Stu is one of the best on bass. He doesn't get enough credit, but he's in the top 3 of most talented bassists I've ever seen. My best advice for any young bass players would be: 1. tune with a good electric tuner (I use an app that shows the megahertz or w/e of each note like 41.7 for an E) every single time you play. being "in tune" can range more than I thought at first. what you'll find over many years of playing is there's a certain precision where you can actually be "perfectly tuned" instead of just "in tune." Look to find a sweetspot where all 4 strings are in harmony together, so when you tune you're really tuning each string in relation to the other 3 instead of just one string at a time. it makes a huge difference to the precision of your ear after many years. Do that habit early bc it refines your ear to fractional levels of nuance. 2. keep your strap pulled high & tight. I grew up with the misconception that it looked cooler to hang low. It doesn't. All it does it make it harder on yourself bc you lose leverage. Keep your bass high & strap tight. Your pointer finger on your neck-hand can be at jaw level. you'll navigate way easier w/ this one thing. comfort will come in time. 3. lower your thumb on your neck-hand. A common mistake I made early was my left thumb would creep high as if it was peaking over the fretboard. But someone said "show me how wide you can reach" & I spanned about 4/5 notes. He says "lower your thumb" and literally had to force (rotate) my hand lower. After rotating hand to lower thumb, he says, "ok, now how many notes can you reach?" It was 2 extra notes & I could hit the notes with way more ease. Maximize your leverage so you can reach a wider spread, essentially. If you have trouble getting your thumb lower, then picture it like you're rotating your left hand towards you (where your thumb gets lower on the back of the fretboard & your fingers rotate to where they're nearly pointing more towards the direction of your face instead of pointing away from the bass & towards the ceiling above the crowd). 4. train your pinky (no cheating with your ring finger). Work on a 4 finger spread. You can do chromatic runs (in tab it's 1-2-3-4 on each string, forwards than backwards) all over the neck to build your finger strength in all 4. I'd guess 90% of bassists are 3 finger players (on neck hand they only use pointer, middle & ring finger). Training pinky strength takes a conscious effort over time, but it's worth it bc you'll be able to access other notes that most can't. 5. Always practice/play along with percussion (like drum loops). vary tempo/genre. Get to where you can hold a steady rhythm as low as 65 tempo & as high as 165. Ultimately how good you become on bass will depend on how well you fit with the drums. Playing to drum loops (or a real drummer if you have access) will help you write way better licks & will help you lock in with the drums. 6. Early on people told me not to pick with my thumb (it's instructed as 2 fingers on pick-hand), but over the years I've wondered if that's wrong. Cross training with Classical guitar may be worthwhile. The next great bass player will likely use 4 fingers on his neck hand (instead of 3) and 4 fingers on his pick-hand (instead of 2). I imagine that will allow you to play bass lines others can't. 7. Play with others & less is more - At 1st the flashiest basslines caught my attention (guys like Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten & Jaco). But as you play with bands and other musicians, you learn that great bass is often simple. a truly great bass player should be able to keep an entire arena's heads nodding to their beat & sense of rhythm (with only using 1 to 3 notes). a simple bass line can still be a great bass line. a complex bass line can screw up a song. don't force what you want to do onto a song. play what fits & find what the song calls for. the goal should be to write the best song possible, not the best bassline possible. bass is more about your sense of rhythm (i.e., genres like funk, reggae, & hip hop illustrate this well). I'd bet if you look up the most iconic basslines of all time (like Another One Bites the Dust, for example) that it's more about the precision/timing/rhythm than it is about complexity of note selection. 8. Don't be afraid to write songs & lead with the bass - it's not common (even tho Royal Blood & a few others do it), but learn the rules & break the rules. Try new things. Find what you like & don't like the easy way; try to like the best way, even if it takes longer. I used to see other bassist playing mainly on the low end of the neck & mainly using one note at a time & mainly doing 'walking' licks. over time I started to defy that by using chords & the high end of the neck & trying to act as a lead instrument. At that point my function changed into more of a hybrid role. No longer just rhythm (or the 'base' of the song) but rather, a mix of rhythm & lead. Guitar and others can play around what you write too (if it's good enough). 