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Taking my playing to the "Next Level"

F

facepalmmaster

Jan 4, 2012
441
3
#1
So, i've been playing for a bit more than 7 months now, and i've made good progress, I might even be considered a passable bassist for a decent band. However, i eventually want to be able to be an extraordinary bassist for a great band, and i think i should change my ways a bit in order to set myself up to succeed. I've noticed i dont have any really good exercises that i know, and im pretty much just playing the same set of songs over, with a few sessions of just me playing whatever i feel like playing. So, my question, what can i do to get myself on the "road to success" if you will (shouldn't involve a band, unless getting one is your advice)?
Also, i'm curious as to how you got to where you are today, and if your advice is the same as what you did
 
#2
I am not an expert by any means, but FWIW, I'd advise concentrating on chords and chord tones, and their inversions. These are what the bassist plays for the most part. Below are some useful links IMO.

This is a series of lessons from Jeff Berlin.





Playing with others is always going to be helpful. Doesn't have to be a band as such, just jamming will help.
 
#4
Man, I've been playing professionally, full-time, for nearly 30 years and I'm still nowhere near where I want to be. There is no "next level" only a continuum. Move the ball forward every day.
 
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#5
Pacman said:
There is no "next level" only a continuum. Move the ball forward every day.
Click to expand...

In fairness, I think this is what the OP means. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

There are so many options open to a noob, and an eternal amount of information on the net, that it can be a bit overwhelming trying to find the most efficient way to "move the ball forward". He is merely looking for opinions/advice on the general forward direction in which to move the said ball. ;)
 
#6
fearceol said:
In fairness, I think this is what the OP means. That's how I interpreted it anyway.

There are so many options open to a noob, and an eternal amount of information on the net, that it can be a bit overwhelming trying to find the most efficient way to "move the ball forward". He is merely looking for opinions/advice on the general forward direction in which to move the said ball. ;)
Click to expand...

Well, i don't know what this "noob" talk is, i haven't been playing bass for that long, but playing cello for 8 years prior to starting bass REALLY helped me pick up the bass quickly, so I wouldn't call myself a "noob" :P But yeah, what you said is pretty much true ;)
 
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#7
Pacman said:
Man, I've been playing professionally, full-time, for nearly 30 years and I'm still nowhere near where I want to be. There is no "next level" only a continuum. Move the ball forward every day.
Click to expand...

What I was saying is that, like you, though at a lower level, i want to be better, the problem is i'm still sort of new to it. I've got all the basics, but i need somewhere to go from there. Its not really a matter of getting to some literal level, its just I need a way to "move the ball forward", something to work on to help me become a better bassist
 
#8
facepalmmaster said:
Well, i don't know what this "noob" talk is, i haven't been playing bass for that long, but playing cello for 8 years prior to starting bass REALLY helped me pick up the bass quickly, so I wouldn't call myself a "noob" :P But yeah, what you said is pretty much true ;)
Click to expand...

All you said in your original post was that you had being playing bass for seven months. IMO, that would be considered to be a "noob". So that's where the "noob" talk came from. ;)
 
#9
Learn music theory! Be sure to keep an open mind and challenge yourself with different music that you'd never play. Play some jazz, some classical pieces, blues, metal, rock, country, whatever it is that you don't already do! Just keep on trying different stuff, glean the techniques and information.
 
#10
Learn chord tone, play walking bass and solo on blues and some simple jazz standards like autumn leaves with chord tones even if you may not like it.

Transcribe basslines from your favorite players.

And remember completely absorb one song or one concept before moving to the next one. Play one song til you can jam with cd with almost no mistakes.

And record what you practise, honest to ur playing
 
#11
iplaymetal said:
Learn music theory! Be sure to keep an open mind and challenge yourself with different music that you'd never play. Play some jazz, some classical pieces, blues, metal, rock, country, whatever it is that you don't already do! Just keep on trying different stuff, glean the techniques and information.
Click to expand...

+ a million. don't make the mistake of, because you know how to play specific songs you know how to play bass....
 
#12
I "empathize" with the OP from the perspective of "what's next to grow", but the truth is, you really have to approach it from a holistic manner, i.e., "whatever, whenever".

To wit, I played clarinet for more than 30 years. I took private lessons, I played in marching bands and orchestras. For me, I reached a level that was "acceptable", though I am in no manner a professional.

Picking up the bass -two years ago - I was faced with "OMG, what do I do now?" Well, it's easy to remember those first weeks, not even knowing how to read the music, hold the instrument, balance my fingers, keep the E string from sympathetically vibrating, etc.

