Hi from NI - and request for advice :)

[simonmcc]

Hi, I'm from Northern Ireland, and have been "playing" bass for 25+ years - it's been on and off for me, some years not playing much at all. I played a bit in (unsuccessful) bands when I was young and now play only really for church each Sunday. I'm currently playing every week, and actually doing some practice during the week, and seeing good improvement.

 

However I'm still struggling with accuracy, and that's why I signed up here, hoping for some pointers from fellow struggling amateurs.

 

I sometimes read music, my sight reading is not great, and also play by ear, but I struggle sometimes to land on the right notes, like in runs where there is a c I sometimes go for c#, errors like that.

 

The other thing I struggle with regarding accuracy is playing quite well during the practice, but when it comes to the real thing, making all sorts of silly mistakes. 

 

Any tips welcome! (please don't say "give up" - I really enjoy playing!!)

Edited October 9, 2023 by simonmcc

[SpondonBassed]

Welcome Simon.

[LowB_FTW]

Welcome to the forum.

In terms of accurately hitting the correct notes, I find practising more slowly to begin with and then building speed until playing correctly helps me.
I can't help with the issues you outline when playing live, I just play for my own enjoyment at home.

 

I don't imagine anyone here would seriously suggest you stop playing.

 

Mark

[Huge Hands]

Welcome Simon - I am taking my first trip to Belfast next month for work, looking forward to it! 

 

I would probably say I am a similar level to you - have been playing for just over 30 years - mainly by ear until about 12 years ago when I started in a reading band and had to learn to read sharpish!  

 

I struggle with reading quaver and semi-quaver runs in that I panic and usually either play them too fast or two slow! 

 

I think the issue is not regular playing of the same stuff so you don't get to take it all in and think about it so much.    When I was younger I dipped in and out of playing in some soft rock style church bands reading the bass notes of chord charts (Mission Praise type stuff)  and week in, week out it was different songs so you played through once that morning and never got to perfect anything.   In my personal experience reading tends to use a different part of my brain and as soon as the notes are passed, they are forgotten.  I would struggle to play some pieces from memory as I don't store them as I read.   

 

In terms of playing by ear or memory my biggest enemy is my wandering attention span, which has gotten worse since my bad covid experience in 2020.   The times when I play my best are when I'm in a regular gigging band and we play the same set repeatedly, so it locks into my memory and I can start playing without thinking about it too much a lot of the time. 

 

I think the guys that I am jealous of on bass that can just get up and play along with perfect runs and changes by ear or read note perfect probably have a much more complete music theory knowledge than me, play more regularly and have practiced things like scales and runs in their bedrooms much more than me.

 

I guess what I am saying is practice makes perfect, but I am no angel myself, so full solidarity from me!  Don't give up, just enjoy it!

 

Note - this is only my experience - I assume some more learned members will read this and say I am full of it!

 

[Reggaebass]

Welcome Simon 

[Richard R]

Welcome aboard!

 

Yep, accuracy! I know the feeling when for no apparent reason you stretch too far and hit Eb instead of E and that C chord run suddenly becomes Cm. Most annoying. 

I have recently gone right back to basics on technique. I practice chords arpeggios and scale runs slowly, and have found this made a big difference.  Slowly means really slowly, one note per second max,  and really thinking about the finger positioning. 

 

As someone who also plays almost exclusively in church, I  find that "If in doubt, simplify" is a great moto. The congregation aren't there to listen,  they're there to sing, and most of them genuinely don't notice the bass unless it stops altogether,  so if you find yourself making mistakes you can really dial back. 

 

Check out the techniques pages, and do hop over to the Playing in Church thread too. But don't stop playing.

 

Edited October 9, 2023 by Richard R

[nilorius]

On 09/10/2023 at 16:13, simonmcc said:

Hi, I'm from Northern Ireland, and have been "playing" bass for 25+ years - it's been on and off for me, some years not playing much at all. I played a bit in (unsuccessful) bands when I was young and now play only really for church each Sunday. I'm currently playing every week, and actually doing some practice during the week, and seeing good improvement.

 

However I'm still struggling with accuracy, and that's why I signed up here, hoping for some pointers from fellow struggling amateurs.

 

I sometimes read music, my sight reading is not great, and also play by ear, but I struggle sometimes to land on the right notes, like in runs where there is a c I sometimes go for c#, errors like that.

