Getting better on bass... where now?

[Bass Novice]

Hi folks! I have been learning bass for a couple of years now. I really enjoy it and practice most days. I can play some songs from memory and can play songs from reading the tabs on Youtube as I play. I can do basic techniques such as slides, hammer ons and pull offs, but not slapping. I have recently started doing some very basic jamming and playing songs with a mate guitarist and drum track. My question is how do I get better now, and what should I be doing? Playing with others is something to pursue and I will be doing this to improve. I am also learning harder songs such as sir duke, so that will improve my ability to play more complex and faster pieces. What else should I be looking to do to get better?

 

In contrast I am also learning the guitar as a secondary instrument. With guitar it seems like there is so much more to learn such as chords, how they are formed and modified to make more chords, more techniques and such etc.

 

Anyone else get to this stage?

[OliverBlackman]

Just don’t stop learning songs/ music that inspires you. Lots of styles and new techniques out there. Sounds like the next step is to learn to transcribe yourself.

[itu]

Buy "Standing in the shadows of Motown" and learn it through.

 

Use a looper to get instant feedback of your playing.

 

Stand in front of a mirror and try to improve your ergonomics, and  playing technique. Try to push the string behind a fret to get a consistent sound. Light touch improves your speed. Less force, but good sound is your goal.

 

Learn to play legato. Keep time.

 

Learn the fretboard. Play lots of chords: triads, 7, m7, maj7, mmaj7, 6, dim etc. Two octaves helps to learn every fret.

 

Learn two beat, and four beat, and then walking bass. Before that you need to be able to play at least the most common chords.

 

Move your plucking hand and find new sounds. Listen to A from 5th fret @ E and an open A side by side.

 

I hate metronome, therefore I play along with radio: you do not know what's coming up, and you need to follow the music. In time.

[SteveXFR]

Learn some songs of a different style to your usual taste. I'm a metal head but learnt a lot from a bit of blues and pop. 

Rhythm and timing are more important than any other complexity. Try some REM, Mike Mills was really creative with rhythm and I found their songs a real challenge. 

Edited November 8, 2024 by SteveXFR

[BigRedX]

Join a band. Nothing moves your playing forward as much as interacting with other musicians.

[diskwave]

Bin the tabs and learn notation.. Without notation you'll always be stuck playing in pub/club bands. Also... try and study Jazz. The shapes and patterns in jazz can be applied to all other styles. If you can play jazz then everything else is a piece of cake.

[Len_derby]

3 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

Join a band. Nothing moves your playing forward as much as interacting with other musicians.

 

Beat me to it. This is the best advice I can give. Especially as you’ve decided to learn an instrument that is mostly an accompanist.

Doesn’t have to be a ‘band’ as such. Just other people playing and/or singing.

[chris_b]

Play with other musicians.

 

Get more experience, improve in leaps and bounds.

[Geek99]

5 hours ago, Bass Novice said:

Hi folks! I have been learning bass for a couple of years now. I really enjoy it and practice most days. I can play some songs from memory and can play songs from reading the tabs on Youtube as I play. I can do basic techniques such as slides, hammer ons and pull offs, but not slapping. I have recently started doing some very basic jamming and playing songs with a mate guitarist and drum track. My question is how do I get better now, and what should I be doing? Playing with others is something to pursue and I will be doing this to improve. I am also learning harder songs such as sir duke, so that will improve my ability to play more complex and faster pieces. What else should I be looking to do to get better?

 

In contrast I am also learning the guitar as a secondary instrument. With guitar it seems like there is so much more to learn such as chords, how they are formed and modified to make more chords, more techniques and such etc.

 

Anyone else get to this stage?

I’ve never left it, but with your last paragraph you are straying to The Dark Side and I urge you to avoid it like the plague 

Yoda would be proud, stick to the righteous path of bass, avoid the six string w**kery

[Geek99]

I point you to the work of Duck Dunn, watch the two Blues Brothers movies and you can see a groove genius at work - his work is simpler to learn than James Jamersons and more groove than funky imho. 

 

before I get flamed, I hugely admire both of them 
 

 

[Steve Browning]

I would add that chords include other notes you can use as a bass player. I learned the piano before I discovered bass, and that grounding has helped over the years. 

