How can to improve my bass playing?(with video)

[lostintime]

Hello everyone,I decided for the first time in my life to upload a video just for this forum so if you want to,to help me with some ideas ,how to improve my bass playing.I am worse today than I was then because i didn't t practice for some time.Do I really suck as I am afraid?Please be kind,I have exposure anxiety .Thank you very much.

 

[Groove Doctor]

You’re doing well. Keep it up !!!

I can only suggest better posture to avoid pain in the long term.
- I find it easier to keep my back straight when I sit with my knees further apart.
- Right hand wrist can get sore & tire if you keep it bent too much.
- I Angle the neck up about 20-30° which helps prevent me from slouching, and puts less strain on both my wrists.

You’re doing great.

 

[lostintime]

You are very kind thamk you so much!

 

[StayLow]

Fates Warning rules! What a nice surprise. That’s one of my fave albums.

Challenging stuff on bass. Well done! Your tone is ideal for this style. Keep at it.

What sticks out most to me in your video is timing. Many parts are out of your comfort zone tempo-wise. You’d benefit from slowing the parts down considerably, and working on each one - one at a time - for minutes over and over.

Have you considered online lessons with their current bassist Joey Vera? Or an online technique course like this? https://members.talkingbass.net/product/technique-builder-for-bass/. Mark posts a lot of great free content too, including based on classic metal lines.

Keep rockin’!

 

[lostintime]

Thank you very very much!

 

[dreamadream99]

You are on the right track. A couple of things to help you going forward:

1. Wear a strap even when you are sitting.
2. Develop economy of motion with your left fingers. When you are done fretting just raise them a few millimeters above the strings. That way they don’t have so far to go to play again.

 

[lostintime]

Thank you very much for the tips!

 

[DrBnz]

The great thing is your attitude in asking others for inputs. Try to take at least one lesson to get the basics down. But have thick skin for this conversation and remember that most people want to help and aren't trying to be mean or rude. So first thing I see is your overall posture. While you may be comfortable (there) I believe you need to at least start with the classic upright / squared off position of torso, head, arms. If you continue like that I suspect you'll get physically sore or injured. Right now your entire body is at a steep angle which includes your hands / arms. I can't believe you'll be able to achieve much speed or dexterity like that. Luckily this is an ez fix. Just sit up straight, get your body squared off and play like that for a week. Then take another video.

 

[lostintime]

Thank you so much,very useful information!

 

[vindibona1]

I'm sorry I didn't pick up on this thread earlier. I applaud you for the courage to present you issues. Yes, there are some technique issues. But I think there is something you need much more important than raw techinque- which will guide your technique to improve: MUSICALITY

In other words, I would suggest you stop trying to be a bass player and try to become a MUSICIAN. Some people are born with a natural musical sense or just acquire it because of exposure. Michael Jackson is perfect example of that. The nuances of music were instinctual. Others, like me, have to be coached to musicality- and I was fortunate to have a lot of top notch mentors. And while I'm a mediocre bass player at best, everything that comes out of my bass has MUSICAL *INTENTION*.

I'm sorry if the following seems harsh. It's not meant to be- just direct. The example you recorded had no direction, no message, no phrasing... no intention other than to finger the note, pluck the note and move on. You have to learn to understand your ROLE as a bass player when playing with others. You have to STUDY the music, not just listen to it or read it rotely off a sheet of music. Think of every note as a a pearl in a pearl necklace each one having it's own individual important to make the strand the art that it should become. But as you know an individual pearl doesn't have the impact as the strand does. And you know that the pearls in a quality necklace have elements that are identical from pearl to pearl with they have to be, but are not identical in size, often going from small to large to larger and back to small again. So you have to think shape. You have to think sound color. You have to understand where there should be accents or inflections or just hints of sound. Which reminds me...

The one thing I noticed it that when there were spaces where you had "rests" (not playing one or more notes, or shifting) it felt like your brain was telling you "I don't have to play here, so you can take it easy". When playing music even rests (silence) has to sound intentional, not just unfocused and momentarily checked out because you don't have to play.

Trust me that learning to implement musicality will lead to your technical improvement. It will probably take some PRIVATE lessons to improve significantly.

 

[Bright Midnight]

Just keep goin. Timing needs work but you can achieve better results by practicing and revisiting what you play afterward. Congrats on asking for help!

 

[vindibona1]

I'm sorry that the OP's response was quite short, trying to recap what others have said. I'm now replying so that others who might read this would find some helpful advice.

I think it really helps to record yourself regularly. Replaying the recordings as a listener will reveal things that you don't pick up on behind the instrument. It provides some perspective on where your playing is. I certainly could do that more. Perhaps I don't is because I hear how sucky my playing can be at times. And for me, I think I need to do that more to get over "red light syndrome" (where we get all self conscious when the record light goes on and then our playing sucks even more).

 

[greggster59]

I see a lot of good stuff in your video. Good left hand spread, alternating fingers on the right hand. Your sense of time is pretty good but will be even better with practice. Tone is nice.

At this stage I'd recommend you get a decent teacher. One that will help you fine tune the good stuff you're doing and help you avoid getting into bad habits that can affect your playing.
Good luck!

