Hey!
Just recieved 'Empires of the World' today from Amazon, and holy shit! I'm just pissed I didn't hear about you guys earlier! I gotta say, this is how I hope to be able to make music one day. So on to my question, type, thing to Jon. I too am a bassist (well, my main instrument), and I've hit somewhat of a rut. I've got theory down nicely, but can you recommend some playing exercises to practice, or instructional books or anything like that? Any help is greatly appreciated!
Alex
Hey Alex, glad you like the album
I'm afraid I might not be able to give you the help you're looking for - although I was classically trained on piano (and bassoon - rock!) I taught myself bass + guitar so I never followed any instructional books/videos/exercises - sorry mate!
The way I learnt then (and now) was to listen to lots of different styles of music, work out what the bassists were doing and then jam along. Back in the day it was mainly Steve Harris and Cliff Burton (how I got into metal) - now I tend to vary between genres so as to progress as a player (and to keep myself interested). Although this may not be considered the best way to learn, I find that I can pick up a vast amount from listening to other peoples playing, partly from a technical side but mostly from how they work with the music. My attitude has always been that however technically amazing, lightning fast and great at scales you become, if you can't 'fit' a band then what's the point?!
For example, at the moment I'm really into playing 70's funk music (i.e. Curtis Mayfield, Average White Band, Ian Dury and the Blockheads etc). Some of the bass parts aren't necessarily difficult or technically challenging, but the feel and positioning of the notes is second to none. Having come primarily from the school of Steve Harris (i.e. focusing on speed and consistancy), I find this style makes me think more about the importance of each single note and the feel/groove that goes with it. I find this has really helped to progress my playing, even for Bio. For the same reason I like switching between guys like Andy Fraser and Flea, Tom Araya and Geddy Lee, Danny Thompson and Greg Lake - it keeps me on my toes, interested, and focuses on different aspects of bass playing.
Anyway, to sum up (Jesus, what a lecture!) I would mainly advise that you listen to as wide a variety of players as possible, even if just for inspiration, and then see where that takes you.
I hope this helps you dude,
Jon
Yes, I am mainly listening to metal now, but definitely enjoy me some prog rock as well, but I will check out other stuff! Thanks for the words, and I'll definitely use it to hopefully get better!
