Self Taught...What Method?

cavernplayer · Post by **cavernplayer** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 5:54 pm

What self taught method did you use to become an accomplished bass player, books, video, etc? Thanks.
cp

jim_morris · Post by **jim_morris** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:13 pm

I just listened to a ton of The Who when I first started. Actually, Entwistle is the reason I play bass. All other bassists must bow down in his presence. The Ox's style just clicked with me really well and I was able to learn from it and improve quickly. I didn't sit down and try to learn exact riffs, because that really doesn't make you better. Instead I tried to absorb stylistic ideas (such as pentatonic "lead bass" runs) as well as the personality of his playing and incorporate them into my own style. Of course, I have in no way mastered any aspect of the bass, so I would not venture to say that I am a very "accomplished" player.

shinynewtoy · Post by **shinynewtoy** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:15 pm

Jamming, and alot of it, with musicians that were way better than me. They were extremely patient while I was learning and just playing with them made me want to get much, much better.

I'll let y'all know when I do.

incubus2432 · Post by **incubus2432** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 7:26 pm

I'm a hack!

dean712 · Post by **dean712** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:09 pm

When I started, having a tuner to ensure that I was in EADG was critical, then learning simpler classic rock songs to join a band ("Proud Mary," "Twist & Shout", etc.), and developing my ear.

As I developed, for me, it was about learning songs by ear, jamming with my bandmates to learn real-life applications, and then eventually learning other styles and learning to lose my inhibitions and get original with basslines when the situation was right.

Of course, I'm not accomplished yet either, but I'm on the journey...

jim_morris · Post by **jim_morris** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 8:22 pm

Also, how could I forget my mentor in the ways of rock, the great Bill Killey. Not that any of you will know him, but he deserves mentioning in a topic such as this. He can't even read a C chord on paper, but his massive improvisational prowess on both guitar and piano was a major influence on my learning of the bass.

syncop8r · Post by **syncop8r** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:24 pm

Playing the root on the "1" and playing everything else on the off beats!

basshawk · Post by **basshawk** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 3:13 am

I just learned as many Beatle songs as I could - then Yes. I think by learning to play your favorite songs, you actually learn some theory whether you realize it or not. When starting out just learn one of your favorite songs from beginning to end - don't move on until you've learned it all the way through. Then you go from there. I'm like Brian though - still a hack. But I do have fun.

teeder · Post by **teeder** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 4:24 am

Brian took my answer, but it really applies to me!
The only qualities I have as a bass player is that I have cool basses and a great tone!

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 5:51 am

I guess listening to records A LOT & trying to pick out the details gave me a pretty good ear for overall feel & position of the actual notes.
Just a natural talent, I guess.

It works for guitar solos also, but I can't find my way around chords this way & have to rely an tabs or charts for that.

Also, I read everything I could find that seemed to relate to anything I was into at the time.
This was all before video was common. It's certainly much easier to figure out how something's played in the DVD age!
The more I watch Geddy play, the more I start to sub-consciously play the same way.

Oh yeah, and improvising with other players on stage is pretty well mandatory for keeping an open mind about new directions & being flexible.

bobcat · Post by **bobcat** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:37 am

"Jamming, and alot of it, with musicians that were way better than me. They were extremely patient while I was learning and just playing with them made me want to get much, much better."

Can you give me some tips on where to find these people? Because I cannot find *anyone* who has the patience to jam with me and sit through me figuring stuff out, unless they are just as lost as me. "Accomplished" players that I have played with almost always tend to just get exasperated and never jam with me again.

And also, side question, does jamming in everyone's mind ALWAYS mean someone going, "BLUES IN D!" and then just playing that? Or can jamming involve an actual song? Because everyone I've played with has the idea that jamming must be completely improvised on the spot a la "blues in D".

thx1955 · Post by **thx1955** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 9:11 am

Try looking on the for sale boards at local music stores, there are sometimes ads there, set up in your garage and just practice, it invariably draws a few to stick their heads in.

Jamming and Blues seems to go hand in hand which can sometimes be sad, a lot of blues is seen to be not much more than jamming, in my case I disagree and think it's a disservice to the genre.

In the case of "Blues in D", the key there is a good understanding of the various blues structures, and how they can be adapted to the root in this case D .. the simplest of these is 1-5-7.

In a lot of cases (for me) Blues jamming can and does mean specific songs there's a lot of great Blues staples that you can add to your lineup, eg Dust My Broom, Crossroads (the original), Got My Mojo Working, Little Red Rooster, 19 Years Old, Built For Comfort, Torn Down, Boom Boom, Ain't Superstitious, Can't Be Satisfied, etc.

I'd suggest avoiding Stevie Ray Vaughn, not because he's bad just because most people who want to hear a SRV song want to hear SRV and not an interpretation.

As I said listening helps, even after so long playing Blues I'm still learning and still every now and then get to play with outstanding players.

I've been listening to, and playing blues for over 30 years, my XM radio is set to Bluesville and I'm constantly listening to it when I'm driving. This gives me a chance to hear a lot of blues bassists of all levels and styles absorbing that helps me adapt and grow my own Blues style.

ricosound · Post by **ricosound** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 10:01 am

Playing SRV songs live, I agree. However Tommy Shannon (Double Trouble) is a fantastic Shuffle Blues bassist as an influence. Also check out Roscoe Beck (Eric Johnson, Robben Ford) as one of the best blues bassists!

Jamming is the best for working on timing and coming up with new stuff.

kcole4001 · Post by **kcole4001** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:33 am

The best jams I've experienced were based on a riff someone started & we all just took it from there. Great for ideas, but further refinement & structure are required to build actual songs.
This is usually sort of a recreational break period at regular band practices. Sort of a loosening up & mind clearing jaunt in between working on songs we're learning.

Jamming on songs is often frustrating, since someone will not be familiar enough with the song to not be able to at least fake through it.
That's no fun!
Of course, the more songs you know, the better equipped you'll be at a jam, but there's always some guy who picks a song I've never even heard before & he expects me to play it anyway.

lyle_from_minneapolis · Thu Jan 18, 2007 11:42 am

Jams generally suck. I say this because its like moving a mountain to get everyone in synch with CHANGING UP what has begun. 9 miles of E chord... you've all heard that. But there are other strategies... if you quickly chart some chords for everyone, that can turn out well. Or a director points to chord changes for the band...