How to Play Bass

Posted by HOT MUSIC Sunday, May 17, 2009

When you're learning how to play bass, and you're learning some of your favourite band's songs to play, there are 3 benefits to playing along with the original recordings. If you ever see or hear (or read) interviews with rock monster Billy Sheehan you'll find that this is something he still does to this day.

The first benefit of playing with original recordings you will only get if you play to the end of the song regardless of whether you make mistakes or not. By doing this you start to train yourself in a professional mindset. When you're playing music in 'the real world' if you make a mistake you can't stop the track and go back to the beginning. You've just got to keep your cool, keep your place in the music and play to the end.

Make this a habit. It's one of the most important habits you can acquire early. Always play to the end of the track!

The second benefit of playing with original recordings is that it will help with both your sense of time, and your ear training. It helps with your sense of time in that if you're out of sync with the original recording because of timing problems all you need to do is to record yourself and it will become painfully apparent. And if you play a note that doesn't match the chords being played in the original recording that will also be painfully apparent, so helping foster your ear's perception of chord to note relationships.

The last benefit of playing with original recordings is simple, yet often overlooked when budding musicians work out a practice schedule: it's fun! Back in the day when I was learning I used to play along to The Police, U2, Stax soul records like Sam and Dave and Otis Redding, Iron Maiden, Rush, Bowie, all sorts of stuff. It was a big part of my early development as a bass player.

So when you're learning how to play bass lines for songs - whether for your own enjoyment or to play with a band - always make sure you play along with the original recording. It will make you a better bass player.

If you want more bass related info, head over to my how to play bass website where you'll find video lessons, articles, reviews and much more. There's also a weekly ezine you can sign up for - in return for signing up you'll get a PDF file with 5 cool bass lines in - and each week's ezine features a bass line in music notation and bass tab. http://www.how-to-play-bass.com

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