Learning Bass after playing guitar?

[JoshuaTSP]

I've played guitar for a quite a while......but recently starting playing bass more. Actually, I've been playing bass in a few bands. I've been playing guitar for 8 years or so.

That said, what are some intermediate exercises and ways of adopting bass technique? Books? Sites?

Right now, I'm using a pick, and doing okay. I'd really like to work on my right hand finger picking and eventually slap.

Fairly proficient as is with my left hand......I'm not the fastest, but I can keep up.

I can keep up with most songs with a pick, but prefer the tone of finger picking. I can do slower songs with one finger picking, but too hard to jump strings and play fast.

I've tried to slap, but I don't seem to be doing it right. Just doesn't feel right or natural to me yet.

Tips or suggestions to get started? (sans lessons)

Any help would be appreciated.

Joshua

[THand]

Ed Friedland

also maybe,

Carol Kaye(not for slap)

[OmegaBass16]

JoshuaTSP, go to this link and it will help you get started on learning how to slap & pop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ck1sLq6DO0

-John

[TheChicken]

I'm on the exact reverse position, I'm learning guitar and bass at the same time now. Kinda newbie, 6 months on bass. And it helped me a lot in my finger strenght for playing the guitar. It is great have the dexterity of a bass and put that into the guitar, which will be my second instrument.

[denhou1974]

Play along with as many songs as you can find. Especially songs that have simple bass lines but are in the pocket (70's, R&B, etc). Rhythm is more important than anything else on bass IMO.

[Anonymatt]

I switched last year.

If you haven't already, find some bassists you like to listen to and start copping things you're interested in, probably like you did on the guitar a lot more when you were starting out. This way, you'll have some stuff to play while you're busy contemplating the different kinds of roles bass and guitar fill in the type of music you're interested in playing.

If you're doing it right, playing guitar previously will be awesome preparation, like, practically the most direct preparation possible.

I recommend practicing all the right hand techniques. You already know something about a pick, so put some thought into the other ones.

Pick someone with a technique that plays the type of music you really like. By technique, I mean "method of playing". This person should be able to play all night and shouldn't complain about his hands. Copy his technique. Don't worry about copying like it's a corruption of your person because you won't be crazy dogmatic about it and because this guy you're copying breaks his own little rules too. Adapting your technique over time is not as bad as "unlearning" everything you've already been doing, so don't be afraid to indulge in something a little funny--for every nobody with a perfect technique, there's a somebody with a frickin' weird technique. Remember, you can pick a technique from one guy's right hand and another guy's left hand.

I never, ever play bass with a pick, even though I play guitar with a pick. Picks seem to be cool and expressive with a guitar, but unless you're a giant with a giant stone pick or something, bass strings are just so thick they hide your articulation.

About a year into playing the bass for a year now, I'm better at bass than I ever was at the guitar. I guess your "whole musical self" grows no matter what you're doing.

[nothumb]

self taught bassist who switched from guitar here.

learning to fingerpick is the same process (more or less) as learning to strum a guitar was... you start off slow and you build up. quarter notes to a click alternating between index and middle fingers. scales the same way. general rule, when using standard 2-finger picking, if you are moving from a higher (pitch) string to a lower (pitch) string, such as A to E, you use the same finger for both notes. moving up you alternate.

i was never rigorous about right hand technique when starting out and as a result i ended up with all sorts of weird ways of doing things. i developed this sort of strange claw-hammer alternate picking thing where i would basically just thumb pick everything unless it involved quick switching between strings in which case i would alternate thumb and index finger. as a result my thumb is deadly fast and accurate to the detriment of my other fingers and i still find myself wanting to play tricky rhythms with my thumb instead of using a simple two-finger technique which, if used properly, is way simpler and easier. i had to really fight myself to get good at standard fingerpicking.

so moral of the story is do it right from day one. or don't. that's the beauty of being self taught

[Lichtaffen]

I was in the same boat a couple of years ago, but that was after 20 years on guitar.

My best piece of advice: lock your guitars in the closet and only play bass. At first I thought the same thing as everyone else making the switch: less strings, no chords (well...), less notes to play, etc. What I found is that it's a whole different instrument and the similarities end at the fretboard. Your approach to the instrument is totally different to other instruments. You are the foundation. I feel like the more you play guitar, the less you'll understand the bass. At least at first. You need to embrace the role of the bass in the music you aspire to play. It's (usually) not a solo instrument like the guitar.

