Techniques to learn?

chips · #1 03-28-2005, 08:13 AM

gday badgers.

ive been playing for a year and a half almost now and i wanna STEP-IT-UP!... i can slap fairly decently, and can finger and play with a pick. what are some other styles i can pick up? some that ive heard of are tapping, double thumbing? etc. can any1 tell me what these things are or give me a link to some lessons on them. also plz keep in mind im dnt know much about theory so anything sounding overly technical im just gonna go cross eyed

Peace,
Chips

Sutton · #2 03-28-2005, 09:49 AM

Tap I suppose

http://www.harmony-central.com/Bass/Lessons/tap1

Richard Lindsey · #3 03-28-2005, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chips

gday badgers.

ive been playing for a year and a half almost now and i wanna STEP-IT-UP!... i can slap fairly decently, and can finger and play with a pick. what are some other styles i can pick up? some that ive heard of are tapping, double thumbing? etc. can any1 tell me what these things are or give me a link to some lessons on them. also plz keep in mind im dnt know much about theory so anything sounding overly technical im just gonna go cross eyed

Peace,
Chips

You may not want to hear this, but if you've just been playing a year and a half, you're probably much better off worrying about things like (1) time, (2) tone, (3) feel, (4) groove, (5) taste, (6) developing your ear, and (7) overall musicianship than about picking up another "trick" technique. If you can't play in time (and I'm not saying you can't) and aren't making sense musically and don't sound good, all the tapping, slapping, double-thumping, etc. in the world won't help you. They will just make people want to throw heavy, hard objects at you.

Seriously, I'm not saying those techniques aren't worth exploring or doing. I'm just saying, be careful of putting the cart before the horse. Think of it as like building a house. You get your foundation solid before you try to put the tiles on the roof.

Secondhandloser · #4 04-05-2005, 08:40 PM

Hey, I just learned to tap, but as none of the bassists I know use this technique, I have no idea how to EQ my bass to get a decent sound... any suggestions?

ireidt · #5 04-06-2005, 10:12 AM

for a decent sound, just mess aroudn with the knobs ( lol)

But seriously, mess with the EQ one knob ( of there are knobs, could be those sliders ) at a time, to hear what that knob/slider does, after you know what the EQ can do, then you can find "your" sound.

HunsBassist · #6 04-06-2005, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

You may not want to hear this, but if you've just been playing a year and a half, you're probably much better off worrying about things like (1) time, (2) tone, (3) feel, (4) groove, (5) taste, (6) developing your ear, and (7) overall musicianship than about picking up another "trick" technique. If you can't play in time (and I'm not saying you can't) and aren't making sense musically and don't sound good, all the tapping, slapping, double-thumping, etc. in the world won't help you. They will just make people want to throw heavy, hard objects at you.

Seriously, I'm not saying those techniques aren't worth exploring or doing. I'm just saying, be careful of putting the cart before the horse. Think of it as like building a house. You get your foundation solid before you try to put the tiles on the roof.

Respectable opinion. But some people are just naturals. They pick things up very very very quickly in certain areas. Practicing keeping time and developing the basics are well and good, but it's not fair to force someone to spend a year learning something when they've already long since mastered it. Just something to keep in mind.

Richard Lindsey · #7 04-06-2005, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HunsBassist

Respectable opinion. But some people are just naturals. They pick things up very very very quickly in certain areas. Practicing keeping time and developing the basics are well and good, but it's not fair to force someone to spend a year learning something when they've already long since mastered it. Just something to keep in mind.

Who said anything about forcing anybody to do anything? I made a suggestion, based on considerable experience, which the poster is free to accept or reject.

IMHO *no one* who's been playing 1.5 years has "long since" mastered time, feel, groove, tone, ear, taste, and musicianship. No, not even naturals. These are not things you get in your first year and then never have to worry about again. You keep working at them your whole life. They are fundamental to being a musician, and the sooner you start building your foundation, the better your opportunities for progress. IMO and IME of course. You can easily be a great musician without ever slapping a note, but it's pretty hard to be a good musician without time, feel, ear, and the rest.

Dell · #8 04-07-2005, 05:41 AM

Ive been playing bass for 7 years and I've just started tapping. I really love this band called "the murder of rosa luxemburg" and they do a lot of tapping on guitars. I was playing along to their CD on my guitar and thought "I could do this on my bass"... Its fun.. especialy when you start using delays.

Bruce Lindfield · #9 04-07-2005, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chips

gay badgers.

ive been playing for a year and a half almost now and i wanna STEP-IT-UP!... i can slap fairly decently, and can finger and play with a pick. what are some other styles i can pick up? some that ive heard of are tapping, double thumbing? etc. can any1 tell me what these things are ...

Unnecessary?

chips · #10 04-07-2005, 09:03 AM

hehehe, gay badgers

that made me giggle for so long... man im immature. cheers for the replies folks. im looking into tapping. i also hear where u guys are coming from the keeping time and grooving. im always working on that. its just fun to try new things

i checked out that double thumping lesson aswell in another forum

think i might wait for a while to try that.

Peace
Chips

Suckbird · #11 04-10-2005, 07:44 AM

I have played for almost 1 and half year and i have tapped for about 1-2months, it's way fun!

I use it mostly when im making my own music, it gives me inspiration

caledoneus · #12 04-10-2005, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Richard Lindsey

*no one* who's been playing 1.5 years has "long since" mastered time, feel, groove, tone, ear, taste, and musicianship. No, not even naturals. These are not things you get in your first year and then never have to worry about again. You keep working at them your whole life. They are fundamental to being a musician, and the sooner you start building your foundation, the better your opportunities for progress. IMO and IME of course. You can easily be a great musician without ever slapping a note, but it's pretty hard to be a good musician without time, feel, ear, and the rest.

Amen man....... i have been playing for a couple years now, and i don't really know many little "trick" playing things. I have fooled around with slap some and stuff, but i figure until i get pretty dang good at my normal playing stuff, there is not much of a point in learning little tricks. Musicianship is a discipline, not a thing you just pick up tricks for.