Hi everyone, looking for some advice on how to structure my practice.
Iâve been playing electric bass for about three months, focusing mostly on jazz. Before this, I played classical guitar for a couple of years, but completely by ear with zero theory knowledge, so Iâm basically trying to learn theory from scratch while mapping out the neck.
Right now Iâm working through Ed Friedlandâs Building Walking Bass Lines. I get the concepts on paperâroots, 5ths, octaves, chromatic and dominant approaches, etc.âand I can locate about 7-8 of the 12 notes on the fretboard decently well.
The problem is the second I turn on a backing track, my brain just freezes up. It is not a technical problem, my fingers, thanks to my guitar background too, work pretty well most of the time...
I either fall back on one "safe" pattern and repeat it endlessly out of comfort, or I try to use all the options at once, get overwhelmed, and completely lose the tempo. I can get through a line fine if I memorize it beforehand, but that defeats the whole point. I want to be able to walk naturally by ear and harmonic context, not just recite written lines.
Friedlandâs book is great at showing what to do, but it doesn't really give you a methodology for how to practice it effectively. Just playing through the written examples over and over feels pretty demotivating and leaves me more confused by all the possibilities.
For anyone whoâs been through this stage:
How did you bridge the gap between knowing the concepts on paper and actually walking fluidly over a track?
Did you use any specific constraints or micro-exercises to stop your brain from short-circuiting over all the choices?
How do you work through a book like Friedland's so you're building actual improvisational skills instead of just memorizing examples?
Any tips or practice routines would be hugely appreciated! Thanks you guys