Social media has exploded with ALL kinds of ridiculous talent… Charles Berthoud … Right? Davey504 … and an 11 yr old girl SLAYING Muse’s Hysteria. ( Ellen Alaverdyan )
As a NEW bass player… take a step back… While its good to appreciate the gifts of others… think about reality.
In an actual band, will you need to be as extreme as Berthoud? Will you need to be this level?
The answer is HELL NO. ( If you WANT to be the Steve Vai of bass … then GO for it! ) It is not required to be GOOD.
The point of this post for those new to bass… is don’t look at these virtuoso performers as where YOU need to be… to be ‘good’. Good comes LONG before that level. Bands want people who can hold the rhythm, ride with the kick and keep a song together.
Don’t get me wrong… if you can get to those levels, Do it!! … but don’t let it be your goal… 99% of music on the radio we all listen to … is well below that level of playing.
My fave Youtuber is actually Danny Sapko… who … is a band bassist in my opinion … LOL But he still pays respect to those that slay.
Morale of this is: don’t get caught up in what you can’t do (yet) … celebrate what you CAN do… with OTHERS!
Dusty Hill (ZZ Top) started playing in his brothers band in bars, because his brother needed a bassist. He didn’t know how to play, so he would chug on a note and his brother would tap on his shoulder when it was time to change. On stage even.
This is easier said than done. In my head I know there’s no way I can do what someone like Jaco or Claypool do. But my brain is also like “but what if?”
I’ve posted about 100 covers this year - I started playing 16 months ago when I signed up for B2B. I’ve also started a band. None of the songs I’ve posted are overly complex … well, I say that, some of them were complex for me(!!), but nothing was in the league of these virtuosos. But, I’ve learnt to hold a rhythm, learnt a reasonable amount about how songs are structured, and I’ve learnt how serve my band mates. Job (in the progress of getting) done, IMHO!
One reason that Berthoud’s channel does nothing for me is… I don’t really want to play like that. It’s impressive and a great technical bass demonstration of virtuosity for a style of playing I have no desire to use at all.
Honestly if there’s a music youtuber I am jealous of, it’s Nahre Sol. Or Josh
My biggest mistake early on was riff chasing and playing songs I really liked.
Now I consider things like Hysteria as fun time (you need time for that)
But learning songs “well enough” will build a ton of confidence and make you “marketable”.
If you want to join a band, “hey I know 40 songs” is a lot better than playing fancy riffs. It shows that you can learn and you have a basic foundation.
Pick your favorite song. For example Jaco’s come on come over. It’s simple enough for a Jaco song then make it a ballad. All of the sudden it’s approachable. If you take out the ghost notes it’s quite simple to play.
Songs like Teen Town is much more approachable when it’s slow down. I worked on the first 3 minutes of this song not too terrible but that’s the transcription and not playing.
Anything and everything is approachable and doable…at a slowed down tempo. But digging the tune or style has to be at the core of even trying to play it, or else there’s no reason to consider it.
So someone doesn’t like a style? Or they don’t like a guy playing it? So what? They should just ignore it/him and move on.
Crapping on some style or performer doesn’t enhance or elevate a thing. Only playing something does. And if nobody else but a player happens to salute what that is? Again, so what? This is fun. Its play. It’s to enjoy. If someone else happens to like it besides the player, it’s a win-win! It elevates the world.
When I was playing guitar, I’d occasionally tune in to lessons with Tomo Fujita. One of his repeated mantras is:
“Don’t worry! Don’t compare! Don’t expect too fast! Be kind to yourself!”.
I think about this often when I’m tempted to compare my playing with somebody who plays better than I do. It’s not a competition. Do you, and have fun with it!
A friend just sent me a song to listen to - it has a great baseline, it’s approachable (I could play it), but the song doesn’t really do it for me…there’s no connection, so I probably won’t bother.
Absolutely. That’s my thing - I can learn songs. Actually, in the band context, I’ve been encouraging us to try to target songs that are relatively simple and play them well, rather than select more complex stuff and mess it up!
Hahaha! I played this often when I got to know my girlfriend. Often! Very often! (The fact that I smoked weed back then might have helped).
After a few months she told me that she REALLY hated “Bohren and the Club of Gore”.
Not only was it way too sloooooooooooooooooooooooow, she also hates Saxophone!
So, now I almost never listen to it anymore (maybe cause I stopped smoking weed too?), and if so: on my headphones…
It saddens me that that is how you have interpreted my comments about him. I think he’s an amazing virtuoso and have not meant to “crap” on him at all; I was merely empathizing with other posters around how, for me, his channel is not my thing (as opposed to, say, Neely’s or Nahre Sol.)
One reason that Charles suffers is the short attention spans of the YouTube audience. It makes his “YouTube” music feel a bit clinical. As the focus is on speed and technique. I have 2 of his albums and while awesome they are not as technical as the YouTube level, they are pure art. You can feel the love.
The YouTube stuffs he practices them a record then forget them just as fast. That’s from the interview he gave. That’s said he’s definitely one of the top 5 YouTuber bassist of all time. If and when I’m recording my music, he’ll be my “studio” bassist for sure. He’s still an active gun for hire.
Speaking of gun for hire. I’d love this trios to do the bidding for me too I bet I can get the guitarist for cheap, he doesn’t even know how to use picks.
I bet I can get the guitarist for cheap, he doesn’t even know how to use picks. 