Bass Mistakes That Are SLOWING You Down
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- Опубліковано 9 гру 2022
- 👉 My full beginner bass course: yeah.bassbuzz.com/mistakes2
Stop wasting time in the shed - shave years off your practice by avoiding these 5 common bass mistakes.
You can’t unsee this lesson - by the end of it you’ll know how to:
- Stop repeating mistakes
- How to practice bass more efficiently
- Structure your practice to avoid time-wasting
- Stay out of panic mode on a gig
- Recognize patterns that help you remember songs and bass lines
- Learn songs at the right level for you
20 Easy Bass Songs to Learn - open.spotify.com/playlist/5l2...
Gear used in the video (not affiliated):
2016 Squier Vintage Modified Jazz with Audere preamp
GruvGear SoloStrap Neo 4”
Noble DI
Audient iD 14
You read all the way through this video description… you must really like bass lessons. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next one - yeah.bassbuzz.com/subscribe
#BassMistakes #BassBuzz
Adding timestamps for my own reference (and maybe yours too!):
0:21 Mistake #1: Practicing Too Fast
3:18 Mistake #2: Starting with Noodling
5:34 Mistake #3: Not Planning Fingerings
9:33 Mistake #4: Not Knowing Theory
12:44 Mistake #5: Trying to Learn Jamiroquai Songs (JK Super Hard Songs)
Thank you for the quality advice as usual Josh!
Bonus tip: when everything else fails, don't forget to smile and move rhythmically as you play. Just remember that 90% of people doesn't even know how the bass sounds or would be able to identify it anyway
Yuuup truth
Grow dreads, people will just assume you know what you’re doing
@@andreaholcock8992 totally.
@@andreaholcock8992 or that you ignore basic personal hygiene
😂😂😂😂
My old band director said practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. Always appreciated that advice.
Ooh I like that
now he is going to use that in a video i'm calling it
All credits go to Mr. Jeff Slepak, he’s a pretty nasty trombone player too
perfect practice makes perfect:)
That's hands down the best advice I've ever heard
I love that not only do you teach bass, you teach learning. There are a lot of people on UA-cam who think they can teach just because they know how to do something. You're the only online teacher I've found who not only know their stuff, you also seem to genuinely care about the learning process! Thank you!
Didnt knew that you also play bass!!!
Even after B2B and practicing for 3 months I think this is the first video that made me realize "learning a song" is not about learning the notes and somehow hitting them in order, it's about memorizing one specfic sequence of finger movements to hit them the same way every time.
Excuse me while I go re-learn the few songs I've learned so far!
My brain works better with patterns than remembering note names. I'm not a great player yet by any means, but I do see my progress speed up when I focus on memorizing the feel of a few bars at a time before moving to the next few.
Nononono! What you're saying might be a useful skill to a limited degree. However, real music is alive, don't play like a robot. The trick is to always inject your feeling, your heart, soul and emotion into every note of every bass line, so that you're never playing the same thing the exact same way twice in a row. Even if you play the exact same notes/pattens as before, it should still always be alive and "new"!
@@vigorouslethargy same for me! I like to break things down into sections but between less-than-accurate sounding earbuds and a very beginner-ish ability to feel a song's rhythms and notes, I'm not the best at translating or improvising certain songs. At least the Songster tabs app has forced me to really get the pace of a song right and little by little come up with a fingering that works. Depending on how hard the song is to learn, I might grab a small portion of notes/ryhthms that one way or another repeat in a pattern and work on playing that slowly until it's right, or I might find a slightly easier song to learn. I've noticed when doings this way that sometimes my brain just needs to "sleep on it" so I might give my bass a rest for a day or a few hours. Call it what you will, but I more often than not come back to the bassline more capable of running through the whole song than before. To further test myself, I'd record the track with a microphone app and play along, and keep on trying until I got it right. 🤷♂️ if anyone out there can see this whole method as a way to create unhealthy habits or something, do let me know. For now it's the best I can do as someone who works all day everyday except for some free time on the weekends. That's my spill, cheers.
