I need constructice criticism (update)

[duo8675309]

Ok, you may or may not remeber me making some videos and asking you guys to give me some pointers. Well, I did it again! Now, I'm not expecting you guys to sit here and watch every video, but I wouldn't mind if you picked out one and then just tell me what you thought.

Here's the links:
Killing in the Name Of
Californication
Take On Me
Make You Feel Better

And just for the record, here are the old videos:
Guerilla Radio
Fly From the Inside
Sugar We're Going Down
Killing in the Name Of

Thanks in advance.

[Vlasco]

I have some time, I'll watch them and post when I'm done with that. First I'll watch your orginial attempt on Killing In the Name Of just to see how you've changed.

[Vlasco]

One thing I see right away is your thumb is in a terrible position if you're going for perfect form, but a lot of people find your way better. If you keep your thumb on the back, you'll get less arm strain and less fret buzz, which you don't seem to get much of anyways. It's worth a try, more for the fact that you'll be less strained a few months from now. (It takes a while until you realize that your arm hurts cause the strain builds up)

When you do the longer reaches, you have it in the right spot.

You probably don't need to be told this, it's just a practice thing, but your fingers are a bit slow at times.
When you have to play triplets, you can usually get away with using 3 fingers without losing rhythm if you want to try that.

You're much more layed back in the second attempt, and your comment says that you weren't trying.
Not trying can be good, in general, if you do something without thinking, it comes out better for some reason. Your confidence and the laid back attitude you have in the second play certainly adds a lot to your playing.

Just as a suggestion, try playing the song blindfolded, being able to play music without thinking about the fretboard will help a lot.

Your tone is much better in the second play.

[duo8675309]

Originally Posted by Vlasco

One thing I see right away is your thumb is in a terrible position if you're going for perfect form, but a lot of people find your way better. If you keep your thumb on the back, you'll get less arm strain and less fret buzz, which you don't seem to get much of anyways. It's worth a try, more for the fact that you'll be less strained a few months from now. (It takes a while until you realize that your arm hurts cause the strain builds up)

When you do the longer reaches, you have it in the right spot.

You probably don't need to be told this, it's just a practice thing, but your fingers are a bit slow at times.
When you have to play triplets, you can usually get away with using 3 fingers without losing rhythm if you want to try that.

Thanks. Yeah I normally try to keep my thumb on the back. When I do though it gets in this weird locked position. It always has and I can't stop it from doing it. But its not that bad I guess. And yes I do get off beat a lot. I guess i need to start practicing with a metronome.

[Vlasco]

Now I'm watching Californication.

You're probably keeping your thumb straight and toward the middle of the back. Try keeping it bent, almost resting loosely just away from the center. I can go grab a camera if you need to see what I mean, sometimes words are hard to picture.

I see at some points that you're using the pads of your fingers to fret, if you can, try using more towards the tip. Not the very tip though, somewhere towards the center. That may lead to your thumb problem, if you bend your fingers more into a U, even while not playing a bass, you'll find that your thumb will naturally bend into a U as well. You'll find that alot in bass, one thing will lead often to another.
Using pads of fingers leads to straighter fingers which leads to a straight thumb, which leads to it wrapping around the neck, it's weird how it works. If you find you're having a problem, look at other things around it, not he actual problem itself.

Your right hand finger work is much better in Californication.

This is probably more my personal preference, but if you can lift your thumb off the E string, you might find that your hand will be able to move much quicker. If you play anything that uses distortion though, resting your thumb on the E and ring on the A will cut out a lot of background rumbles while playing on the higher two strings.

[duo8675309]

Originally Posted by Vlasco

Now I'm watching Californication.

You're probably keeping your thumb straight and toward the middle of the back. Try keeping it bent, almost resting loosely just away from the center. I can go grab a camera if you need to see what I mean, sometimes words are hard to picture.

How long have you been playing?

I see at some points that you're using the pads of your fingers to fret, if you can, try using more towards the tip. Not the very tip though, somewhere towards the center. That may lead to your thumb problem, if you bend your fingers more into a U, even while not playing a bass, you'll find that your thumb will naturally bend into a U as well. You'll find that alot in bass, one thing will lead often to another.

GRR! Lol. I've been having that problem ever since I started playing the bass. Fretting with the tip of my finger. I guess i just need to sit down and work with it. I shall do so now. As soon as I throw my cat out of my lap. Bye cat!

[Vlasco]

I'll watch Take on Me in a minute.
I suggest you learn the song Bliss by Muse, it has some nice jumping around with the left hand and quick plucking on the right, yet isn't super hard. It's a great song to learn on.

[Vlasco]

Try to keep your thumb pretty relaxed on the upper side of the fretboard, that seems to give most people the reach they need without straining themselves. The most important thing, no matter how you play is to keep your wrist as straight as you can without collapsing your thumb around the board completely.

My index finger isn't a great example just because it's the finger I use for slides, but if you see the callous on my middle finger, that's about where I recommend you fret your notes. My thumb in this picture is far too bent by the way, so don't think you need to keep it at that angle.

[Vlasco]

Just as a useful tip, if you wrap your instrument cable behind your strap then bring it around to the input jack, it's far less likely to unplug on you.

In Take On Me, your're plucking a bit too hard and it's hurting your tone. Be careful not to slap with your fingers unless you want to. The word plucking is a bit off, it's more of rubbing your fingers over the strings. You'll probably get a more consistant tone and develop more speed if you do it that way.

Note that for most things, I say that I recommend it or you'll probably do better this way. There is no perfectly right way to do something. If you find it better another way, go ahead an do it, unless it's a terrible form-related matter that might actually injure you in the long run (usually just things on how you position your wrist).