9. Learn to record & record everything. we think we'll remember cool licks, but you forget them over time. If you record everything you do & even write the tabs yourself, you can create a real anthology. I've written hundreds or maybe thousands of songs, yet because I didn't record them, there's really no record of it. In hindsight, I would've recorded every session, every practice, every live show, etc. Your aptitude on Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic, FL, & these types of programs will give you extra value. Not only as an individual player being able to keep track of all your coolest licks (& hopefully songs) but also when it comes time to do session work or play with others. Your ability to manipulate the technology will become just as important as anything over the next 50 years. It's a tool. Be wise, be patient, & use it. 10. Put your music out there (record everything, write songs, play live as much as possible). never be shy or scared to play music. Music is only good if it's able to be enjoyed and shared with others. What good is a great musician if everything he ever played never left his own home or never hit ears other than his own? Your first show I don't care if you pee your pants out of nervousness. Pee em, but jam out & handle your business. Focus on the music. In time, the ability to play naturally in front of a crowd will become way easier (you'll grow to like it believe it or not). Bass is the "cool" instrument, right? so put it out there and just be cool ab it. Music isn't sold in CD or record stores anymore, so professional musicians over the next 50 years are likely gonna make their money by playing live & touring. if you want to be a pro, you gotta put it out there. For many artists to "make it" that's about 7 years of touring. There are guys who get there quicker, but just make sure you have fair expectations & an accurate assessment of the industry. 11. It doesn't matter how you compare to the next guy. The only thing you care about is: are you better than YOU were last month? Music is not a competition. Music is a language, it's an art, it's a hobby or a passion (in some cases it's a mission or a person's purpose in this world). No matter what, it's an awesome way to find joy & to maybe give something back to the world. Whether people like it or not, that may not be up to you. So don't even go into it with any insecurity. If you wrote the best album you could, you play it proudly. If it ain't good enough yet, they can catch your next show. Impress yourself. If your expectation is to impress others, no matter how good you get, it might be impossible task. If your expectation is to write the best music you can, you can reach that expectation daily.
Anyone with the audacity to try and throw shade on a Stu Hamm post is completely clueless and has NO ACTUAL EXPERIENCE PLAYING THE BASS GUITAR. He’s maybe one of the top 5 bass players of all time. Imagine saying this same ignorant garbage to Eric Clapton.
Finally I found someone to give a proper explanation of a technique that fits me . Thank u Stuart!!! Blessings
Stu is one of the best on bass. He doesn't get enough credit, but he's in the top 3 of most talented bassists I've ever seen. My best advice for any young bass players would be:
1. tune with a good electric tuner (I use an app that shows the megahertz or w/e of each note like 41.7 for an E) every single time you play. being "in tune" can range more than I thought at first. what you'll find over many years of playing is there's a certain precision where you can actually be "perfectly tuned" instead of just "in tune." Look to find a sweetspot where all 4 strings are in harmony together, so when you tune you're really tuning each string in relation to the other 3 instead of just one string at a time. it makes a huge difference to the precision of your ear after many years. Do that habit early bc it refines your ear to fractional levels of nuance.
2. keep your strap pulled high & tight. I grew up with the misconception that it looked cooler to hang low. It doesn't. All it does it make it harder on yourself bc you lose leverage. Keep your bass high & strap tight. Your pointer finger on your neck-hand can be at jaw level. you'll navigate way easier w/ this one thing. comfort will come in time.
3. lower your thumb on your neck-hand. A common mistake I made early was my left thumb would creep high as if it was peaking over the fretboard. But someone said "show me how wide you can reach" & I spanned about 4/5 notes. He says "lower your thumb" and literally had to force (rotate) my hand lower. After rotating hand to lower thumb, he says, "ok, now how many notes can you reach?" It was 2 extra notes & I could hit the notes with way more ease. Maximize your leverage so you can reach a wider spread, essentially. If you have trouble getting your thumb lower, then picture it like you're rotating your left hand towards you (where your thumb gets lower on the back of the fretboard & your fingers rotate to where they're nearly pointing more towards the direction of your face instead of pointing away from the bass & towards the ceiling above the crowd).
4. train your pinky (no cheating with your ring finger). Work on a 4 finger spread. You can do chromatic runs (in tab it's 1-2-3-4 on each string, forwards than backwards) all over the neck to build your finger strength in all 4. I'd guess 90% of bassists are 3 finger players (on neck hand they only use pointer, middle & ring finger). Training pinky strength takes a conscious effort over time, but it's worth it bc you'll be able to access other notes that most can't.
5. Always practice/play along with percussion (like drum loops). vary tempo/genre. Get to where you can hold a steady rhythm as low as 65 tempo & as high as 165. Ultimately how good you become on bass will depend on how well you fit with the drums. Playing to drum loops (or a real drummer if you have access) will help you write way better licks & will help you lock in with the drums.
6. Early on people told me not to pick with my thumb (it's instructed as 2 fingers on pick-hand), but over the years I've wondered if that's wrong. Cross training with Classical guitar may be worthwhile. The next great bass player will likely use 4 fingers on his neck hand (instead of 3) and 4 fingers on his pick-hand (instead of 2). I imagine that will allow you to play bass lines others can't.
