Another right-hand technique that I use quite a bit when doing fingerstyle is to do up-and-down strokes with my index and middle fingers. Think Jamerson's "hook" or Chuck Rainey's single-finger technique extended to use both index and middle fingers. The pattern I use is:

Index pluck + index "flick" + middle pluck + middle "flick".

The up-stroke and down-stroke notes don't sound exactly the same, but this actually ends up being a benefit. Use this technique in a faster, driving, straight-8th's type of bass line, and the slightly different attack and envelope of each note actually sits quite well and enhances the "drive" of the groove in a lot of cases. The notes come out naturally legato but with a strong note cut-off at the end (versus, say, 4-finger plucking, where the notes naturally come out staccato).

This technique is fairly easy to pick up, and doesn't require months of practice to nail it...for most players, getting it down good enough to actually use it in your playing is likely only a few days or a week of practice with a metronome. Your fingers are doing almost the same thing they already do, so it doesn't feel too awkward even from the first attempt. Your two plucking fingers end up doing 10-20% more work (catching the string on the uncurl of the finger), but the benefit you get from that minimal additional effort is twice as many notes.

Dave

Best influences do not always come from music.

Take a look around...

Funny, I posted the below on the Editors' Office forum:



I honestly believe it's an idea worth considering

My tip came at a price and took me a few years to fully comprehend (that was back before I discovered this forum), are you ready for it? Here it is: New doesn't equal GOOD.

Sounds silly right? Tell that to the teenaged version of myself that started out with a crap p-bass copy complete with the pickup that would often fall into the control cavity of the bass at any given moment. My first two basses were used (the second one was a definite improvement)and I got lucky when I bought my first new Ibanez Soundgear bass. I ordered it, it arrived - I played it a little in store (very little) and took it home and that was that.

I didn't learn my lesson until the next two new basses I bought had issues with them, both electronic in nature, both from respected brand names. The advice passed around this forum often enough is one that everyone should heed - go to every/any music store within driving distance and play everything in the shop (before they kick you out). Don't judge the bass with your eyes only - I've learned that even respected brands can churn out the occasional dud or three. Let your ears and hands be the ultimate judge.

While you're playing all those basses, try to identify what works and doesn't work for you. Is the action too high/low on this bass? Are there too many/too few preamp options? Too many batteries to replace? Too many strings? Too wide/too small of a neck? String spacing too wide or small? Is it well balanced, does it feel sturdy and stable and capable of survive all those gigs you intend to have? Does it have a good range of sounds?

A bass is an instrument, not a fashion statement!

Tip #2 for beginners - no matter how cheap you are, make sure you buy a bass that is capable of staying in tune and buy a tuner right away.

If the bass won't stay in tune it's not worth anything - even if it's free. Make sure you tune up before you practice and especially before you jam with other musicians, and you'll be doing your ears a favour. Learning with a perpetually out of tune instrument will set back your ear training indefinitely.

Start listening, copying, and transcribing when you're a new player. It's easier to develop the skill at that point then when you're experienced and think your ears are better than they really are.


Mr. City: The white shirt says you hate people, but the color scheme is all wrong, it's like you hate people in benevolent sort of way. The shirt needs to be black. With black print. And a smiley face sticker from a Wal Mart greeter.

If you don't already, start writing songs. If you do, keep at it!

Alex

Try to figure out what you want to do with music. Music is important to all of our lives, but it finds a way of handling us all. Bass Player magazine winds up featuring people from all walks of musical life. But which one of these suits you the best? It's really a case of knowing oneself. How do you get there? Experimentation.

Some of us have the benefit of finding where we fit musically early on. We find music and musicians that suit us and we're content to stay in a genre, play and grow. Other people need to work harder to find their musical calling. In that case you need to play with a lot of people and more actively search out what you want to do. You may find "it" and you may not. But you might learn some really valuable things along the way.

Some players are going to enjoy this shifting landscape, being better suited as musical chameleons. Others are going to find themselves being more comfortable specializing in certain genres/styles. But there are callings in music for both of these players. The chameleon might be able to handle just about any gig. The specialist might be called upon to do what they do extremely well. Which one are you? Get out there and play so that you can figure it out.

This is not correct. There are scales bases on harmonic minor, melodic minor, diminished, blues scales, etc.

My tip, is something I learned from Paul McCartney, and it's to DEVELOP a part.

To add something or change something, as the song progresses, so that, just like everything else in a good record, the bass part is developing throughout the song.

If the last chorus is no more interesting or exciting than the first, you're being LAZY.

Excellent point!

Alex

I think scales are overrated on bass. Yeah learn them, and practise them of course, but your better off spending more time on arpeggios, extensions of arpeggios, scale fragments and use of chromatic passing notes. And make sure you can play scales starting on any note.


I like that one too wwittman

Best tip/tips: When I was taking lessons from Chuck Rainey, I was told never to play an "open" note if possible. This has been almost the greatest advice I have ever recieved. I have to work "on the fly" with vocalists that are limited on their range. I/we have to capo or change keys alot, and use chord charts for practice that are in the "original" key. All I have to do is slide up or down and just pretend I'm on a G, when I'm actually playing an A etc...As I play a 5 string now, I never have to tune down a 1/2 step (ex...Eb), I just slide back one fret.
Also...Never Do Tab, unless you absolutely have to for reference!!!!! Read music! And while you're learning, use chord charts!

