Well hi guys.
I wanted to ask you all what i should practice and how so i can get hell of a fast. Now im talking Billy Sheehan fast ;) And should i hold my fretting hand in a special way. The thumb behind the board should it have a special position?

Thanks

Chicken Greece!

Greece your fingers before you play every time and you'll shred!

Jaco DId it, Ate Fried Chicken all the time before shows.

Crisco can ALSO WORK!

That'll destroy your strings.

You probably don't want to hear this, but in many circumstances it's a lot better NOT to be able to play fast. At this point, I'm purposefully playing instruments that slow me down.

And playing fast, it should be noted, has virtually no sex appeal.

Don't tell him! It would be insane to do so! :smug:

As opposed to the posts prior to mine...other than the chicken grease...Jaco was king! You should take time to play your favorite bass songs at a slower tempo making sure that you are playing and fretting everything correctly...then move the tempo up faster and faster until you have mastered the songs at blazing pace (probably faster than they were recorded). Also work on your scales (major scales are fine for hand strength) and chromatics. Practice, practice, practice is the only way you are going to get really fast. You should say the same thing as Ricky Bobby before you practice, "I wanna go fast...I wanna go fast"!

note chicken grease = vasoline

chicken grease thing was a myth...dont believe me? suck it.

use proper technique. Play loosely and lightly don't dig in. Most importantly slow down. Play with a met set at 60 BPM and gradually bring your speed up. Its important to do this slowly.

Waste of time learn to play music first.

Speed develops with time on its on own. Good technique is key and that is developed by practicing slow and precise, otherwise you're gonna play a bunch of missed note known as noise. If really concerned about speed use a metronome and log your tempos you practice at cleanly. Then can step things up a couple BPM's a week.

I also forgot to mention that you need to drink ALOT of caffine.


You also need to wear spandex!

Your body needs to be arodynamic and the best way to beat the enemy of speed (aka wind reistance) is to wear tight things.

You should also shave the hair off of your hands!

And trust me, if you worry about the calories you can just rub a drum stick or wing all over your strings and you'll shred like YniqwieX2730!

HI

Learn all your scales and modes first. Have them down perfect at a manageable speed. Speed just happens. As you get better and more familiar with your fretboard, you'll just be able to do it quicker. You must have the fundamentals first, then go from there. More than 2 fingers helps, also

Rob

Learn all your scales and modes first. Have them down perfect at a manageable speed. Speed just happens. As you get better and more familiar with your fretboard, you'll just be able to do it quicker. You must have the fundamentals first, then go from there. More than 2 fingers helps, also

+1. learn your theory first, otherwise you'll be playing nuthin but poo. Once you've got that down, learn all the triplett patterns for different scales, and use 3-finger plucking technique. Believe me, It takes a year or two to master (anyway, thats how long it took me), so don't get discouraged.

*sigh* now its time to master fret tapping...

Waste of time learn to play music first.


huge +1!

and your signature is hella cool.

Thanks for the help guys. Im working on my theory now. :bassist:

Dude, just stop it.
I spent 6-8hours a day for two years and i can play way over 200bpm, it was first when i had an inflammatory in my muscles and couldn't practice for 2months i realized what a waste of time it is, i started to listen to real music and realized how much the only thing that will ever matter in music is creativity, to be able to write good music and play what fits the music.

As annoying as guitarshredding can be, basshredding is beyond hell..

Keep your body relaxed and practice with a metronome. Playing insanely fast is appropriate in certain circumstances (I do it lot in extreme metal bands) but as has been said be careful not to overdo it.

I wanna' go fast!

yeah, its way kewl if you do it when necessary, but don't overdue it.

Ex) if you've ever seen Children of Bodom live, he tries to shred through the entire song, and it sounds like total crap.

I wanna' go fast!

ok Ricky Bobby.

slow down everyone, you're moving too fast.
-an appropriate jack johnson quote

being flashy at times can eb cool, but start slow, emphasize technique, learn to use as many fingers practically as you can. the only one i dont use is the pinky on my plucking hand. dont limit yourself to sheehan, check out guys like matt garrison, janek, oteil, rocco prestia, all of whom can play lightning fast, btu are phenominal pocket players as well.

I bet non of you realy can play realy fast, reading what you write :p

Serriously, just strap on your bass and play, walk around and play, watching TV - Play, being on the computer - Play, speed will come after a while. PLAAAY!PLAY!PLAY.

If it sstarts to hurt tough.. stop playing. and either adjust your hand to a more comfortable position, or take a break, dont force it, let you hand grow up strength over time.

other than that:
PLAY!

When learning to play at deathmetal speeds, I tried to play the music at normal speed by learning at the same time.
This messed me up a lot, cause obviously I didn't have it in my muscle memory so I was playing lots of wrong notes, and it takes a lot longer when you play it wrong, cause you have to reprogram your muscles to the real pattern, and it takes that much longer.

So, in order to go fast, you have to go slow.
Once your fingers are familiar with that fretboard, and you have well-known licks of yours mapped all over the board you could play at high speeds and not even have to think about it, sometimes.

But when trying to learn a fast line, play it at a tempo which you can play it perfectly, and bump it up a few bpms 'till you're struggling, then practice till you can play it at the difficult tempo perfectly, and bump that up, and so on.

So familiarlize yourself with the fretboard, you have to get to the point to where you don't have to think about it... you just know.

This article (http://www.tomhess.net/articles.php?article=34) was written by a guitar player but seems to follow what I've heard from many many people. I need to go slow if I want to go fast.

Tom's article lays out a great plan which causes me to focus on economy of motion and being relaxed. I know if I try to play faster than I'm used to I get very tense and my fretting hand cramps up after trying to play a song at fast speeds.

I'm using Tom's method to refine my fretting technique. The main problem I have is keeping my fingers ready to fret without having to come down an inch to hit the string. I also picked up Dave Overthrow's Bass Workout book/DVD combo and started that this week as well. I'm starting to see results at very slow speeds (although I still need to wrestle my pinky under control). I'm hoping these two methods combined will increase my speed/dexterity while reducing tension.