philbymon wrote:You may well not be able to describe what you're doing on the bass, but you have a knowledge of the neck of the instrument & what notes go together correctly. You know what notes make up a chord, & how to use them & other notes of the scale to get the sounds that work for any given tune. You also must be pretty good in the timing dept to play the bass, bob. You've played a long time to get to the point that you can apply your knowledge so well.
The average child who has no knowledge of these things can't make good music. The average adult who hasn't spent any time with an instrument can't, either. There's a lot more than just "groovin' to the music" involved. There's a history of listening, learning, & practicing, to get to the point that you can jam successfully, & some ppl never get to that point even though they're fairly accomplished players when you give them sheet music.
With a good background in listening & learning & practicing, you might become very adept at tapping into the ethereal or the music muses or whatever you may want to call it, to improvise well. Otherwise, you need some time to come up with stuff through trial & error, like our budding musician friend the writer. Nothing at all wrong with that. In fact, I applaud his efforts, as it's getting into that "practice" area so necessary for good music. But don't expect to walk on a stage & be great without the 3 most requisite parts of becoming a musician, unless you're a savant.
That's all true, BUT some people are afraid to just let it rip. They have to know everything in advance. Every single note. I play patterns. I know what note starts the pattern, but after that I can't tell you where I'm going. It sounds crazy, but it's all patterns. My hands automatically go where they are supposed to, because a LONG time ago I just started letting it rip. I don't know anything about theory. I've played so much that it is second nature. (It has to be, I sing lots of lead). People get hung up on doing the exact note-for-note thing, and think that by learning theory of why something works that it will make them a better bass player. It COULD if they ALSO just let their fingers rip up and down the neck as well. I think fear holds a lot of people back. Fear they will hit the wrong note(s). The more you play then over time you will hit less and less wrong notes. Just play as often as possible until it becomes second nature. I don't know if there's any other better way to advance on any instrument.
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