Plateau in playing, need advice

[Gorilla Monsoon]

One thing that really helped me was to quit playing for a while. It wasn’t intentional on my part, went back to college, got married, built a house. Took 4 years off, played < 10 times. When I picked back up, it was slow going at first, but it built up pretty quickly. During that time off, I was still listening, rather intently and found that I could isolate the bass part to familiar tunes. I gained a better understanding of what the role of the bass player is. I’m not suggesting anyone take an extended leave, but quitting for a month might not be a bad idea.

 

[Medicine Man]

Sometimes working on a different instrument for a bit can help.

 

[cosmicevan]

I second this (I learned a LOT that way), with one minor question: Radio? - does that still exist?

Whatever way you get music...and if you can't get music, put on the TV and play to what you see n hear. You'll develop a really excellent muscle around playing to emotion and who knows, maybe this could be the gateway into film scoring?

 

[Swings]

I recently started taking a private lesson every 2-3 weeks with a lot of practice in between. BEST THING I EVER DID

Before that I got a lot out of Truefire. If you catch a sale it's $50 a year and has great Music Theory classes.

Or, one of the best online classes I took was Low End University for $10 a month. He's a very good teacher and has an excellent Music Theory class.

Online Bass Lessons With Low End University - Low End University

i agree with you re: taking lessons

whether or not a player has ever taken lessons, there is true value in getting lessons from a teacher who “meets you on your level” and can understand what more you want to achieve.

The best way to find the right teacher is to clearly articulate specific goals. Also be ready to think back to what got you into bass originally, what inspires you.

having a one on one teacher allows your teacher to assess your technique and any clear challenges stopping you achieving your lesson goals.
You also get to assess THEIR technique and ‘do they have ‘it’.

All it can do is open your mind. You are at liberty to hire and fire if it’s not working.
Also as adults we gain from learning what credentials the teacher has; ask around or look them up.


Sounds to me like a bass mid-life crisis.
I’m going through one, associated stagnation and wishing to become more proficient at the foundation of what appeals to me about EB. (After playing a while i began playing what others wanted to hear but it’s not my bass heritage)

Also agree with the poster who suggested “stop it, come back later in life”
Seems to echo the sentiment of If you’re having a hard time nailing a line you are practicing leave it and let your brain work on it.

 

[Swings]

Hi everyone. I need some advice. I have been playing bass for several years, learning songs mainly by reading tablature and play along via YouTube or in the old days PowerTabs. I can cover several songs but am unable to improvise, walk the fretboard with a groovy bass line, call out a blues in whatever key and start jamming, etc. I want to work on having the ability to do this and know what notes I am actually playing. How best to get there? Online lessons? Instructor one on one? Do I need to learn more music theory? I had music education and band for four years in middle and part of high school. I was good at reading music in treble clef but have since forgot all that stuff. Thanks in advance!

In the meantime, get a copy of a book such as this one.

Scales, arpeggios, licks, tablature AND clef, basic fingerboard sheets shapes.
Offers some variety and is like wandering in to someone else’s kitchen and peeking through their spice rack.

My advice is from the perspective of someone who never took bass theory that well.
Played in orchestra at school but after i went to the dark side with EB, punk, rock, my grade 4 AMEB skills got un-remembered


Well i just busted some copyright law reproducing this book mechanically or by any other means shrug ~\/~

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hi everyone. I need some advice. I have been playing bass for several years, learning songs mainly by reading tablature and play along via YouTube or in the old days PowerTabs. I can cover several songs but am unable to improvise, walk the fretboard with a groovy bass line, call out a blues in whatever key and start jamming, etc. I want to work on having the ability to do this and know what notes I am actually playing. How best to get there? Online lessons? Instructor one on one? Do I need to learn more music theory? I had music education and band for four years in middle and part of high school. I was good at reading music in treble clef but have since forgot all that stuff. Thanks in advance!

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hi everyone. I need some advice. I have been playing bass for several years, learning songs mainly by reading tablature and play along via YouTube or in the old days PowerTabs. I can cover several songs but am unable to improvise, walk the fretboard with a groovy bass line, call out a blues in whatever key and start jamming, etc. I want to work on having the ability to do this and know what notes I am actually playing. How best to get there? Online lessons? Instructor one on one? Do I need to learn more music theory? I had music education and band for four years in middle and part of high school. I was good at reading music in treble clef but have since forgot all that stuff. Thanks in advance!

I think a few lessons with a live instructor to get your headed in the right direction. As for running into a rut, that just means you’ve run out of ideas. My advice is to listen to a broader range of music, and steal as many lines as you can.

I used to listen to a fair amount of swing era music, smooth jazz, or classic rock, for grist and added a lot of tools for in the “tool box” that has served me in good stead for decades.

 

[Les Fret]

In all seriousness, you’ll be well and truly stuck for the rest of your life if you don’t branch out and learn some other genres.

I agree. Also listen to others styles of music than rock if you want to make progress. And I would suggest a good private teacher which doesn’t teach you songs only.

 

[Les Fret]

Simplify. Probably 95% of the material you’re covering can be accessed just on the E & A strings. Of that, likely 80% of those notes are in first and second position.

Not if your name is Victor W, Gary W or Jaco P or most other great players!

 

[MVE]

Step 1. is to learn the Major scale. Two octaves, with a metronome at 60 bpm, all 15 keys, around the circle of 5ths. C-G-D-A..etc.
I suggest you print out the attached and first, say the names of each note while looking at the sheet, (with metronome), then start playing them on bass, (saying name-playing note-two octaves-all 15 keys-60 bpm).
That should realistically take about a month to learn if you give it about 30mins to an hour a day.
if you’re serious about learning, pm me after you’ve finished the above.

