Welcome! When the subject of improvisation comes up, very few of us fully understand the three concepts of acquisition, assimilation, and application. This is very important, because when learning arpeggios and scales, you must take it beyond the first stage of acquisition. Acquisition simply means the learning of a skill. Many people stop their progression at this level, and never really understand how much of what they have learned is woven into the core fabric of improvising music.
The second phase is assimilation—which means fully absorbing and understanding information. Applying this to learning how to play the bass guitar mainly revolves around solving technical hurdles that are holding you back, such as proper left and right-hand positioning, spatial awareness, speed (or ‘chops’) and clarity of mental focus. In this phase, a student may spend many hours repeating what they are practising in all keys until most technical hurdles are overcome.