Can it be too early to try a new tuning?

[Neel]

Hey guys. I am new to bass, but I am having a blast. One thing that I was considering was switching to drop d tuning, but I didn't know if maybe it was too early for me. I have had a bass for about a month, and have been playing for maybe two months or so. I still have so much to learn, and I feel like there are a lot of lessons I won't be able to try my hand at if I switch tunings (various scales, most online lessons, etc). On the other hand, a lot of bands I love have bassists that play drop d, and I can't really play those songs with the current tuning.

Do you think that it is possible for it to be too early to switch. Are there advantages to sticking with standard tuning until I am a little more experienced? Thanks.

[YogSothoth]

The advantage of standard tuning is that it's easy to move scale patterns around to any of the strings. Once you tune the E string down to D, you'll have to adjust all notes on the D string two frets toward the pickups to get the correct note. I see no reason why you wouldn't switch between drop D and standard for whatever song you want to play. Another option is to drop all the strings down 1 step (DGCF). This way, you have that low D and you can still apply scale lessons and songs written for E, just shift everything up two frets. Of course, this can be a real hassle for songs that use a lot of open strings.

Actually, I think it'd be better if you did switch tunings early in your bass playing career (or hobby, whatever) because you won't be locked into one particular tuning. Just be careful no matter what tuning you use to play the correct notes, or your ear/hand coordinate could become confused.