Skills to be advanced intermediate player

What SKILLS / rudiments are needed to get to Advanced Intermediate and then to Beginning Advanced player? I don’t mean “learn to slap” because my garage rock band won’t need that very much. More about what SKILLS and techniques will give my contributions to the groups I play with a more advanced professional bass contribution. What I should be practicing on my own time, quick wins to incorporate and get a big return, how to learn from listening to more advanced bar-band bassists, why advanced bar-band bassists know what to do when, etc. thanks all!!

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The easiest way to advance and contribute to your band is to learn and know your material inside out. Learn a few versions of it as well as learn how to play them in different keys. You can learn how to incorporate some tasty fills.

Do enough of this, next thing you know you are doing what you said about these people

Our band(s) cover about 75-100 songs but with requests and sing along that’s quadruple the songs pool we can’t know all of that so we just improvise. Made lots of mistakes here and there along the way, when we made enough mistakes it got better, :joy:

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Welcome to the BassBuzz forum @Backgammon7!

Josh lays it all out right here.

Beginner to BadAss covers all of it except learning to play lots of full songs. That’s on you. However, the BassBuzz forum can help with that.

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Exceptional timing. It’s far more important than any fancier bass line you’ll ever learn.

You are the keeper of the groove. Make sure what ever line you’re playing or can conceive of fits the groove for that particular song and that you can religiously maintain it throughout the entire song. Practice that until you can easily do it.

By their nature bass lines tend to be repetitive to the point of being boring at times so learn some variations on them you can insert from time to time always making sure they continue to fit the groove. Fretboard knowledge can get you there.

Be a good listener. You’re the rhythmic link between the drums and the guitars and or keys. Be attentive to what they’re doing and fit your bass lines around that. Few bands ever play tunes note for note like a recorded cover. Learn to adapt.

I’ve played bass in bar bands and others for over 50 years. For the most part my role has been to be noticeable only when I stop doing it. Up to that point few are sure exactly what role the bass fills. If I suddenly stop playing everyone knows.

Good luck on your journey.

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I would aim you at a song list of bass lines / songs that you feel fit the criteria of complexity / knowledge / ability that you’re looking to achieve.

Try and learn those tunes by ear. And play in as many contexts with as many people as you can. Hopefully people that will kick your ass a bit. That’s the super massive bulk-up secret. Keeping things as focused on playing music with people (and what other bassists have done that has worked) as possible.

I don’t know any of these, despite the titles of infinite YouTube vids.
The long game is in training your ear to pick out the lines, hear the techniques that other people have used, and then learning those songs so you can get the ideas under your fingers in a musical context.

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