I work best by remembering the key, then scale degrees and nuances like runs and slides. I do try to stick to one fingering for the most part, but it’s not set in stone. Being flexible that way makes it so much easier when the song changes key, or even if the band wants to do it in another key. I also think it’s a good idea to change it up occasionally, just to remain flexible and be open to ideas. If I learned it by fingering alone, I’d be screwed.
I'm autistic and just picked up a bass 3 days ago. Thank you for explaining (while also showing) the "why" along with the "what" and then also repeating the same idea using different words. 🥰 Yours is the first music related UA-cam video I've been able to finish. 🤩
I'm autistic too, been playing bass since I was 17. Your description made me understand why I like Josh's lessons, and I'm sure his soft, kind demeanor helps me too.
Samesies! I’m about to buy a bass myself and these lessons are helpful for preparing
@@Readydaer omg do it! 🤩 I got songster app for the tabs to kinda see what's up with the fingers and strings. I'll have to write down the tabs to remember them. UA-cam let's you slow videos to 75%, it's choppy but works. Then I bought songster to get BT audio and speed reduction. I totally love my Ibanez bass... Everyone who hears it say it's the cleanest bass they've heard. You're welcome to follow me and ask questions on my newb bass stuff. I probably won't know what but I can at least say what I did.
@@iflifewaseasy I see, thanks for the info!
im autistic too this is exactly why i like his videos omg!
I am a freshman in highschool and I started play bass about a week ago, I decided to take music theory at the beginning of this year and already having the experience with that class has helped me with understanding scales and the fretboard so much. Music theory is a huge help and I would recommend taking a class to anybody.
Congrats on starting bass!
Good on learning theory in high school! I waited until I was a college student, and literally everyone else in class knew more than I did. But I can honestly say that what I learned in my music theory classes has stayed with me for the rest of my life. I'm almost 70 years old now, and being able to THINK in music and COMMUNICATE in music has made my life richer than it would have been without it. Oh, and I started playing bass about a week ago, too!
If you're reading these comments wondering "should I get the Beginner to Badass course"... YES, a thousand times YES. The course is awesome, you'll play heaps of styles and riffs and have a plethora of backing tracks to practice to.
Excellent video Josh 🤘😎
I second this opinion.
Third. It's awesome!
You’re just Josh’s close family members. 😊
It’s good to hear buyer satisfaction rather than buyer remorse.
Hahaha, I really enjoyed this one, and it was amazingly helpful. I'm definitely getting the course.
My Son is almost done with the course, anybody have anything or anybody else to recommend to up his bass game even more?
This video was really educational and fun to watch, and you did a great job with the editing. It's so exciting to see how much you've improved over the years! :D
And how much he has made us improve too :D
Thanks Nyx!
this is for everyone who says playing bAss is easy xD
School of Rock made it look easy
@@davidapodaca6827 aye that’s facts
I wish😭
Yeah, it might look easy, but try and play like Jaco Pastorius!
The way I see it bass is much harder because it has to be perfect. You can slop around on guitar and get away with it easy. Bass has to hit firm, and correct, every time.
Fingering consistency is key. I also never struggled with BUT I recently injured my pinky and have been using just three fingers while it heals. I've straight up gotten the yips and forgotten how to play songs that I know cold, all because I tried to switch to a new fingering.
I'll be so glad when my picky gets back online! 😂
Just some different perspectives on a couple of these points: While watching live footage of the bass player of whatever song you're trying to figure out is helpful, keep in mind that they aren't necessarily the epitome of technique just because they are in a band. Also, often times performers will compromise good technique while playing live for the sake of an entertaining performance.
Barring your finger is the last resort on bass! The chorus on Hysteria for example, would be more comfortably played with your index and then middle finger. Josh has bigger hands, so it's easier for him to barre. Barring is very straining for most people, especially across multiple strings on bass, and lower on the fretboard. Do what is comfortable for you.
