The subject of what to practice on bass is overwhelming in the number of posts and videos available on the internet. At times the content offers so little! On occasion I have ” deprogrammed” new students who had accepted ( because they didn’t know better) unworkable methods that were not grounded in music content.
The electric bass enjoys a unique position as it determines the '' shape'' of the song harmonically as well as directing the energy of the music.
Learning music informs your art of playing at minimum and enables you to be competitive to ” earn in the real world”. Why do we accept that a lawyer would get applied knowledge in order to earn his fee, but not have the same standard for a young or perhaps not so young bassist wanting to learn his craft to satisfy the requirements of the music? Learning to read, studying functional harmony, chordal theory are the benchmarks of our craft and prepares the bassist for the demands of the professional and semi-professional world. In my years of teaching , I've never seen a student that is serious about the instrument not improve by learning to read. It is not hard to learn if done correctly and have taught hundreds this basic skill in my private and online teaching. I've been teaching for many years on Skype and Worldwide. my skype address is: stevenontheone
Practicing musical information is not supposed to be emotional! You are regarding facts that you need to know, play and hear in order to express your ideas and the ideas of others in a method of communication that has been in use for many, many years regardless of the style being played.
The web has brought a wealth of information, both correct and incorrect, to our homes. As I am fond of telling my students in regards to practicing: ” The only bad mistake is the one you didn’t realize that you made”….studying music gives us how and why of practice and how to correct mistakes.
I’ve had the great pleasure of ” pouring in” to students who earn that title and some of gone on to be wonderful and successful bass musicians in their own right. All of them learn craft and music content and can fit the requirement of the gig…and they all play their own way of expressing their art. However, they function well in whatever musical environment they are in. contact me at: stevebryant71bass@gmail.com My Skype address is: stevenontheone
Craft is HOW we do something, Art is WHY we do something. Expression is the very art of music and there are no rules. When we learn the craft and facts of music, We grow not only as bass artists, but also the knowledge to play in any style we prefer. This is what music fact based practicing does.