 

[sgiacomo]

Thanks everyone for all the responses! I very much appreciate the advice. @MVE I’m gonna give the scales a try and also likely hire an instructor as well.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

Hi everyone. I need some advice. I have been playing bass for several years, learning songs mainly by reading tablature and play along via YouTube or in the old days PowerTabs. I can cover several songs but am unable to improvise, walk the fretboard with a groovy bass line, call out a blues in whatever key and start jamming, etc. I want to work on having the ability to do this and know what notes I am actually playing. How best to get there? Online lessons? Instructor one on one? Do I need to learn more music theory? I had music education and band for four years in middle and part of high school. I was good at reading music in treble clef but have since forgot all that stuff. Thanks in advance!

Listen to “In Flight” from George Benson; there’s everything you need to know and learn there …

 

[Kokoskaka]

A few things that helped me improve:

* Listen to a lot of music with prominent bass lines

* Learn some basic theory including scales and chord construction

* Learn where all the notes are on the neck.

* Learn scales and triad patterns on the neck.

* Figure songs out be ear (this is a big one!). It gets easier the more you do it.

* Learn the 12 bar blues progression

* Practice improvising bass lines with metronome/drum track/jam track. You can find lots of tracks on youtube.

 

[MVE]

The lesson I suggested is a foundation for several things:
1. Reading the staff
2. Learning the notes on the fretboard and how they can be called different things depending on the context of what scale you are playing.
3. Learning the Major scale, which all chords and scales are described in relation to. - For instance, a “Major Triad” like CMaj is “1,3,5” or the first, third and fifth notes of the C Major scale C, E & G, but that’s getting a bit ahead.

 

[BarfanyShart]

I would recommend a jazz teacher for BG, and to immerse yourself in some new music. The teacher will get you going on some next-level theory and improvisation, the new music will spark some inspiration. Good luck!

 

[Willie5String]

I’m going to give you 2 suggestions to directly address your issues
1) Buy a copy of Mike Downes The jazz bass line book. Great book to work on reading and walking skill, great anaylsis and practice of different ways to approach walking bass line and reading skills.
2). If you have an Ipad, buy a copy of IReal. Its a real book on line that has the rhythms for a bunch of jazz tunes. There’s 1 in particular that totally fixed a 45 year old problem in my playing, which was a poor knowledge of the neck. There’s a song called ii-V-I in 12 major keys. Here is what you do. You play the song on a loop and just play the root note of the chord on the G string, do that until you have the G memorized, then the D until memorized, then the A until memorized, then the E. Once you have each string firmly in hand, then, go string to string with skipping, start on E, then skip to D, etc. Eventually, you should go to soloing or developing walking lines using the Mike Downes book as a guide. In a year, with 15 minutes a day, you’ll be a completely different player. I did this, totally changed me as a bass player, what I play now is more musical. Best of luck on your journey. We are all on the same journey, taking different paths.

 

[BigJohnAZ]

I am, in no way, an accomplished bass player. I'm a hack, I play for my own personal enjoyment. All the advice given is legit and excellent. I use all in varying degrees to advance my knowledge and skill on the fretboard and to help my noodling actually sound like music.

Sometimes, I simply pull up some bass backing tracks on YT and improvise with it, and it helps me use the techniques I have learned and learn my fretboard better. I try not to sound robotic, but musical, pleasing to my ear. Take a walking pattern and spice it up - ghost notes, harmony, octaves, chromatics and suspensions. I frequently surprise myself and put that in my vault for future use.

I would love to have the chops of Geddy or Entwhistle, but my natural rhythm and skillset is more Joe Osborn and Stu Cook, with a little Dennis Dunaway. And I'm ok with that lol

 

[mambo4]

Not mentioned yet:

Transcribe and analyze songs in the styles you would like to play. Every note, every chord, outline the structure of the verse/ chorus/bridge. Learn how the bass lines you enjoy support the chords

also : music theory can be full of useless rabbit hole detours. A goal that will keep you on track is to learn enough theory to follow a traditional chord chart , the kind you find in a fake book , on staff paper, with repeats and d.c Al segnos etc.

check the pdf link in my dig for a solid basic theory introduction

 

[kevindahl]

When you learn songs do you know the harmony? For example if you don't know what the chord tones in a Bm7 chord and the scales you can use to play over a particular chord you will struggle to improvise and make up bass lines.

As for blues keep it simple until you are very comfortable with hearing the changes. Add passing tones to get from one chord to the other. Again simple is ALWAYS better when playing music.

-learn notes on the fretboard
-learn the minor pentatonic and major pentatonic scales
-learn the major and natural minor scale
-understand the makeup of chords and the scales used to play over them

This should keep you busy for a couple of years lol

 

[Harper]

I think it's normal to plateau here and there. I've been playing for 30 years and sometimes I'll go a long time without really moving the ball forward a whole lot, then all the sudden the lightning strikes and some new chops kick in. You can't force it or fake it, though.

Learn to read music. I'm still a long way from being a sight reader, but even knowing how to do it on the intermediate level has taught me a lot. I'm going to respectfully disagree with the folks saying that you have to move beyond rock to learn new things. There is plenty of meat on the bone in the rock world and it's silly to waste time and calories on music you don't care about. It all depends on your goals, I suppose. Not everyone needs (or wants) to be a virtuoso.