Take On Me was well-played for the most part except for some tone issues. That's something you'll naturally correct as you get better.

[duo8675309]

Dude, thanks for all the advice! Esp. w/ the thumb and finger thing. Thats been one of my main issues for a long time.

[Vlasco]

No problem, it's always nice to help an upcoming bass player.

Watching Make You Feel Better

Especially in this song, you do a great job keeping your fingers perpendicular to the fretboard. That will help your intonation A LOT if you ever move to a fretless.

You look a bit uncomfortable with your bass that low, you should probably try wearing it a bit higher. By a bit I mean only a few inches, nothing huge, it's pretty good where it is now, but your left wrist looks a bit uncomfortable.

I'm sure your right arm feels much better standing though, that bass forces your right arm into a weird spot when you're sitting. Just so that's not taken in the wrong way, there's nothing wrong with the sitting form, it just looks uncomfortable.

Also, when you lean over, your left wrist suffers a bit, raising your strap a bit like I said earlier might help that a little.

Your tone in this song is very close to the real song's, it sounds like you just have a little too much treble if you wanted to get it closer.

How long have you been playing now?

[Vlasco]

This will come with time, but the way you look around it seems like you're thinking about the timing. If you can, try push the process along. Get into the music; let the drums carry you and keep the rhythm going. The less you have to think about timing and rhythm, the better it will come out.

And if you get bored of playing for any reason, just stop playing for a while. I don't know if you've done it yet, but playing against your will won't help you. You'll just start to view the bass as a chore instead of something fun to do. Later when you're trying to learn complex techniques, you might need to practice for a while whether you like it or not, but for now, try to make the bass as fun as you can.

Even though you already said it, it's obligitory that I tell you to get a metronome. And actually use it, even if you don't want to.

[duo8675309]

Yeah, I have a constant battle with concentration. If I concentrate too hard, I get off beat, but if I just let it flow, I stay on beat perfectly. Until it gets to a part that changes. Thats where i get lost, because i forget that its about to change, and I'll mess up. Really I can play better than this, but I'm off today. As lame of an excuse as that is. Like on californication just 10 minutes before i found out my grandmother had to be taken to the emergency room, so I had to go two more takes on that. And like you said, when I play because I don't want to it gets sloppy. I only do that when I'm making videos though. So thats not a big habbit, but after you play the same riff for 20 minutes it gets really monotonous and hard to keep up at a steady rate. But yeah i'm gonna start practicing with a metronome like you said.

And how long have I been playing? Kind of sad actually. A year and a half. But I just recently got really into it. I've always kind of practiced just a little at least 3 times a week, but for a long time i would just play the same songs over and over and over, so that didn't really help me at all. But lately all I do is play bass. And its not always just strait up practice, i'll just be surfing the web, but i'll have it strapped on and noodling with it at the same time.

AND I'M STILL NOT IN A BAND! Thats my main issue right now. I think that playing with actual people and having to hold the groove down myself instead of just following along with a song would help me out a whole lot. And even if it won't I still want to get out there and do it. With all do respect bass isn't the best instrument to just sit around and noodle with. it requires other instruments around it to serve its purpose.

I hate it when I type a lot, because I forget what I say and then I wonder if it makes any sense after I'm done.

W/e i'm pressing submit now.

[Vlasco]

It's not terrible if you've been playing on and off for a year. And about the noodling, once you know the instrument well enough, you'll be surprised at the stuff you can play on a whim. That's when noodling becomes fun.
Playing in a band is just about the best thing you can do for yourself, it'll push you to become better much much quicker. Usually you can find a local church band or the such that will get you the experience you need. Church bands generally play some pretty simple stuff, so it's a great way to learn how to play with other people without having to worry about some sort of crazy bass line.

[duo8675309]

Well, I technically haven't been playing on and off. There have been maybe only 5 weeks since i've gotten my bass that I haven't touched it. But like I said I haven't ever really pushed myself that hard. Just in the past couple of months I went from one the hardest song I knew how to play was Killing in the Name Of to being able to play Californication and Take On Me. They aren't that hard to play actually, but I just learned them, and I would have to say that they are a little more advanced than Rage Against the Machine.

[Vlasco]

Just some songs I think might help you:

Bliss - Muse
This song has some nice shifting in it, which you seem to do very well. This song is a nice test of hand speed in shifting and jumping between strings without missing any beats. The right hand gets a little workout in keeping the rhythm, it has some triplets and quick rhythms that will help you build right hand speed a little.

Engel - Rammstein
You can feel the rhythm when you play this song, that might help you get the feeling. It's repetative, but that's probably what makes it hard for beginners. You'll see what I mean if you play it properly. It'll definitely help build strength in your left hand with it's long reaches and hammer-ons.

Hysteria - Muse
If you want to try this song, ask me for the tab, the way it's tabbed on every site I see is wrong. This song will help develop speed and a strong string muting technique.

[duo8675309]

Originally Posted by Vlasco

Just some songs I think might help you:

Bliss - Muse
This song has some nice shifting in it, which you seem to do very well. This song is a nice test of hand speed in shifting and jumping between strings without missing any beats. The right hand gets a little workout in keeping the rhythm, it has some triplets and quick rhythms that will help you build right hand speed a little.

Engel - Rammstein
You can feel the rhythm when you play this song, that might help you get the feeling. It's repetative, but that's probably what makes it hard for beginners. You'll see what I mean if you play it properly. It'll definitely help build strength in your left hand with it's long reaches and hammer-ons.

Hysteria - Muse
If you want to try this song, ask me for the tab, the way it's tabbed on every site I see is wrong. This song will help develop speed and a strong string muting technique.

I'm downloading all of those lol. I downloaded bliss last night. I'm gonna learn that first. Thats a cool song. And a cool band.