Hey guys,

It's been quite some time since I've posted here so Ill give a little history.

I started playing bass my freshman year of high school (6 years ago now, damn I feel old). I picked it up on my own but eventually took about a year worth of lessons. I played in bands throughout high school and into college.

I faded in and out of bass playing in that time, picking up the guitar along side it, etc.

Just recently, I had a falling out with my current band and have decided to go back to square one with my playing.


So I come to ask you guys - where to start? My biggest problems are I don't know my fretboard that well. I don't have perfect pitch but I'm also not tone deaf - I know where the notes are on the board, if you told me to play a Bb I could play all of them for you but if you told me to copy something off the radio I simply couldn't do it.

Part of that is my fault - I learned on tabs, never really figuring songs out by ear. I just ravaged through tab after tab and hence my technique got a lot better - but my knowledge of my fretboard didn't.

To make the problem worse my last band didn't really tax me as a bassist. The lines I wrote were simplistic and stuck to what I knew worked, namely 5th's, 3rds, and octaves.

I had always been a fan of metal and hence had focused my playing around that (though never as my full-time band, real metal heads are hard to find these days). My right hand became fast and accurate but my left hand didn't really follow (chugging notes more than doubling riffs will do that I guess).

So now I'm back to basics.

I bought myself a new bass that I'd been eyeing for quite some time and I'm ready to put the work in to become the player I really want to be.

I want to learn my fretboard. I want to get my left hand/right hand coordination tighter and faster. I want my left hand strength and dexterity to increase. I want to learn to slap, thump, and tap.


What I ask of you guys is to point me in the right direction. I've been sifting through here and getting some great pointers but you guys know this forum better than I do. Point me to the great practice tips!

Also - what music should I be playing? I've kind of walked away from metal and rock and started looking more at funk and jazz. Those guys have the kind of chops I want - metal wouldn't be a problem if I could get a solid funk groove going :)


So help a brother out - I've got a 5 string, a 4 string an amp and a desire to get better. I love this instrument and I want to be able to play it the way it deserves to be played!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i178/VideSupra/FMOTQ.jpg


-Noobai

Awww, come on guys - I know someone has to have some advice!

Play, play, play!!!

That's the only way to improve. As far as what kind of music to play? Anything you want! I believe focus on just one genre of music becomes tedious after a while. You need to be able to branch out and play whatever you want.

If you want to better your ear, play your tabs along with recordings of the song. Listen to what you're playing and what the actual song sounds like. You should notice a difference, since most tabs are wrong! Once you notice where the difference is, then, all you have to do is find where the right note is. Try to remember what each named note sounds like. My guitarist and I play this game every once in a while where we'll listen to a natural sound (in our case, usually the sound of half empty beer bottles when you blow across the top) and try to see if we can put the name of the note to the sound.

If you really want structure, take lessons. The main thing they'll do for you is broaden your horizons.

Also, try to write your own music. Don't force it. Let it flow. Writing I find to be tons more fun.

There's also dexterity exercises you can do to match your left/right hand speed. Play scales, or something else fun and play one finger per pluck. Speed it up. Even if it's 1234, 1234, 4321, 4321...at least it will get you started. Keep a steady pace, and increase once you feel comfortable with that tempo. If need be, use a metronome. If you reach a point where you're messing up or sounding sloppy, slow down the tempo.

As far as slap, thump, and tap, those things will come in time. I've never been much of a slapper, and I'm still working on that part of my repertoire. Tapping isn't as hard as it looks, as long as you know ahead of time the notes you want to tap. Just hammer on hard enough to get the string to vibrate evenly.

Hope this helped you out!

buy music in whatever genre you want to learn. it might be a good idea to get some stuff with "easier" basslines (ie don't get Jaco at first). Listen to those CD's outside of your playing a lot, and then play along and slowy work at learning the songs by ear.

after you do this enough, your ear gets good and you'll be picking stuff up really fast.

make sure you remember the cool licks, cop them, change them a little, and use them for your own.

practice a lot. maybe if you wanna learn jazz, get a teacher and learn theory too.

Get a teacher. It is the best thing you can do to improve your skills.

agreed. Get a teacher.

A good teacher can guide you along the path you are looking to travel a lot better than any message bored reply is going to.

