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- Any and all advice
Any and all advice
Picked up a bass 5 months ago. I must have magic in my ears and fingers because I'm playing a lot of songs and rip thru major and minor scales. I have no musical training but have a good ear. Speed is some what of an issue and when laying complete songs my right hand is in pain… Im totally addicted to the bass but I know this new found talent has to come to a screeching holt soon. What should I be doing now ? I find a lot of tabs very easy and get bored. Of course there are a lot of things I can not play because I do not understand the. I just do not want to get all cockey and blow this new love of mine. What should I be doing to better understand what I'm doing ? I play an EB0 and a Les Pual standard. I know nothing about sound other than tone… Any and all advice would be cool
Find your tone, that is key unless you're okay with playing covers. Stretch and strengthen your hands, go online and find exercises to do… and keep working on scales, you can never learn enough of them.
But most important… Never get cocky, you're a bass player… lay a groove and hang out, unless you're Geddy Lee….
Hope that helps….
Find exercises to keep working your hands. Take breaks when you need to. You want to build strength, but not damage yourself. Bass can be a beast to tame. I've gotten back into it after some years away, and a lot of my early time was spent just getting hand strength and endurance back.
As far as the rest goes, study the basics of what role bass is meant to fill. Don't just go by tabs alone. Learn what the bass is capable of, learn all your basics, and take it from there. Then you'll be in a much better position to create your own interesting lines rather than just play others' all the time.
What SquierJazz72 said, and another thing to remember is to mix it up. Never, ever keep repeating the same thing over and over for any length of time. Doing so will increase soreness in your fretting hand. The addiction to playing is a good sign that you are enjoying what you are doing, but self discipline of when to put the guitar down is key. Like everyone else has said. Take breaks when needed. This indeed is a tough one to master out
Thanx guys. I'm going to take lessons because I would like to understand theory etc…. When looking for a teacher what am I looking for ?
One more thing, I have an EBo and a Les Paul standard. I don not understand sound yet but both are short scale basses. In your opinion is there an advantage or disadvantage in playing short scale basses. Or is it preference. I like the sound of Jack Bruce and Bill Wyman so I steered toward these basses
Same as guitar likely. Long scales generally have a clearer sound with more note distinction. Short scales are “warmer” sounding, for what that's worth. Short scales are easier to play and bend on due to less string tension, assuming string gauges are equal.
String gauges too. For any given scale length, lighter strings will be easier to play, also due to less tension. I like heavy strings myself, but worked my way back up to them. A typical light set might be .40-95, mediums .45-.105, and heavies, like mine, .50-.110.
“ Lessons? We don't need no stinking lessons! ”
If you are looking only to read music and learn the theory of music, have at it. If not, then there are plenty of learning tools here on this site and elsewhere across the net. Lessons are not cheap by any means.
I'm not discouraging you, just giving you a heads up in how deep you want to go into your new venture of playing bass.
This site helped me with my finger placement. At times I would have trouble with my fingers jamming into each other while playing certain songs. This site actually helped me revamp my finger placement. It taught me the proper way of fretting while at the same time reducing fatigue. Instead of overreaching my fingers to certain frets, I know have the habit of dropping my hand down or up instead of reaching. Poke around a bit on this site, it does offer quit a bit of stuff to learn. Some scales may be boring to hear, but that it not the point of it. It's teaching you technique and how it will shape you into a better player overall.
@squirejazz72 The only thing I know about string is round wound and flat thats it. Both of my basses have round wound. I have the slide thing down pat but hammers and pulls Im not sure what Im doing. I hear them in songs but cant pull them off(pun). Im assuming a Fender J or P has a deeper heavier sound. And a big factor in buying my EBO and Les Paul was they would be easier and faster. Kinda cheating a bit. I have played a P and I can get around on it but not like the short scale..
@defiant bass trends I think I agree.. Almost everything I have picked up has been on this site and others.. Im blown away at how far I have come just reading and playing correct tabs. My fingers are getting there. #3 and #4 come together a lot. I think I'll play scales more often. I usually just warm up with them or Strange Brew(Jack Bruce). Where on ths site did you find finger placement info ? I have found all the scales.. Thanx guys I really appreciate the help
Nothing wrong with short scale. Not cheating at all. Ease of use is a big factor in playing well, especially in the beginning. My last bass was a short scale Fender, and I loved it. Round wounds are most common stock, but many players use flats as well. You'll pick up knowledge about strings and what not as you go.
You don't need formal lessons to learn the basics of theory or sight reading, and the basics are all I really recommend at first. Plenty of good info online. One doesn't need a music degree to play, but I have found knowing the fundementals helps with everything else. Too much theory early on will just make you overthink your playing.
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