Nice progress on your video content Josh! They feel much more refined and smooth
Great advice (and humour) as always. I'd like to add something a music teacher told me years ago: there's two types of practicing. One is for technique where you stop and correct mistakes as you make them; the other is to practice performing where, come hell or high water, you keep in sync with whatever tempo and place in a song that a backing track requires (which is a lot more of a challenge than just getting back in time with a metronome). Performance practicing is surprisingly hard to do but it teaches you the skill of how to keep the music flowing, which is essential if you ever want to play with anyone else. It's the musician's equivalent of being a figure skater who's fallen down and they have to get back up and carry on--and not with the next step after the one they flubbed, but to get back in sync with the music that's moved on while they were splattered on the ice.
@@BassBuz_Official Sounds good but not sure what to do…help!
Your style of explaining makes things simple. Really loved the content
Thanks for the support, rock on!
Thank you for always motivating me to practice bass just with uploading another video! :D
Picking up the bass again after a trying to learn it a year ago and all of these videos are awesome! You've really sparked my interest in the bass again. Thank you for being an awesome teacher! Keep up the great work!
What a value, these are such great pieces of advice! Even while knowing this just being reminded helps solidify how important it is!!!! Thank you
I love this, I recognize everything I used to do and all the subjects you touch are subjects my teacher has spent so much time on with me over the years. Pretty cool stuff and a great video!
You are very understandable for non-English speakers even without use of subtitles. Thanks for your lessons!
Good to hear!
Thanks for another awesome vid I always look forward to your stuff mr bass man 👊🏻❤️
Thanks Josh. Gave me a new perspective on my practice routine
I just finished todays practice on Beginner to Badass and then found this waiting for me! Cool! Plus I can't recommend Beginner to Badass enough. It's great, I learn so much and it's fun too. Josh is a great teacher!
I´m an intermediate bass player, played for 15 years sometime in my spare time. However any time I see your videos, it makes me grab my bass. Really motivating, and very widely covered all bass topic. Keep up the good stuff!
Lots of thoughts in my mind right now. But this one might be one of the best, mind-blowing, mind-expanding videos I've seen to date. Honestly, as a 'forever beginner', I ENJOY challenge too much. Which doesn't mean I always succeed, and here you've just explained to me exactly WHY. So, thanks for this, it's an excellent guide to start correcting bad habits! I still have to learn how to play slap in a few weeks, so I'm still in deep dip, but now I know I can make a plan. And that's a start.
Glad this was helpful Manuel!
Understanding music theory massively speeds up my learning at the moment. I often find patterns whilst learning the bass because of it. That helps a lot and it helps me find my way about the fret board. For example finding the roots when playing/learning the minor pentatonic scale over the entire board
THIS VID WAS FANTASTICALLY HELPFUL thank you xx
Josh you're amazing! Ive made more progress with your videos in three months than I have the last two years :,) thank you! I learn something new everyday
I've been stuck on # 4 for a while now. I have a decent knowledge of music theory learned from watching videos and reading up on it - but actually applying it while playing is a whole different beast.
Thank you for good contents!
Super helpful 😆
And super funny😂😂😂 I really love your sense of joyful delivery
You mentioned learning something from every song even easy ones, and one for me that I learned about how much of a difference muting notes makes that some of my other music loving friends don't seem to be as aware of was Sunshine of Your Love like you mentioned. He lets those last few notes ring sometimes and sometimes he mutes them pretty quick and realizing how big of a difference that makes for the feel of a song really helped me learn the place a bass often takes in rock music in particular but how feel as a whole is perceived in music
Great video. Looks like I'm gonna have to buckle down and change some of my practice habits.
Dude, thank you SO MUCH for making these videos! I’ve been learning quite a lot just by watching and practicing some of the things you say. Practicing slower, getting my muscle memory, and then progressively quickening my tempo, I’m learning pretty quickly. I got a bass only two weeks ago and I am in love with the feeling of this instrument. Your help is definitely making a difference for me and it’s so inspiring to feel myself growing into this. Thank you again, man! You put a lot of effort into these and man does it pay off. I hope you’re off to a great 2023!
im so thankfull w u. I've been playing the bass since 3 years ago by my own n I make a lot of these mistakes. this is so helpfull thank u a lot
These videos always put things in such great perspective for me, and make me so excited to get back in the practice room so I can play better! Thanks Josh!!
