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musical advice to your younger self

#21
All good suggestions. I would add "incorporate Simandl method into your strict one-finger-per-fret technique, as you may injure yourself. One day there will be a thing called Youtube on this thing called the internet where you will see Jaco doing just that. The left hand hybrid technique you saw in that heartbreaking Jaco / Jerry Jemmott instructional video was not because he was on drugs."

And,

"Stop being a fretless nazi, it's good to play fretted too."
 
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#24
Learn how to finger-pick a 6-string .. you EEEediot!

mackie.jpg
 
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#26
skygzr said:
I'm 60-ish, and I think a bunch of us are within a decade of that number. If you're younger, please enjoy yourself responsibly, and hopefully you'll join our club someday ;-)

The title says it all, what would you tell your younger self? Aside from "buy Apple stock when it was cheap" or "stay away from the blonde in the little black dress (yes, THAT one)".

I wish I had understood how to be a better singer back in the day. I wasn't any good at it till I was about forty and I rather enjoy it now. But maybe this is a skill that has to be earned an no amount of advice would have made any difference.

The other thing is: don't wait for permission to try something new. Actually this is a good thought to keep handy at any age.

Be healthy and safe, y'all.
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Id tell myself to not sell that Hughes and Kettner Bass Head I had.
 
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#27
Stop being 18!

I wish I'd paid more attention in Composition class. Although my real problem back then was that it all came a little too easy. I played in blues bands, three-chord-rock bands, tons of fun, none of it particularly challenging, but they paid. It was years before I decided to take playing seriously.
 
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#31
- The guy who is better connected, better looking, and has better networking/self promotion skills will ALWAYS get the gig you really wanted. Doesn’t matter if you play 100x better than that person. Don’t work on the playing part so damn hard. Focus on the other things if you’d like some career traction and money.

-Gear is usually a pointless rabbit hole. You will always sound like you and nothing will change that. Find a setup that works for you and stick with it. You need to spend the time you’re wasting looking at Reverb and the Bass Central website on other things.

- Most musicians don’t know what a good bass player is, including most bass players. Be prepared for this.

-You have to be easy to work with, provide solutions instead of problems, and be the bandmember that the bandleader never has to worry about.

- Learn songs. After that sit down and learn some songs, and when you finish with that, learn more songs. Repertoire and the musical fact you can learn from having it is invaluable.

— Don’t mistake camps and feel-good psychology for actual musical instruction - it doesn’t work.

- Start working on piano playing NOW.

- Playing in time and supporting the tune will make your phone ring. The people that want you to play with them won’t know why their material sounds better when you play it, but they’ll know it sounds easier.

- If you develop into a legitimate virtuoso player, don’t shove it down people’s throats. This turns people off.

- Don’t try to play producer/songwriter and everybody else’s project. It’s not wanted or needed. Only Marcus Miller or Nathan East get to do that.

- Listen at least twice as much as you talk.

- Deal with the fact that there are people that are legitimately more experienced and talented than you are. Learn from them instead of challenging them all the time.

- You’re going to have experience based viewpoints that are absolutely correct but people will eat you alive for them. Keep them to yourself.
 
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#32
skygzr said:
I'm 60-ish, and I think a bunch of us are within a decade of that number. If you're younger, please enjoy yourself responsibly, and hopefully you'll join our club someday ;-)

The title says it all, what would you tell your younger self? Aside from "buy Apple stock when it was cheap" or "stay away from the blonde in the little black dress (yes, THAT one)".

I wish I had understood how to be a better singer back in the day. I wasn't any good at it till I was about forty and I rather enjoy it now. But maybe this is a skill that has to be earned an no amount of advice would have made any difference.

The other thing is: don't wait for permission to try something new. Actually this is a good thought to keep handy at any age.

Be healthy and safe, y'all.
Click to expand...
Learn as many songs as you can (heavy on jazz standards). Learn the melodies and lyrics, not just the chords and bass lines.

Take classical arco lessons on upright. Learn how to sing. Take piano lessons, and guitar, if you have the time.

Move to a place with more musicians and more gigs of all kinds (New York, Chicago, Nashville, maybe some place in Europe). Do it even if you feel like you're not good enough and/or don't have enough money saved.
 
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#33
Oh wow, where to start. I can't even prioritize.

1. Get some technique training, so you don't hurt yourself and have to take six months off healing.

2. Practice smarter, instead beating yourself up over the wrong things.

3. Don't ever play another gig with an abusive bandleader. Get paid, give notice, move on. If you have to, hire somebody to whip his ass, but make sure you get paid.

4. When you get a better offer for a pro gig, for gosh sakes, TAKE IT, DUMB-ASS! Don't hang onto some stupid chivalrous notion that your band is going to "make it". Chances are they won't. But you might if you show up and play your best.

5. Forget about your cheatin', lyin', four-flushin', no-good, soon-to-be ex-wife back in Virginia, and work harder while you're there in Nashville (or somewhere on the road) trying to be a bass player. Jeannie always loves you no matter what.

6. Don't worry so much. You ain't never not made it before. Playing bass is more natural to you than breathing. Don't make it harder than it needs to be. Have some fun. If it ain't fun, you don't want to do it.

*and that show at the Executive Inn, in Owensboro, Kentucky, October 1995... take an extra-long cable and a DI box, dude. Trust me on this, your 10' one ain't gonna' reach and the FOH guys are idiots. Thank me later.
 
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#36
TreySonagras said:
If I could go back and give my younger self advice it would be, “Do not hesitate to tell people to Eff Off”. This would apply to all aspects of life.
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So much good advice in this thread, makes me almost sad to read it on behalf of my younger dumb self. However, this one would've been most relevant for me...or perhaps, being a better judge of WHO to tell to eff off.
 
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