Excercise sticky

[Stumbo]

Check out the links in my sig. below.

[theworldismad]

Here's an exercise that will improve improvisation, timing, and dynamics)

For each of these exercises you will be ascending and descending first the major, scales in 7 different positions in the following order (on the A string-C D E (F)) on the E string ((F) G A B). Start your entire routine with the major scale, then the minor, and if you have enough time in your practice schedule you can also do it with melodic minor, blues, different modes, etc. Alright so here's the routine:

60 BPM
-1. Quarter notes
-2. Eighth notes (a.) once played with left hand playing quarter notes while the right is doubling each note up, (b.) once with both hands at eighth note speed.
-3 .Ascend softly (playing light), Descend playing heavier (quarter notes)
-4. two octave scales (twice, once with eight notes (a&b), once with quarter notes)
-5. Play the root note staccato, following note legato, staccato, legato, etc. (quarter notes, and again starting legato)

100-120 BPM
-1. Do steps 1-5 from the 60 bpm segment
-2. Ghost note-note-ghost note- note (eighths (a), also do again starting with note)
-3. Go through the scales skipping the first beat, then the next time play the first beat and skip the second beat, and so on. (Quarter notes)

140+ BPM
-For this segment, try to push your speed and endurance by going through all seven of the scales in whatever eighth note exercise mentioned above that you would like.

So, yeah, that's it. Have fun experimenting with adding different exercises into it as well. It was designed to get one's fingers feeling independent no matter where they are on the fretboard.

Tip: If you have the time, its also helpful to go through the exercise playing the five flats (or sharps). Just make sure that you go through it in the following order- C D E F G A B C# D# F# G# A#.

[petergp]

Hey im surprised i haven't seen the Jaco one.
Well i dont know if its his, but i've found it on one of his books.
its a chromatic excersice that helps you keep a good finger per pret.

G|-5-4-3-2-1----------------------------------------------
D|------------6-5-4-3-2----------------------------------
A|------------------------7-6-5-4-3----------------------
E|------------------------------------8-7-6-5-4-----------

And then you go up like this

G|------------------------------------1-2-3-4----------
D|-------------------------2-3-4-5-6------------------
A|--------------3-4-5-6-7-----------------------------
E|---4-5-6-7-8-----------------------------------------

As always try to keep the rythm and the clear notes.
To go up is quite more difficult to go down, so dont hurry, take it easy and enjoy!

[Fuzzy Dustmite]

I like to do the standard

G:-------------------------1-2-3-4
D:-----------------1-2-3-4--------
A:---------1-2-3-4----------------
E:-1-2-3-4------------------------

excercise, but do it in 5 note groups so that the fingering is still 1-2-3-4, but it's..


G:-------------------------------------------------------------------------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4
D:-----------------------------------------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4--------
A:---------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4----------------------------------------
E:-1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4------------------------------------------------------------------------

G:-1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4------------------------------------------------------------------------
D:---------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4----------------------------------------
A:-----------------------------------------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4---2-3-4-----3-4-------4--------
E:-------------------------------------------------------------------------1-------1-2-----1-2-3---1-2-3-4

And move it up the neck.

Also, the book Ultimate Bass Exercises is IMHO great, too. It is based on all of the 24 possible fingering combinations and has like 700 exercises.

[Perspicuus]

Here is a chromatic Warmup exercice I came up with.



G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: -----5---------5---------5---------5---
E: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
     I  M  I   M  I  M   R  I  R   P  I  P

G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: -----6---------6---------6---------6---
E: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
     I  M  I   M  R  M   R  M  R   P  M  P

G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: -----7---------7---------7---------7---
E: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
     I  R  I   M  R  M   R  P  R   P  M  P

G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: -----8---------8---------8---------8---
E: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
     I  P  I   M  P  M   R  P  R   R  P  R


Same exercice but from high string to low string : 


G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
E: -----5---------5---------5---------5---
     M  I  M   M  I  M   R  I  R   P  I  P

G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
E: -----6---------6---------6---------6---
     I  M  I   R  M  R   R  M  R   P  M  P

G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
E: -----7---------7---------7---------7---
     I  R  I   M  R  M   P  R  P   P  R  P

G: ---------------------------------------
D: ---------------------------------------
A: --5-----5---6-----6---7-----7---8-----8
E: -----8---------8---------8---------8---
     I  P  I   M  P  M   R  P  R   P  R  P

Hope it helps

Peace.

[Beginner Bass]

What I do is play a major scale (typically G), then play it in the next mode, then the next. Here's the idea. I'll write it based on scalar positions (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.)

