i have an audition with a death metal band this weekend and am confused! i listen to death metal but ive been playing jazz, rock, and blues for the past three years! what advice do you guys have, any ideas, things i need to look at, ive never played death metal!

please help!

Read this :D
http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showthread.php?t=378173

You think your headache is bad now, just wait.:D

yeah i bet, im guessing your not a death metal fan

I've been in a few death metal bands, it's pretty much all riding the B string and scales here and there. Unless, that is, you do something cool with it.

Death Metal is why I originally strung my P-bass BEAD. Everything was getting deeper. My roommate, a guitarist in a local metal group has an 8-string geetar on layaway. I'm not buying a 7-string to keep up with that sort of thing, and my poor p-bass nut probably couldn't handle FBEA stringing - although, that could be kind of sick.

i have an audition with a death metal band this weekend and am confused! i listen to death metal but ive been playing jazz, rock, and blues for the past three years! what advice do you guys have, any ideas, things i need to look at, ive never played death metal!

please help!

What kind of death metal? Obituary style (http://www.myspace.com/obituary) or Origin? (http://www.myspace.com/origin666) There's a difference. If the latter is what's in demand then you might have to put in some extra hours speed-wise. But for the Obituary type of stuff you don't need to worry at all :hiding: (I know I'm gonna get bashed for that comment :D)

What kind of death metal? Obituary style (http://www.myspace.com/obituary) or Origin? (http://www.myspace.com/origin666) There's a difference. If the latter is what's in demand then you might have to put in some extra hours speed-wise. But for the Obituary type of stuff you don't need to worry at all :hiding: (I know I'm gonna get bashed for that comment :D)

For Origin stuff your going to need much more than " a few extra hours"


Think several weeks of pure speed technicality exercises. Oh the pain :rollno:

Don't be scared to switch to 8ths or even 1/4s if the tempo gets right up there... plenty of guys do it.

Really, you're going to be mostly rooting it with death metal, especially considering the tempo. If they have intricate single-note riffs, try copying them (or even playing a harmony).

For Origin stuff your going to need much more than " a few extra hours"


Think several weeks of pure speed technicality exercises. Oh the pain :rollno:

I just didn't want to drive the guy into a deep depression. That's why put it nicely :D Origin is really hard to play. We play a few of their older songs and I can only dream that I could execute them like their bassist does. But I have to simplify my playing cause of my limited technical capabilites. I guess I should practice instead of lurking around here :D

thanks, now my question to you guys is what kind of exercises should i be working on to improve my speed and become more capable of playing this style? what should i work on?

From my Technical Death Metal thread.



"Alright, just finished going through a bunch of exercises, and this is pretty much what I did.

Major scale+all modes through two octaves and to a metronome. Double up each note if your working for speed. Don't double if your just working for finger gymnastics. Go through in 3rds, 4ths, 5ths, 6ths, 7ths, and octaves.

Here are the other scales that I do with those exercises: Whole-tone Diminished, Harmonic Minor, Hungarian Minor, Pentatonics, Blues scales

Do chromatic runs up and down fretboard, starting at different points, be sure to do a few past the 12th fret as well, learn to use your top note too.

Do triads/arpeggios to metronome. Majors, Minors, Sus's, Dims, Augs, all of them that you can create, be sure to establish a relationship between the intervals of each arpeggio, and your ear, so you'll notice these patterns in music.

Put a metronome to 16th notes, use all four fingers on your picking hand, and try to match every note, if four fingers really does not work for you, three will most likely work.

Slapping: Practice 16th note patterns thumbing, just like what you would be doing with your 4 (3) fingers. Do the same with plucking, and then do it alternating, slap pluck slap pluck. Do some of the scale exercises with thumbing/plucking.

Tapping: Do the scale exercises below the 12th fret with your left hand just hammering on. Then do them above the 12th fret with your right hand. Pick up some piano sheet music and play it.

Some very nice songs to check out in case you need a good workout as well.

Sacrifice Unto Sebek- Nile
Frantic Disembowelment- Cannibal Corpse
Reduced to Slavery- Dying Fetus
Eagle Nature- Cynic
Only Ash Remains- Necrophagist
Execration Text- Nile
Master of Puppets- Metallica
Aces High- Iron Maiden

Enjoy!"