Retiree seeking practical advice.

[Jack Clark]

Mr. Seaton-

I've only been playing upright bass as an amateur and only for a couple of years. I'm retired and have no aspirations to play professionally at any level. I love straight-ahead jazz.

Would it be fair to say that if I can hear the jazz bass lines I want to play in my head on the fly, and can even vocalize them on the fly most of the time, but can't play them . . . that a big problem is that I don't really know my instrument?

If that's the case, then isn't the answer more woodshedding? If so, what would you suggest as the best expenditure of shedding time for my situation?

 

[Lynn Seaton]

Hi Jack,
We learn technique so we can play with accuracy and without effort. There are many methods that people study and people use a combination of many ideas about technique.
I think you are on the right track with vocalizing your basslines. Some of the people that mentored me recommended that I sing what I play and play what I sing. It really helped me to eventually be able to play what I hear.
I believe anything can become an etude. In this case, learning to play the basslines that you can sing would be a great learning experience.
Try these things:
Work out logical fingerings with good technique for those basslines.
Write out the basslines to help your reading. You could add fingerings.
Analyze how the basslines fit the chord changes of the tune you are playing, making any corrections that help the flow and make the harmony clear.
If there is a private teacher near you that you could study with to learn some classical technique, get with them. Writers of all the method books have put a lot of thought and time into how to develop proper technique. Self taught can work, but the methods will speed us through the process of learning our instrument. I am a convert to the methods of Francois Rabbath.