Notes, frets, intervals....Arrrghhh

[Nevermoore]

Just started playing bass recently. When I practice my scales and arpeggios I always say the name of the note I'm playing. I'm wondering what is going to be more helpful to me in the long run. Should I be thinking in terms of what notes I'm playing, or what fret I'm playing (i.e., 4th string 3rd fret), or which interval I'm playing (1st, 3rd, 5th etc.). Is one more beneficial than the other or should I just try to get used to thinking in terms of all three?

[d8g3jdh]

While i may not be the most qualified to comment, i would say to think in both intervals and note names until you know the fretboard, and then just intervals. You should probably avoid thinking in frets, its not necessary and may cause you to turn towards the dark (physical) side (like me )

[thewanderer24]

You definitely DO NOT want to be thinking in terms of frets. Think in terms of notes or intervals.

If you think in terms of frets, what do you do when during a gig, you break a string mid song?? Or you have to play a song in a different key??

[quallabone]

I always think in terms of notes. Years and years of playing trombone has taught me to just buckle down and learn your instrument. Faking it was no fun for me.

[Correlli]

I'm a pattern and position player.

[Aaron Saunders]

When I started, I thought in frets. When I went to fretless, I thought in intervals. When I moved onto upright bass, I began to hear notes.

[JDT]

Originally Posted by Kiwi Kid

I'm a pattern and position player.

Same here. Although I must say that for covers I learn the patters, my own lines are 'this scale, this degree' or something like that.

[Boplicity]

Think in terms of notes or intervals if you understand them. By thinking in terms of frets, you will burden yourself unnecessarily with too much to think of mentally and it will slow down your playing. Plus, the same note can be played on several different frets and strings. You might be missing out on that fact and limit yourself to thinking of a certain fret as being that note. Also many frets represent more than one note, such as A sharp and B flat.

I might get criticized for this, but I tend to think in scale degrees when I play. When I began to play that way was when I got a lot faster, because I knew what scale degrees a chord had and no matter what chord, I knew where the scale degrees were in that chord.

I guess it is a pattern, but it is deeper understanding than just a pattern. Scale degrees tell you the content of that pattern. The great advantage is that you can switch keys easily.