Why I am taking real life lessons and how it helps

[DiMarco]

Hi guys,

I have been a gigging bassist since 1991 and I know how to make my instrument sound good.
Creativity in abundance, I have always been able to come up with fitting basslines to the original songs our guitarists would throw at us.

But in the last couple of years, I find myself sounding boring. I keep throwing in the same couple of flavors of licks and styles because... well that's all I know.

So I set some goals for myself, now in my early fifties I am open to more musical styles then before and willing to lift my playing to the next stage.
Up till now I have been completely self taught. A year of Scott's bass lessons did not help me much other then understanding what scales, degrees, triads, 7 chords and modes are... But I still wasn't able to apply that knowledge because there's no incentive to keep practicing and seeing progress. I canceled with SBL because of this.

So what to do? I was wanting to learn bass specific techniques like doublethumbing and plucking triplets on top of getting my theory up to a point where I can apply it without thinking too much.

Out of the sky came an American session/studio musician who is now looking for work in my area since he married a dutch girl and now lives here. What an opportunity! Check out his chops in the video.

Yesterday I had my third lesson and by now I have all of the triads and 7chords down on the major scale. I am moving quicker then ever. Next week I will have to be able to play the scale notes anywhere on the neck up and downwards, and play them from a different starting point to memorize the modes in all the different patterns. I never thought I would be picking up on the material this quick, but I am, even at age 52.

So what I am saying is when you feel stuck, maxxed out on possibilities, bored with your own limitations DO FIND A LOCAL TEACHER who knows his chops specifically on bass.

It helps. Tremendously so. Using just online courses and books is MUCH slower.

 

Cheers, Marco

 

 

 

Edited September 16, 2020 by DiMarco

[gjones]

I like his playing.

[DiMarco]

Quick update after 4 lessons:

I now understand the chord scales and am jamming along to my looper playing a simple root note groove trying to make the seven modes work well on that, inventing patterns and arpeggio's as I go. Once I have a good feel for that I will attempt to solo over a couple of different chord progressions. Having a looper is really helpful in developing these skills.

In the last lesson we hit my physical limitations in grabbing the minor third quick enough using the left hand pinky (especially when coming back from the higher degrees) so work on a better positioning of the hand is now proving to be an absolute requirement to progress and be able to play more fluidly without resorting to grabbing that third by moving the hand down the neck and doing so with the index finger. I have been taking shortcuts to circumvent this weakness for decades so changing my bad ways will take some time. Pre recorded video courses have never caused me to want to fix this.

I really need a teacher who points these things out and guides me into better technique. Zach is doing an awesome job.

 

Edited September 30, 2020 by DiMarco

[lownote]

I am delighted this works for you - genuinely.  I wish I could embrace this POV.  But my 100% experience is that real life teachers are rubbish.  I'm not saying they all are, just in my experience. I can't afford to keep throwing £25-40 an hour at the search for one who isn't. 

Edited October 15, 2020 by lownote12