning:
1a. How to sight read
1b. Especially the bass clef
1c. Groove and timing
2. Don't stop writing songs. Yes most of them are poor to terrible but 1/100 is actually not bad.
3. Buy that p-bass (late 60s) from Mr. Dawson. Do not buy that (late 70s) Gibson bass.
4. Learn to sing.
5. Listen to your music professor. The university will always be there but these opportunities will not -- nor will your willingness to drive 4 hours to play a 45 minute set and sleep on a couch. Hold off on grad school until you have taken your college band as far as it will go. And let's face it, "far" would be a tour of 3 states and releasing an EP that will sell well among a circle of about 200 people, but you will not look back and say "what if..."
6. She's not worth it.
7. Just because a musician is famous or semi-famous does not mean they are very good. Just because a musician is not famous or semi-famous does not mean they are not very good. Don't be confused here.
8. Health is important. Good things: sleep, vegetables, water, condoms. Bad things: drugs, 7-11 food, soda.
9. Do not suffer the presence of liars, fools, drunks or addicts. Especially anywhere close to your music.
10. Take more chances and have more faith in yourself.
1. Keep learning:
1a. How to sight read
1b. Especially the bass clef
1c. Groove and timing
2. Don't stop writing songs. Yes most of them are poor to terrible but 1/100 is actually not bad.
3. Buy that p-bass (late 60s) from Mr. Dawson. Do not buy that (late 70s) Gibson bass.
4. Learn to sing.
5. Listen to your music professor. The university will always be there but these opportunities will not -- nor will your willingness to drive 4 hours to play a 45 minute set and sleep on a couch. Hold off on grad school until you have taken your college band as far as it will go. And let's face it, "far" would be a tour of 3 states and releasing an EP that will sell well among a circle of about 200 people, but you will not look back and say "what if..."
6. She's not worth it.
7. Just because a musician is famous or semi-famous does not mean they are very good. Just because a musician is not famous or semi-famous does not mean they are not very good. Don't be confused here.
8. Health is important. Good things: sleep, vegetables, water, condoms. Bad things: drugs, 7-11 food, soda.
9. Do not suffer the presence of liars, fools, drunks or addicts. Especially anywhere close to your music.
10. Take more chances and have more faith in yourself.
1. Wear hearing protection.
2. Learn to read.
3. Listen, I mean really listen to all the parts in music, not just the bass line.
4. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable and trying new and hard things.
5. Play with musicians that are much better than you. Getting your ass kicked will really get you to up your game.
6. Just be a decent patient person and be kind to others and be willing to take criticism and advice when given.
I could list a dozen more, but do these and you’ll thank yourself later.
2. Learn to read.
3. Listen, I mean really listen to all the parts in music, not just the bass line.
4. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable and trying new and hard things.
5. Play with musicians that are much better than you. Getting your ass kicked will really get you to up your game.
6. Just be a decent patient person and be kind to others and be willing to take criticism and advice when given.
I could list a dozen more, but do these and you’ll thank yourself later.
- listen to the whole music when you play with others, not only the drums
- keep it tight
- dance/move more while you play
- keep your gear simple but effective
- play study play study play
- enjoy your music
- get pro ear protection, now
- never sell your instruments
- keep it tight
- dance/move more while you play
- keep your gear simple but effective
- play study play study play
- enjoy your music
- get pro ear protection, now
- never sell your instruments
