Thanks again to you all for the useful info, all being noted. Also that additional thread that Eric posted a link to. OK, soā¦more gear!
Meanwhile, I just had a HUGE realization. Not my first as a bass noob. Bear in mind I only started learning bass in August last year and started Joshās course around October. Anyhowā¦
One of the songs Iāve been learning the bass line to, needs a pick, and I am still learning pick technique. On the song Iāve been learning, my pick makes a slightly ātwangyā sound, plus my fingers moving on the fret board make squeaks etc. Well, I managed to find the isolated bass track on YouTube (not bought the song yet, but will do). The original bassistās pick also sounds, ātwangyā on the notes, and I hear his fingers squeaking as they move AND horror of horrors - a tiny bit of fret buzz!
Thatās OK though for this song which has a rough/dirty edge to it anyway.
But it made me realize, as a beginner, I donāt HAVE to get every note sounding perfectly clean, as I thought at the start of this learning experience. A lot of that noise gets lost in the mix once you throw in guitar, drums and vocals. I mean I wasnāt aware of it on hearing the original full song in headphones.
This comes on the back of a previous realization/revelation, that I donāt have to play exactly the same notes as the original. Thanks to hearing Pam mention it - Pam, I know you come up with your own bass lines (I am not there yet), but also, if a note is too tricky for me - small hands/fingers and two previously broken fingers - I can find another way, sequence of notes that get me to the same note maybe in a different place, since thereās more than one version of a note on the boardā¦how cool is the bass? Sometimes in a fast run of notes thereās a tricky note to get to, I just drop it, rather than giving up on the bass line, and may be able to do it later, when I get better.
Sorry if this all sounds so obvious. But Iām starting to realize that whilst I wonāt become a virtuoso (and not trying to be one), I might just be able to do this after al!l (years of thinking that only ātalented/giftedā people, or those āborn with musicā could learn to play an instrument, I eventually started bass age 57, and wish I had started at 27, or even at 17)
That was a long one, but thanks again for all this info which I shall use.