I don't have the money nor resources (time, car, etc) to get to a car right now with the way school is - maybe in the summer, but not now.

I bought myself a new bass that I'd been eyeing for quite some time and I'm ready to put the work in to become the player I really want to be.


I want to learn my fretboard. I want to get my left hand/right hand coordination tighter and faster. I want my left hand strength and dexterity to increase. I want to learn to slap, thump, and tap.

So help a brother out - I've got a 5 string, a 4 string an amp and a desire to get better. I love this instrument and I want to be able to play it the way it deserves to be played!

I don't have the money nor resources (time, car, etc) to get to a car right now with the way school is - maybe in the summer, but not now.

You don't have money for a teacher but you bought a new bass? If you really want to excel with this instrument you'll need to get your priorities strait. You need 1 bass, 1 amp, a good teacher, and time to practice every night. Sell one of your basses and get a teacher if you can't afford a teacher any other way.

Not trying to be a dick about it- just telling you strait. There is no easy way to get good besides having someone better show you what to do and putting the work into it to learn it. Owning two basses isn't a good use of your money right now if you can't afford a teacher.

$150 SX bass, but ok :p


Also - money is a consideration but the biggest problem is time/car. I'm a double major at Stanford as well as on the track team. My time is really limited and I play whenever I can. My schedule is so eclectic that it's hard to get anything set in stone. Much less when I don't have a guaranteed way to get there.


I've been eyeing the SX for a few years and finally got the gumption to buy it. I'll miss out on 3 or 4 lessons because of it - oh well. There are ways to make oneself better that don't require a teacher and I'm looking for those :)

I have recommended it on here before, but Bass Guitar for Dummies was a tremendous foundation for me to grow from ... I toured and played for a living 35 years ago, but had no real idea why I was playing what I was ... I took 33+years off and wanted a better understanding for a return ... I will never be the caliber of bassist as many on here, but I for sure have come a long way from where I was 35 years ago, just from learning some basic theory and puttin n some time ... after BGFD, I got The Complete Idiots Guide to Bass Guitar ... if I had to do it again, I would do it in the SAME order ... if funds are tight, and time isnt available fot lessons, I highly recommend them ... the names are NOT indicative of the contents

bump :)

there is a good way to train your ear and your fretboard knowledge to a certain extent. And that is to think of a note in your head or hum it, then try to find it on your fretboard. As you progress, the number of tries it will take you to find that note will get less and less. After that move on to simple melodies, hum and play. And then more and more complex stuff. Double stops etc... This way you will know your fretboard by ear. And then once you decide to take up reading (which i keep postponing:hmm: ), you will know it by sight. And that is all you will ever need to know about your fretboard.

I understand where you are at. You must be a pretty smart guy judging from your studies and the school you are at. You bought a good budget bass and i agree it only would of gotten you a few lessions for the cost of the basss. Those lessions were the throw away ones where they go over posistion of the body...outline theory etc...it seems it takes a month before you start to really learn anything practical enough to practice at home and you need a bass at home to practice with. Listen to all the diffrent music you can and pull ideas from basslines there. If you can and time allows jam with anyone you can get with....to me this is the best teacher. It really helps if they are better then you :smug: There is alot of online instruction also youtube etc....for free.

i tend to find a lot of the current rock tunes of today boring as far as bass lines go ...

I'm really digging Led Zeppelin .. I've only been playing for 3 months and I'm learning a lot of their stuff .. it's fun .. not root note bashing.

Also look into a lot of 12 bar blues songs .. those will really get your groove going .. Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band does a lot ..Stevie Ray Vaughn .. that kind of stuff. 12 bar blues but don't go exactly based off of what they play .. put your own touch to it .. that will teach you to grove off your own.

but if you told me to copy something off the radio I simply couldn't do it.
-Noobai

As mentioned by user101, humming a note and finding it will develop your ear tremendously.

Here's how I use that to learn songs: Try learning bass lines of songs without your bass, just singing the bass parts to yourself. Once you have the bass parts (singing) down, then pick up your bass and figure them out from your singing.

This process goes much quicker if you start with songs you like, but haven't actually played the bass parts.

If you can sing the part, you'll eventually be able to play it.

Hope this helps!