The best Formal, and Informal, musical lesson of your life?

[Rosie C]

1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It's quite a surprise/revelation to find yourself doing this on a fretless.

 

Yes, no surprise that I play upright and fretless. When I came back from the course I interrogated the trombone player I used to sit next to at work, and sure enough - when he thought about it, he was doing the same intuitively. 

 

[Buddster]

An arranger I once worked with (as engineer, not as a musician) once said as a general comment 

"don't save your best licks until the session is over". 

Which I think applies to life as well. Do your best at the time, not when what you're doing is over. 

[chris_b]

No matter what level of player you are, who you are playing with, where you are playing, or the size of the audience, every gig is the Albert Hall and every gig is an audition.

 

If someone is looking for a bass player, why are they going to chose you? Because you give 110% every time you pick up your bass is a good place to start. I've been asked to join bands because the band leader saw me on a gig and liked what he heard. When depping I get asked to join side projects as well.

 

 

Hal Galper's take on how you play better. View from 3:45 to the end.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_7DgCrziI8&list=PL-sawkWXMWwjc3Cl3MY4gGaq3l4xIiimE

[bass_dinger]

6 hours ago, Rosie C said:

she explained the importance of being aware if you had the third of the chord

 

6 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

It's quite a surprise/revelation to find yourself doing this on a fretless.

 

Here,  a perfect example of basschatters giving me an informal lesson.

 

In my piano lessons, I had noticed that the major third sounded out of tune, compared to the root note. However, I wasn't sure whether I was imagining the discordance.

 

Now, @Rosie C and @Stub Mandrel have confirmed that it is indeed a real thing. And I have learnt something new.

[rushbo]

A music teacher colleague of mine said something to me many years ago, that has stuck with me ever since.

"Lots of people can play something until they get it right - a musician plays it until they can't get it wrong."

[AndyTravis]

Formal - never really had any formal

training at all, my college music tech teacher once told me “if you had theory to back up your playing - you’d be dangerous”

 

(I used to be a lot flashier as a player)

 

One guy in a music shop said “you need to be a better bass player than your guitarist” - that was in 1997 - so that was informal.

 

And then there were so many people who told me about “locking in with the drummer”

 

 

”don’t be a dick”

was a pretty good bit of advice - not sure who told me that and I haven’t always adhered to it. I do now.

 

 

[MacDaddy]

Formal: learning music theory. Just because I know the "rules" doesn't mean I can't break them if I want. 

 

Informal: too many to mention. But @Steve Lawson holding up a bass guitar and saying "this does not come with an instruction manual" was pretty mind-blowing and changed the way I approached playing.

[ARGH]

Just realised I had not added mine...

Formal... just over an hour 1-2-1 with Jeff Berlin. It was worth it!

 

Informal... an Ex of mine taught me how to read a chord chart, also, another time, I learned when to walk away from a band/project... and changed my attitude to the world, conflict is for kids and idiots, you make the choice to stop being either!

 

Another odd one was learning about reliability and gear.. the Tools for the job per se, as much as it's nice to have flash, custom, whatever in your hands, making the sound guys job an easy one helps sooo much, I've not changed the heart of my set up in over 20 years, and I mod a lot, but if it breaks, its a damn sight easier to get a replacement or repair to a Fender designed instrument, than something custom and flash, but I still carry and extra strap and soldering iron, mini-maglite to the big gigs.

Edited October 29 by ARGH