Hello, welcome to my second blog post for in-depth! It had been quite a time since I’ve updated on my progress in learning the bass guitar.
During the past weeks, I have met with my mentor once, unfortunately. Before the meeting, my mentor told me that he was taking two weeks off from serving the church. Him taking a break isn’t a big deal, but it meant that he was out of the church for a long time. This was sort of a big deal because it was difficult to communicate and understand what he was saying online. Also, the fact that this is my first ever time touching the instrument, it was challenging to keep up. However, one tip that my mentor gave me was to use YouTube to learn bass. Not only everything is on YouTube, but my mentor had learned many of his skills from YouTube. Other than that, here is my progress.
Let’s talk about my bass progression now! To be honest, there is not much I could share and show because I am now practicing and memorizing the notes and frets. From my background knowledge of the guitar, I thought it would be easier playing bass, it is not. In bass, there is more memorization and quality. In bass there is a lot to think about, this includes smooth transitions, variety notes, and fill-ins. Including all of these was hard especially because I didn’t know the string notes and the specific notes of each fret by heart. Therefore, all I needed was to practice (which I am doing a lot).
For the first couple of weeks, I have just gotten used to my bass. I am now more confident in the E, A, B, C, G, and their sharps. My mentor (David) had chosen songs that included only the notes. I’ve recently gotten the notes so I will post a huge recording of everything I have learned in the next blog post.
One thing that I found challenging was the flicking. Looking back to the guitar, it was either strumming or fingerstyle; all the types I had my hand over the strings. Unlike the guitar, in the bass I needed to flick the strings with the first two fingers; for this type, my hand was more on top of the bass. It was challenging because I was not used to it. Having a long arm, I was not in a comfortable position at first. Although, after a long time of practicing, I have made myself fit for the bass I am currently using.
Although my progress might not seem as much, I feel like I am starting to tie a bond with my bass. I know that I can do on the bass, and I make it so that I can do the something I am trying to do. Hopefully, after all the practice I am going through with the busy days I can bring out my first recording!!
(Stay in the tune of a recording, maybe or maybe not in the next blog post!?)
The song I am working on right now.
Q & A with my mentor!!
- How did your mentor gain their experience/ expertise?
My mentor (David) had a love of music ever since he was little. Having huge background knowledge of piano, drums and guitar made him more connected with musical instruments. He mostly learned from people who played at the church. Having the influence, he started to play in the church youth group. Starting from a pianist to a bassist, all the way to the praise leader. Having all the skills made him more venerable to the praise team community. After 5ish years of serving the youth praise team, he followed God’s leading to lead an adult service praise. However, the cause of covid-19 and other causes made his move to churches. Although he had moved churches, he is still the main praise team leader.
- What were those experiences like for your mentor?
Leading a huge group of 60 in the youth praise is nerve-racking, and he was. The first few times he was nervous. However, he knew that all he was doing was for God’s work and he started developing the confidence and comfort in leading. David says, “I am just leading for God, I praise up on the stage just like the way I would praise in the crowd and alone”, this quote him had helped him go through the hard time he had with the nerves.
- What wisdom have you gained from your mentor so far?
I have gained many pearls of wisdom from my mentor. From “have smoother note changes” to, “Stay on the beat”, one wisdom I would keep in mind for LIFE is to be confident. When I first picked up my bass, I was nervous because the sound was loud, and I was just a beginner. Following along to my first song, I was terrible. I had terrible beats, terrible sounds, and horrible note changes. He said I kind of look like a robot playing the bass. I have realized if I was more confident, I would be flowier. Therefore, after I was more confident, I had the music in me, I knew how to control the bass to cover the song. I had better focus on the beats, tempo, and notes. However, sometimes I had gotten the notes wrong, but …confidence!
- What have you learned so far, in terms of facilitation strategies, that might contribute to your development as a mentor?
Learning a new instrument means lots of patience and practice. Although, I have lots of patience and practice my mentor has more. For me, being a mentor means being more forceful and having more trust for the mentee. I have seen a lot of them in my mentor lately. Especially, when I get a note wrong or if I get my temp off track, he still has positive feedback and forces me to keep trying. Another thing I have is trust. I believe if trust and patience go together it creates a confident environment. Therefore, it was easier for an introvert(me) to open as quickly as I did.
Anyways, that is it. I hope you enjoyed reading my first few weeks of bass and come back for more. Bye!
🙂