We don’t want to burst your bubble in the first sentence, but there really is no Secret Recipe or Formula for becoming a Bass guitar legend. However, there are patterns that successful bass players follow that lead to success. We outline a few of these methods in this post.

Practice EVERY Day

Practicing bass everyday is a great way to map out your progress and see maximum results for your efforts. I’ve written quite a few articles about different practice habits and tips that you need to check out.

- Setting a Daily Practice Time
- Creating the Perfect Practice Environment
- How to Find Time for Bass Practice
- Bass Practice Category (Several other articles)

Don’t Make Excuses, Make Goals

I tackled this topic in my Bass Resolutions and Goals post earlier this year. Basically you just need to have clear goals in order to see results and track your progress as a bass player. It’s really that simple. Don’t go and watch all the “Pros” on You Tube and say “I will never be that Good…” YES you will if you want to be. How do you think those guys started?

Get Out And Play

The easiest way to become a better bass player is to go find some fellow musicians and start a band. Even just jamming with a few friends is a great way to improve your musical skills in a noticeable way (especially drummers). Don’t be shy when it comes to bass! And it’s Fun!

 Get Help

Asking for help is hard for a lot of people, me included. I personally advocate the use of a 1-on-1 bass instructor because that is how I started learning how to really play bass. There is no shame in just asking others that play bass for a few pointers. You will pass it on to a newbie someday.

Learn Basic Music Theory

You don’t have to be Mozart to know the benefits of learning some music theory for the bass guitar. There are plenty of good articles on BeginningBass.com like pentatonic scales, octaves, and the basic major scales.

In Conclusion

There are no secrets to playing bass. Some people are just naturally more inclined to see progress more quickly, and that’s alright. You can keep up by setting aside daily practice time and working extra hard.

If you have any bass guitar secrets let me know with a comment below!

Why?

I had a lot of success with a local instructor so I am a little biased, but there is no denying the fact that one-on-one lessons are the best way to figure out what you need to work on for bass guitar. Having an expert in the room with you is great because they can diagnose and issues you are having and give you custom tailored advice right away.

How to Find a Teacher

There are a couple of ways you can go about searching for the perfect instructor.

1. Local music shops or instruction halls have lots of flyers for one-on-one instructors in your area.

2. Online – Use google to search in your area or look on Craigslist. Make sure you are comfortable meeting a stranger before you take this step.

3. Through referral – Ask all your friends that play bass and just ask them who taught them. Then try to get a referral discount!

Selecting The Teacher

Make sure the instructor fits all the qualities you are looking for. Here is some criteria you can use to pick the right teacher for you:

- Experience playing in a band / playing shows / touring

- Lots of music theory knowledge

- Excellent at bass (technical skill)

- Flexible hours

- Affordable

And anything else you may want to use as a factor in your decision.

Conclusion

It’s very important you pick a teacher that will instruct you in a way that you enjoy since you may spend a year of seeing this person once a week.

Best of luck in finding your bass guitar instructor. Have any tips about picking a bass guitar teacher? Please comment below.

What is an arpeggio?

A bass guitar arpeggio is basically 3 notes of a full chord that all fit into that chord very nicely. The reason why arpeggios matter is because they will help you creatively and spice up your bass lines.

Major Arpeggio

The major arpeggio follow the pattern below. The example is a C major arpeggio repeated twice. They are the exact same notes, just pick what pattern you like to play more.

Minor Arpeggio

The minor arpeggio follows the pattern below. The example is a C minor arpeggio with 3 different playing positions. Pick the one that is most comfortable to you (but you should know them all).

So What Now?

Now that you have the two patterns memorized for major and minor, it’s time to apply this to an actual bass line. Here is a basic, boring rock bass line:

Really boring right? Well try playing it with these arpeggios:

While it may seem like a simple thing, arpeggios are “glue” when it comes to repetitive bass lines. Sprinkle these in, but don’t go crazy. Too many arpeggios is just as bad as 0 bass guitar arpeggios.

Hopefully this article about bass guitar music theory helped you out and made you a better bass player. Please leave a comment or question below and I will get back to you shortly. Keep Playing!

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C Major Pentatonic Scale

Slowly practice this routine until you feel more comfortable playing it faster and faster. My suggestion is that you evolve into using hammer ons and pull offs to play it quicker.

The pattern is: root – whole step – whole step – 3 half steps – whole step – octave.

“3 half steps” is just a fancy way of saying 3 frets difference.

C Minor Pentatonic Scale

You can see and hear the slightly different pattern for the minor scale. Just like the major scale make sure you take it slow until you have the pattern down.

