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If you had to narrow it down to one or two things (more than two is OK if they're important to you), what would you say has had the most positive influence on your playing ability?

For me, the answer would be:

1. Playing with a band and having to learn and memorize songs (Closely related is just playing with other people).

2. Getting a book of exercises and forcing myself to work through them.

johneek wrote:1. Playing with a band and having to learn and memorize songs (Closely related is just playing with other people).

2. Getting a book of exercises and forcing myself to work through them.

For me, it would have to be # 2. However, take note my signature.

I developed most when I was thrown directly into the fire, so to speak. When I started playing at Howl At The Moon a few years back I was brought up to "sit in" with the band and play bass. I barely new any of the songs. They would call a song title, look over at me to see if I knew it, I'd say "no" and they'd say, "okay, 1,2,3,4!" and I just had to learn the songs that way. Thankfully I could peek at one of the piano players' left hand for the notes sometimes. That had an unexpected and positive effect, though. Since I already felt like a jackass hacking my way through tunes, I lost my self-consciousness pretty quickly, which enabled me to do the other aspects of the gig (being a comedian, cheerleader, etc for a room full of drunks) very easily.

Similarly, way back even further when I did some gigs sitting in with pit orchestras, I had to learn a lot of material with little or no rehearsal. There we had sheet music though.

Recording myself has been very important and made me aware of what I'm doing, because it's very difficult to "step outside of yourself" and observe what you're doing while you're performing.

1. It was definitely playing in a band and having to learn and remember songs, especially playing with guys who'd been playing a lot longer than I had.

paologregorio wrote:especially playing with guys who'd been playing a lot longer than I had.

Is that cause you showed up late for practice, and they had already been jamming for half an hour?

I certainly agree with #1. It introduces a more disciplined approach to your playing.... you're one member of a team and you need to know your role both in that team and in the songs you are rehearsing and performing.

The other thing that has improved my playing immensely is tackling songs that have more complex chords and (to me) difficult transitions. Practicing 'nailing' the chords and working on smooth transitions has worked wonders. I spend at least an hour every day playing along with the songs in an effort to improve my timing as well.

I also create my own chord progressions and work on them.

It all helps!!

If you had to narrow it down to one or two things (more than two is OK if they're important to you), what would you say has had the most positive influence on your playing ability?

Copious amount of alcohol works for me everytime. Well, I think I sound great after a good session (although no one else seems to agree with me).

Couldn't agree more, Pete!!

A few grogs loosens me up and I'm more relaxed.

A few more and I'm hot!

A few more and I'm a legend.

A few more and I have to give it away.......... I can't play for nutz!!!

Recording, doing all the parts myself.

jdogric12aolcom wrote:

paologregorio wrote:especially playing with guys who'd been playing a lot longer than I had.

Is that cause you showed up late for practice, and they had already been jamming for half an hour?

You are a very funny guy!I typed myself right into that ambiguous statement...

Actually, I was probably so eager to play music that I would have been one of the first ones to show up

Okay, clarification...
I started playing bass a couple of months before my 17th birthday. Most of the guys I knew who played guitar or drums had started when they were ten or twelve. Everyone I knew was either a guitar player or a drummer, so they were
A.) Happy to have someone they knew take up bass duties
B.) Very demanding and pushed me up a steep learning curve(I didn't need much pushing- I used to practice for about two hours almost every day, and ask a lot of questions of the more experienced guys I knew)
C.) Impressed that I had good band equipment(a lot of these guys had Hondo II Les Paul copies, which is a big part of the reason I've never really been fond of even the real Les Paul Models-I got so disappointed from every "Les Paul" guitar I saw turning out to be a copy, that I didn't even want to look at the real thing when I saw one. Jimmy Page, and numerous pot head Les Paul worshippers are the other reason )

When I first decided to play music, my eldest brother advised me to save up and buy only quality equipment, because it was worth the extgra expense in the long run. Accordingly, I bought one of his Fender Blackface Showman amp heads, and a 2x15 cabinet, as well as a really good all black P-bass copy, followed four or five months later by a `79 JG Rick 4001 that I found in the Recycler newspaper.

I played bass until a couple of months after my 19th birthday, which was when I switched to guitar, as the drummer I was best friends with and I couldn't seem to find a reliable guitarist to stick with us. Again I faced a reasonably steep learning curve, but I applied myself pretty well, and I was playing new wave, power pop, and 60s garage music, so there wasn't any extensive studying of "Stairway to Heaven" tablature...


Ooh. Here's an amusing pic of me introducing a friend's band, "Through the Looking Glass", back in the 80s at the "Cavern Club" in Hollywood druing the garage scene days. Nice Sonny Bono hair and red Beatle Boots, eh? :

1. Quit using medium gauge strings in favor of light gauge strings
2. Switched to a 0.73 mm flat pick instead of using a 1.00 mm flat pick.


JimK
P.S. At this rate, I'll be at post #1000 looooong before The Awaited One arrives.

jrk

At the risk of looking like I'm promoting my own thread, I'm bumping this. I'm really curious about the initial question, and can't help but believe that there are some stories out there that would help us all improve our playing.

Learning to hybid pick, it change everything

tamborineman wrote:Learning to hybid pick, it change everything

+1

Yup.

JimK

Playing with a band is really helping me a lot. Much more discipline involved. I am still trying to find a good method to really nail down a jazz-oriented understanding of chord progressions though. Eventually I would like to be able to pick better (strictly finger player now) and also the fretless.