learning to gain speed...

[Sessionman]

Hey guys...my first post a question that bothers me...i would really like to gain some speed and play like...for example billy sheehan...ok, well not like him, he's 2 good i know you will say practice, but the problem is i don't have a clue what to play...scales? that crap is boring...so if anyone has some tabs on what to !practice! to gain speed...help me out

[TyronPotamkin]

depending on how you are playing scales, yea they can be boring. Now if you can figure out how to walk all the way up and down a neck in the same key then it gets to be a little bit more fun. Also, no one has ever told me that you have to walk a scale up or down in alphebetical order everytime you play it, mix it up a bit. plus the more you work your scales, the better your chops get.

Something I learned along time ago is with consistancy(sp), speed will follow. Play what ever it is that you want to play at a comfortable tempo until you know you have it down, then every second or fourth time through speed it up a little bit. when you mess up, start over again, play it comfortable and then speed it up as you go.

Trying to play fast right off the bat will get you nowhere but frustrated. When you do get truly frustrated , put your bass down, walk away for an hour and then come back and try it again.

[chaosMK]

Just take it slow and be consistent over time. Play your (or whatever you are working on) stuff slow, and work your speed up.

I think in an interview Billy Sheehan explained how he develops his killer fast stuff. He essentially said- by working on it really slow. I dont think it's an uncommon approach.

[Poop-Loops]

METRONOME!!!

Play the songs you're playing, just play them way faster if you don't want boring scales.

[arbarnhart]

I am fairly new to bass, but it isn't my first instrument and I am approaching speed building the same way I did on other instruments. Pick a line/progression/melody you enjoy playing that isn't very fast but uses all your fingers. I use blues lines. Try doubling the notes (or even tripling) and keeping the same tempo against a metronome or drum machine. This gets the right hand faster with the left at the same old speed; I just can't seem to work on both at the same time. Once you can do that, go back to single notes but at double the tempo (adjust down and work back up if you have trouble). EDIT - that last bit, speeding up the tempo, works on the left hand once you have the right hand working at speed.

[ARCtrooper225]

Do you mean left hand or right hand speed?

[user101]

This question has been asked millions of times already. And there really is no other way to build up speed other than hard work with the metronome. Regardless of which hand you are talking about.

[metalbass777]

Practice, Practice, PRACTICE!!!!

[Sessionman]

that's the problem...i asked you if you had any good tabs, or songs that make use of all the fingers...

[arbarnhart]

I use blues walking lines. To use all 4 fingers, one I use a lot is 2 beats on the root using middle finger, 2 beats on the 3rd using the index finger, 2 beats on the 4th usnig the middle finger, 1 beat on the flatted 5th using the ring finger and 1 beat on the 5th using the pinky. I move that around changing the root in a I-IV-V 12 bar blues pattern. That's a nice stepping stone because the fingers are used in order on the same string; not too hard. The root-3rd-5th-6th-Dom7 shuffle across three strings is fun (think Chuck Berry when you play it fast) and can be more challenging but doesn't use the ring finger (I start with the middle finger on the root and use no open strings). That also moves around 12 bar style. Those are my two mainstays for trying to work on speeding up. I like blues and old rock and can stand to hear myself play those hundereds of times; YMMV.

[Rattlehead]

A few years back this riff helped alot for my plucking hand (by Dying Fetus):

G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D---------8-8-8-8-9-9-9-9-8-8-8-8---------8-8-8-8-6-6-6-6-4-4-4-4-3-3-3-3-6-6-6-6-4-4-4-4-3-3-3-3-4-4-4-4-3-3-3-3-1-1-1-1-0-0-0-0-
A-6-6-6-6-------------------------9-9-9-9-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It will also get you accustomed to moving your left hand around. To get used to the riff, I recommend first playing each note once instead of 4 times, then when you have the feel for the left hand, do each note 4 times. If moving your left hand around is too much, just convert the riff so that it's all between the 5th and 9th frets.
As always, use a metronome, go slow, and concentrate on playing clear notes with consistency. In the song these are blazingly fast 32nd notes, but for your purposes slow it way down.

[peaveyuser]

3 letters, YYZ.