Things you will eventually learn (but would have been awfully nice to have known about earlier)

• Don't play your bass right after getting out of the shower. Your skin is wet and the callouses might tear right off your fingers. Give your digits at least 30 minutes to dry out.
• Don't leave basses with active pickups plugged in. Having an instrument cable plugged in to an active electronics system keeps the battery running. When the bass is unplugged, the battery goes inactive. (The same goes for battery powered pedals. Leaving the cables plugged in drains the batteries.) 9-volts are freaking expensive, so you'll learn this one fast.
• Most of the bass tab on the internet is at least a little wrong. But that's okay; think of it as blueprints. For a lot of stuff, all you really need to know are the chord changes. Figure the rest out yourself. It'll make you a better player.
• There's more than one right way to play a song. Sure, there are minor differences in sound between a 'B' on the seventh fret of the E-string and the second fret of the A-string, but when you need to play a 'B,' just pick one and play a 'B.' Don't be afraid to re-arrange tab to make something easier to play.
• If your amp has 'High' and 'Low' inputs, the 'High' input stands for 'High sensitivity'and is meant for the weaker signal from passive basses. 'Low' is for 'Low sensitivity' and is meant for the stronger signal from active basses. (This seems really backwards and counter-intuitive to me, but there you go.)
• Play with other people. You're ready to do this from the first day you get your bass. It's why you picked the bass up in the first place, isn't it?

Slow down and use your metronome

Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
1 and...
2 and...
3 and...
4 and...
1 and ah...
2 and ah...
3 and ah...
4 and ah...

Practicing different rhythms to a metronome is probably the most important (and honestly, the least fun) part of my practice schedule. But just playing along to recording, even if it's a simple string of eighth notes isn't the same as practicing along to that click.

By playing to a metronome instead of a recording, you strip away all the other noise and you're left with nothing but the rhythm and your playing. There's no big drums or rhythm guitars to hide when your notes are a little off, or the attack of your plucking or picking is sloppy. You've got nothing else to listen to except your bass.

The other thing that's great about playing with a metronome is how slow you can go. Playing along to a rock song at 110 beats per minute is great, but that speed can hide sloppiness. Crank your metronome down 60 beats per minute and see how your tone is. Are you clearly fretting each note? Are you holding it long enough, and releasing clearly when you're done? How is your right hand doing? Are you alternating your plucking fingers properly? If you slow down and really nail your tone slow, when you speed it up you'll be playing cleaner and sounding better.

I know the temptation is to jump straight from warm-up exercises to playing songs (especially after a long day at work, when bass playing is serving as my wind-down and relaxation time), but in the long run, spending the time and playing it slow will make you a better bass player.

Developing a practice regimen: it's hard

(More or less copied from a post I made on reddit.com/r/bass)

So, one thing I've always struggled with is putting together a practice regimen. Even when I get a good two hour practice schedule in, I dont know how to maximize that time. I'm trying to focus in on basic theory, strong rhythm in the pocket, and good tone.

While I'm able to find advice or even lessons on particular topics, what I'm really looking for is something more specific. "On Tuesday, spend 15 minutes doing these warm ups at 80, 100, 120, and 140 bpm. Then do these exercises for twenty minutes for scale practice..." ...and so on, with a changing schedule to maximize learning and muscle development.

How many times do you run through each scale? Do you work from positions? Do you say the note names aloud as you play them?

I think I'm dense or something, but I really do better with specifics. I'm highly coachable, but I've never been able to spontaneously practice stuff. I need to give myself a structure, and once I have it, I'm able to push myself to success. Without it though, I just kind of flail around.

Am I crazy in thinking that there should be a system of lessons that novice bass players should be able to use to quickly develop basic skills and musical theory knowledge? I've been really disappointed in what I've found so far.

(I should note that while it isn't exactly what I'm looking for, I've been learning a lot from scottsbasslessons.com. I've been able to take what I'm learning there and using that to try to structure my practice. Scott Devine's lessons are great for understanding the conceptual stuff behind practice. If you're on the hunt for video lessons, give his a try. There are lots of people making great stuff these days, but his are my favorite.)

Tab: The Hold Steady - Stuck Between Stations

I've been working on my ears by tabbing out a few songs. I've been focusing simple songs I haven't found bass tab for. Here's one by a band I've been really into for the past few months, The Hold Steady.