[SteveXFR]

Accidental post. Apologies for my incompetence 

Edited November 8, 2024 by SteveXFR

[asingardenof]

Record yourself playing along to songs, then play it back without the background music. It'll probably be a bit of an eye-opener in terms of highlighting any quirks or flaws in your technique or timing, and give you things to work on.

[chris_b]

11 hours ago, Geek99 said:

I point you to the work of Duck Dunn. . . .

 

One of the greats. Listen to any Stax record and there's a 99% chance it's him on bass.

[Burns-bass]

Have you taught yourself?

 

I found that a couple of lessons helped to identify some poor habits and provided me with lots of material to work on. 

 

One thing that I found transformed by playing was learning to read music, play along to chord charts and improvise. There are lots of ideas here that can help you achieve that. Personally, I believe you'll make faster progress working with someone else, even if it's one lesson every couple of months. (If you don't want to pay or can't, I'm sure someone on here would help you.)

 

Of course, I say this as someone who used to teach a bass guitar course. But I saw what the regular feedback and structured support did for the players I used to teach. Thankfully, most if them are much better than I am now. 

[asingardenof]

Just now, Burns-bass said:

Have you taught yourself?

 

I found that a couple of lessons helped to identify some poor habits and provided me with lots of material to work on. 

 

One thing that I found transformed by playing was learning to read music, play along to chord charts and improvise. There are lots of ideas here that can help you achieve that. Personally, I believe you'll make faster progress working with someone else, even if it's one lesson every couple of months. (If you don't want to pay or can't, I'm sure someone on here would help you.)

 

Of course, I say this as someone who used to teach a bass guitar course. But I saw what the regular feedback and structured support did for the players I used to teach. Thankfully, most if them are much better than I am now. 

Just make sure you find someone that can actually teach you all of that as part of a structured curriculum, and not just someone that wants to teach people to play songs. I've made that mistake before and it was very frustrating

[SteveXFR]

A few lessons is definitely worthwhile. Sometimes you don't know you're doing it wrong or doing it the hard way until someone else points it out.

[ARGH]

Lessons... Not from some flashy 'Look at me slap' type or any of that "There are no wrong notes.." Wootenesque airy flim-flam.

 

Get some solid education, and learn notation and the fingerboard. Jam with records, play out as much as you can... Join a band.

Do not panic at your progress either, some days you feel massive breakthroughs, other times, it becomes a standstill, but trust me, YOU ARE GETTING BETTER. Learn slowly, not racing and using every piece of info off of Youtube, get solid, and take your time.

The only other thing I can say is, re:musicians, admire, but do not imitate, steal by all means, but don't clone.

Edited November 9, 2024 by ARGH

[SimonK]

Music is like sex - far more fun and you learn more when playing with others - while the internet's just for porn!

[la bam]

Join a band, and learn how to play with people who won't play exactly like the record (deliberately or by making mistakes, speed variations etc). That's a real skill often overlooked to learn. 

[tauzero]

8 hours ago, SimonK said:

Music is like sex - 

 

messy, tiring, often frustrating or disappointing, generally better with more than one participant, and sometimes you get paid for it.

[SimonK]

26 minutes ago, tauzero said:

 

messy, tiring, often frustrating or disappointing, generally better with more than one participant, and sometimes you get paid for it.

 

I could see taking this analogy too far 🙂!

[Geek99]

On 08/11/2024 at 12:44, SteveXFR said:

A few lessons is definitely worthwhile. Sometimes you don't know you're doing it wrong or doing it the hard way until someone else points it out.

My teacher told me that my automatic choice of leading finger was leading me to swing time. He was 100% right

i now lead with my middle finger 

[OliverBlackman]

7 hours ago, Geek99 said:

My teacher told me that my automatic choice of leading finger was leading me to swing time. He was 100% right

i now lead with my middle finger 

What on earth… how is your finger choice impacting your timing? Timing should be independent of technique.

 

This is the problem with teachers, they can help or hinder dependent on their own ability to teach.

[Boodang]

On 07/11/2024 at 23:58, BigRedX said:

Join a band. Nothing moves your playing forward as much as interacting with other musicians.

This! Last night we put on a small music festival and I put my mates band on first. Their bassist has only been playing for a year and this was his first gig. I caught up with him afterwards to ask how it went for him (I thought he played a very solid gig), and he said what a difference between just rehearsing with a band to playing live in front of an audience. A new found respect for playing live. And I think he’s now addicted to playing gigs as he did get such a buzz from it.