U are the most beautiful inspirational young bassist in the world right now I am one of the biggest fan of yours... I tried many times to get a subscription on patron but nobody will help me for that but I learnt so many things from your videos thank you so much charls ... Lots of love from india ❤❤❤❤
The most terrible advice was when I read in comments somewhere that in order to learn hard son one should repeat it from beginning to end to end at the original tempo until he get better at it.
I hate the whole "Be original" schtick. Its actually terrible advice that set me back for multiple years. The truth is it is actually impossible to create a bass or chord progression that hasnt already been done. Honestly, just write stuff you wanna write and if its already been done, so be it.
Very important one: 'Don't play bass with a pick'. Worst advice ever. I absolutely adore the punchiness of picked bass. Also very nice if you're playing fast and accented eights or sixteenths
When anyone says not to play with a pick or that "real" bassists don't use picks, their credibility instantly vanishes by showing how little they know about bass and/or how close minded they are. Countless iconic, beloved songs have been played with a pick. It's an extremely useful tool that can give you very different tones compared to finger style.
My perspective: Beginner/intermediate, just learning for my own satisfaction, not interested in playing with bands or in public: On the music theory thing, absolutely. I've found a little to be useful, but I quickly get lost, which is infuriating and dispiriting. But every so often you pick up another bit of it (see me, diatonic triads, about three minutes ago) that you find useful. Little and often, everything in moderation. (Also, on music theory, from a physics-trained point of view: you just have to accept that whilst it's *based* on maths and physics, there's a heavy element of people just deciding stuff "sounds right" centuries ago, which is where it all falls apart in my brain.)
I've played bass for nearly 50 years... Spot on advice... I'd add an additional benefit to learning all the theory, how to solo, and improvise? Learning the leads of other instruments is HUGE for performing live. "Covering" & "Implying" for another's gear breakdown? Transforms a gigging disaster...into magic. Without those tools, well..a band Could just program a bass line...? I've Never been short of requests to join bands.. -I prefer the temp GFH gigs..those i can turn down if they don't Fit my life... And I sure Never wanted to tour FT...🤮🤮
I will add...being a multiple instrumentalist absolutely helps... Peace, everyone.. Oh, why do I detest touring? Ever been around broke, messed up, wasted musicians for an extended period? That's why ...
Nothing but facts, Mr. Berthoud! I've been playing bass since 2001 and I've heard every single one of these silly tips before. Thank you for clearing the musical "air", so to speak. And thanks for the amazing content over the years! Cheers, from St. Louis, Missouri!
Excellent point I agree !00%. I remember kinda hating my excellent teacher for not teaching me the pentatonic rigtht away, not until I learned all the modes with a very similar excercise to your diatonic scale example (actually identical but instead of triads I had to do root, 3rd, 5th and 7th). Only when I learned by hand all the modes (not only on the major scale key but also in minor and minor melodic) he taught me the dreaded pentatonic. His reasoning was that if he taught me the pentatonic right away, I would have used it for almost everything neglecting the rest. Like I said I hated it at the time and I could have learned the pentatonic myself but I'm glad I didn't because I was forced to use only the modes and their variations in both bass lines and solos, and that led me tp a better understanding of harmony , on how to move on the neck and how to play in chord changes. Also if you play like that you'll have a more disctintive sound than others playing pentatonic only. When he finally taught me the dreaded pentatonic, I loved because it's easy it but already knowing all the modes I used it sparingly only when it fitted the song. In my opinion it was excellent advice and it helped me improve quicker.
I must say the best point that i've learned through the on going journey that i have is that you have to be able to ADAPT to whatever you are learning, most people' goal is getting to a place where they are able to play everything with all the fingering and techniques they've mastered and got used to, problem is whenever you are changing genre, even a different song that has just a little bit different bass aproach, you will find that you have to get out of your comfort zone again and adapt to a different needed situation in order to sound good (lets say in place as wished instead of good), truth is you have to try and develop your own sound but also to lower your expectations and wishes, be open to step out of the zones that you have been used to play in, yes you will be quite terrible between the process of change but in the long term view your experience will be blessed, try not looking at the instrument or music in a robotic way (kinda must know everything every shape every scale every bit of musical theory that exists so that ill be able to improv at any moment), this thing does not happen, what is the reality is you will develop your own patterns through your own experience, try to play in a melodic way and develop and remember your own patterns, with time then, by the lenght of this process you will have achieved insane amount of improv ability and wont have to think of your instrument theoreticly when playing, instead scales and shapes will come and go on their own, lets say based on instinct, this is the real goal, Woah the comment is long but I wanted to share a good positive energy with all the bass fellows around here, I hope you feel happy when playing music and no fear is stopping you from moving forward and experiencing more. Bless
I also think the "don't copy, and just do your own thing" is poor advice. It does come from a good place, but it can be massively overwhelming. If you draw a parallel with learning a foreign language, you wouldn't just tell someone a bunch of words and let them figure out how to put them together. You'd give them examples of how they can be used together, so you can get a feel for how the language works. Only when you've got those building blocks mastered, can you then go off and construct your own sentences.