 

The other thing I struggle with regarding accuracy is playing quite well during the practice, but when it comes to the real thing, making all sorts of silly mistakes. 

 

Any tips welcome! (please don't say "give up" - I really enjoy playing!!)

Welcome. $hit happens to everyone - don't give up.

[simonmcc]

On 09/10/2023 at 18:05, Huge Hands said:

Welcome Simon - I am taking my first trip to Belfast next month for work, looking forward to it! 

 

I would probably say I am a similar level to you - have been playing for just over 30 years - mainly by ear until about 12 years ago when I started in a reading band and had to learn to read sharpish!  

 

I struggle with reading quaver and semi-quaver runs in that I panic and usually either play them too fast or two slow! 

 

I think the issue is not regular playing of the same stuff so you don't get to take it all in and think about it so much.    When I was younger I dipped in and out of playing in some soft rock style church bands reading the bass notes of chord charts (Mission Praise type stuff)  and week in, week out it was different songs so you played through once that morning and never got to perfect anything.   In my personal experience reading tends to use a different part of my brain and as soon as the notes are passed, they are forgotten.  I would struggle to play some pieces from memory as I don't store them as I read.   

 

In terms of playing by ear or memory my biggest enemy is my wandering attention span, which has gotten worse since my bad covid experience in 2020.   The times when I play my best are when I'm in a regular gigging band and we play the same set repeatedly, so it locks into my memory and I can start playing without thinking about it too much a lot of the time. 

 

I think the guys that I am jealous of on bass that can just get up and play along with perfect runs and changes by ear or read note perfect probably have a much more complete music theory knowledge than me, play more regularly and have practiced things like scales and runs in their bedrooms much more than me.

 

I guess what I am saying is practice makes perfect, but I am no angel myself, so full solidarity from me!  Don't give up, just enjoy it!

 

Note - this is only my experience - I assume some more learned members will read this and say I am full of it!

 

Cool - hope the trip goes well for you! I'm right up on the North Coast, so about 60 miles from there.

 

Yes! I identify with what you're saying, constant change isn't helpful. I'd love to find a group of people to play with recreationally, not interested in gigging etc, that feels like a young mans game, but I feel if I could find some like minded people to jam/practice with, that would help me along.

 

Yeah, the attention span thing - I've been hit by that a bit too, or the "woohoo I havent made a mistake yet.." then BAM - I've forgot where I was

 

Thanks for the encouragement, it's appreciated.

[simonmcc]

On 09/10/2023 at 20:39, Richard R said:

Welcome aboard!

 

Yep, accuracy! I know the feeling when for no apparent reason you stretch too far and hit Eb instead of E and that C chord run suddenly becomes Cm. Most annoying. 

I have recently gone right back to basics on technique. I practice chords arpeggios and scale runs slowly, and have found this made a big difference.  Slowly means really slowly, one note per second max,  and really thinking about the finger positioning. 

 

As someone who also plays almost exclusively in church, I  find that "If in doubt, simplify" is a great moto. The congregation aren't there to listen,  they're there to sing, and most of them genuinely don't notice the bass unless it stops altogether,  so if you find yourself making mistakes you can really dial back. 

 

Check out the techniques pages, and do hop over to the Playing in Church thread too. But don't stop playing.

 

 

Yes! Exactly. And I find once you make that initial mistake, it can be hard to recover your state of mind. 

 

Yeah, I get what you're saying about simplify. I suppose I think I've been playing long enough that I *should* be able to play more notes, but maybe I do need to play less. I've a few encouraging "fans" in the congregation who frequently tell me the bass adds so much to the sound, which is really nice. It appears they dont hear all the mistakes I can hear

 

Thanks for the recommendations, will check out those threads and pages.

[Chienmortbb]

On 09/10/2023 at 20:39, Richard R said:

I  find that "If in doubt, simplify" is a great moto.

Yes, I have just started doing this, and I find it really helps specially when singing BVs

[Marc S]

Hello Simon, 

Are you sometimes struggling with hitting the right notes because of "stretching issues" with your fretting hand? Have you tried a short scale bass? Would that possibly help.

