Brad Barnett

I'm dreaming about being able to play an upright!

Although I do have a great collection of music equipment, I've never owned a fretless bass. I would love to get a fretless 5 string American Fender Jazz!

My favorite bass player would have to be Victor Wooten. A lot of the techniques I use were learned from him. In a close second, Les Claypool!

I would say it is my 5 string Ernie Ball Sterling Musicman. In a close second my 5 string American Fender P Bass.

I have said it on here before and I will say it again. I have never used a pic with a bass guitar before and I will not ever use one in the future. I am all about fingers, slapping and popping!

I have 4, 5 and 6 string basses but I only use 5 when performing live. That low B string is killer for rock songs, especially when guitar players play in drop D.

You can use an interval trainer online to help improve your ears. I know how frustrating it can be cause I have been there. It took a lot of practice, writing and theory training before I was able to hear something and play it on bass or guitar. I'd recommend learning theory. It may not seem like it would help, but it the single most important thing that helped me get the ear I have today.

I have never, and will never use a pic to play the bass! I really hate it lol. Not trying to knock you because it is all a matter of opinion. As a bass player I am much faster with fingers and love slapping and popping!

Playing the same songs at the same venue every week could be what made you want to quit. I would never want to put myself through that lol. You are going to have times when you feel like quitting when trying to learn anything that takes years to master. It is the people who persevere through the negative thoughts that end up becoming professionals.

The SM57 is a great mic for recording acoustic guitar. I think you would be better off getting a condenser mic for vocals though.

When writing melodies it's all about using your ear. When playing a progression think of melodies in your head and when you have one you like start to hum it out loud or figure out the notes and play it on the guitar. Using your ear is the best method because you can come up with a melody without thinking about what scales to use. Using your ear is not an easy thing to do, but it is the best way to write your songs. It took years of playing, performing and learning theory to get to the point of being about to use my ear, but it was well worth it.

For my bands it's all about trial and error with harmonies, and all other aspects of song writing. Put in the time to perfect your art and you will be rewarded. We usually have our backup singer come up with a harmony while jamming and then somebody in the band will offer advice on a better harmony if a better one is thought of. We always at least try new ideas anyone comes up with because don't truly know how something is going to sound until you actually hear it.

There really isn't an answer to that because there are a number of songs that use each interval in just about every genre.

If your melody isn't flowing with your rhythm then you should probably tweak your melody to be more in line with the rhythm being played. Something as simple as slightly moving a note in the melody to hit at the same time as a snare or kick could do the trick. Keep tweaking the song until it sounds exactly how you want it. The more work you put into it the better it will sound!

Do you plan on putting these songs on the radio? If so then I would aim for about 3:30 but that is just my opinion. There are lots of songs on the radio much longer than that. If you aren't worried about radio play then it really depends on the type of audience you are trying to attract.