So I’m doing the smash mouth “rockstar “ lesson and I’m struggling with counting while playing
I kind of instead just feel the beats.
I get the concept but just can’t walk while chewing bubblegum!!!
Thoughts my awesome fellow bassists???
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In general I only use counting when learning a song and not playing it back. For that, I:
This is my method too 
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What @howard said. It’s only a problem if you can’t play the song without counting. If you can, then forget about it and just feel that beat!
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Ah, that song was a bit of a challenge!!
The thing I’ve found is that I have to count when learning and through the show / medium workouts. However, the fast workouts are frequently too fast to properly count, so I’m then reliant on feel, which I’ve generally managed to ‘get’ over the preceding practice. I’m sure this is the same for many of us…
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Get your foot tapping on the beat! It helps keep track. And like you and the others have said, at some speed it’s too much to play and count.
By the way, your counting will improve if you do it more and there are many little things to discover, endless fun! 
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“Feeling beats” actually means you have a good internal metronome. You can train this further by trying to “feel” not just the main beat, but also the subdivisions. This can be trained with a metronome which lets you choose subdivisions. Hearing/feeling sixteenth notes internally is a very useful skill 
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Yep, I feel that! 
Tried that too, foot always ends up stopped at some point though 
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LOL!!!
I’m so glad that somebody feels my pain too!!!
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Maybe something else is tapping, nodding or moving? 
On a serious note, counting is a way towards feeling the beat, and feeling the beat is maintaining a pulse somehow - doesn’t matter whether it’s counting, tapping, nodding. And if we really want to get this, we should ask a drummer, I hear those guys are really interested in keeping the beat. 
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I agree. I use a metronome just to get me started and then develop and internal beat after a couple of runs. I hate the sound of metronomes so I use a soundless pulsating metronome that hooks on the back of my jeans - I think it was Josh on YouTube who said he thought these were pointless but I really like it. 
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Luckily All Stars is not so difficult to play and serves as a good syncopated practice song. In general, us mere mortal won’t be able to sit down and pick up a piece of Syncopated music and start playing sight unseen.
I’d be listening to that piece of music until it seems like my heart beats sync to the bass line then playing them seems much easier.
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before touching your bass try clapping the beats. once you can do that, try clapping the bass line and feel the rhythm of the offbeat since you have silent beats on 2 and 4
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I agree with @sunDOG and @antonio. I kinda rely on counting at slower tempos while learning and then move over more to feel as I get more comfortable with the song. I do like moving when I play too. Whether it’s foot tapping (even if only the start of every bar), head bobbing, or bouncing around, I find it helps me keep rhythm better (and it’s more fun). I think that I’ve gotten better at feeling the pulse by playing along with Youtube tabs and such as well. And I find the drums help me a lot. I’m new but I can pick that out to keep time to. I’m still struggling with some syncopation and off-rhythm stuff for now but i think it’s a practice and improve to overcome type situation. I’m getting better there too. I just gotta keep practicing.
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