“If all I ever do is come in here and play every day, it makes me happy.”
By Jon Liebman
May 26, 2023
Have you ever felt like it’s too late for you to learn bass?
Maybe you’ve dabbled with bass on and off here and there, but never went very far with it.
Do you feel sad that you’ve missed an opportunity to learn how to play an instrument?
Well, hold on there…
Meet Matt
Let me tell you about Matt Felice, who was experiencing a lot of the same feelings.
When Matt was growing up, his father used to play Al Hirt records, Herb Alpert, Glen Campbell and other popular music in the house. And Matt took a liking to it.
Like most kids, Matt loved the classic rock he heard on the radio as he got a little older. He also had an appreciation for jazz and some classical music.
Bass all the way, from the very beginning
Matt was drawn to the bass from the start, unlike most bass players who started out as wannabe guitar players before learning to play bass, often reluctantly.
As an adult, it became harder to find time for playing bass, once he had a job, a wife, etc. Still, he did what he could.
When he did manage to find time to take bass lessons, it wasn’t very fulfilling. He was feeling frustrated, particularly when it came to his timing and sight reading.
“I don’t want to say that I’ve wasted a lot of time,” he says, “but I spent a lot of time practicing scales and stuff like that that I didn’t know how to apply. I think you need to have structure to your practice.”
He knew what he wanted, but it wasn’t working
Then one day, Matt came across one of my YouTube videos, where he recognized me as “the same guy” who’d written the Bass Aerobics book he’d bought, which he liked very much. The obvious next step, he figured, was to join the Bottom Line Club to see what it was all about.
Matt says he noticed a difference in his playing from the very beginning. He soon found himself picking up his bass every day, which is something he was never motivated to do before.
“My timing is way better,” he says. “Just being able to lock in, the different styles of music, some of these different feels, I definitely have down.”
“My reading is way better,” he adds, proudly. “I didn’t even realize how much better my reading was until I looked back at an old walking jazz thing that I had printed out from somewhere. I picked it up and I set it on the music stand and I 99% nailed it. And I said, ‘Hey, cool. I didn’t know I could do that!’”
Imagine this happening to you…
Learning bass has helped him build confidence too, losing any inhibitions he might have had. He’d gotten in the habit of closing the door to the room where he practices until one day his wife said, “What are you closing the door for? It sounds really good! Since you’ve been online taking these lessons with this guy, you really have made progress.”
What more can a guy want! 🙂
“And that says a lot for Bottom Line Club,” Matt says, without be prodded.
“I’m improving because I enjoy it.”
Now Matt can’t wait to take out his bass every day and start playing and grooving. Learning bass has added so much joy and fulfillment to his life.
“I wish this was around when I was 15, 16 years old,” Matt says about the Bottom Line Club. At the same time, he knows there’s no point in lamenting the fact that he didn’t get serious about learning bass till later in life.
“I want to get in front of the music stand and just get to it,” he says. “If all I ever do is come in here and play every day, it makes me happy. I’m improving because I enjoy it. It’s just happening. It’s great!”
How about you?
Do you think you’re too old to learn bass? Most of my students in the Bottom Line Club are in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. They all love music, they’re learning to groove, and they’re having more fun than they ever thought possible. Find out all about joining here.
