at first it was being into punk/hardcore music that made me wanna play an instrument,i wasnt sure what instrument to play until i met a drummer in junior high that was into death metal. we became friends and we both wanted to play in a metal band. we thought bass would be the easiest instrument to play being that it only had 4 strings. well, after seeing other bass players as a beginner, i soon discovered that their were a variety of styles and techniques which really intrigued me. so the bass....easy?.....i wish it was.... im still learning things after 17 years of playing...hmmm go figure......maybe i should have taken up electric guitar.....NOT!!!!!:^)

I grew up in a family of musicians and artists. I
have played everything from bluegrass to country
to pop to jazz to prog to fusion,etc. My most
prominent lesson (I didn't know it at the time)
was when my dad (jazz bassist) looked at me on the
first day I decided to play and said 'stick to the
basics, and you will do just fine.'

Robert Fulcrum said 'everything I need to know I
learned in kindengarten.'

That is the one lesson I remember best.

1). Practicing with a metronome.
2). Using, to the point of abuse,
my little finger.

watching a banjo player roll his thumb and fingers and trying to reproduce the same technique on the bass, it worked for slapping!

30 minutes a night? That is what my drummer told me after our last rehearsal when he thought everybody had been slacking.

I try to do at least 30 minutes now!

Learning scales and then jamming. A LOT.

getting out and playing.

By far, the use of a metronome.

A jazz pianist taught me my most important lesson. In my "younger" days I sometimes would play more than was needed for a particular song. I rememebr playing "Misty" with a jazz trio and I was playing ...... ahem - a little too busy. The piano player whirled around on his bench and told me to "just relax and play the bass". Actually there was a string of expletives mixed in with it. That "scolding" taught me more about playing a bass than any method book I ever worked through. That's when I discovered what the terms pocket, groove and feel meant and I figured out what the old cats meant when they talked about music interpretation.

As a result, I sort of let up on my quest to learn playing techniques of the monster chops celebs. Don't get me wrong ; I've learned a few new tricks along the way, but I rarely use them. I don't have any incredible jaw dropping chops - but just the same I stay quite busy as a bassist thanks to my valuable lesson from a piano player named Jim Bell (he's listed in the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame).

My father has been a pianist for over 50 years and he has a saying" keep it simple stupid"! He said to me when I was a kid," Music is not astrophysics!,you communicate with each musician you are playing with good grammar, not jargon!" I never overplayed ever again.