When some BCers say they're not much cop at bass.....

[TimR]

I heard a good quote this morning. 

 

"Ways to fail:

1. Be the best you can. The people who succeed are not content with being the best that they can, they're the ones who seek out to be better all the time and not settle for today's best..."

 

A lot of what people are describing in the thread is attributed to being comfortable with what you're doing and not willing (or able) to put extra practice in and seek new opportunities. 

 

That's not a bad thing, but people should understand why they are what they are. 

[neepheid]

I was built for comfort, not speed...

[martthebass]

I consider myself mediocre but some of that is because I know my musical theory is pretty pants. I’ve occasionally got good comments and I take it as a positive that I get asked to jam and dep so I try to focus on the positives. I’ll never be Entwistle or Pino but I intend to be a weekend warrior till I drop.

Edited October 28, 2023 by martthebass

[jimmyb625]

I don't consider myself to be a particularly "good" bass player. My music theory is pretty poor and if you give me a bass clef score, I'll stare vacantly at it for a while and then ask my 11 year old daughter to tell me what the notes are.

The thought of going to a bass bash and playing in front of other bass players makes my blood run cold.

That said, I like to think I have a fairly musical ear and the ability to not ruin a track. I also practice the songs we play, a lot. The band leader/songwriter likes the parts I play and even the drummer sometimes says they're not cr4p.

As an aside and a full-on "humble brag" the drummer invited one of his work colleagues (who also plays bass) to our recent support gig in Manchester. I've mentioned him before, not often by name, but our drummer is Mark Radcliffe and his colleague was the producer on one of his radio shows. Anyway, after we'd played, he said that his producer said (and I quote) "That bass player's pretty handy". Of course, when I asked him to repeat it for the benefit of the tape he said the comment was "The band was really good, but let down by the terrible bass playing".

Having that sort of compliment (and the associated disparaging remark) gives you both a confidence boost and keeps you grounded.

 

I suppose the TLDR takeaway is:

I'm ok at what I do, but there's always room to do better.

[Downunderwonder]

17 hours ago, PaulWarning said:

I like to think I'm adequate, but like @Phil StarrI've got an awful ear, takes me ages to figure out a bass line in a song, I usually get there with the help of  Googling tabs (some of them are awful too) and Audacity (slowing down and moving up an octave).

Our guitarist makes me sick, he figures out a song by just listening to the record a few times and knows instantly when I've got it wrong 😡.

I'm trying to learn Blister in the Sun at the moment and really struggling with the phrasing and speed

edit, oh yeah, the thought of jamming along fills me with dread

Difrnt strokes. I love jamming out tunes and getting them mostly right enough to fool everyone that I am some kind of bass god.

 

The more you do it the better your ear gets.

 

One time I walked in on my drummer giving a lesson using a recording of a tune we play. I thought it was us because the bass lines were "my lines" on a tune I had learned off just the chord sheet and playing along to the band. I play it differently but similarly every time.

 

Then I realised it was a better recording than anything we had done and the bassist wasn't making any flubs. Interesting that he and I have the same taste in bassline from any number of alternative ways to compliment the melody and get from one chord to the next every 2 bars or less.

 

So my point is there is as much to be gained by listening to the tune as the bassline when trying to figure out your part.

[Paul S]

20 hours ago, TimR said:

but people should understand why they are what they are. 

 

Interesting comment.  You must rank as one of the most narcissistic people I have ever encountered - do you understand why?

[JoeEvans]

I think the bass, perhaps more than any other instrument, is a tool of collaboration. It exists to be played with other people. So for me, being 'good' as a bassist is about how good you are at supporting, lifting, driving, underpinning a group of musicians, rather than about your pure technical ability as a solo musician.

Edited October 30, 2023 by JoeEvans

[TimR]

7 hours ago, Paul S said:

 

Interesting comment.  You must rank as one of the most narcissistic people I have ever encountered - do you understand why?

 

No I have no idea why you think I'm narcissistic. Do you know why you think I'm narcissistic?

 

I'm not sure how your input has helped with the thread...