The rhythm is... let's just say it's a little loose. Listen to the recording and you'll pick it up quickly.

-------------------------------------------------
STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS - The Hold Steady
-------------------------------------------------
Tabbed by: Matt
Email:matt@lower-education.com

Tuning: EADG

Intro/Verse (rhythm changes slightly; basically double the notes during muted sections)

G|----------------------------------------------|
D|--/5--------/5--------/5----------------------|
A|-----5-5-5-----5-5-5-----5-5-5----------------|
E|--------------------------------3-3-5-5-5-----|

Chorus

G|----------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------|
A|------------5-5-5-5-5-------------------------|
E|---5--7--9------------3-2-5-555---------------|


Bridge

G|----------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------|
A|--rest while piano plays-----------------5----|
E|-----------------------------10\3-10-3-3---5--|

The chorus could also be played like this, which is closer to the rhythm guitar line:

G|----------------------------------------------|
D|----------------------------------------------|
A|------------5--7--9---------------------------|
E|---5--7--9------------3-2-5-555---------------|

Finding the rhythm

I'm starting to think I've got a bum set of ears. I've been working on tabbing out some bass lines for a couple of Lucero songs based (pun!) on the guitar tabs found on the ones found on this magnificent Lucero tab blog. I haven't had much trouble identifying notes, but I'll be damned if I can work out some of the rhythms.

At first I thought the bass just copied the rhythm guitar, but with a little volume, I was able to tell that wasn't the case. A few live videos (which had horrible phone camera sound quality, which conveniently butchers the bass) also had me convinced that something else was going on. From the few glimpses of Lucero's bassist, John Stubblefield, I was able to get, I realized a few things.

First off, he doesn't play it the same way every time. What am I supposed to do with that? How can I be playing it "right" if there's more than one way to do it? Is the way it's done on the record canonical? What about how it's done live? The important thing, I think, is to play a version that sounds good and supports the song. That might be eighth notes sometimes and other times it might be big fat whole notes.

Second, less can be more. In this live video, I noticed that a whole note filled up space while the rhythm guitar and drums drove the rhythm of the song. It's not always up to the bass to own that rhythm, especially when there's already a lot going on. Sometimes you just need big fat root notes to support the rest of the band.

Finally, I've learned I'm still pretty uncomfortable winging it. If I were to take one of the songs I was working on to a group of people to play, I feel like I need to have a more definitive answer for the rhythm than I do now. Either way, I do know that I want to start playing with other people ASAP.

You must focus. Focus very hard.

Bass playing has been happening, although my learning pace has been reduced. Blogging has taken a backseat to getting practice time in though. My initial plan for keeping a mix of a practice journal and a learning resource site has fizzled somewhat. I was planning on swinging towards the learning resource site, but I there are plenty of great sites like that already. So, a journal about my learning process?

I've continued with (almost) weekly lessons. I've been practicing at least 5 nights a week, even if some of those practice sessions aren't all that inspired. Practice has tended towards songs lately-- I think more technique and metronome practice is probably required soon.

I feel like I'm about ready to start playing with other folks, but my current lack of a high wattage amp puts a cramp on that. I've almost purchased several heads/cabs over the past month, but Ebay is a cruel mistress. At this point, I've decided to wait until after my move in July before purchasing something new. I'd rather have a little bit of extra cash on hand for unexpected moving expenses than a hundred pounds of extra stuff to move.

To recap, I need to remember to blog more.

A little easy to go with that hard

In my weekly lessons, I've been getting a "tough" song to work on for the week to push one aspect or another of my playing. It's also been neat to get assigned a song that I probably never would have learned on my own. That, in turn, has meant learning a bunch of skills I probably wouldn't have learned on my own.

The technique this exposed me to most recently was ghost notes. I could hear them, that little thud before a beat in funk songs, but I couldn't do them. I was trying to play them by muting the string with just one finger on my left hand. This kept producing harmonics-- the trick is to use two fingers on your left hand to mute the string. BAM-- ghost notes.

Only working on one song a week isn't enough though. I've found that I'm able to learn two or three simpler alt rock songs at the same time I'm working on a tougher song. And to be honest, playing simple roots and fifths is damn fun. I've got a nice little playlist of songs to play along to; I'm getting close to 30 minutes of material to work through almost every night.

This way I'm learning the tough stuff and building up my endurance at the same time.