There comes a time in your bass career when you feel like you’re no longer progressing. You may feel like you’ve mastered every chord, technique, and melody. You’ve practiced all you can, but you aren’t seeing the progress you need to keep moving forward.
Don’t worry: Even though it may feel like you’ve plateaued, it doesn’t need to be that way. To see results, you’ll need to always be open to learning and improving with new tips and techniques. This way, you can find excitement, challenge yourself, and improve your playing daily.
Here are five tips to help you improve today:
1. Join a band
The best way to improve your bass playing is to step out of your comfort zone and start jamming with other musicians. If you’re always practicing by yourself, you won’t see the challenges and mistakes you’re struggling with, and you’ll be stuck in a routine that’s no longer serving you. If you’re unsure where to find other passionate musicians in your community, here are a few resources you can start with:
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- Craiglist: You can’t go wrong with Craiglist. You can either post what you’re looking for or search through the musician’s tab for other bands or individuals looking for a bass guitar player.
- Facebook Groups: Joining a Facebook group will help you find other like-minded individuals looking for someone to jam with within your community.
- Join a Class or Club: Classes and clubs are a great way to meet new people who share similar interests as you. At MI, we have several in-person and online bass guitar classes that can help you meet aspiring musicians looking for a bass guitar player.
2. Consider the drum-bass relationship
The drummer and bass player needs to be in sync. Together, both instruments get the crowd moving and grooving. It creates a strong foundation for the rest of the band to follow.
Rather than looking at yourself as an independent player, consider rethinking how the drum-bass relationship works. Find a drummer you can practice with and focus on creating a seamless playing experience with a drummer by your side.
3. Play with headphones on
Find a quiet space to play your bass guitar. Plug a pair of headphones into your amp and play as you normally would. This way, you can eliminate outside distractions and focus on your guitar playing only. You’d be surprised at how many external distractions may be distracting you. By isolating your playing, you can find new things to work on and focus on the nuances of your playing.
Try this for 30 minutes every time you practice. At the end of the 30 minutes, reflect on the experience. This will help you consider what you need to work on to improve your bass guitar playing in the future.
4. Work on your form
Once you feel like you’ve mastered the basics of playing the bass, it’s time to start working on your form.
To get started, first try to avoid holding the neck of the bass like a baseball bat. If you hold the bass so that your fingers are parallel to the strings and your thumb is on the back of the neck: you can increase the mobility and fluidity of your playing.
A second tip is to try to incorporate your pinky into your playing. When you start learning to play with four fingers instead of just three you can increase your speed and fluidity.
These small changes take time and patience. Don’t feel discouraged if it doesn’t always feel as comfortable right away. After a bit of training, both of these options will be worthwhile skills that will help you progress.
5. Focus on the melodies
It can be easy to only focus on the bass lines of songs. However, when was the last time you considered what the bass line adds to the melody? When you focus on the melody it will help you find your groove with a particular song. It will allow you to effectively add the bass line from a different perspective.
All you need to do is take some time to sit down with a song, listen to the melody, and then find where the notes of the melody are on the bass. Slowly piece them and transcribe the melody notes onto the bass.
Enroll in a bass guitar program with MI
At MI, we provide several in-person and online bass programs designed to help you improve your skills. With technical training and applied performances, our instructors will equip you with the knowledge you need to take on any style of music.