[TimR]

The point of the quote (to help @Paul S out) is that you're only ever going to be good enough, if that's all you want to be. The top guys are only at the top because they go the extra mile. Guys who are obsessed with bass rather than it being one thing theyre quite interested in. 

 

You meet these kind of guys all the time in all aspects of life. They're the ones that have only one topic of conversation. Golf, football, cars, their work, bass. It's not that healthy. 

Edited October 29, 2023 by TimR

[Paul S]

19 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

No I have no idea why you think I'm narcissistic.

 

Understand the term, understand yourself.  Google it, Tim.  Then reflect back and see if you recognise anything in your history of posting that might possibly fit.

[Woodinblack]

On 28/10/2023 at 12:37, TimR said:

1. Be the best you can. The people who succeed are not content with being the best that they can, they're the ones who seek out to be better all the time and not settle for today's best..."

 

 

Urgh - did you read that on a new age inspirational picture? Or an MBA course about giving 110%

[TimR]

2 hours ago, Woodinblack said:

 

Urgh - did you read that on a new age inspirational picture? Or an MBA course about giving 110%

 

Not one bass player on this forum is not better now than they were when they started. 

 

At some point they make a decision not to do any work to get better. 

 

 

Edited October 29, 2023 by TimR

[dclaassen]

9 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

Not one bass player on this forum is not better now than they were when they started. 

 

At some point they make a decision not to do any work to get better. 

I think that’s a little harsh. My growth as a player has always been due to circumstances, not due to some drive to improve for improvement sake. I feel okay as a musician either way.

 

 

[peteb]

4 hours ago, Paul S said:

 

Understand the term, understand yourself.  Google it, Tim.  Then reflect back and see if you recognise anything in your history of posting that might possibly fit.

 

Tim appears to be a rather singular person (based on his posting here) and seems to have a rather unique outlook on life. While he seems to hold his own experiences and outlook on life in rather high regard, I certainly wouldn't go as far as to say that he is narcissistic. 

 

Also, he isn't always wrong and he certainly isn't wrong in the post that attracted your comment...! 

 

[TimR]

1 hour ago, dclaassen said:

I think that’s a little harsh. My growth as a player has always been due to circumstances, not due to some drive to improve for improvement sake. I feel okay as a musician either way.

 

It's meant to be a general point. You will have prioritised other things in your life. We all do that. My point is that we often resign ourselves to playing the best that we can, but don't appreciate how a little extra, done frequently will lead to big improvements over time.

 

Frequently we are saying, I do enough to get by, or I do what I can with the time available, I'll never be a great player. That's great, but I suspect in a great number of cases, if we are truthful, it's not quite true. If you really want to improve, then you will find the time. 

[Wolverinebass]

3 minutes ago, TimR said:

 

It's meant to be a general point. You will have prioritised other things in your life. We all do that. My point is that we often resign ourselves to playing the best that we can, but don't appreciate how a little extra, done frequently will lead to big improvements over time.

 

Frequently we are saying, I do enough to get by, or I do what I can with the time available, I'll never be a great player. That's great, but I suspect in a great number of cases, if we are truthful, it's not quite true. If you really want to improve, then you will find the time. 

That's true about anything. Whether it's fitness, sport, snooker, whatever it is you're into. If you want to get better, you'll find the time.

 

I count myself as fortunate that I can play every day if I want to. I mostly do. I work on something I can't do until I can do it or get a bit closer and continue from there.

 

Certainly when my kids were born I had much less time and I felt like I was stagnating. The gulf between what I felt I could do and what I wanted to was there in my head at least.

 

I still do the same things well as I always have, I just happen to have a few more of them now and the confidence to do stuff live that I just wasn't so sure I wouldn't screw up when I was 28.

 

It's all relative and only the person in question can make (or subconsciously make) the decision that where they are is a good place to be in.

 

We're all different and can all learn things from each other. At least, that's the way I look at it.

[martthebass]

2 hours ago, TimR said:

 

Not one bass player on this forum is not better now than they were when they started. 

 

At some point they make a decision not to do any work to get better. 

