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What one specific thing do you feel helped elevate your playing
- Thread starter Jazzcaster89
- Start date
Played live 5-nights a week, 50-weeks a year, for three years way back in the early 70's. Made a big difference in my playing.
Recording myself and listening to it. Especially when practicing. Record myself playing along to a drum track for say a minute. Then listen back. You'll die a thousand deaths in the process. But you come out of it a better person, as well as bass player.
One thing?
Practising with a metronome/drum pattern. Not a replacement for being in a live setting, but it helps develop internal time.
Honorable mention would be proper breathing. I had a bad habit of holding my breath while playing more difficult segments of songs, until I read or watched something from Stu Hamm. When I became conscious of that fact, and made the effort to correct it, I saw improvment in my technique, and had an easier time approaching new material.
Practising with a metronome/drum pattern. Not a replacement for being in a live setting, but it helps develop internal time.
Honorable mention would be proper breathing. I had a bad habit of holding my breath while playing more difficult segments of songs, until I read or watched something from Stu Hamm. When I became conscious of that fact, and made the effort to correct it, I saw improvment in my technique, and had an easier time approaching new material.
Originally I was going to say shedding/gigging with a lot of different drummers and keyboardists.
But I thought about this some more and re-read the question... imo it was really when I started video recording my playing and then re-watching the footage (initially cringing a lot), *this* actually helped me improve more than anything else. Because it starting forcing me to evaluate objectively without the instrument in my hands or having memory bias.
But I thought about this some more and re-read the question... imo it was really when I started video recording my playing and then re-watching the footage (initially cringing a lot), *this* actually helped me improve more than anything else. Because it starting forcing me to evaluate objectively without the instrument in my hands or having memory bias.
All of the above except for the guy who gave up his p bass.
For me it's being in a band and gigging with people who are much better than me.
For me it's being in a band and gigging with people who are much better than me.
You can do all the technique exercises and theory studies that you want, it wasn't until I started to take a more philosophical look at my playing that I felt I had come into my own. Ask yourself questions like, "How do I play sad?" Have you ever had a conversation where you just listen to the other person rattle off nonsense until you can't take it anymore, and you just tell them how it is, right then and there? How would you do that on bass? How would John Coltrane do it? Richard Lloyd? Duke Ellington? Miles Davis? Or if you really want to get crazy, try to make your bass sound like Macho Man Randy Savage: CREAM OF THE CROP! oh yeah... cream of the crop... I'm the cream of the crop, Gene. the cream... Rises... TO THE TOP!
Aside from playing with others with more skill, I got a lot by better understanding chord theory.
1. Playing in a band and performing in front of an audience
2. Ear training -> trying to pick up the main structure/chord progression of a tune "on-the-fly"
3. Re-learning my right hand technique using floating thumb and alternate plucking. It really helped to play in a more relaxed and controlled way
2. Ear training -> trying to pick up the main structure/chord progression of a tune "on-the-fly"
3. Re-learning my right hand technique using floating thumb and alternate plucking. It really helped to play in a more relaxed and controlled way
In my case it probably was doing hired/sub work for some time, which demanded me learning material that pushed my limits. Many times it forced me to up my game. Built the basics for my present which musically is not that much about bass really but about composing and singing my own songs freely without caring wether I'll be able to play the parts or not, that's a given.
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There are many, so after 40 years of playing, and thousands of gigs... and studying with some heavyweights... and playing piano.. and $4000 worth of theory books... I think that the most important thing other than playing tunes I.e the melody and the chords... is ... triads.
Learning to pay attention to each note I play and how it complements the song. I learned this lesson many years ago from Leland Sklar, by the way.
These two advice points:
1) practice slowly
2) practice with a metronome
1) practice slowly
2) practice with a metronome
Lightening up on touch, both left and right hand.
And yes, I'm still talking about bass playing.
And yes, I'm still talking about bass playing.
Learn music and harmony.
Now can read sheet music , learned walking bass, and improved a lot.
Now can read sheet music , learned walking bass, and improved a lot.
