...And even with a head full of "knowledge" I never really felt like I had the ability to "come up" with stuff like that myself. (Much less on the spot!)
While other bassists I knew got applauded when they flexed their "musical muscles", I'd always get told to "just keep it simple"...
So;
This cycle continued until right around my 10th year playing...
...When by total dumb luck I walked into a bar, met and later started working with a bass mentor I'd quickly come to realize, truly processed music in a way that was drastically different to literally everything I'd been taught...
Unlike everyone else I'd met, the phrase"music is a language", (which I'd heard a million times) wasn't rhetoric or a cute cliché for him.
From the very first conversation we had, he got me to clearly understand that if music was in fact a language, we should probably be learning to play by following the same process that we used to learn to speak our first language.
But better yet...
...He immediately started laying out a sequence of counter-intuitive "bass-language-learning" activities that had single-handedly gotten him to a level of effortless fluency with his playing.
Funny thing is, almost all of these "language learning" activities, were the polar opposite of the things I had been devoutly spending most of my time on!
I'll admit...
There were several times in those first 9 years when I was convinced I just didn't have what it takes either.
...Yet fast forward to today and as a musician I've now toured extensively with award winning artists, played everything from sold out arenas with tens of thousands of people to the most exclusive private events, hung out with celebrities, appeared on national TV and overall just had the most amazing time playing music with elite musicians I respect and love.
And the only reason I'm even mentioning this is to illustrate how drastically things can change even if you feel like you've been stuck forever.
And that's why...
...Even though I don't personally know you, if you're reading this letter I think there's a good chance, you too, are a far superior musician than you've been able to realize thus far.
Because achieving a high degree of competence on the instrument (even after failing for several years) isn't a "talent" thing...
It's a "follow-the-right-process" thing.
And while some people accidentally stumble into doing the right things, just by virtue of practicing 14 hours a day, then learning and consistently playing hundreds of songs over 20 years...
That's not what I want for you.
Most of you don't have the time it'll take to travel that route.
...But when I started accurately and intentionally treating music like an actual language the difference was immediate and undeniable.
For the first time after almost 10 years of false starts and diligently but aimlessly devouring every piece of musical education I could get my hands on - something finally clicked...
...And I saw genuine improvement in the ideas I'd play when presented with a new song, as well as rapid growth in my confidence and competence to improvise ideas on the spot.
In fact...
Without any exaggeration, I made more progress and got more playing opportunities that very year than I had in the previous 9 years I had been playing...
...All by changing the things I spent time practicing so that they more accurately aligned with what is required when learning to speak a language.
And that's where my obsession began...
...Taking the initial seed ideas my mentor had shared with me over that one year, I'd dedicate more than a decade of deep research to even more accurately;