I really don't have anything to offer tip wise, but as a subscriber to BP I would like an article on EQ and setting EQ for a particular venue size (large/small/med..etc). I am an idiot when it comes to the subject and prefer toys with the least amount of knobs. Anyway, I am having trouble getting a good sound out of my Geddy at church and any sort of help/knowledge would be great.

The best tip I can give is to take the time to learn your instrument from end to end. Know where all of the notes are anywhere on the neck. Another forum member sugested scales while another suggested arpeggios, Both are a good start. Try saying out-loud the note as you play them. Later internalize that as you move faster throughout the instrument. You should practice at multiple tempo's with a metronome. Stop and random places while practicing you see if the note in your head is actually the note you are playing (try doing this in the dark or with your eyes closed). Once you feel you have mastered that, buy some Bach piano fugue books to practice reading in both bass and treble clefs.

Once the mechanics are done, you can proceed to learn how to play anything that interest you. Your foundation will be solid. Shedding the Bach will also give you a sense of the harmonic foundation of western music.

Play for the song, not your ego. Learn when to give your best Jaco impression, and when to ride the same note for two minutes.

And this above all else...you don't dictate what's working and what's not...the audience does. And if they don't like it, no more money comes your way.

Be a musician first.

There is much more to music than providing the bass role with a bass instrument. Music is melody, harmony, rhythm and dynamics. And it is more than that. Learn as much about every aspect of music as you can.

Music is the language of musicians. How can you hold a "conversation" in music if you don't understand what the other musicians are "saying"? I'm not saying you need to know how to play a blazing guitar solo yourself, but you should know how to support one in the context of what the group is doing, musically. All of the parts should fit together to make the whole greater than the sum of the individual pieces.

Just as a good story is more than a collection of sentences with proper spelling, grammar and punctuation, a good song is more than just a string of musical phrases with pleasing harmony, rhythm and dynamics. When read aloud, it takes a good storyteller to bring a story to life. Similarly, it takes a good performer to give music life and vibrancy, passion and emotion.

In most popular music today the bass and drums form the foundation. If their contribution is shoddy, dull and lackluster, not even the best singer or featured instrumentalist will be able to overcome this mucky terrain. Conversely, they will sound better with good accompaniment than they would all by themselves. Borrowing from a popular ad campaign: bassists don't make the music, we make the music better.

As a musician first, this is our goal. Not to see how fast or how loud we can play. Rather to make the best music we possibly can.

Just to add to this sentiment, it is important that any musical instrument be capable of proper intonation. If a bass is impossible to get in tune up and down the neck in the first place, it is beyond worthless. And yes, practicing with an instrument that is not intonated/tuned properly will improperly train your ear and set you back.

"Bass Player Magazine Wants You!"

NO, believe me, it dosen't!

Below is a chromatic exercise. Below that is a picture of my explanation page, which is probably too small to read. The explanation page gives the fingering and explains the goal of the exercise.

See the attached .pdf file for a bigger, clearer version.




Chromatic Exercise:Readable version!

Hope you like it!

Try doing this. Put on a CD that you listened to for a while but dont know the music for. Get in your favorite playing position. Unless you play on a stool or a very cool and laid back player, try practicing standing up. But With bass in hand, play the CD so that you can hear both the music and your bass clearly. Just play, dont worry to much about getting it right. At first it will sound like crap or just be very simple. But listen to the you and the cd. Then after a while you will hear something happen. You will play and find your fingers almost going on thier own. Try also recording yourself playing with your CD. For training your ear and teaching you to listen to the music your playing with. This is one of the best things you can do.

Play the music! Everything else is either bullshit or smoke & mirrors (or both).

There's some really good stuff here. Has anyone heard from Jonathan? Or has he forgotten that he posted this thread?

Dave

Yes, me! Apparently my post is the first one being used.

Alex

This is a great thread for the young musician who is just starting out, or for the guy (like me) that has learned the ropes and fell into some bad habits (that I'm trying to correct!)

One tip I have for the youngsters is to try your best to avoid tab sites, tab editors, magazines that contain tabs (wink, wink) until you can grasp what the notes actually are. It is much more helpful later on in your musical career to know, for example, what a' G' sounds like, rather than knowing E-------3------.

Don't get me wrong, numbered tablature is a great way to figure out a tricky fill here and there, but it should be used after the fact, not as a primary teaching tool. As many of you have mentioned, your ears are your friend

Anthony

Thanks for the thread. Nothing fancy to offer in the licks department but here's a couple of 'gig tips' that have helped keep me very busy for the last 35 years.
Help carry the equipment, even (especially) if it's not yours.
Groom a substitute for when you want to take some time off.
Take some time off...stay married and enjoy your family.
Never speak ill about another musician. Use diplomacy when something's not right or needs some adjustment.
The money will take care of itself; be a solid bassplayer & band member and the gigs will find you.
Constant Eye Contact with everyone in the band. Stay involved.
AND Have some fun when you're playing.
Good Luck To You!

Suggestion:

If you would like to sound like your favorite player, you can copy what he has done on recordings. Then you will have learned some of his parts.

If you really want to sound like your favorite player, you have to figure out what he listened to and what players were an influence on him when he was learning. Then you will learn his approach to music and may be able to develop a similar style as him without just copying.

You can't teach a pig to sing. It only wastes your time and annoys the pig.

This is the best I got. Don't have any fancy PDF scales or any Kabbahlic (sic) wisdom to impart that hasn't been stated already.

I don't know if this is true for sure, never tried to teach a pig to sing.

This may be helpful:

[img]http://keep4u.ru/full/070722/770582533a661ac937/gif[/img]

bassslapper.narod.ru/tolearn.html