Beginner Bass Help Me!!!!

[chickbassist007]

Hey Guys i was wondering if anyone had any insight on what some of the techniques and skills new beginner bassists should learn right off the bat. Any ideas???

Em

[Jewbass]

Most important #1 thing to learn:

All of your scales and modes in every key.
This may sound like a lot, but once you have it down, you will be able to take on many bass lines that you hadn't been able to before, you will be able to improvise (VERY IMPORTANT) and you will start to expand to new, more advanced techniques. Trust me, once you know all of your scales and modes in every key, you will be on your way to becoming an excellent bass player.

[Jim Campbell]

Originally Posted by chickbassist007

Hey Guys i was wondering if anyone had any insight on what some of the techniques and skills new beginner bassists should learn right off the bat. Any ideas???

Em

learn to read,learn the notes on the fretboard

[fourfinger]

1. How to tune the bass
2. The open notes by name
3. The notes on each string from fret 1 to fret 3 by name
4. How to hold a pick, and the down-then-up pick method
5. How to pluck by alternating the index and middle fingers (instead of a pick).

Have a friend show you these five things and be sure to commit all five to memory before you get too far along -- these things will make the rest easier to learn.

[waleross]

+1 on the advice just given. A teacher can't hurt either. I first learned from an upright teacher who also taught electric bass. You can learn on your own but its better to have a teacher . . .

[MalcolmAmos]

This has been answered many times before.
Like here http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...19#post8987519
For some reason that link takes you to the last post. Scroll up to # 1 and read from there.

[Stumbo]

You may want to check out the link in my sig. below for some great TB info that will help you along your bass playing journey.

[wemmick]

Originally Posted by MalcolmAmos

This has been answered many times before.
Like here http://www.talkbass.com/forum/showth...19#post8987519
For some reason that link takes you to the last post. Scroll up to # 1 and read from there.

The "#post8987519" at the end takes you to the last post.

Here's the link to the beginning http://www.talkbass.com/forum/f22/where-start-647860/#post8987519

[A tempo]

Originally Posted by Jewbass

Most important #1 thing to learn:

All of your scales and modes in every key.
This may sound like a lot, but once you have it down, you will be able to take on many bass lines that you hadn't been able to before, you will be able to improvise (VERY IMPORTANT) and you will start to expand to new, more advanced techniques. Trust me, once you know all of your scales and modes in every key, you will be on your way to becoming an excellent bass player.

I second the above with one minor change. The "most important #1 thing to learn is Music Theory". Then it's on to the scales and modes as Jewbass states. An excellent set of downloadable free books on both subjects is Martyn Kruegel's FreeBassManual.

[ZachOrem]

chickbassist007; I am very new at bass as well - and so far I have run into one annoying habbit that I should have learned correctly from the very beginning, but regretfully did not.

Above all else, you must learn how to correctly mute your stings if you want to sound good. When you pluck the strings, be sure that your fingers end up resting on the next lowest string instead of plucking the strings up towards the air - doing this will clean up your sound a lot. When jumping from the A string to the G string, you will notice that the A will ring through the sound of your next note and sound like crap. As I understand it, there are a few ways to mute the A... you can use your ring finger, but personally I couldn't get that method to feel comfortable. I think your best bet is to learn to drift your thumb up when your playing your higher strings so that instead of resting on the pickup or E string, it is resting on the A and E string together.

Learning to mute with your fretting hand is also worthwhile. Become a slave to repitition. The human mind gets like a -5 saving throw to resist learning things it has been subjected to hundreds of times, so keep at it and you WILL get it. Do it until it becomes easy, and even the most annoying things will become fun.

I'm rooting for you.

Oh - and learn the notes on the fretboard one string at a time. Play the natural notes on the string up and down until your learn them perfectly. Sing along - I think it helps.

G A BC D EF G
D EF G A BC D
A BC D EF G A
EF G A BC D E

[MalcolmAmos]

Still killing time before a 12:45 lunching appointment.

[fearceol]

All great advice so far, but the first thing to get right IMO is good technique. Spend some time on it now, before bad habits develop and save yourself a lot of possible physical problems later.

Here are links to R/H and L/H technique :


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VRkSsapYYsA


http://playbassnow.com/speed-techniq...and-technique/

[chickbassist007]

Thank you all so much you've been a HUGE HELP!!! u guys all rock hard core! :P

[Stumbo]

Free downloadable interactive fretboard (4 0r 5 string)learning tool utilizing Microsoft Excel or Open Office spreadsheet(free)

[A tempo]

It would be hard to beat Ricci Adams' Musictheory.net website for instruction. Though I find all of the lessons and exercises beneficial, I really like the Fretboard Identification module under the Exercises tab.

Good luck.

[mambo4]

since no one has said it yet: get a metronome and practice accurate tempo.

[turbo chicken]

get this http://www.halleonard.com/product/vi...9&subsiteid=7&

sometimes you can find it packaged with the DVD also...

[steelhead2]

and don't be afraid to dump her either,if you have an instrument you can't stay off of that's vital

if you have an instrument that has problems (like a rubber neck),,you won't love her and she won't love you,,,,~make love to it or it isn't fun~(and yeah, commas are my friend like a `rest'),,

have fun with it there's tons of good comments about actual playing but ya have to want to strap the girl on every chance you get,equipment comes and goes as you grow don'e think`i'm done' with an amp or bass purchase,keep growing with it

thump on bro

[J-B'ass]

While this is all great advice, none of this is the most urgent thing. I would say if you are a beginner, the first thing to learn is how to groove along to a song and have fun. This'll probably mean learning to tune your bass with an electric tuner and finding some tabs of the internet (NOTE: get off the tabs as soon as you can, they are evil, and only good for the most temporary initial stage of getting some grooving done. When you're ready for some real learning, scrap the tabs completely and start tuning by ear).

[bassalo]

www.studybass.com