Bass playing?

Question

How do you become an out of the ordinary bass player? I'm alittle average on that.

Tips , suggestion ?

Answer 1

Well aside from buying videos...the best thing you can do is practice scales. Learning music also helps because it allows you to talk to other musicians (that can read) more easily and you immediately know whether or not certain melodies or rythms will work.

Not knowing your skills, I would recommend by starting with a "major" scale. The cool part about the scale is that on a 4 string bass, the pattern can be moved anywhere on the bass and you are playing a scale. The important part about playing the pattern helps you in two VERY important ways. One, if played with proper fingering, it will strengthen your fingers, making everything easier to play. Two, it will help you learn the notes on the fret board so later on when you solo or add those lovely riffs or accents, you know which notes are better than others to hit.

To start with a scale, we'll pick a note to start with and I'll tell you which finger you should use. Once you know the pattern, you can move it around.

Let's start with the low "G". That's the third fret (first dot) on the fattest string (the E string). Use your middle finger to play that note.

The second note is A. (even though you could play the second string open to hit an A, we are going to use our pinky finger to press down on the 5th fret on the same string (the E string). If you aren't used to using your pinky, this will most likely hurt. I'll explain later.

The third note is "B", we will use our Index finger to play it. It is the second fret on the "A" string (next string down).

The fourth note is "C". We will use our middle finger to hit that note, which is the 3rd fret (first dot) on the "A" string.

The fifth note is "D". And just like before, even though we can play the next string open to hit a "D", we are going to use our pinky and press on the 5th fret on the "A" string.

The sixth note is "E". We will go to the next string down, the "D" string, and hit the second fret with our Index finger.

The 7th note is "F sharp". It's the fourth fret and we'll use our ring finger to hit it.

And lastly is the 8th note, which is "G" again, the 5th fret on the "D" string, which we'll hit with our pinky.

What you'll notice is that each finger has it's own row of frets that it hits. The pinky always hits the 5th fret in our example, regardless of the string. The index finger only hits the 2nd fret even though we change strings. Middle finger hit's the third fret, and the ring finger hits the 4rth fret.

The reason this is important is that your hand doesn't need to move hardly at all in order to play the notes. This will strengthen your hand and enable you to play VERY quickly over time.

Also, it teaches you a bit about music. Major chords, played on guitar or piano (or whatever) need to have 3 notes to be a true major chord. Those three notes are the first note, the third note, and the fifth note in any scale. So for the G scale we just played, we can play G, B, and D and we know that those notes are safe to hit when somebody else plays a chord.

And since this pattern can be applied anywhere on the fret board, you'll soon be able to hit "safe" notes without thinking about it, so long as you start with the root note (number 1) matching whatever chord the other instruments are playing.

I know the pinky thing hurts...but it's the first step into becoming a better bass player.

My apologies if you knew all this stuff, but I figured I'd start with the "bass-ics".

Write me via my profile if you'd like more help.

Answer 2

Don't be the average run-of-the-mill bassist who sticks almost exclusively to the low end of the chord being played. Use modular ideas, make your lines distinct, in both rhythm and structure. Do this by incorporating scale and arpeggio ideas into your playing instead of relying directly on the guitar. They can complement each other without the bass becoming a boring instrument.

Answer 3

You become good by wanting to practice and enjoying it. You need to stive to become an out of the ordinary bass player. Take this advice from one bass player to another.

Answer 4

Not sure, besides a LOT of practice... There's some bands out there with amazing bass players, but you have to get into some really abstract music to find GREAT bass. Learning their stuff doesn't make you amazing, but if you can play this, you can probably figure out how to write your own music. (More impressive?)

Recommended music: Primus, Victor Wooten

Answer 5

i just bought a bass a few days ago, so i'm researching myself.

practice....& if ur in a band dont be afriaid to share ur ideas w/ ur bandmates. & if they dont like it...tough. then move on & keep @ it. check out mike dirnt's interviews...there's more than u know when u find the right ones.

Answer 6

study Victor Wooten, charles mingus, flea from rhcp