A former windsurfer and paraglider, Cary Acord is a longtime athlete who currently focuses his efforts on activities such as snowboarding, kiteboarding, and mountain biking. Among his other interests, Cary Acord enjoys playing the bass guitar.
2. A former windsurfer and paraglider, Cary Acord is a
longtime athlete who currently focuses his efforts on
activities such as snowboarding, kiteboarding, and
mountain biking. Among his other interests, Cary Acord
enjoys playing the bass guitar.
The bass guitar is, in many ways, the cornerstone of
any band. Along with the drummer, the bass player is
responsible for keeping the rhythm of a song as well as
adding depth to the band’s overall tonal quality. That’s
why many musicians are drawn to the bass guitar
when choosing an instrument to learn. For those taking
up the bass for the first time, here are some pitfalls to
avoid.
3. Value accuracy over speed in the beginning. While the more
advanced bass licks are impressive, all the speed in the world
isn’t worth very much if one is playing the wrong notes. Work
on technique and theory in order to get the fundamentals
down before trying to speed things up.
Don’t just learn songs, learn music. Some novice bass players
get caught in the trap of just trying to learn how to play a
particular song without learning why those notes are being
played or how they fit in the overall key and tonal quality of the
piece. When you have a grasp of the theory behind a bass riff,
you can truly understand the value of the instrument--and how
to improvise and develop original pieces.