The bass guitar first appeared on the music scene in the early 50s and then it has become a unified part of any Pop or Rock band. To become a good bass player, you need to achieve some specific qualities. The following article will share with you the qualities that a bass player should have and guide you on how to practice to achieve those qualities.
Contents
9 Qualities of Good Bassists
Ask the good bassists of contemporary music to listen and comment, I noticed that they have many of the following similar qualities, including:
– Appearance, creating attraction and attention from the audience.
– Quality and clarity of sound
– Certainty of rhythm: be capable of playing with the band and mingling together while keeping the beat and rhythm steady
– Harmony skills: have the ability to create basslines in the orchestra, as background for soloists and bands. This creative talent will be devoted to performing in solo bass parts.
– Good technique: have enough technique to convey music correctly and accurately.
– Inspiration: have the ability to perform fiery and inspiring, conquering both the band and the audience
– Listening: have the capability to listen and imitate what’s going on.
– Flexible: be willing to try something in a variety of ways and open up new ideas.
– No exaggeration: have fun on stage, smile at yourself and those around you – Make things mild and get excited while performing.
Effective Bass Practice Methods
One of the most potent and important skills of a musician is the ability to practice properly. Not many newbies know how to practice properly as well as how to apply what they have learned in actual performance situations. Therefore, below we’ll share some effective training methods that we have learned from our experiences.
List Your Strengths & Weaknesses
Of all the bassists you will listen to throughout your life (assuming you’ve decided to become a pro), no one will play more like you than you. As a result, if you don’t like what you play, it becomes difficult to create a position and a confident attitude toward who you will play along with. Remember that the bass player plays an important role in a band and directly influences others.
So the right thing to do is to look at yourself objectively:
- Find your strengths, which come naturally, and can be done without much effort;
- Find your weaknesses, which you must try a lot.
Write down 2 columns on paper: one is your strengths and the other is your weaknesses. Be strict with yourself. Here is an example:
| Strength | Weakness |
| – Nice sound – Good technique – Good idea – Flexible with people in the band- Good listening | – Incomplete understanding of harmony and the notes in harmony. – Poor reading – Weak rhythm – Mistake the fingers while running specific scales |
… and so on. Only you can truly know your strengths and weaknesses, and only you can overcome and be responsible for them. So grab a pen and paper and get going.
Promote Strengths & Overcome Weaknesses
Remember that even the best bass players have weaknesses. Bring into play what you do well naturally and practice more of what is hard for you. No one is born with the ability to play the bass well immediately, so practice hard to improve your skills gradually.
Let’s start from scratch. Learn the most basic principles of music in books or from the teachers. Learn slowly, step by step, as well as from simple to complex. Do not ignore what is not thoroughly understood. Review, find your mistakes, and then fix those first.
Determine Your Goals
Now is the most important time to look at the problems and find answers to the following questions:
– Current musical ability – what is your level?
– What is your music goal in the future?
– What is your real purpose in music?
– What plans do you have to achieve this goal?
– What can you actually do on a daily basis to achieve those ideals?
It would be great to record your progress and action on a daily basis to know that you know that you are getting closer to your goal.
We still have a lot more to share with you, so stay tuned for part 2 of the article.
Download Guitar Tunio to tune your bass properly with a powerful bass tuner, and practice your beat, as well as improve your timing with the built-in metronome or Pro Metronome by Apps Nemo. Also, don’t forget to visit our blog regularly to update the latest posts.
