Need help defining goals

[FatTony87]

Whats up talkbass? I'm a short time lurker to this forum, I've been playing bass off and on since I was 15 (23 now) and now I've recently picked it up again and it feels like a life time commitment this time.

I would consider myself an intermediate bass player, I can pretty much play any riff, and learn simple songs by ear (with mistakes of course, but I get close) I would consider myself at reading music though, as I started reading just tabs. But I've found that I now have a lifetime commitment to the bass guitar, and want to start jamming with people (haven't for years).

But I don't know if I'm "good" or "ready" enough as I'm still a little rusty.

My ultimate goal is to play in a blues jam, and I have a good understanding of the 12 bar blues, is that enough?

My questions are as follows
how do I get to these goals?
What should I practice?
What do I need to be able to do to play in a blues jam?
How do I gauge myself if I'm good enough?

.I apologize for the length of this post, Appreciate your time if you answer, or read this.

-Tony

 

[Snarf]

If you're at a loss for what to practice, get a good teacher. I could sit here and tell you exactly what to practice, and then I'll bet someone else would come in and tell you a bunch of useless junk and theory lessons copied from a half-*** web site that has nothing to do with what you're all about. The reality is, your questions are so broad that it requires personal interaction. So a better idea: find a good teacher, and start playing along to recordings using your ear. That will be a good start for blues playing, because internalizing the 12 bar form and where chords change is pretty key.

 

[jp58]

Play with other people as much as possible. You'd be surprised how much it helps to play with other bassists/guitarists/drummers.

 

[Limo]

You will get a lot of great advices that's in general good advices so I'm going to be a little bit abstract.

Put in a cd with someting you know how to play
put your bass in front of you
when the song is playing look at the bass and imagine yourself playing it, by focusing on the notes that you would play if you were actually playing it.
Do this again maybe 4 or 5 times
6th time try to find out what notes you think could be added by having your original idea of the song and how it's played with the added notes
following me so far?
Now pickup the bass and try out these notes
if they work you know you have a good ear and you know your way around the neck
if they don't work, try again

The most important thing in music is not technique
The most important thing is training your ear

Hope this helps