Here is a little tidbit from doing some chord comping exercises to the tune “There is no greater love” in iReal pro.
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You one Jazzy dude @LesterH! Bass chords are so pretty, and tough to implement. You do a good job here just switching finger positions in time and plucking the corresponding strings accurately!
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Thank you My goals on the bass are Jazz and solo Jazz bass so I am running through various practice routines with my teacher/ mentor and hammering out stuff. I appreciate the kind words.
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I’ll add, that is a really good exercise! Doing this and getting comfortable will lead to arpeggiating those chords and adding fills and walks during the transitions to the next chord, and right there you get very intricate and impressive playing (like the top level bassists in the world). I admire the effort of working on these things, as it’s an area I don’t do that could really help me take the next step.
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no time like the present @kerushlow I finally have the guidance from a private instructor that I really like who is getting my playing where I want to go with it. There is nothing wrong with any genre or style of playing this is just the direction I am wanting to go and I am happy to see great progress in heading that direction. I think your slap technique is amazing that is one area I am definitely not good at lol
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Well thank you! The discipline you have is what I envy. When I sit down to practice something…I run through the scale a few times, then get bored and start writing some new bassline, typically using techniques I am already proficient in. It isn’t without benefit, as you get better at those proficiencies, but it also prevents areas of expansion that would have a steamroller effect on the rest of playing.
I know having a good teacher helps, mine is great! He even tells me I need to focus on those exercises. I try to emulate the following, without putting in all the effort it takes to get there. Here he is.
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Amazing! I spent way to many years wasting my time playing the guitar just at a plateau so I hit the bass with a totally different approach and thus far I am thrilled with my progress.
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Btw, you are on the path to really accomplishing something like that! Mean it genuinely.
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Bro. That means a lot to me. I really appreciate the kind words of encouragement!
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Of course! A little push here and some kind compliments are the little extra that keep people going, and the world needs more great music and bassists!
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I will second that for sure!
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Wow Lester, you are doing great. that looks pretty insanely difficult, but you are making it look easy, you are so relaxed and on time with everything from what I heard. keep up the good work, you are killing it.
Yeah, I spent way too many years playing guitar, and then playing nothing and waisting away and F@$#ing my life up (and focusing on work, career, wife and kids, but still making a complete mess of things), that I also take a totally different approach with paying bass which I picked up about 11 months ago for therapeutic reasons, and thus far, well, I was thrilled with my progress until I hit that roadblock and ended up in the hospital with flesh eating virus on my leg, and the rough rollercoaster downward ride it has been since, but I like to look at the good in things and not waste time dwelling on the past (learn from it, but don’t live in it) and I couldn’t be happier with my comeback, and the speed at which it is coming back. I am not there yet, but I actually retained a bit of my studies from scales and Chord tones, 7th cords, sight reading, etc… and running thru finger exercises has gotten strength back pretty quickly. I still need to build the huge callouses back up, and I wear out a little sooner then I would like to, but it feels so good getting back after almost, no after pretty much exactly 3 months off. I have a new bass in that time that I am loving, and it has been better coming back then I thought.
I would love to get back to taking my private lessons, but finances are not there at the moment, so those are put on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time, until I have an income and not a dwindling bank account.
But yeah, I agree with what you said Lester, sort of the same thing I was doing, only not with the Jazz specific focus, more just starting fresh with music theory on bass and learning my fretboard and just working on technique every day.
So, I took a 3 month un planned vacation from it all, but I am back, and now i can say I have something in common with Jeff Hennamen of Slayer, but I am still alive, and since I don’t drink, I think I will live thru the flesh eating virus not taxing my liver so hard.
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my first marriage in a nutshell, sans kids. Career worked out, rest of life not so much.
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Yeah, that was one thing I never had a problem with, and I kept moving up and up ad up and up…
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Nice mellow piece @LesterH
Certainly made it look easy 
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@T_dub you have a great outlook man it is inspiring. Thank you for the kind remarks. I think we all hit plateaus and that is where we either fight through or quit. I hate quitting so just have to keep fighting. So glad you are doing somewhat better we sure did miss you around bro.
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@Mac thank you bro. Practice and repetition made it look easy lol learning not only the chord shapes but how to build those chord shapes over scales and then just reading a chord sheet in iReal pro figuring it all out. It may be simple to some but I felt like it was a big accomplishment for me. @joergkutter helped me find the right place to study and kept me motivated
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Dang, sorry you went through that all, but impressed at your tenacity and will to move past that and rehab with a positive outlook!
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Very smooth Lester, @LesterH,
i think you are liking the Jazz scene
Cheers Brian
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Thanks Brian I appreciate the kind words.
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