 

[micguy]

Hello everyone,I decided for the first time in my life to upload a video just for this forum so if you want to,to help me with some ideas ,how to improve my bass playing.I am worse today than I was then because i didn't t practice for some time.

I've been a musician much of my life, which, at this time, is a considerable period of time. During that time, i have run across a few musicians that, on first listen, my reaction was that they were "naturally gifted". Having sat down and talked with them, at some point it would always come out that they practiced - a lot. About 14 years ago, I felt prompted to get my bass out from under the bed and practice. Early in the process, I decided to try that "practicing a lot" thing. I am now, by far, a much better musician than I ever was in my youth. The old joke used to be "how do you get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice. It is a joke, but it is absolutely true.

Music is not fundamentally easy. It takes sustained practice over lots of time to be really good. Your issue? Almost certainly that "not practicing for some time" that you mentioned. Your technique isn't good enough to play some of the faster, more technical passages that you're trying to play. OK, you have something to work on. If you keep at it, you will get there. If you practice "here and there", you won't. Is it worth it to you? If so, work at it. Conceptually, it's easy. In reality, it takes commitment.

 

[lostintime]

I'm sorry that the OP's response was quite short, trying to recap what others have said. I'm now replying so that others who might read this would find some helpful advice.

I think it really helps to record yourself regularly. Replaying the recordings as a listener will reveal things that you don't pick up on behind the instrument. It provides some perspective on where your playing is. I certainly could do that more. Perhaps I don't is because I hear how sucky my playing can be at times. And for me, I think I need to do that more to get over "red light syndrome" (where we get all self conscious when the record light goes on and then our playing sucks even more).

Thank you very much for your answer and your help!

 

[lostintime]

I've been a musician much of my life, which, at this time, is a considerable period of time. During that time, i have run across a few musicians that, on first listen, my reaction was that they were "naturally gifted". Having sat down and talked with them, at some point it would always come out that they practiced - a lot. About 14 years ago, I felt prompted to get my bass out from under the bed and practice. Early in the process, I decided to try that "practicing a lot" thing. I am now, by far, a much better musician than I ever was in my youth. The old joke used to be "how do you get to Carnegie Hall? - Practice. It is a joke, but it is absolutely true.

Music is not fundamentally easy. It takes sustained practice over lots of time to be really good. Your issue? Almost certainly that "not practicing for some time" that you mentioned. Your technique isn't good enough to play some of the faster, more technical passages that you're trying to play. OK, you have something to work on. If you keep at it, you will get there. If you practice "here and there", you won't. Is it worth it to you? If so, work at it. Conceptually, it's easy. In reality, it takes commitment.

Thank you for your answer

 

[mambo4]

Right hand wrist angle jumped out as me as something to address.
Sitting while playing and casually resting your forearm on the lower bout leads to this kind of wrist bend.
The drawbacks are 1. It's unsafe: unnecessary strain on the wrist tendons, can lead to Carpal Tunnel and other repetitive stress injuries. 2.The finger strength is actually weakened by bending the wrist.

consult the holy trinity of safe bass technique videos to help develop safe technique habits

 

[Goatrope]

Ive seen a lot worse, so dont be worried about where you are in your journey. Everyong takes their own path, at thier own rate.

Really helpful comments above regarding posture. I hope those helped. I'd suggest two other things: Keep your left elbow away from your ribcage, and practice with a metronome to get some consistency and endurance in your plucking fingers. You can just repeat the same note.

Focus on timing for a portion of your practice session.

Playing with a strap, regardless of sitting or standing, is a good idea. Since I play out a lot, and always stand when I play, I want the same posture when I practice alone. So when sitting, I let the bass hang on the strap, not rest on my knee. This forces me to sit straight.

Good on you for posting up.

 

[lostintime]

Thank you!

 

[vindibona1]

I've been reading through some of the comments since my last post. Most are valid. But I will reiterate, music is sound, not technique. While it is (somewhat) true that "form follows function", I believe that trying to, in your head, realize what you want your bass to sound like will drive the technical things (at least to some extent). I believe that a *very* average bass player from a technique standpoint can sound like a professional when they strive for the musicality rather than the technique. I consider myself to be an average bass player, but am frequently requested because I can read music and just as important, my musical interpretation always adds something. Your ear will find a way to your hands. Use your recordings to assess where you are and figure out what you need your sound to be. Technique IMO will follow. In translating the "form follows function", you might read it as TECHNIQUE FOLLOWS SOUND. A car anecdote might be, you need to know where you want to get to before you know how you want to turn the steering wheel.

A personal guitar anecdote... I've been teaching a guy guitar for about 2 years. He doesn't want to expand his technical skills, but wants to be a better contributor/member of a small group he plays with regularly. Almost all we work on is making him aware of how to BE MORE MUSICAL. Sometimes we need to look at his approach to his right hand and sometimes his left. Making him aware of what the music calls for is where he is having his breakthroughs. But in spite of his resistance to doing more technically challenging things, just paying attention to what is coming out of his guitar has improved the quality of his playing exponentially. After 2 years he is still really happy with his improvement and lessons. I have one with him again tomorrow.
Trust me on this stuff.