Stuck in one hell of a rut

[chris_b]

Feeling comfortable with your instrument is critical for good playing, technique and confidence. Replacing your current bass sound like a good idea.

How about a 5 string bass? This guy s selling a 5 string Lakland:

[url="http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=151603&hl="]http://basschat.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=151603&hl=[/url]

[newbass1000]

I've played quite a few 5 strings, not really my thing, getting a fender mex jazz next week when I get paid.

[Thurbs]

I would join a Jazz band... you will quickly put all that theory in to practice and think of lovely ways to go from Cmadd9 to Bb and so on...

[BottomE]

[quote name='newbass1000' post='1347178' date='Aug 21 2011, 02:43 PM']Some interesting stuff here, thanks guys, Probably gonna have to think less about all this theory shizz, writing is my biggest problem, but listening to so much rage/audioslave tends to mean I can only write like that. I'll try listening to some funk/motown see where that gets me, I don't know if this helps, but the bass i'm playing on I feel really uncomfortable with, I'm buying a fender jazz next week, along with a better amp, see if that gives me some creative sprirt.[/quote]

Getting an instrument that you like is pretty important but its more than that. Listening is a very useful tool to develop. Like, listen to a song and try to imagine what the chords and basslines are playing. Listen to the rhythm, the changes and importantly the spaces. Listen to as much stuff as you can. Theory is important and you can develop this as you progress. I don't think i would still be playing if all i did was scales and arpeggios all the time. Take it slowly and build up. If you are lucky you have started a life long passion and the beauty is you will never stop learning. Thats the best bit. Relax and don't be too hard on yourself.

ps. i bet the Jazz Bass does help

[dmccombe7]

I originally started off listening to heavy rock (Rush, Kiss, Lizzy, Purple etc) back in the 70's and took lessons for 1-2 yrs to get the basics.
I probably reached a similar point to where you are now. (I had reached my limit)

To get round it i looked at Jazz Rock bands like Camel, Bruford, Cozy Powell (Jack Bruce), Steve Hackett which moved me towards a different style of playing. Not necessarily faster - just a different style.

I was still playing in rock bands but listening very much to more and more jazz rock styles which were becoming quite popular at that time.

Can't say I've ever deliberately played jazz rock style in my band situation however it allowed me to be more confident and relaxed while playing.

I did find the occasional ad-lib fills went down well though

Perhaps "a change is as good as a rest" as they say.

Try it and hopefully it works for you too.

Cheers
Dave

[Skol303]

I can't speak as someone who is proficient at playing bass, as I'm still very much an 'early learner'.

But from experience elsewhere, I'd say that learning pretty much anything is very rarely a straight, linear progression of improvement. What's more common is that you improve in 'steps' - ie. you rapidly get better at something, then you 'plateau' and level out with little evident improvement for a while, then you suddenly take another leap forward, and so on.

By the sound of things, you've hit a plateau and just need to stick with it before you see further improvement.

Also, be patient! Two years is no time, to be honest, so I'm sure there's still plenty more to learn...

[Truckstop]

Get yourself to a jam night or two. No-one will care what standard you're at and it'll be the best education you can get in freeing up your playing and injecting a sense of fun into your style. Try not to 'think' about what you're doing and just try anything and build on what sounds good.

I've been a bassplayer for nearly 10 years now and I was feeling like you are two years ago. Constantly playing the same scales and riffs because that's what felt comfortable and because that's all that was required of me. A mate of mine dragged me along to a jam night, blasted out a few Cream and Rory Gallagher tunes and I felt like a new person! Being given the space to experiment in a band setting really did wonders for my confidence and my playing.

Truckstop

[tinyd]

I started out with rock stuff, but after I'd been playing for a few years I started listening to reggae, in particular Sky and Robbie. Robbie Shakespeare's playing is well worth listening to-he never plays more notes then he has to and he plays with an incredible sense of timing and groove. Two of my faves are ' Nipple to the bottle' by Grace Jones and ' Shine Eye Gal' by Black Uhuru.

[Guest bassman7755]

In order to progress with a musical instrument you have to develop several skills in some sort of balance:

motor skills - fingering scales etc
theory - harmony chord/scale relationships, rhythmic concepts etc
musical ear - ability to understand what you hear
tactile instinct - kind of made up this term but essentially the ability to take stuff from your head and play it
repertoire - catalogue of memorised songs and phrases

The thing is the balance is different for everyone. Most players when they start out learning tend to concentrate on their areas of natural ability which gives them a high initial progress rate but then they slam to a halt as they become limited by their weak areas. Most players experience this "rut" in some form after 2-3 years. From what you write I'm guessing you have naturally really good motor skills and a reasonable repertoire so your weakness is most likely on one or more of the other areas.

Of course some players become good or even great despite weaknesses but they tend to be ones who are outrageously talented in other areas to compensate.

Remember that talent and ability are not osmotic - no amount of merely listening to good players will allow you progress unless you identify and work on what ever it is that is holding you back. Also you wont progress by continuing to do more of the same - your limiting weakness (whatever that is) will just become more acute.

[spinynorman]

[quote name='Thurbs' post='1347226' date='Aug 21 2011, 03:49 PM']I would join a Jazz band... you will quickly put all that theory in to practice and think of lovely ways to go from Cmadd9 to Bb and so on...[/quote]

Serious suggestion. Are you playing with other people? If not, find a band or an open mic night or something, anything, that gets you out playing with others.

[charic]

Lock yourself in a dark room, lights off and just noodle. Does amazing things.

[El Bajo]

Whats wrong withthe minor pentatonic? Rage made how many albums by playing that scale? As well as countless bands. Don't be so hard on yourself, sounds like you;ve just reached a plateau, we all do at some point.

Most advice I would give has already been said. What I do when I reached this stage is just learn songs. Motown helped me, its not what I'm into, but it taught me less can be more and a sense of groove.

Also stop learning scales. Its boring and only make your playing scaley. Chord tones are the way forward, all other notes are just filler (unless its a riff orientated song). Just my opinion.

[LITTLEWING]

IMHO, all the theory in the world won't make you the next best thing. It's like reading all about driving a car then getting into the driving seat for the first time and going WTF?? Scales do help, obviously, but you just need a cheap metronome and start with simple three chord tricks (12 bar or the like) and keep playing till your timing is good. Then get a mate to play simple chords on guitar over and over while you play and see what fits nicely within those chords. THEN you'll be ready to progress as the next door creaks slowly open to the next room full more bass fun. I've been playing in bands and studios since God was in shorts and I'm still finding new stuff!!

[Prime_BASS]

2 years is really short amount of time.

I've been playing music for over 8 years, and I still suck.
It took me over 3 years to "master" a guitar solo, and I still never learnt it properly.

Start playing to enjoy. It's not a competition or a race.

Personally, I'd love to find space in songs to slap or tap or increase finger speed seven fold, but honestly it's much more enjoyable picking my through the songs, more comfortable so I don't have focus as much and the whole thing becomes more enjoyable.