Need Motivation to Practice Bass? One solution to rule them all.

I’d like to share with you an important tip when it comes to playing and practicing bass in general.

Thinking about it – why is no one sharing this advice?

Are you ready to hear the secret?

Read on.

Find A Purpose

When examining my own playing and talking with many students, I’ve pinpointed one thing that you can do right now to literally change everything.

It will change your mindset about the bass, change the way you practice and ultimately allow you to discover the fountain of endless bass practice motivation.

I’m talking about finding your purpose.

When I was young and just starting out on bass, I did what most of the bass players do.

I was noodling on the instrument for the first 6 months or so trying to learn how to play, but not really practicing on a regular schedule or taking it seriously.

It was love on first sight with the instrument, no doubt about that, but something was missing.

At that time I couldn’t really tell what it was and then all of a sudden, everything changed in an instant, like flipping a switch.

I got my first gig.

The band repertoire called for the need to play with a pick and guess what – I only played fingerstyle… Also, I needed to learn a bunch of songs in a short amount of time. Uh Oh, did nothing like that before…

Alright, now we’re talking! Challenge accepted.

Importance of challenging yourself

This is my core tip for you.

I want you to think about what makes you really excited about playing bass and then use that in your advantage.

Also, think about all the benefits you gain whenever you take up a challenge.

Any challenge in life really.

I would never try to play bass with a pick if it wasn’t for that band I got to play with.

I would never practice so hard if there wasn’t a deadline to learn the repertoire.

It’s understandable that you don’t have a desire or hard motivation to pick up that bass every day if you don’t have that “vision of tomorrow”.

Well, that’s easy enough – just makeup one and why not do it right now? Take a piece of paper and write down what you’d like to achieve when it comes to playing bass and music in general.

Some ideas:

• Find a band
• Start a channel and record youtube videos for fun
• Compose your own songs
• Play in a church band
• Play for family and friends
• Show off and blast a song at the friends wedding
• Learn to play a full album of your favorite artist
• Be able to slap on the bass
• Learn how to play walking bass
• Be more confident jamming blues
• Attend an open stage night at a local bar

It’s really easy actually.

You just need to come up with a number of short-term, achievable bass goals or should I say challenges and you’re halfway there already.

This will help you pick up that bass with excitement and grin on your face every day and ultimately, help you become a better player.

Be Adventurous

We all tend to spend too much time practicing stuff that we already know.

It’s called the comfort zone.

All musicians love their comfort zone.

The issue?

You don’t make a lot if any progress if you stick around the comfort zone. You need to take a leap into the unknown and that’s when you accelerate your practice 110%.

I remember Victor Wooten saying in one of the interviews that he loves to experiment on stage, in front of all those people.

That comes with the cost of making a mistake in front of such a huge audience, but that’s the thrill.

That pushes him beyond into uncharted territory – unlocking creativity and making beautiful music right there on the spot.

The Solution

I’ve been experimenting with my students with a concept of “Bass Missions” and it proves to be crazy effective. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?

What’s that, I hear you say? I know it might sound crazy, but stick with me.

What if you would have a special place to get a steady dose of real-world bass challenges to get stuck into?

Things like composing a bass line with certain criteria, shooting a bass performance video, learning a specific concept and then applying it over a provided backing track and so on?

All very detailed, with provided resources like chord progressions, backing tracks, all the good stuff.

It’s like you’re playing in a band and have your bandmates push you to practice more so that you can fulfill your role.

Imagine being a studio musician where you get to explore different styles of music and develop your creativity and composing skills.

You get challenged to play things you would never think of practicing before, but completing each and every mission is so satisfying that it becomes addictive.

Do you know what that means?

Hours and hours of bass practice with a full focus and goal in mind. This equals to taking your bass playing to another level really.

Why don’t you think of a mission now and then start working towards completing it?

It can be as crazy as “learn to jam over Taylor Swift song using disco octaves” or as easy as “learn how to play a C major scale on bass”.

Easy option: I’ve created an online learning corner for bass players where you can get access to tons of helpful lessons and resources with one special feature – bass missions. This means hand-crafted, fun mission challenges that you can complete in order to boost your bass practice. Each and every mission has a clear goal in mind and will help you develop a specific skill on the instrument without thinking twice about it.

The Bass Challenge

Okay, enough talking let’s get practical, grab that bass and start practicing.

If you’re feeling up to a challenge, you can always take my FREE Bass Secret Sauce Course and commit to mastering each and every lesson there… If you put in the effort, it will make you a better bass player, I can guarantee you that.

Alternatively, you can come up with a challenge on your own.

Simply open your mind and tell yourself: why not?

Don’t say: I don’t have time to learn that.

Think like this: how can I master this lesson, what do I need to do?

A simple change of mindset goes a long way.

Conclusion

Finding a purpose and regularly challenging yourself will make you a better bass player.

You should come up with your “bass calling” sooner than later if you’re planning to take bass seriously and enjoy it for a lifetime. Boy, what a joy it is – it brought so many wonderful things in my life!

Thinking about this when you’re starting out can make a huge impact on how you approach the instrument in the future.

If you enjoy playing with other people, that’s great, and if you enjoy playing alone that’s awesome too.

You got to find out what makes you groove and then use that motivation to boost your practice and take your playing to another level.

Hope you’ll find tips in this post helpful.