5string bass relearning the fretboard

[varunkapahi]

i have borrowed a friends 5er and will be buying one for myself soon. i dont plan on using the low b only for the 5 extra lower notes as compared to a standard 4 string but really learn to utilize the new positions and range within a single position without shifting. i have been trying to get around it for a few days but i get a little lost when i jump up the fretboard or look at things in context of the notes on the low b as they dont jump up spontaneously.
any ideas on how i can relearn the fretboard in context of the low b being the 5th string?

[sedgwick1489]

sequence your chord tones starting from the lowest available note. For instance CMaj would be (open) B, (1st fret) C, (5th fret) E, (8th fret) G. Then C, E, G, (7 fret E string) B. Keep working your way up. Switch to the different chord types and keys.

Good luck - 5 string is awesome.

[delta7fred]

Just keep practising, you start off hitting the wrong string all the time. This soon reduces to occasionally, I still get the wrong one sometimes and that is 4 years down the line. I rarely use the notes below E but love the fretboard freedom it gives.

I first played a fiver at a jam night, very informal and a good job because I could not hit the correct string to save my life.

I bought a really cheap, crappy 5 string jazz copy (£50 GBP) to make sure I could get my head round it. I practised on it for awhile, played it to a few rehearsals and then did a couple of gigs with it. I was hooked so sold it and bought a Stingray 5. I always play 5 to gigs now but regularly play 4 at rehearsals and practise.

Being self taught and not reading particularly well (understatement) I usually play patterns rather than thinking of chord tones so I have to remember that I have a one string offset from what I have been playing for years.

As sedgwick1489 says, 5 string is awesome. I just wish I had made the switch years ago.

[varunkapahi]

am yet to buy one really the only 5er i like is the sr505 which is kinda pricey so am saving up. it really helps to have a 5er when playing fusion and jazz music mostly and some heavier metal/alternative stuff tuned down to c# and what not

[Stumbo]

Try some bass lines that have an open E and use the E on the B string instead. Go from there, substituting the B string notes in bass lines you already know. That'll get you thinkin'.

[Samsound]

Just think in 4ths and fifths: if you're playing an E at 7th fret over Em and next chords are Bm, then Am (arbitrary example), just know that down a 5th to B is right under your finger one string below (E is perfect 4th to B), and/or that A is down 2 frets and 1 string (E is perfect 5th to A). In other words, thinking intervallically can be helpful, but also important long term to learn the notes on the fretboard.