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-8-9-10-12-13-14-15-14-13-12-11-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

[maturanesa]

For the right hand i find usefull playing anything chromatic, first 1 note per string, then 2 notes p string, then 3, 4, 5, etc... placing the accents in diferent notes

[Matthew_84]

One quick exercise I did early on a HUGE impact on my right-hand technique. Someone touched on it earlier, and that's hitting dead notes. I would play the following dead notes:

G:-------------------------5-5-5-5------------------------------------
D:-----------------5-5-5-5---------5-5-5-5----------------------------
A:---------5-5-5-5--------------------------5-5-5-5----------5-5-5-5-
E:-5-5-5-5-------------------------------------------5-5-5-5---------- etc.

I use the floating thumb technique, and always had a bit of an unwanted noise when I moved down to a higher string (like A to D). I thought it was from the last note I had fretted on the A string, and that I just had to quicken my thumb movement. This exercise showed me that it was actually my thumb making those noises, and that my thumb would roll off of a string and cause it to make that unwanted noise.

[A tempo]

This is a different type of exercise. After 30 years of being a classical guitard I took up the bass. I have been taking the slow route, which in music is generally faster. Here is an exercise that has not been listed. It is for anyone who wants to significantly improve their plucking hand technique and it works. I got the bones of this exercise from the book Effortless Mastery by Kenny Werner. I adapted it for the guitar, any guitar.

Sit and place the face of your bass away from you with the bottom in your lap and the headstock pointed straight up. The fingerboard/fretboard should be in its' approximate normal orientation to your plucking hand, your arm however will compensate for the angle. The point of this is to facilitate you watching your fingers. Lightly place all of your fingers and thumb on the strings, pinkie too. Sit there a moment. Calm totally down. Take a few slow deep breaths.

Now, choose your most retarded digit and place it lightly on the outermost string by itself. You're calm, right? Crane your head over the bass and focus. Imagine that the finger is heavy and let it fall "through" the string and rest on the next string. Let it sit. Do it again, and again...very slowly. Watch it calmly, but intensely and take some long, slow breaths. Drain the energy completely out of that finger as soon as it lands on the other string. Pay attention to the other fingers, too. Are they also experiencing any energy from this movement. Well they shouldn't, not even the smallest twitch. Next rep, put more focus on the retarded finger. The more you focus on it, the less likely you'll experience energy drain from its' neighbors.

Premise: this develops the neural pathway from your gray matter to the string through that finger and that finger, only.

Variation: after you've done that for a while with each finger and can sense improvement its time to add to the movement. Continue the motion and "bounce" off of the string where you were resting and dampen the string that you struck and sit there a moment. This is not an exercise that you do while watching TV. It requires real focus and it will continue to improve your technique.

I do this along with a fretting hand exercise that focuses on light fretting prior to every practice. Gary Willis has a youtube video on that one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHEq...eature=related

What happened to adding hypertext, mods? All the best.

[pickle]

subscribed

[sammyp]

these are meant as straight 16ths - this can be worked from the E and A string as well ...you can make it a blues if you sequence it right A A D A E D A etc

g:----------------------------------------------------------
D:-----------55--77--55--------55-------------------------
A:-0000- 77----------------77------------------------------
E:----------------------------------------------------------


G:---------------------------------------------------------
D:---------------55--------77--55--------------------------
A:-0000 77 55-------77----------------------------------
E:---------------------------------------------------------

[sammyp]

G:-----------7------5-------4------------------------------------------------------
D:-00234 00----00------0------034-----------------------------------------------
A:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D mixolydian riff ....this is straight 16ths or 8ths as well ...can be played off the E or A string too. this can be worked into a blues as well

Astr, Astr, D str, Astr, Estr, Dstr, Astr

[MRPaulFunk]

wow...nice lesson, thanks

[Valiant Bandit]

You guys ever use a stress ball to strengthen your wrist?

I was thinking about getting one to get my right wrist nice and strong (Again.)

[JHandley]

Great thread, thank you all for posting the tabs!
Jeff

[FoderaIWantYou]

This made a noticeable difference within 10 minutes. I couldn't exactly keep rhythm well while alternating and my fingers were a bit spaced out. This fixed it all. I can also feel it developing strength and stamina as I do it faster.

[Johnpjm]

Here's one that was adapted from guitar:


THE SPIDER:

G-5-6---7--8--------------------------8----7---6-5-
D-----5--6--7---8---------------8---7----6---5-----
A---------5--6---7-8-------8--7----6---5-----------
E-------------5---6-7--8--7--6----5----------------


Do this slow, use all your fingers.

[mikedyermusic]

I made a video of one of the exercises I do daily. It's really helped me learn the fretboard better and by repeating it, I've increased my speed and accuracy.

Electric Bass Technique Practice - Thirds Exercise - YouTube

[Mazer]

Anyone has exercises meant for the picking hand? For example, to develop a good octave-picking if you can call it so. Just play with metronome and speed up gradually?

[parmezans]

Thanks guys, this is really useful! I look forward to doing some of these and becoming a better bassist.