Bringing my bass playing up a level

I personally found my bass playing hugely improved by learning one difficult song (A Farewell To Kings - Rush) I was quite amazed at the progress I made on that alone.

I have to agree with Dick - with the bass, jamming is probably more important than anything else. I much prefer "Unconscious" writing and playing in a live environment, and keep the conscious stuff for my practice routines, as I much prefer the raw excitement of the uncontrolled "bleeding edge" feel, and find that the most natural. Each to their own, of course.

Hey there,

I'm sure some of the more seasoned players on here may scoff at this, but I'm what you'd call an intermediate, non-pro player, without much free time to practice. I used to play with a band every 2 weeks, and it took me an hour to get warmed up after not touching my bass for 13 days.

What worked for me to just improve my technical skills was buying a drum machine, and playing along with beats that inspired me. Not necessarily playing scales, but playing a pattern that complimented the beat. 

I pretty quickly learned that my timing was not as good as I thought it was, but over time I improved.

I also found that a drum machine was useful in learning to play in different styles - I could just dial in a reggae beat or a salsa beat, or anything and just jam along with it.

All in all - I believe it made me a more well-rounded player than if I was just practicing scales to a metronome (which I could nor bear to do - the monotony drove me crazy).

Anyways - I'm not saying this will work for everyone, especially if you ultimate goal is to be the next Chris Squire or Geddy Lee - but it was an enjoyable practice method that worked for me.

Good luck and keep at it.

cheers,
ew

Baseball season starting means that my practicing will probably step up a bit; I like to watch a ballgame while playing scales and/or exercises I have memorized with a metronome. 

I've been coming up a couple of exercises to do, but I have been having trouble coming up with consistent routines.  

rileydog22 wrote: I have been eying a couple of Spectors, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get my hands on one.

rileydog22 wrote: To be honest, I don't really have any routine at all, it's just messing around whenever I get the time.  I was wondering if anyone could recommend me a book of exercises or something. I'm using a Fender Jazz Bass V, and it certainly isn't friendly to the fret hand.  My technique is pretty bad.

To be honest, I don't really have any routine at all, it's just messing around whenever I get the time.  I was wondering if anyone could recommend me a book of exercises or something.

I'm using a Fender Jazz Bass V, and it certainly isn't friendly to the fret hand.  My technique is pretty bad. 

It depends on what you're trying to accomplish.  If the note reading method is working for you, keep at it and practice.
My personal feeling on it, however is that unless you plan on doing a lot of sight reading (like playing in a jazz ensemble), then reading music doesn't matter too much.  What really matters is the relationship between what you hear in your mind and what your fingers play.  Writing notes on a page is just one way of connecting them.  A good way to learn is to learn to play songs you like, that way you start to associate patterns with certain sounds.

I've been playing electric bass for a while year now, and with a teacher I worked my way through Note Reading Studies For Bass (some info about it here), so now I can read (somewhat slowly) sixteenth notes in somewhat basic time signatures (rarely more than three sharps or flats).  My theory is weak, consisting of things I've picked up here and there about intervals and chord constructions, and my technique is poor. 

What should I do next?