You're welcome, glad they're helpful! :)
These mistakes may slow my progress. But i came to see this video as Quick as possible!!
:P
One of the biggest issues i had in my teens is just comfortably jamming with some one with out being super rehearsed and i only had the capacity for like 3 or for songs. This is why im trying to stay disciplined on studying practicing music theory at least a few minutes a day.
youve saved me so much frustration and time dude thank you!
Hey Josh! Great topic and video! I always enjoy when I see you using the PV Cirrus! You're the only Pro I've ever seen using one like you do. I should probable have one in my toolshed.
Probably the most helpful bass instruction video I’ve seen in a while.
Thanks for the video it really helped!
Great start to my day seeing a new video. Love it.
Also that white/purple bass is BEAUTIFUL and I think it gave me some gas
GAS alleviator - ua-cam.com/video/Nx2vmNGfKlw/v-deo.html
Great tips....especially the first one. It's amazing how fast you can learn a line when you start super slow.
Totally! So much less exciting at first though. :P
Great video, all your videos kick ass! im an older guy that played metal in early 80s at 18 years old, quit playing , picked back up at 40 for a couple of years and gigs, quit playing again and now picked back up at 50
got my first bass today esp TLD b10 im loving your videos thank you
Thanks for all the things you bring to the bass teaching world. 🙏
You're welcome Chris!
Hey, just wanted to let you know that you're a great teacher and that these lessons are on point and invaluable! Just like you, I was lucky to have a great bass teacher when I started playing bass so all these concepts are not new to me but it's good to have a memory refresh once in a while. I've reintroduced some of your basic exercises into my practice sessions again and it helped me to a lot to achieve much higher consistency in my playing.
Brilliant video Josh. Everything you say makes sense and I chuckled all the way through.
Thanks Mark!
So on point 👍 👍 keep up the good work.
I shall follow this path, sensei, because You know it well and show it well.
That transition at @3:18 is impressively well done and smooth 👌
I love how you keep/increase the quality of your videos man. Cheers from Brazil 🇧🇷
Thanks Guilherme!
The strato as Cypher... I mean... that's some top-notch guitarist-bashing. That's the quality content we come here for XD chef's kiss!
You quickly are becoming my favorite instructor! Just beginning on the bass. Seems to be too many that think they can teach or ones that go so fast you can't keep up. Thank you Josh and crew!
Thanks Yota, welcome to the bass family!
Like most beginner bassists nowadays, I subscribed to a handful of UA-cam channels to try to learn how to play the instrument. Of all the channels I've subscribed to, yours has been the most helpful. You are an excellent teacher. And the extra mile you go to make the videos entertaining helps keep the leaning fun. Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. You're a household regular, lol. If I ever run into you I'm shaking your hand and buying you a beer. 🎸
This was so helpful thx
Great video as always, thanks.
GREAT VIDEO….thanks for the education
A very well put together clip.
As someone who hit a plateau, this was one of the most helpful bass vids I’ve seen!
My wife caught me slacking off in here on You Tube but once she realized I was working on bettering my fingering technique, all was good. :) - that aside, you have the #1 best Bass videos on YT.
Great tips as usual Josh. I’m still working on the course albeit very slowly (I’m on module 5) but now that my work schedule has tailed off I’m determined to finish by spring. Best money I ever spent was getting your badass course. Thanks for your hard work and determination.
Thanks Ronald, enjoy the rest of the course!
I find it comforting to realize I was doing all of these from day one without even thinking about it :))
Just found this channel.
Picked up my bass for the first time in about 13 years recently, and am starting again from scratch bas(S)ically. I was never the best player (average at best) but now I've got a chance to 'learn better'.
2 bass lines that are my ultimate goals are White Zombies 'Black Sunshine' and Muse's 'Hysteria' which I am finding VERY difficult right now - the speed and timing are killing my left hand!) Looking forward to checking out the rest of your videos!
