trumpeter
11-05-2005, 05:36 PM
These were from a thread a little while back, I think they are great tips
Something that really boosted my bass playing was that I know how guitar actually worked. I know how the chords are constructed, played etc. I was a former guitarist, but that helped me a lot! Makes it much easier to jam with a guitarist.
A good tone makes you want to practice more, so search for that tone! This is invaluable advice. If you can pick up your bass, play a note, and go 'Yes!', you've gotten off to a good start. Besides, it's so much easier to write great lines when you're happy with your sound. It enhances it so much.
If something is hard, don't give it up completely, stop for a little bit and then come back to it, you will be reinspiried
Surround yourself with better musicians, you will learn much more from them. If you're the best: teach, when you teach you explain things in a way you've never thought of it before and it will be more clear to you.
Find some old session player to mentor you.
If your soloing and play a 'wrong' note, remember your only one fret away from the right one, alternatively, pretend it was on purpose, play it a few more times, maybe a bit of something chromatic, and then return to the key
Don't play too hard, just turn up the amp.
You wont learn anything if you make yourself practice. You just have to want to do it.
Play with your amp turned up loud...it will help you develop a clean, precise technique and a great grasp of dynamics as you fight not piss off your parents and neighbors...
Learn to play fast lines extremely slowly and precisely, this will aid in getting them to sound good fast.
You have to love your bass. Without this love you won't feel the desire to pick it up!
Learn to play the piano; playing bass, melody and rhythm on one instrument will help. Classical training (piano) may suck, but you'll be a better musician for it.
For scales, it helps to learn the fret board... I did, and scales are so easy to just play as long as you know what to flat and sharp... You can learn all the notes, but there are also 'patterns' to find all the notes (and arpeggio’s, scales etc).
Don’t try to impress anyone, just learn to play. If someone gets impressed and you were just playing true, that’s a lot better than trying to show off with a flaming middle pickup. After you’ve learned to play, than okay to try and impress, as long as its for the benefit of the band your in, not if your trying to put yourself in the spotlight.
And try to improve the song with intricate stuff, not pollute it.
Practice with a regular schedule (warm up, scales, technique) in quiet place, free of distractions (TV, music, parents, pets) and keep to this routine. TV is not a distraction all the time. Put it on mute and play to the characters on the screen. It's kind of fun.
Cycle of fourths. Do your arpeggios through the cycle. Go through your major, minor, augmented, and diminished arpeggios in this cycle to a clicker. Use different rhythms as well. This will help hone your inner clock, and get an ear for different chord tones.
Also, play unplugged every so-often. You'll concentrate much more on the feel of the instrument than the sound.
If you need help playing funk, well ill tell you how i learned it
*flashback to room at Berklee*
"Funk is.....*orgasm noise**pelvic thrust*" - quatre
Think of your influences, then find out who influenced them, and then develop your own merge of all their styles
these are just some people's ideas, bold is just to seperate ideas, feel free to add.
Something that really boosted my bass playing was that I know how guitar actually worked. I know how the chords are constructed, played etc. I was a former guitarist, but that helped me a lot! Makes it much easier to jam with a guitarist.
A good tone makes you want to practice more, so search for that tone! This is invaluable advice. If you can pick up your bass, play a note, and go 'Yes!', you've gotten off to a good start. Besides, it's so much easier to write great lines when you're happy with your sound. It enhances it so much.
If something is hard, don't give it up completely, stop for a little bit and then come back to it, you will be reinspiried
Surround yourself with better musicians, you will learn much more from them. If you're the best: teach, when you teach you explain things in a way you've never thought of it before and it will be more clear to you.
Find some old session player to mentor you.
If your soloing and play a 'wrong' note, remember your only one fret away from the right one, alternatively, pretend it was on purpose, play it a few more times, maybe a bit of something chromatic, and then return to the key
Don't play too hard, just turn up the amp.
You wont learn anything if you make yourself practice. You just have to want to do it.
Play with your amp turned up loud...it will help you develop a clean, precise technique and a great grasp of dynamics as you fight not piss off your parents and neighbors...
Learn to play fast lines extremely slowly and precisely, this will aid in getting them to sound good fast.
You have to love your bass. Without this love you won't feel the desire to pick it up!
Learn to play the piano; playing bass, melody and rhythm on one instrument will help. Classical training (piano) may suck, but you'll be a better musician for it.
For scales, it helps to learn the fret board... I did, and scales are so easy to just play as long as you know what to flat and sharp... You can learn all the notes, but there are also 'patterns' to find all the notes (and arpeggio’s, scales etc).
Don’t try to impress anyone, just learn to play. If someone gets impressed and you were just playing true, that’s a lot better than trying to show off with a flaming middle pickup. After you’ve learned to play, than okay to try and impress, as long as its for the benefit of the band your in, not if your trying to put yourself in the spotlight.
And try to improve the song with intricate stuff, not pollute it.
Practice with a regular schedule (warm up, scales, technique) in quiet place, free of distractions (TV, music, parents, pets) and keep to this routine. TV is not a distraction all the time. Put it on mute and play to the characters on the screen. It's kind of fun.
Cycle of fourths. Do your arpeggios through the cycle. Go through your major, minor, augmented, and diminished arpeggios in this cycle to a clicker. Use different rhythms as well. This will help hone your inner clock, and get an ear for different chord tones.
Also, play unplugged every so-often. You'll concentrate much more on the feel of the instrument than the sound.
If you need help playing funk, well ill tell you how i learned it
*flashback to room at Berklee*
"Funk is.....*orgasm noise**pelvic thrust*" - quatre
Think of your influences, then find out who influenced them, and then develop your own merge of all their styles
these are just some people's ideas, bold is just to seperate ideas, feel free to add.