[JavaBean]

I have just within the last six weeks, started to play (5 string) bass after many years of playing electric and acoustic guitar. If I could offer any advice it would be :-

1. ensure that you learn using the one finger per fret technique on the fretting hand. (I was very much a 'baseball bat grip' lead player).
2. use the 'moving anchor' technique and learn to damp the unused strings below the picked note.
3. learn to use two fingers for picking. Lose the pick and thumb.

I was given this advice when I first picked up the bass, and although I found it awkward at first, I believe that learning the correct techniques from day one will be easier that having to correct poor technique later. Practising these techniques has given me a routine which is very satisfying when it comes together. I can't play bass to a piece of music yet, as I haven't tried, but I'm sure that when I do, it's going to sound good.

I still pick up the electric and acoustic guitar (as I play in a band), and don't find it an issue with the difference. A normal guitar just feels really small!

My reading has improved, I'm determined to be able to read musical notation properly, and having to learn the bass clef has given me a fresh start.

I'm really enjoying the challenge of the bass, and the more I read and learn, I realise that I've a long way to go.

Good luck, I hope you enjoy playing bass as much as I have in the last six weeks.

[draftsmann]

Originally Posted by Anonymatt

I never, ever play bass with a pick, even though I play guitar with a pick. Picks seem to be cool and expressive with a guitar, but unless you're a giant with a giant stone pick or something, bass strings are just so thick they hide your articulation.

Originally Posted by Lichtaffen

My best piece of advice: lock your guitars in the closet and only play bass. At first I thought the same thing as everyone else making the switch: less strings, no chords (well...), less notes to play, etc. What I found is that it's a whole different instrument and the similarities end at the fretboard. Your approach to the instrument is totally different to other instruments. You are the foundation. I feel like the more you play guitar, the less you'll understand the bass. At least at first. You need to embrace the role of the bass in the music you aspire to play. It's (usually) not a solo instrument like the guitar.

I switch between guitar and bass. For me, I find if I ever try using a pick on bass, apart from the fact that I don't like the sound, I find myself playing as if it were a guitar. What works for me is to use fingers exclusively on bass - if it "feels" like a bass I find myself thinking "bassline".

Adrian

[RMCBass]

Why give up on pick? There are many awesome players that play with a pick and they sound great. It's just another sound and it's not for all styles, but I'm trying to learn it no matter what

[Wayne8]

I was the same way. Bass off and on for about 10 years (from playing guitar for 30+) then went to bass only in a band I was in for a while. Did fine with a pick or even thumb but couldn't get the finger thing. I tried to practice it at home and it just was so awkward that I'd put it down. Finally decided the only way I was going to get it was to just leave the pick at home and refuse to use the thumb until I got comfortable with two fingers. Within three or four gigs/practices I felt much better to the point where I never went back to the pick.
And the other poster was right. You've already got guitar down. Put it away for a while and concentrate solely on bass.

[VisualShock]

search youtube for bass lessons. Also go and see as many different live acts as possible. you'll pick up loads from other bassists like that!

[lindseyp]

Originally Posted by Lichtaffen

.... What I found is that it's a whole different instrument and the similarities end at the fretboard. Your approach to the instrument is totally different to other instruments. You are the foundation. ...

This part I definitely agree with. I play both and always treat them as separate instruments that have similarities, like a cello versus a viola.

[Beginner Bass]

This looks right up your alley:
http://books-videos-music.musiciansf...sku=908811#new

[PaulNYC]

Ed Friedland books are really good.

[tch90]

Play with a metronome. keeping the rhythm seems so fundamental but it's something that helps in the long run. Try keeping different rhythms on a single note or playing scales. It'll improve your strength and your sense of beat.

[webrey227]

Some of use are not contented and it seems like we wanna know all. In playing the bass with a pick, even though I play guitar with a pick. Some stuff to play while you're busy contemplating the different kinds of roles bass and crafter guitar fill in the type of music. It is good that we are versatile.

[Minotauros]

Originally Posted by draftsmann

I switch between guitar and bass. For me, I find if I ever try using a pick on bass, apart from the fact that I don't like the sound, I find myself playing as if it were a guitar. What works for me is to use fingers exclusively on bass - if it "feels" like a bass I find myself thinking "bassline".

Adrian

Same here, except I've never tried a pick on bass. I just have no interest in doing that. In fact I'm trying to move away from using a pick on guitar. I picked up guitar a little over 3 years ago, and bass about 1 1/2 years ago. Playing guitar and learning the fretboard and chord structure definitely makes learning bass far easier than starting bass from scratch, imo.

[Brandon D.]

Try Online Bass Lessons at StudyBass.com. Its a great site with a lot of information.