7. Play with others & less is more - At 1st the flashiest basslines caught my attention (guys like Stu Hamm, Victor Wooten & Jaco). But as you play with bands and other musicians, you learn that great bass is often simple. a truly great bass player should be able to keep an entire arena's heads nodding to their beat & sense of rhythm (with only using 1 to 3 notes). a simple bass line can still be a great bass line. a complex bass line can screw up a song. don't force what you want to do onto a song. play what fits & find what the song calls for. the goal should be to write the best song possible, not the best bassline possible. bass is more about your sense of rhythm (i.e., genres like funk, reggae, & hip hop illustrate this well). I'd bet if you look up the most iconic basslines of all time (like Another One Bites the Dust, for example) that it's more about the precision/timing/rhythm than it is about complexity of note selection.
8. Don't be afraid to write songs & lead with the bass - it's not common (even tho Royal Blood & a few others do it), but learn the rules & break the rules. Try new things. Find what you like & don't like the easy way; try to like the best way, even if it takes longer. I used to see other bassist playing mainly on the low end of the neck & mainly using one note at a time & mainly doing 'walking' licks. over time I started to defy that by using chords & the high end of the neck & trying to act as a lead instrument. At that point my function changed into more of a hybrid role. No longer just rhythm (or the 'base' of the song) but rather, a mix of rhythm & lead. Guitar and others can play around what you write too (if it's good enough).
9. Learn to record & record everything. we think we'll remember cool licks, but you forget them over time. If you record everything you do & even write the tabs yourself, you can create a real anthology. I've written hundreds or maybe thousands of songs, yet because I didn't record them, there's really no record of it. In hindsight, I would've recorded every session, every practice, every live show, etc. Your aptitude on Pro Tools, Ableton, Logic, FL, & these types of programs will give you extra value. Not only as an individual player being able to keep track of all your coolest licks (& hopefully songs) but also when it comes time to do session work or play with others. Your ability to manipulate the technology will become just as important as anything over the next 50 years. It's a tool. Be wise, be patient, & use it.
10. Put your music out there (record everything, write songs, play live as much as possible). never be shy or scared to play music. Music is only good if it's able to be enjoyed and shared with others. What good is a great musician if everything he ever played never left his own home or never hit ears other than his own? Your first show I don't care if you pee your pants out of nervousness. Pee em, but jam out & handle your business. Focus on the music. In time, the ability to play naturally in front of a crowd will become way easier (you'll grow to like it believe it or not). Bass is the "cool" instrument, right? so put it out there and just be cool ab it. Music isn't sold in CD or record stores anymore, so professional musicians over the next 50 years are likely gonna make their money by playing live & touring. if you want to be a pro, you gotta put it out there. For many artists to "make it" that's about 7 years of touring. There are guys who get there quicker, but just make sure you have fair expectations & an accurate assessment of the industry.
11. It doesn't matter how you compare to the next guy. The only thing you care about is: are you better than YOU were last month? Music is not a competition. Music is a language, it's an art, it's a hobby or a passion (in some cases it's a mission or a person's purpose in this world). No matter what, it's an awesome way to find joy & to maybe give something back to the world. Whether people like it or not, that may not be up to you. So don't even go into it with any insecurity. If you wrote the best album you could, you play it proudly. If it ain't good enough yet, they can catch your next show. Impress yourself. If your expectation is to impress others, no matter how good you get, it might be impossible task. If your expectation is to write the best music you can, you can reach that expectation daily.
Damn dude, Stu really likes his stars now huh
Great to see John Goodman venturing into music from acting.
Anyone with the audacity to try and throw shade on a Stu Hamm post is completely clueless and has NO ACTUAL EXPERIENCE PLAYING THE BASS GUITAR. He’s maybe one of the top 5 bass players of all time. Imagine saying this same ignorant garbage to Eric Clapton.
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@PeterAnaniaRelax…😂😂😂😂
Now that's a tattoo! And this bass
..Man!
it was Larry Graham on the electric! Larry popularised it...
Louis J says he started it. Larry G says he started it. That got me thinking about their ages. Louis was born in 1955. Larry in 1946. There you go.
Is the stars on the arm permanent tattoos?
Yeah
hope not lol
He went from Stu Hamm to Stuart Ham Sandwich 🥪
What kind of a dumbass remark is that
It’s called aging and it comes for everyone
Stars a lot of em. Hmmm? Explain the meaning ... i already know your a superstar.
Marcus Miller is a bad man.
who? this is stu hamm