Important Tips to Remember for Blues Bass

So you want to play the blues on the bass guitar? Well, that’s great, because the blues is one of the easiest places to get started in music. It is also one of the strongest foundations to have, as the blues are in a bit of every type of music.

However, while the blues are one of the easiest starting places, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to just sit down and master them. In fact, the blues can be highly advanced. That is why you’ll need a little bit of guidance when you’re getting started so as to not get in over your head too quickly.

In this article, we will discuss the important tips for you to remember in blues bass guitar playing.

Tip One: Learn Your Musical Keys

If you don’t know your basic keys, you are going to have a hard time learning the blues.

In fact, you will have a hard time learning any form of music.

You need to understand the basic relationships between the major and minor keys and their relative scales. Why? Because if you don’t, you won’t know why a certain chord goes with another certain chord or why a certain chord doesn’t go with another certain chord.

Understanding these things will help you to build progressions and licks and riffs that work. Not understanding these things will assure you that most of what you write will be out of key—and then you’ll wind up wondering why something sounds slightly off all the time.

Tip Two: Practice Makes Perfect!

You’re tired of hearing it, we’re tired of saying it.

Practice makes perfect. If you don’t believe that, tell it to every touring band, every professional athlete, every artist, every writer—every person who does something creative for a living or for fun. Creativity is great, and it is something that not everyone has a lot of. Similarly, it is one of those things that can only be used properly when you practice its outlet.

If you don’t practice, you will have a ton of trouble playing consistently, and you will have even more trouble retaining the things that you spent so much time learning. Practice is your friend—your best friend. Get well acquainted because you and your practice sessions will be spending a lot of time with each other.

Tip Three: Listen to More Music

If you want to get better at the blues, or if you simply want to learn the blues, you need to listen to it.

Why?

Have you ever met someone who learned the alphabet without every seeing it (and yes, people with sight disabilities see the alphabet through the use of brail)? Have you ever met someone who baked a cake without ever seeing a cake before or knowing the ingredients required? Not in our time. In order to learn and understand, you need to open your ears and take in what already exists. With the blues, this means listening to some blues music.

And there you have it; three tips that will be your greatest assets when learning the blues.

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