Excellent video. Students can often jump ten bears at a time but it's student dependant. You've given them the best advice.
I’m genuinely happy that picking up the bass and looking for UA-camrs, the bass community has the best teacher.
I finished reading "the talent code" not so long ago and I found it a fascinating and practical book that has definitely changed the way I practice
Totally! He's written a lot of great stuff.
Fantastic video as always-remove the bass-specific references and this is a solid plan for consistent gains in many instruments. I'm a guitar player and still haven't applied them all! Consequently, my chops have been stuck at the same level for years, but I intend to change that soon.
Best advice I ever had. Practice doesn't necessarily make perfect. But practice always makes permanent, including your mistakes.
I loved your rendition of do I do, good job!!!! it sounded really amazing and that's one of my favorite songs
Great tips! Also, UA-cam has made it 1000 times easier to learn songs than back in the day when we had to keep rewinding the tape and trying to hear through all the other instruments in the song to figure out what we were trying to learn. No excuse these days to digging in and learning songs.
this is on point for me, I consider myself an intermediate bassist but, I admit I have to rlly work on my technique and slowing down while avoiding noodling LOL
Great videos/course you have going. If only I knew about bass as a kid and had the internet (I graduated HS in 1989). Beginners today have so many amazing resources like your channel while getting to learn right in their bedrooms & you have one of the best ways (and most modest ways) of explaining & teaching the instument which is terrific.
Something I tell & show inspiring bassists or someone that's new is to the instrument is how to play a song they dig that's doable as a novice. I've seen people quit over strugling to try & learn & read sheet music only to play a jenky version of Mary Had a Little Lamb 3 weeks later. Definitely learn sheet music, theory, scales etc. etc. but I know it totally get's people inspired if they can play the main line or maybe the entire song to something easy like "Rain" & "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult, "Aneurysm" by Nirvana (and dozens of other pretty simple songs) and be impressed with themselves. Thats how it started for me. I tried the trumpet & drums in grade school but lost interest by the time I learned Happy Birthday.
(Small anecdote); I never even thought about the bass until I was 19 and in the Navy going to school in Jacksonville, FL. A guy that I became friends with had the same taste in music as myself & he had a guitar & bass in his room. One day while hanging out he handed me the bass which I had no idea how to even hold let alone play. He showed me how to play the chorus to "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and that was it - I was hooked. That was fall of 1990 & I've been playing ever since. Even got to open up for Sugar Ray, The Specials & Suicidal Tendencies haha. Not bad for someone that really didn't even know what a bass guitar was until I was 19. For myself it was crucial that thats how I was introduced to the instrument; within 1 minute of picking up the bass I could play (very shodily) something I recognized & love. I would have quit going the old fashioned route.
I''m glad to see the massive success of your channel & watching it grow. Keep it up, cheers!
WOW this vidéo is right on time i finished your course beginner to badass 2 month ago and i loved it so much and this vidéo will help me to structure my practice cause i was noodleling.. well thank you. you change my vision of bass player and you alow me to play a instrument. Dont stop believe it !!!!
Thanks Marc-Olivier, glad you dug the course!
I appreciate your content so much, josh!
I purchased your beginner to badass course back in 2021, got about 70% of the way through it, and just fell off playing for the last couple of years. I'm just getting back into it, and I've been doing all of this!
As a self-taught-bassist, who has felt so lost trying to learn an instrument on my own, your content has given me structure and tips that have helped me more than anything. I consider you my teacher, and you have taught me so much. Thank you for doing what you do!
Glad you're getting back into the course! 🤘
I’m a professional symphony clarinetist, and just started playing electric bass! I love your beginner practicing methods.
Nice, welcome to the bass family Scott!
nice tutorial thank you so much bro.
I always loved Theory because it really did feel like you open up a massive world of patterns and improv with relatively little memorizing or tedium.
good to hear that you love theory .. i'm a long time pro ( keyboard - bass and sax ) who studied theory from jazz and classical pov
my request for you as to help me be a better teacher . Can you go
into more detail as to how theory helped you ? btw
I read much theory - some of modern theory i think is off putting to students .
i'm not a fan of the way modes are taught .
anyhow any details on how theory ( what aspects of theory ) has helped ?
