I Wish I Knew That - Page 3

It’s 6pm… time to get the gear in the car, enter the club’s address into the GPS, and get on the road. It takes exactly five minutes and three trips to pack: one trip for each cabinet (the two fit side by side in the trunk), and one trip for the amp head, bag o’ stuff, and bass (all of...

As we grow and develop as bassists, we tend to go through different stages of learning. Sometimes we feel inspired and creative, other times we feel as if we’ve plateaued or burnt out. During the good times, it’s easy to find new concepts to work on, specific ideas to write about, or ways to make headway during practice sessions. During...

Photo by Quinn Dombrowski In Part 1 of this series, we looked at two different types of earplugs, the over-the-counter ones as well as the custom molded ones, and some of the benefits of each. Now, let’s think about when to use them and how to get comfortable playing with them in. Before we jump in, let me say that...

Ever rush out of the house in the morning and forget something that you always have with you? Your watch, perhaps? Or maybe your reading glasses? As soon as you realize that you’ll have to go all day without this beloved item, you start to feel uncomfortable, annoyed, and metaphorically naked. It is a truly awful feeling that I’ve experienced...

For years, bass players have debated the concept of changing strings and most people have asked the same questions: Doesn’t it change the sound of the instrument? Does the funk disappear? How can someone get good tone playing strings that are a year old? Don’t you know that (insert famous bass player) never changed his strings? Don’t you know that...

It’s 11:58, and you just finished a killer set. So much so that the crowd is clapping, fist pumping, raising their drinks in the air and collectively begging for one more song. The band members look around at one another and think, “yeah, this is awesome! But what are we gonna do???” You played through the set list and it...

As we get over the start of a new year and the holidays seem like a distant memory, we enter a new season with the worst surprise of them all… the flu. With the weather, the “warriors” who insist on coming into the office, travel, and the nights off to hang out with friends at the bar, we’re unusually exposed...

Just when you think no one is watching… someone comes along and compliments you on your technique. Technique? Really? Of all things… This past weekend, I played a rock ’n roll gig at a smoke-filled, small-town bar with Coors and Miller lights ablaze. A few older gentlemen approached me during a break and asked: “what did you play before bass?”...

Ah ha! You’ve reached the oh-so-exciting section of the music store where the possibilities seem endless and you get giddy just thinking about picking something up and taking it home… No, not the bass wall… the bookshelves! You feast your eyes on the “Teach Yourself Harmonica” manuals, the transcription books of Green Day guitar solos, and, everyone’s favorite, the 100...

Although the title may suggest it, this is not a gym advertisement, nor a plan for a special low-fat diet. And, while we consider our vacation time as a way to take off from work for a few days, hang with our friends and family, and eat lots of goodies, our practice schedule usually falls victim to this time of...

They say that the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Well then, here goes… I’m a bookworm. So much so that it takes an enormous amount of will power to pry myself away from a good novel before being late to work. It’s easy to get caught up in a story, to lose track of time,...

Let’s face it, we usually don’t enjoy picking up the phone and finding out that our gig is canceled. Hearing the news via email or text doesn’t make it any better, especially if it’s short notice. On one hand, the middle-schooler in us delights in the fact that we can stay home in our PJ’s, watch movies and maybe even...