The pattern is: root - 3 half steps – whole step – whole step – 3 half steps – octave.

The Beauty of the Pentatonic Scale

The best part of the pentatonic scale is that once you learn the pattern for the major or minor scale you can play any note’s pentatonic scales. If you still don’t understand the patterns above please read the whole steps and half steps music theory post I made a month or so ago.

It means you can take the C and change it to D, E, A, C# or any other note! Pretty awesome if you ask me.

The Take Away

Hopefully this article has helped you master the major and minor pentatonic scales for bass guitar. The take away is that you will be more prepared to solo or improvise now that you have a very popular chord pattern in your pocket.

Questions? Suggestions for improvement? Please leave it in a comment below.

Here are some ideas for resolutions:

- Set out to play an impossibly hard song. Work yourself up to playing it by practicing hard this year and learning each section note by note. When you finally accomplish the perfection of the song you will be a much better bass player and ready to take on another “impossible” song.

- Set goals for your band to play shows or go on tour. Some other ideas you can use are recording the new CD or trying to get an interview with a famous publication. Also consider trying to reach a higher level of facebook fans or get more downloads of your song.

- Pick a bass product that you want that you can not quite afford yet and start to save up money. By the end of the year you should have enough to buy that piece of gear.

- Think of a skill you want to master. It might be jazz, funk, rock, metal, or anything else; all that matters is that you stay dedicated to it.

- Take BeginningBass Reader Survey - it’s only 5 questions and will take you less than a minute. It’s also completely anonymous and will BeginningBass write articles that YOU WANT TO READ!

So what are your bass new years resolutions?

It’s only 5 questions and will help determine what content I continue to provide on BB.

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Practice Twice As Long

Take your daily practice time and double it. You can either turn that into 2 different times during the day or just one big mega-session. I avoid practicing too long because it is easy to get sloppy and stale when you are playing the same riff over and over and over.

Learn A Whole CD

This is something that not many players think about- Try learning every single song on you favorite CD. It will help you get into the bass player mindset and you can easily learn from just playing the riffs off of your favorite music.

Get Yourself A Gift

Don’t be afraid to spend a little coin on your own bass gear this break. What are the holidays for? Giving presents. And who deserves it more than you and your bass playing? Nobody!

Play Some Christmas Tunes

While they may be cheesy and a little agitating, learning some Christmas song riffs will put you in a good mood to spend some time with your family. You also may stand a chance at performing them in front of your family members.

Just keep in mind that family is very important while you are on break, and have fun. Come back a better bass player!

Joining A Band

You can start a band with a group of friends or try and find a local band that is actively looking for a bass player. You can use different sites to find bands like Craigslist. Or, a local bulletin board may contain some information or fliers about bands trying to find bass players.

Starting a band can be a great idea but it takes more time and resources. Just keep that in mind before you get excited and take the plunge.

Start Playing Music

There are basically two types of bands, original and cover/tribute. Writing original songs can be difficult but it is the only way you will ever be able to tour. It is harder to start this way but can be more rewarding.

A cover bands plays a bunch of different songs by different artists, and a tribute band plays only songs performed by one band. Small difference, but worth the distinction.

Get Some Shows

There are basically two types of shows, individual performances and tours. Individual performances are easier for cover bands to get because the owner of the venue will know exactly what to expect. As you build up your local following of fans as an original band it will become much easier to get shows.

You might want to try writing a song or riff. This is a creative way to come up with cool new riffs or song ideas to bring to your band.

Play a song, but try to create a different bass line. This can be hard for some types of music but for most rock songs you should be able to play along with the song.

Just do something fun and remember why you love to play bass.

Exercise

Let’s face it: the more you work out, the longer you are on the planet (generally). The less you have to worry about health, the more time you can spend playing bass.

Listening to Something You Do Not Usually Listen To

Pretty self explanatory, you just have to listen to a type of music you generally do not enjoy or typically listen to. I don’t usually listen to older hip hop, but I’ve found that I really do enjoy a lot of the catchy bass lines.

Use a Different Right Hand Technique

If you’ve learned a riff or song one way, try it with the other right hand technique. The main three I’m talking about is with a pick, your fingers, or slapping with your thumb. This will challenge your right hand technique.

 Take A Break

This can be really effective if you are having some creative difficulties. Try not playing bass for 2 days and then coming back with new ideas and a clear brain.

Hopefully this list of 4 things you can do to improve you bass playing has been helpful to you- leave a comment below if you have any further suggestions.