You are a fab teacher, just working my way through your online course, love it, daughter keeps complaining as i have taken over her room as she has a big screen 😊 thanks
Haha, thanks Rena, and tell your daughter I'm sorry :P
Helpful. Thanks
Josh you are the best! You make learning this chunk of strung up wood and metal to a 60 year old newbie a lot less stressful! Your channel is awesome and thank you! You funny man!😂😂😂🎸
Thanks Michael!
As always, thanks Josh. Would never have picked up the bass in the first place if not for your channel.
Thanks Ken, glad I helped get you on the bass!
I was in need of this video and don`t had idea
👏👏👏👏👏👏 ahhh this is what i tell my guitar and piano students all the time!!!!
hey, I've been playing bass for awhile and I've never had any training besides these vids, now I've got a band and can play hysteria. thank you.
I have to stay that you are one of, if not the most humble teacher of bass and music that I've encountered on UA-cam. Thank you sir. Keep on doing this for the music world. We need you.
Thank you! Will do. :)
Sometimes I will change up fingers back and forth during a song due to cramping or hand strain. Billy Jean is a good example of playing the same riff for 5 minutes without much of a break. I alternate between my ringer finger and pinky.
@@jayfoghino5392 I'm not a specialist but I got some of these too, I tried pressing less harder and it hurts way less
Nonstop octave jumps would do that to me. What helped immensely was fine tuning the neck and lowering the action. And trying different positions on the strap.
Great video. Thanks
i know sunshine of your love but ill try learning the last song, also thanks for opening my third eye of mistakes it really helped me when playing the bass efficiently
Your videos are AWESOME!! Thanks!
Great vid Josh! Thank you!!!
Thanks Rick!
So, I picked up guitar about 2 months ago, but then I decided to give bass a go before I get too deep into guitar, just in case I might find myself liking it better. And I gotta say, so many of your tips, I wish I'd heard for guitar in the last 2 months.
Training slowly with a metronome !
Thanks for mentioning this
Just received my Badass cds and can't wait to get started..thanks for putting that together!
You're welcome, enjoy the course!
Best bass video I’ve ever seen. Excellent work and thank you
Thanks Diego!
I'll put in a plug for Josh's Beginner to Badass course. It's what started me on my bass journey and having seen a lot more material since then, I still feel it was the absolute best choice I could have unknowingly made at the time. It's a great way to get started, and I hope that Josh will follow up with another structured class of more advanced material.
I find that my skill is a series of jumps and plateaus - and that's not bad, as long as I get off a plateau in time. The plateaus give time to get really good at a certain level. This video pokes me to be more efficient at making that jump to the next level, and it's great stuff. One point on fingering - it's not just about watching someone or efficiency - it's about how *you* want something to sound. A C on the E string sounds more full than a C on the A string which is a bit punchier. There are times when each sounds better (even in the same song), and maybe not where the efficient fingering would point. And then yeah - practice it that way over and over so it's just programmed in and feels right.
good point. getting back to my Fender Fretless jazz and getting accurate is my goal.If I try to fast accuracy suffers.I wish ya did a fretless lesson.
Dude! What a nice and considerate guy you are 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿🇺🇸 Thank you
Thanks, very useful and not just for bass.
Thanks Jeff!
This one video has so much information , it’s crazy
Thanks for this post. Even though I’m a novice beginner, there many points I “knew” but needed to be reminded of.
I enjoy learning music theory, as long as presented in doable chunks and not fire hosed.
Glad it was helpful!
@@BassBuzz An other question. Do you think knowing the riff of a song is the same as knowing a song.
There are about 9 parts to the song Money, and I can play them all, but not all the parts together with the band.
In terms of my advice at the end of the vid, I meant full songs, not just riffs.
Awesome content. Could you make a video explaining:
Hammer on
Pull off
Legato side
Shift slide
Trill?
Tremolo picking
Shake?
And so on and so on. I’ve noticed these on the back of an excessive study book