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What am I doing wrong?
- Thread starter TheIndieKid
- Start date
...it's probably the "daylight" between the notes...be wary...starts at 1:15 around.
Scott has huge beneficial YT lessons of demonstrations of all pitfalls.
Scott has huge beneficial YT lessons of demonstrations of all pitfalls.
THIS! Don't play ANYTHING until you have sung it a few times. Sing an octave higher if you have to, compress it all in the same octave, hum or whistle it even. but SING! Your breath alone will allow you to feel the musical phrasing...
If you're ready for the most brutal music lesson of your life, here's what I suggest. Take a video of yourself and throw it up on youtube or some other streaming platform. People on the internet are dicks. If you can take criticism constructively they'll tell you exactly what you need to hear. Alternatively, record yourself, then go listen to a bassist you really admire. Come back and listen to your recording and ask yourself, If this weren't me but rather it were some random guy in a band I was just hearing for the first time, would I buy the album? If the answer is no then you have to ask yourself why? This could send you on a journey that for most takes years. Well worth the effort though.
I think what she is saying is....
Play from the Heart, don't just go through the motions!
Play from the Heart, don't just go through the motions!
It seems that a lot of people on this thread have concluded that your grandma is knowledgeable enough about music that her feedback should be taken seriously. I'm not prepared to do that based on what little information you've given us.
Is it possible that she doesn't understand the role of the bass in music? Lots and lots of people don't. Maybe she's hearing you play a bunch 8th- or 16th-note repeated roots on rock songs, which may be entirely appropriate, and that somehow doesn't have the "feel" she would expect from music?
No disrespect to your grandma. It's awesome that she's listening to you and trying to help. But it's important to understand how much weight you should be giving her feedback.
Is it possible that she doesn't understand the role of the bass in music? Lots and lots of people don't. Maybe she's hearing you play a bunch 8th- or 16th-note repeated roots on rock songs, which may be entirely appropriate, and that somehow doesn't have the "feel" she would expect from music?
No disrespect to your grandma. It's awesome that she's listening to you and trying to help. But it's important to understand how much weight you should be giving her feedback.
You should be your own heaviest critic. Following that, focus on advise and/or criticism from those you feel are really in a position to give it.
A few gigs back I had a lady talking to my guitarist and me in between sets, and she complimented the guitarist profusely then told me that my tone sounded too deep and low and that I should work on playing notes faster. I'm guessing she never attended Juilliard.
A few gigs back I had a lady talking to my guitarist and me in between sets, and she complimented the guitarist profusely then told me that my tone sounded too deep and low and that I should work on playing notes faster. I'm guessing she never attended Juilliard.
Couldn't have said it better.
We have no hope of knowing if your Gram is right or wrong unless you are brave enough to post a clip for us to listen to! I can tell you this though, in general her comments sound exactly like something I am guaranteed to hear at least once a week from our church choir director: "You can't just sing note, note, note, note, note, you have to tell the story. Sing through the phrase, make it move, make it go somewhere". Gram doesn't have to be a bassist to give you good advice and she need not be a musician. She does have to love music and to have spent enough time listening to good music to be able to tell you what she thinks makes good music good. In the end you might not agree with her but if you listen to her you will learn something useful anyway.
Of course we often here this from our choir director too: "I can't have you taking a breath anywhere on page six. Breathing is highly overrated."
Of course we often here this from our choir director too: "I can't have you taking a breath anywhere on page six. Breathing is highly overrated."
Musicians don't make hits.....Punters do....
I had to Google "punter" because it didn't sound like you were talking about an American Football player. It made perfect sense once I came across the definitions on Urban Dictionary.
Learn how to play a song you never heard before note for note from the sheet music. After you have it down solid, record it, and then go listen to the original and be shocked at the difference. Likely, you will hear what she is talking about. My 2 cents.
That's not what Jaco would have said.
OP - I suggest finding ways to play out in the world with other humans. Anything - join a band, get into a jazz ensemble at school, play in church if that's your thing. Whatever. That is the only way to train your ears to listen for dynamics, and to learn when to assert yourself and when to lay back.
It's about your ears more than your hands, IMO and IME. It will take a minute to develop these skills, but they are what make you a musician.
Don't listen to people that play with a glove. They find themselfs to interesting.
The Emmy award winning actress?
Or did you mean multi-Grammy winning song writer Carole King?
...or bass player Carol Kaye, who has appeared on over 10,000 recordings in a >50 year career?