 

 

I think that’s a stretch Timbo.

id say my bass playing has probably declined a bit over the last few years but my abilities as an overall performer (backing vox particularly) have improved as that is what is required in the current band….if anything I’m working harder that I was when concentrating on being the next Pino.

Edited October 29, 2023 by martthebass

[Woodinblack]

3 hours ago, TimR said:

Not one bass player on this forum is not better now than they were when they started. 

 

Well, yes, you have been hitting the inspirational posters too hard!

[TimR]

8 hours ago, martthebass said:

I think that’s a stretch Timbo.

id say my bass playing has probably declined a bit over the last few years but my abilities as an overall performer (backing vox particularly) have improved as that is what is required in the current band….if anything I’m working harder that I was when concentrating on being the next Pino.

 So you stopped working on bass and your bass playing abilities stopped improving. 

 

And you started working on your vocals and your vocals improved. 

 

Who'd have thought? 😆

[Waddo Soqable]

Conversely sometimes I've put it down for a bit, and after a break, distinctly got the impression I was better when I picked it up again.. Funny old game innit 

[martthebass]

2 hours ago, TimR said:

 So you stopped working on bass and your bass playing abilities stopped improving. 

 

And you started working on your vocals and your vocals improved. 

 

Who'd have thought? 😆

Crazy eh? 

Well at least I know now who to come to if I’m going wrong in future. 

Edited October 30, 2023 by martthebass

[dclaassen]

11 hours ago, TimR said:

 

It's meant to be a general point. You will have prioritised other things in your life. We all do that. My point is that we often resign ourselves to playing the best that we can, but don't appreciate how a little extra, done frequently will lead to big improvements over time.

 

Frequently we are saying, I do enough to get by, or I do what I can with the time available, I'll never be a great player. That's great, but I suspect in a great number of cases, if we are truthful, it's not quite true. If you really want to improve, then you will find the time. 

Okay...agreed. This is why I have a "5 minute rule". I have a bass easily accessible both at work and at home. If I have 5 minutes or so, I'll pick it up and do some mindful practicing...usually turns into 20 minutes of good work. This has cleaned up my playing a lot. I'm a person who used to play about 4 hours a day but won't ever do that again. My method works for me to help keep some kind of edge. 

[PaulWarning]

funnily enough I was listening to an old recording of a gig I did back in 2005, about a year after I took up bass, I was surprised how good we sounded (as a band) I always thought I'd (we'd) got better over the years, maybe I haven't, well not a lot anyway

[TimR]

1 hour ago, PaulWarning said:

funnily enough I was listening to an old recording of a gig I did back in 2005, about a year after I took up bass, I was surprised how good we sounded (as a band) I always thought I'd (we'd) got better over the years, maybe I haven't, well not a lot anyway

 

I'd say (without hearing you), you almost definitely will be better. How much better will depend on how much you've stretched yourselves over the years. If you've just played the same material at every gig and not rehearsed in between, probably not much better. 

 

The point is, incremental small improvements over 16 years will add up.

 

It may be pointing out the obvious, but from some of the replies above, some people need to be reminded of it every so often.

 

A lot of us are a lot better than we think. And a lot of us could easily be even better with only a small amount of extra application. 

[Dad3353]

Advancing years starts to change things for many (maybe not everyone, but in general...). My grip is less reliable that it was, so I have a stack of sticks in a quiver hung from the floor tom, and I've had to adopt a technique of seizing a fresh stick, without leaving the beat. Never strong on stamina, from infancy, I played straight through five-hour shows before, and even longer for some weddings, or New Year shows. No longer; our repertoire is now honed to have a couple of upbeat numbers, followed by something a bit less frenetic, to give me time to breathe, and recover somewhat. At end of a gig, I now stagger out from behind the kit, and lie down, outstretched, flat on the floor (or the pavement...) until I can bring some oxygen into the system, and relax the tensions accumulated. Will any of this improve over the next decade or so..? Hmm... Unlikely, I'd say. I still do my rudiments, learn new stuff that the others want to put into our set, and it's as interesting as it ever has been, but it's not a permanent upward curve, and at what age does it start to dip depends on many factors. We can maybe return to the issue in three or four decade's time, and see who has found a difference in their performance, and why.