I couldn't agree more. Everthing in this video is horrible advice. Everyone knows the best way to get good is just play as many notes as you can as fast as you can.
I've literally never heard anyone say you shouldn't focus on technique with an instrument. The question is how to approach it. I find learning and improving technique in the context of actual songs to generally be far more interesting, helpful, and fun than abstract, artificial exercises. Any song you learn can help you focus on a different area of technique: timing, feel, articulation, dexterity, speed, etc.
Thanks for that Charles! I have heard many of those from well meaning people. One time I threw in a slide pop during a song and I got, "What, are you trying to play lead guitar?"
thanks so much Charles...i asked a while back if you could do a video on how to double pop and replied that you would and I finally have an exercise to practice it thanks man!
More bad advice: "Don't waste time noodling ... " You need to have your dedicated, directed practice time, sure - but noodling lets you express yourself and discover things through mistakes and happy accidents that you won't get from playing exercises. Some of the most interesting things that I've developed and retained for my own music came from just noodling around and trying to play emotionally without much thought for anything else (at the time).
Hi Charles I love your shows, I had just recently within the last two years had become a bassist but my first bass was a standard 34" and being a short person the bass started off too long and thick and then later learned that 1.5mm nut width became my comfort zone. When I was growing up my father was a bassist in a band that I had the honor of witnessing but, I was growing up as a drummer and still too this day a drummer and so I've always had the sound of the bass in my head for about 25 years now, being that drummers follow the bass guitar and having the sound of the bass guitar in my head, I know that I'm really good at the notation of the instrument thanks too drumming and I'm pretty sure I'm comfortable playing by ear, do you have any advice on what bands would be good ear training music too listen to, I trust your advice, thanks!!! 🤘🤘
Thanks for the lesson, really helpfull. Why aren't there any minor chords written in the diatonic triad exercise? is it because the E Major key implies which chords are minor, following the I ii iii V(dominant) vi vii (diminished) in E?
I'm so baffled by this video because I followed every bit of 'bad' advice here and my carpal tunnel has never been more compressed than it is right now. I have no idea how to jam with anyone, by the time I get over the carpal pain and I'm numb to it, my fingers are bright orange from all the rust around my 20 year old bass strings, I can't feel it when I cut my fingers on the broken coils and my bass lines are THE MOST ORIGINAL bass lines you never hear because I didn't learn technique, theory or how to record myself.
Tell me if this is bad advice; I tell anyone just starting out to first focus on learning chord tones before scales. If they ask why, I tell them chord tones are the building blocks of a scale. This helped me play with others and improvise better when I started playing on stage. Thoughts?
Bad advice I got when I was starting out, on guitar, but it can still apply to bass, was: "oh, you need to buy this model of guitar, and this brand of amplifier cause they're "proper" gear" (which in my case was a Strat and a Marshall amp that my uncle persuaded me to buy). But like, you might just not gel with certain types of instrument and you might not like the sound of certain amps. Try plenty out and see what's comfortable to play and gets you the sound you're going for.
Keep practicing what your working on especially to songs with omitted bass tracks (Moises). Work on these concepts from these great RU-vid teachers in these lesson videos, Play with your own style.. you don’t see different surfers and skaters riding the same exact way while doing the same exact tricks
This is advice from a particular viewpoint and is not the truth, just an opinion. And if you think double popping is essential to be a musical bass player then you have problems! Whenever you play, play music. Don’t play exercises - that kills creativity. Are you going to stand up in a gig and play an exercise? If you’re struggling with something technical break it down but make it a musical piece you can still perform - it’s the whole point that etudes exist. See technique as purely a means to an end, not the end itself, which so many social media channels seem to keep pushing. And solo bass might make a few talented individuals busy but it won’t pay the rent 😂
Most working bassists will almost never need to solo or do fancy slapping or EVH tapping runs. The kind of playing you find on this channel is not what the vast bulk of bassists, from pros to bedroom hobbyists, will ever need to do to have fun or be successful. You can learn just about any technique from actual songs, along with practical examples of how to make music people actually want to hear, versus abstract exercises. You're right about RU-vid and social media: they turn playing an instrument into a contest or sport or arms race, so they can keep you coming back and scare people with clickbait: "Doing X will KILL your progress!" or "Never do this!" or "You must do this!" It's really manipulative and shady. Most big RU-vid channels businesses and will say what they need to in order to generate views and keep the money flowing.
