reading question

[bassinplace]

Hello,

When playing an exercise, how to tell where on the fingerboard it's supposed to be played? Thanks!

[onlyclave]

Experience.

Or sometimes you'll see note with a notation over it like "Sul D" which means play that note on the D string.

But most of the time it's experience.

[bassinplace]

Oof. Guess it's gonna be a little while then. The book I'm working out of right now has tab and notation, so the tab tells me where on the neck I'm supposed to be, which helps. But I told myself I wasn't going to get into tab and only study notation. Guess I'm gonna have to compromise, at least for a little while.

[Dan Knowlton]

One thing that has helped me is to play it in a bunch of different positions and keys. I also play as many fingering/string variations as I can. Certainly helps in the real world. An example would be playing a major scale riff with the root on your second finger and then learning it with the root on your pinkie finger.

Dan K.

[BassChuck]

Yea, experience is the only real thing... and even then the second time around is better. I try to start as close to the middle of the neck as I can to have room to go either way.

Really knowing the neck top to bottom is the only way to avoid most problems.

[MalcolmAmos]

Have not tried to play bass from standard notation, but I can do this on the acoustic. Course you are talking treble clef on acoustic and I assume you are talking bass clef for the bass. It's just a matter of knowing where the notes are. I know, douuugh.

On the acoustic and playing from the treble clef you play - what's called first position. Lower ledger E note is the big E string at the nut, middle C note (lower ledger C) is the A string @ the 3rd fret. The C note in the upper register is played on the B string @ the first fret. Upper ledger C note would be played on the little E string @ the 8th fret. Let's not get into middle C and the guitar being tuned different than piano.........

Using standard notation to fretboard each C has a specific place it is to be played. If it's lower ledger C it has a specific spot on the fretboard, if it's the C in the middle register, it has a specific spot. You know/learn where those spots are. I'm sure this would be the same on the bass clef - I'm so new to bass I'm still learning how to chew gum and play at the some time. I bet Google could find you a standard notation/bass fretboard chart. But, you already have something .......

..... Take that book you have - since it gives you both standard notation and tab, find where lower ledger note E on the bass clef is to be played - I bet it's 4th string open. Each note (octave) has a specific spot - once you find where - it'll always be played in that same spot.

[EADG mx]

A good habit to get into is scanning the chart before you play. Look for ledger lines, position shifts, potential open strings that you could use to shift.

I like to mark my scores up with the position at least (open, 3rd, etc). Less commonly you can specify which digit to use (1 - index, 2 - middle, etc) but this is more of a piano or classical guitar thing. This isn't typically done on the bass, but I don't see why it can't be.

[vinny]

Originally Posted by bassinplace

Oof. Guess it's gonna be a little while then. The book I'm working out of right now has tab and notation, so the tab tells me where on the neck I'm supposed to be, which helps. But I told myself I wasn't going to get into tab and only study notation. Guess I'm gonna have to compromise, at least for a little while.

Not to crap on tab too badly, but this is another of its shortcomings. Often the tabber will indicate positions in the tab which don't lend themselves to the playability of the tune. Meaning, without regard to minimizing shifts or playing them in the best places for fluidity. This is also true at times when specific lines are tabbed out & after analyzing them it's clear they could more easily be played in fewer positions or elsewhere on the neck, IMO.