There’s a lot of debate out there as to what The Most Important Thing is concerning what a bass player should know above all else, and opinions vary wildly on this subject.<\/p>\n
Some say the most important thing is to know your scales, while others say you should know what’s known as “perfect pitch”<\/a> (and if you’re not blessed with that, don’t feed bad because most aren’t). And yet others say it’s about knowing as many songs as possible to expand your bass playing knowledge.<\/p>\n Well, all of that means nothing if you don’t learn the one thing that holds that all together:<\/p>\n Timing.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A bass player who can’t play in time is fairly worthless, similarly to how a drummer who can’t play in time is fairly worthless. And no, I’m not saying you have to master all the time signatures, but if you can’t keep a standard 120bpm (one beat every half-second) in 4\/4, start using a metronome and learn it.<\/p>\n