This article is written by Toru Hoshino, a jazz bassist and instructor based in Japan who teaches online lessons to students worldwide.
For these three things, it’s not repetition that fixes them — it’s awareness, about 90% of the time.
In lessons, I often get questions like:
“My left hand flails around too much — is there a good way to practice that?”
or
“I can’t get my muting right — is there a good way to practice that?”
Repetition practice is, of course, important. But what tends to work even better is pointing out specifically where the left hand is flailing, or where the muting is going wrong, and saying something like:
“Next time, focus on muting cleanly through beats 3 and 4 of bar 9.”
When I give that kind of specific feedback, things often improve noticeably right away.
Of course, how quickly someone improves varies depending on how long they’ve played the instrument. But in general, I find that the key is simply this:
Recognize for yourself exactly what’s not working, and consciously play to avoid it next time.
That’s basically it. Pretty unglamorous, I know.
It’s natural to want to look for “the right method,” but in particular, for things like:
・Left hand flailing
・Even note duration
・Muting
…mindless repetition often isn’t what fixes these. Simple awareness, like I described above, tends to do the job.
That said, it’s hard to notice these things on your own when you’re self-taught. Recording yourself playing and watching it back with an objective eye is a great way to catch what you’re missing.
I hope this gives you a useful way to think about it next time you hit a rough patch in a phrase or bass line.
Want Personalized Feedback on Your Playing?
This is exactly the kind of thing that’s hard to fix alone — and where having a teacher makes all the difference.
At Line on Bass, I offer an online lesson service where you send me a video of your playing, and I give you specific, detailed feedback — every single day if you want.
Students from around the world are using this to fix exactly these kinds of issues and steadily improve their jazz bass skills.