Embrace humility: excessive pride is an armor that stops learning & improving

Pride has a mixed reputation. Sometimes, we hear about it praised as a virtue: "That guitar builder takes great pride in their craftsmanship". Yet it's also listed as a sin in the "seven deadly sins". So is pride a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on what you're proud of and how high the "pride level" dial is set. For a bassist, it's crucial to take pride in your art and craft, extending from the precision and steadiness of your rhythm, the consistency and beauty of your tone, and your focus during shows and recording sessions. That's a strength.

Having that pride in your work helps to give you the strength to keep on practicing in the days and weeks before a big show or recording session, even if you're tired, because you want to do a good job. Your pride in your work helps give you the motivation to keep focused in the practice room on getting all of the bass parts up to a solid level.

When does pride become maladaptive and harmful? A bass player who is so proud of their skill level at rhythm, improvisation, or soloing that they don't think they have anything left to learn from other players has gone into the danger zone. This bass player may turn down the opportunity to hear another bassist or listen to a band from a different genre, because they pre-emptively dismiss this bassist or musical genre as "having nothing I can learn from."

Be humble. Recognize that there's things you can learn from a 13-year-

old bass wunderkind, even though they don't have much live show experience yet. Recognize that if you play a more acoustic genre, there's a lot you can learn from bassists who play in louder, more electric styles. If you play in a loud, electrified style with an 8x10" cabinet, there's a lot you can learn from bassists who play in quieter, more acoustic styles. If you play upright, there's a lot you can learn from electric bass players in blues, funk, and metal, and vice versa.