So - I bought the "Bass for dummies" book, listened to the CD, played along, got on the Internet, learned tab, listened to TV commercials and tried to play along, followed free lessons online, etc.

When I sat down with a guitarist six months ago and started composing bass riffs, which he accompanied, all those things started to gel. Am I better? You bet! (A la Pete Townsend, lol). Am I anywhere near as good as I want to be? No way.

More practice, more theory, more finger exercises, more recording, more playing with others. As your skills grow, as does your confidence. It gets better - but it takes WORK. You will reach a level that you are satisfied with, and perhaps may never go beyond, but you have to push to find where that "hard stop" is....

That's my nickel from a "just-getting-beyond-newbie" stage.....

Chris
 
#13
not really sure where you're at exactly, as you didn't say, but here are some basic things to do:

1 learn theory. know the different types of chords and their associated scales and arpeggios.
2 play with a metronome. even better, play with the metronome beating on the 2 and 4.
3 join a band with folks as good as or better than you. this is the quickest way to get better.

fwiw i also started on cello, and picked up the bass 11 years ago. i've never looked back, except i wish i could still play cello like i used to...
 
#14
facepalmmaster said:
So, i've been playing for a bit more than 7 months now, and i've made good progress, I might even be considered a passable bassist for a decent band. However, i eventually want to be able to be an extraordinary bassist for a great band, and i think i should change my ways a bit in order to set myself up to succeed. I've noticed i dont have any really good exercises that i know, and im pretty much just playing the same set of songs over, with a few sessions of just me playing whatever i feel like playing. So, my question, what can i do to get myself on the "road to success" if you will (shouldn't involve a band, unless getting one is your advice)?
Also, i'm curious as to how you got to where you are today, and if your advice is the same as what you did
Click to expand...

What is it about you, as a musician, that you think is your weakest area?
 
#16
iplaymetal said:
Learn music theory! Be sure to keep an open mind and challenge yourself with different music that you'd never play. Play some jazz, some classical pieces, blues, metal, rock, country, whatever it is that you don't already do! Just keep on trying different stuff, glean the techniques and information.
Click to expand...

Ive been trying to make things as diverse as possible, i play funk, blues, rock, heavy metal, and some more (I'm not sure if ill ever get to country, not my thing at all) and ive tried to take in as much on technique as possible, the different slap styles, playing on different parts of the string, picking, etc... But Music theory will be the main challenge for me, any tips on when i do learn it?
 
#17
If you're looking for technical ability rather than knowledge, try some exercises like going chromatically up four frets on every string (E-G) then go backwards back down (G-E). Move up one fret, repeat, all the way up and down the neck. Try going faster and faster while still hearing every note clearly. Then learn some Rush songs :D
 
#18
facepalmmaster said:
Im not quite sure, i have a bit of trouble syncing between hands with fast paced songs,
Click to expand...
Simple ... practice Scale and Arpeggio across all strings. Very slow at first, without raking, alternate your finger each time. Go from the 1st fret to at least 12th

string crossings when going fast are bad,
Click to expand...
That will be taken care by the previous exercice


i dont really know how to make chords on bass or make fills with a chord from a guitar, its all that kind of stuff.
Click to expand...
You know how a chord is constructed ? then it is only a matter of experimenting on bass
 
#19
Fear and ego are 2 of a musicians greatest strengths and our greatest weakneses. Our ego's want us to play well to the point where we are afraid of playing badly.

It's that ego that keeps us wanting to improve but it also leads us to practice what we are good at more leaving us to plateau more. That fear of playing badly leads us away from practicing and playing what we aren't good at which can halt our development.

Think of your playing as a room with a floor and a ceiling. Think of your worst playing as the floor and your best playing as the ceiling. Some players rooms are like cathedrals because their floor is so far from their ceiling. There is a huge difference between them on a good night and them on a bad night. The best players rooms are like a crawl space. There is very little difference between them on a good night than on a bad night.

Before you can play anything well you have to play it badly. It's a simple fact that you can't escape. Once you conquer your fear of playing badly you have taken away your biggest obsticle to playing well. You should play badly every time you are in the practice room. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't attempt to play well but that you shouldn't be afraid of playing bad as a first step. The more things that you work through that process the better you will become.

Stay Brown,
Rev J
 
#20
I cannot stress enough to learn good music content...being a better musician will take you much farther than only learning styles of music or a specialty technique...You will be able to express yourself well and open up many directions to go in professionally or semi-pro...there is always work for good, competent players who know chords, read, and can produce a great '' feel''.
 

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