My wife loves to make fun of how I tap my foot when I play because it doesn’t just keep smooth time like you might expect. It jumps back and forth between mimicking my right hand and keeping time, but jumping back and forth it looks completly all over the place lol. Being able to watch myself I see how right she is! Pretty funny to watch. Probably not even noticeable to most people watching the video, but it is the little things like that which you can’t see or appreciate when your playing.
Even if you are too shy to post (which you shouldn’t be, especially within this community) I highly recommend playing around with recording yourself by video as a tool to learn. I’m super happy with how easy I feel like I make that string crossing look and that is a cool little confidence boost any time you can notice yourself doing something well.
Watching this video a few times I’m way more aware of how I can clean up my left hand and trying to come straight up from beneath the fretboard as opposed to getting a bit sideways in situations I shouldn’t need to. Making the video also highlighted to me my dependency of looking at the fretboard most of the time. I’m not beating myself up here, I’m thrilled with how it came out. I just want to encourage others to do the same.
I started doing that in the slap lessons because Joshs tip of looking at my right hand made me move it differently than when I’m not looking at it so I wanted a way to confirm my feeling and hand shape. I knew already that this is a great learning method from practicing public speaking and removing filler words out of my speech patterns, rather replacing them with short silences.
I haven’t quite got into the habit of doing it regularly but certain things I record. For example I recorded my whole final quiz from the B2B course so I can easier analyze my mistakes as you are doing in your post and also to have a reference in a month or so to compare my skill/growth to.
P.S: If you actively work to remove filler words from your own speech patterns they become unbearably clear when other people are talking. It’s as if I started hearing them in bold.
the color sheme of your Jazz Bass / I’m in love with the tidepool color
the idea of playing the live video in a videoception way
the fact that you seem to really enjoy playing your bass
the bassline itself which is pretty cool, not easy but with a really great groove, and really emphasizes the role of a bass as a rythmic instrument with melodic capabilities (only a bass player can understand this sentence, I guess )
your playing is pretty clean
your video setup is really simple/basic but it works : it proves that everyone can record a cover, even without a camcoder or any video editing skill. that’s truely cool.
Killer.
And what a great combo of bands/musicians/bass worlds to pull from.
Big Ween fan over here.
And I like Mike Gordon’s bass playing a lot.
Great Cover!
OK, so this was a “Challenge” song that my grandkids came up with for me to do a bass cover on. Here’s a link to the original post… CHALLENGED!
Anyway, the biggest challenge to this song was the 8th notes played at 151 BPM… That’s “SMOKIN’!!” for an old guy who just started playing eleven months ago… This song was a real workout! Both my right and left hands are jello right now and I’m looking forward to getting back to the music I love to play… '60’s and '70’s Motown and Classic Rock!!
If you read the post that is linked above, you will realize that I really DO NOT like FLEA or the RHCP and my grandkids (and kids) know it… Obviously the reason why they threw this challenge my way…
All I gotta say is… “I’m sure glad I had that damn pacemaker put in last December!”
Haven’t visited this thread in awhile, but catching up on it, really great covers by everyone who’s posted lately. Takes guts to post here, whether a Soundcloud link, or a full video. And it’s hard to get the sound right when doing a video, as I learned at some point! True ass-kicking bass playing, everyone! Listened to your stuff all the way through, it’s been awhile since I did a cover, but I know each section of the song is territory fought and gained as you progress through it, and a rush when it’s done
@Lanny Dude, compared to your other videos where you’re lovin’ the song, this one looked a little like torture for you, even though you aced it! The look on your face when it was done, and you shut down the camera = priceless. Who knows, in time, you may come to like RHCP, if you play it enough, never say never! Hope your grandkids got a laugh with it, and maybe even some respect for you too, for pulling it off!
Wow, no messing around there, @Lanny! Very, very nicely done, sir!!
Aren’t you glad you went through with it now? Often, those times when we get thrown into deep water turn out to be quite rewarding… you were way out of your comfort zone, but you not only got through, you did it with style and grace!!
I had a teacher for a while (after I had practiced bass for a few months) and she made me play “Back in Black”, which I would never have touched otherwise! That was a humbling experience… because try as I might, I couldn’t just play it… it was nowhere as “simple” as I would have labeled it beforehand, just because it wasn’t a Jaco Pastorius lick. Next, she threw “I want you back” at me
My point is, of course, I guess you won’t ever touch this song again, but wasn’t it a great learning experience nonetheless!?!
Thanks @joergkutter… i do find myself comparing this experience and this song to “Billie Jean”… I didn’t like that song either, but it did teach me to step outside that comfort zone and diversify my skills somewhat. Personally, I’m beginning to think that if it were not for @JoshFossgreen’s inclusion of that “Wicked Bitch Billie Jean”, it would have taken me much longer to learn the fast paced finger exercises that “Readymade” presented. The only difference with Readymade was that the finger speeds of both fretting and plucking hands were nonstop for a timespan of over 4:30 With basically only one spot where one could slow down and take a quick breath…
It’s funny how sometimes we seem to learn the most by doing things we enjoy the least…
Thanks @juli0r… I’ll post a follow up to the “CHALLENGE” thread in the LOUNGE later.
As for that look at the end… well, I certainly was relieved it was over! Not that it was hard note wise, but it was “draining” physically… I’ve played guitar all my life and have never felt the exertion that has taken place in my hands and fingers as I have playing the bass line for this song. Playing guitar is so much easier… at least for me… but, playing bass is so much more rewarding…
Great Job @BassFaceDisgrace, I need to find a song to cover, I keep bouncing around between songs I like but never finish one because
1, practice is structured with many excercises for rythem, fingers, scales and fretboard, and masrering a few techniques.
And
2, the one you busted here for sure, lack of equipment to make a recording.
But I know will add , pick a song to learn all the way thry( It would be “Take the power back, but there is one fill I just can’t get the timing right on)
And add it to my practice routine.
Hmmm… what to pick. Will get back to that one.
Hey @Lanny.
Challenged SMASHED.
GREAT JOB
Way to stick it to the youngsters. Haha
)
Hope your grandkids got a laugh with it, and maybe even some respect for you too, for pulling it off!
