Building up speed

[Fassa Albrecht]

I have come to the realisation quite recently that my speed isn't quite as I would like it. In worship band I can keep up fairly easily cause a lot of songs we do are fairly standard speeds, usually from a tempo of 60 (the slowest) to about 110 (most songs we do are this speed).

However if the bassline is faster than about 110 or if the bassline is fiddly or if the song structure is odd then I really struggle to keep up.

I also find my speed suffers if I slap.

I do try and practice my sheet music reading and scales etc. so it's not an issue to do with my knowledge of bass or anything to do with that.

Anyone help?

[gonzorob]

I have always been taught that you should practice with a metronome to work on your speed. Pick a song that you have trouble with and start playing it slow. It will be boring at first but over time you should be able to speed it up bit by bit and be able to nail it.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by gonzorob

I have always been taught that you should practice with a metronome to work on your speed. Pick a song that you have trouble with and start playing it slow. It will be boring at first but over time you should be able to speed it up bit by bit and be able to nail it.

I originally tried this with those 'play-along' books where I had the drums to follow. The result was that I can play both Time Is Running Out and Muscle Museum of Muse perfectly but my speed still sucked.

[Bass Boy]

Practice slowly. Not just for a few passes but for a looooong time. You will be surprised how quickly your speed will develop once you have really internalized the music at a very slow tempo.

Endurance is an important factor as well. The beauty is the more you play, the better your endurance should get.

[gonzorob]

Originally Posted by Bass Boy

Practice slowly. Not just for a few passes but for a looooong time. You will be surprised how quickly your speed will develop once you have really internalized the music at a very slow tempo.

Endurance is an important factor as well. The beauty is the more you play, the better your endurance should get.

He pretty much said what I was trying to say, only he said it better.

[Thunderthumbs73]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I have come to the realisation quite recently that my speed isn't quite as I would like it. In worship band I can keep up fairly easily cause a lot of songs we do are fairly standard speeds, usually from a tempo of 60 (the slowest) to about 110 (most songs we do are this speed).

However if the bassline is faster than about 110 or if the bassline is fiddly or if the song structure is odd then I really struggle to keep up.

I also find my speed suffers if I slap.

I do try and practice my sheet music reading and scales etc. so it's not an issue to do with my knowledge of bass or anything to do with that.

Anyone help?

Is this a left hand issue, a right hand issue, a reading issue, or some combination of these?

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Thunderthumbs73

Is this a left hand issue, a right hand issue, a reading issue, or some combination of these?

I think it's a left-hand-issue, although my speed even on different basses is variable.

[Thunderthumbs73]

Originally Posted by Fassa Albrecht

I think it's a left-hand-issue, although my speed even on different basses is variable.

I assume you mean plucking hand, as it seems you're a lefty.

[Fassa Albrecht]

Originally Posted by Thunderthumbs73

I assume you mean plucking hand, as it seems you're a lefty.

I'm left-handed yes, but I play two RH basses, a Shergold and a Yamaha.

[Thunderthumbs73]

Ok, so fretting hand. My thoughts, and these are really hard to descibe exactly, since we're dealing with motion:
1. Make sure the action on your instrument is good.
2. Try to think about playing "across" the neck (string crossing) versus up/down on less strings.
3. When playing scales, songs and such in practice, make a real conscious effort to raise your fingers off the fingerboard as little as possible. Finger height.
4. "Cover" the strings and use a kind of pseudo-guitarist technique where you can fret the notes not only using the fingers, but also various fleshy parts of your pointer finger like a guitarist does when using bar chords. I basically mean every single note you fret or need to press down need not be accompanied by a specific, independent motion to fret that note. Hammer-ons/offs are/can be kinda like this.

This is real tough to describe in words. A picture is worth a thousand words, and I can't show you what I mean via an image.

Does this help or was it clear as mud?

[mambo4]

+1 to slowing down

the wisdom around here is that practicing slowly with the metronome is the key to getting faster.

Speed is a by-product of accuracy, not vice versa, as one guy posted.

[JTE]

Yep, see last week's thread about playing fast. Slow everything down, break it up into discrete components, practice painfully slow with a metronome so you're deadly accurate, the increase the tempo by a small increment, and continue. It's easy to play fast and sloppy, but it sounds that way. Playing slow and precise builds the road for playing fast and precise.

Beyond that, relaxation of both hands, an efficient technique, carefully chosen postition shifts, and controlled plucking hand attack helps. What is "efficient technique"? That's keeping all your fretting fingers close to the strings in a manner that facillitates reaching (i.e., don't grip the neck like a baseball bat, and do keep your thumb down on the back of the neck), and knowing your fingerboard.

jte