 

As others have mentioned, I can sometimes lose a bit of accuracy when doing BV's - so I simplify playing when singing sometimes. It depends on the song though - sometimes I'm fine on bass while doing BV's...

 

Just the other week, I went to see one of my fave bands. The Undertones- Derry's finest. They always bring the 19 year old in me back out. Don't know if you're based anywhere near them? But if you get the chance to see them... go for it. Great bunch of NI lads, and the nicest guys.

 

Welcome to BC, from South Wales  😀 

[Geek99]

On 11/10/2023 at 14:20, simonmcc said:

Cool - hope the trip goes well for you! I'm right up on the North Coast, so about 60 miles from there.

 

Yes! I identify with what you're saying, constant change isn't helpful. I'd love to find a group of people to play with recreationally, not interested in gigging etc, that feels like a young mans game, but I feel if I could find some like minded people to jam/practice with, that would help me along.

 

Yeah, the attention span thing - I've been hit by that a bit too, or the "woohoo I havent made a mistake yet.." then BAM - I've forgot where I was

 

Thanks for the encouragement, it's appreciated.

Open mic night or a jam night 

look on Facebook for a suitable group

as a bass player I advise you to try the latter first as bass players are rare beasts at those 

[jimbobothy]

Welcome 👍🏼

[basexperience]

On 09/10/2023 at 20:39, Richard R said:

Welcome aboard!

 

Yep, accuracy! I know the feeling when for no apparent reason you stretch too far and hit Eb instead of E and that C chord run suddenly becomes Cm. Most annoying. 

I have recently gone right back to basics on technique. I practice chords arpeggios and scale runs slowly, and have found this made a big difference.  Slowly means really slowly, one note per second max,  and really thinking about the finger positioning. 

 

As someone who also plays almost exclusively in church, I  find that "If in doubt, simplify" is a great moto. The congregation aren't there to listen,  they're there to sing, and most of them genuinely don't notice the bass unless it stops altogether,  so if you find yourself making mistakes you can really dial back. 

 

Check out the techniques pages, and do hop over to the Playing in Church thread too. But don't stop playing.

 

This is a huge thing in the accuracy - the gains from doing the arpeggios and scales are far more than just the muscle memory. I really dug into this stuff properly maybe 3-4 years ago, having had an SBL life membership for a while before that but not really dug into it properly: I started to put some serious lesson plans into play, and did a huge amount of work on knowing the board, then moved to Scott's "4 shapes" for arpeggios. Slow at first to get it into the head (I've always had reasonable technique but always played by ear, and I too wasn't great at aiming for notes in a jump beyond maybe 3-4 frets) - but when it started to stick, the results were incredible, and in everyday playing too.

 

The benefits sort of sneak up on you. For reference - I'm 53 and I've been playing since I was 18, so I can attest that it's possible to be surprised by how far you can come with real dedicated work (maybe 1 to 1.5 hours a night).

 

Enjoy the journey!

[Richard R]

I have an SBL membership and I really ought to use it more and do what he says - it works.

Like his simple advice for big jumps - look at the fret you intend to land on. Same as skiing - look where you're going because you'll go where you're looking 🙂

 

 

[basexperience]

16 hours ago, Richard R said:

I have an SBL membership and I really ought to use it more and do what he says - it works.

Like his simple advice for big jumps - look at the fret you intend to land on. Same as skiing - look where you're going because you'll go where you're looking 🙂

 

 

I created a google sheets "app" which you can use to generate practice schedules daily from the courses you're doing. You populate sheets from a template one, then choose how to select items from the list you put on the sheet. Everything gets collated into a schedule sheet, you cut and paste it into a practice log, and off you go. 15 mins per task, or longer if you want. I've been using it for 4 years now, and it helps you get through the material!

[basso navo]

About hitting the "wrong note" aka "making a mistake":

- Solace: The "right" note (belonging to the required scale) is always only a half step away.

- Solution: practise the problem note together with the note/notes/phrase immediately before the trouble spot; then do the same with the not/phrase after the said problem spot.

 

It is important to do this slowly and exactly.

 

When playing the entire tune, it is also important not to stop or quit when a mistake (mis-take) occurs, as this may create an bad habit which is almost impossible to get rid of. Instead, finish the whole song.

 

Enjoy your journey.

[sandraupata]

welcome on board brooo , warm hugs from indonesia