Stuff you wish you knew when first starting out

[Lo-E]

Knowing how to use a pick is useful and not, as some people seem to think, cheating or somehow inferior to using fingers.

If it sounds good in the living room, it probably won't sound good on the bandstand.

Ears are more important than fingers. Chops might get you gigs, but great ears and a great attitude will get you more.

Don't be too precious about your bass parts. There's always the chance that somebody else's idea might be better than yours.

I wish I had known all of the above when I first started.

 

[Bodeanly]

Uh oh - dipped your pen in the company ink, did ya? I can't imagine that ends well... (edit: "ink well" pun not intended)

We ended up doing the old "band breaks up, then gets back together under different name, with a different drummer." This was 15 years ago. We're all friends now.

 

[Wolfenstein666]

Amp volume : Up. Amount of force while fingerpicking : Down.

Edit: If you decide to play fingerstyle when you're starting out, there will be blood.

 

[bassfran]

1. Be more of a business person.
2. Diversify your talents.
3. Avoid intoxicants and loose women on the job. AFTER, otoh... ;-)

 

[subsonicbassist]

I wish I knew how to perform a proper set-up a lot sooner... took 13 years for me to get the courage to try, just always paid someone to get it "in spec". For that price, I could have had a few extra sets of strings hanging around haha! Nothing feels as good as a bass set up to your exact specs. Also, how pleasing a bit of fret buzz is in the overall sound

 

[bwoodman]

Stuff you wish you knew when first starting out.....

That's easy: I wish I knew how hard it would be to be a full-time musician, which is probably what we all thought we were going to do, right? And things like:
It's all about who you know; learn to read notation early on; networking; it helps to go to a music school and make connections there - Berklee, BIT, etc. I read a lot of bios and all these guys have a story about how they met a heavy cat in the industry early on - Ricky Minor met Quincy Jones early on and it snowballed from there / Nathan East met Barry White very early on and that snowballed / Lee Sklar met James Taylor at a jam or something and he didn't think JT would be a big deal etc. etc. I never made any big connections like this, which is why music ended up being a paid hobby - always "kept the day job."

 

[lfmn16]

Do not date your manager.

Or your lead singer! Our manager used to say, "Don't get your meat where you get your potatoes." Or sometimes, "Don't [rhymes with spit] where you eat."

 

[Pudge Fish]

1. Spector basses are perfect for me - I wish I had picked one up sooner.

2. Scales may come easy (and natural timing helps) but everything else is a grind.

3. Should have spent more time on a P bass early. (or a jazz profile if you play a P) Turned out to be such a great fit (10 years of cramped hands later) Good to have reference points as playing a bass that feels good is more important than one that looks good.

 

[Selios]

How to properly use EQ was a big one for me. I used to agonize over getting ideal tones with EQ, but didn't understand how frequencies all require their own space. Because of that, I never understood that sometimes it's perfectly normal for a bass to sound not so great without being in the context of a full mix. I'd be boosting all sorts of frequencies, making everything sound unnatural, and then I'd go in for band practice and the sound that I had worked out would simply be terrible for the band mix.

Now I'm all about starting flat, using my ears, cutting before boosting, and getting a feel for what kinds of frequencies the guitarists are covering and such. I also have a much better understanding of how much of the sound is in your hands compared to back in the day.

Oh, and hearing protection. I wish I used it from day one. This is HUGE! I've smartened up, it's not too late for me, and I'm not deaf or anything, but I could have saved myself some discomfort by just getting a pair of quality musician's ear plugs right off the bat.

 

[AshInAmsterdam]

Rather than things I wish I'd known, these are my turns on ridiculous myths I'm glad I've learned to ignore.

- guitar setups are easy. And you don't need to "turn the truss rod a quarter at a time and wait a day". Guitars are pretty solid things.

- you should use a tuner. Learn to tune by ear sure, but use a pedal tuner with other musicians.

- using a pick for bass is a perfectly acceptable discipline.

On a positive note there is one good bit of advice my father gave me (as a former band guitarist) - 90% of the audience doesn't know or care what you're playing. Play for the other 10%.

 

[grinx]

took me 25 years to realize how to do a setup. I had been playing basses with relief measured in inches. oh, if I had only known!

 

[aaronious]

Play more with others immediately.
Learn the blues.
Learn jazz.
You'll never find the tone you want, just one that makes you happy for a while.
Take lessons while you have the opportunity.
Should have bought that Jaguar.

 

[Ethan117]

Something I learned last week - every time you make an eq or pedal setting change, play for a few minutes, then decide if you need to change it again. Ears don't react instantly.

 

[theduke1]

So many songs just 3 chords

 

[Ethan117]

So many songs just 3 chords

Lol, learn how to improv over a 1564 progression and you've learned a lot of music.

 

[Wolfenstein666]

Oh and another one: I wish I would've realized the value of playing with people. I sat in my room for almost 5 years and taught myself how to play before I jammed with anyone. I learned more in a year of being in my first 'band' (I use the term loosely here) than I ever did playing solo. I now take any and all opportunities to play with someone else regardless of playing ability. Everyone has something to offer.

 

[Bassamatic]

This is all such great advice!! Should be a sticky.

Also - get good gear and stick with it - there is no need to constantly change and swap gear. The audience can't tell.
Record your band while playing - you will see how you sound as a mix - and how to adjust your playing and EQ. That big, thick bottom is seldom good live.

 

[franvarin]

1. get over yourself so that you can learn from other musicians
2. It's OK to learn and apply techniques from other instruments. Look at what two handed tapping did for bass
3. The drummer is your best friend. Together you hold everything together, apart...it's just a mess
4. Be collaborative and willing to listen to opinions other than your own
5. It's OK to listen to all forms of music...it's how you learn
6. Play with other musicians who are better than you...it forces you to reach
7. Less is more

 

[Fushigi-kun]

Find out what bands/bassists have a sound you like and look up what gear they're using. That way you get to know sound-shaping

 

[SanDiegoHarry]

a bassist who plays simple lines and can sing backup is more hire able than a bassist who play complex lines and does not sing

THIS