I've found it very enriching to try to play over albums. Training the ear to recognize notes is one of the abysmal challenges of bass. Then, the fundamental thing is to get some kind of grasp on what to practice. I've toyed with the natural and harmonic minor scales in B tuning, I've toyed with the chords in natural minor tuning, yesterday I started getting into modes, but that's it really. Now I need to figure how to proceed.
What I'm about to say please do not take offense to, but there really is no way to take short cuts with becoming a musician and it seems you don't really have a set routine in place or an organized way to practice. Yes, what you are doing is very helpful, but it is one of
many, many aspects to playing an instrument. I won't try to say that any one thing is more important than another, but right now you seem to lack discipline which is very important when learning any thing. Yes, I understand that scales and things like that can become boring and it may seem useless for an instrument like bass, but I think it should still be approached the same way as any other instrument.
A good example for things to practice would be some of these things
- Time/Tempo - Different key signatures and how to properly play patterns of notes within each and being able to identify those patterns and signatures by name (triplets, waltz', etc). A huge majority of musicians in the making get stuck just noodling around the fretboard trying to stay in whatever key they're in at the time without really paying much mind to what is going on rhythmically.
- Inversions/Harmonies/Octaves - Take a part of a song or riff that you like and learn harmonies for it, or playing it in different positions. A good example of a band to do this with for harmonies is of course Iron Maiden. Be sure to really keep an eye on what is happening with each voice though as opposed to just committing the parts to muscle memory. Inversions are also great because it forces you to take a chord or something of that sort and approach it in a whole new way. Octaves are pretty straight forward, but still important I think.
- Right and Left hand dexterity - Practice each of these individually and together. Try to play strict legato with your left hand for a set period of time, but also try to do several picking patterns with your right hand in another set period of time. Finally, bring both hands together and try to articulate your notes as cleanly as possible with these techniques. With your left hand, be sure to also use different combinations of fingers for the same line for instance, this way you can have well developed strength no matter what combination of fingers you are forced to use.
Here is a video for guitar that helps a bit with the legato thing but this can very easily be applied to bass
Again, what you're doing with improvisation is great, but be sure to build yourself a routine. Make sure to set a schedule up for yourself where you are setting aside an allotted amount of time for each activity. Another important aspect is monitoring your progress somehow. Make sure to keep notes of how fast you can play something or recordings of how clean you are playing. This may seem arbitrary and pointless at first but it's the best way to see if you're progressing when you can compare your practices with older practice sessions.
Like I said, not trying to be harsh, just trying to give you some constructive criticism. Best of luck to you.
