Weird and stupid question / dilemma

[Bluez Dawg]

OK here is my question. and dilemma. OK I can play the bass pretty well thats no problem. but here is my problem. OK say I am showing some one how to play and they ask me where the E flat 7th fret is, for the example. then I try to show them and it was the next one over, I was off by one. But here is the kicker. Now if you guys said "show me b and c then open A" I could play those notes with out a problem and so on. So what do I do really try to burn the fret board in to my skull? like memorize it?

[Bluez Dawg]

anyone? I would like to think my typing is for nothing lol.

[Akami]

Derek, I can't answer your question because I can't understand it.
Maybe someone else can.

[Bluez Dawg]

Originally Posted by Akami

Derek, I can't answer your question because I can't understand it.
Maybe someone else can.

Is it my bad grammar again? I tried to put it in a question form. I dont know how to explain it.

[Espidog]

Well, you're doing better than me! I've been playing for 30 years on and off, and I couldn't tell you which fret is which note without working it out first. Can't read music either. I just learn stuff by ear and...er...instinct. I get by.

Seriously, though, you've pretty much answered your own question. There's no magic method with learning these things: just practice, practice, practice, memorize,memorize,memorize.

[The BurgerMeister]

just practice, mang. the more you practice, the better you get.

i wish i could tell you more than that, but.... that's it.

[wiro]

Frustrated that other bassplayers can do so much with a simple tune instantly I'm trying to work my way out.
Last week I started with the following excersize:
Take a simple song. Eg.: Bm - Em - A - Em.
1. Draw the complete fingerboard a little more than 1 octave on a piece of paper with all the arpeggio's of the first chord. In this case the Bm.
2. Play this one all over the neck until you know all positions by heart.
3. Take the next chord and do the same.
4. Alternate both chords in one excersize. Begin with 16 or 32 beats for each chord. Then alternate each 8 beats and then 4. Or do 12 beats Bm and then 4 beats Em. Etc. etc. etc.
5. Add the third chord to it
and as being said allready: Practice, practice, practice. Not only alone, but try to find some other musician and practice together. This is more fun and you learn other aspects as well.

[IanStephenson]

I wouldn't get too obsessed about beng able to find Cbb on the A string it 1mS (its the 1st fret! :-)).

FAR more important is that from any note you can instantly find the major/minor third, fifth, octave, maj/min 7th, 9th and so on. wiro's exercise sounds good for this.

Names are just names. in Germany they call Bb a B, and B an H. Whatever you call them, they're the notes you need to find for a C7 or cmaj7.

There's a saying, that we name things when we don't understand them. Naming them is an attempt to control them. The importand and usefull thing is to underdtand them.

Ian

[Der Bluten Kat]

i'd say try to start sight reading music more.. you'll know where the notes are without even thinking about it.. usually between the 8th and 11th fret is sort of a "no man's land" for a bassist.. not because we can't play there.. but if you're reading music you really have to think about the relationships between the notes in order to find them easily in that area, wheras the open position is always second nature

[BassChuck]

I can find any note on the bass, but have to count frets to know if I'm on the 6th or 7th fret. I've just never thought about it that way. If you asked me what notes are on the 9th fret, and I didn't have my bass in my hands, I doubt I could answer the question. But then I read music well before I picked up bass, so I learned bass by thinking about music in a staff oriented way, not fret oriented as you would if you learned bass by reading tab.

[thumbzilla]

You can buy a poster-sized fretboard diagram in any music store for 5-6 bucks.

[Blunt]

Look its pretty simple. Learn your scales and read music. Get a classical trombone book and do the work. Do that for six months and all your bumbling around will be resolved.

As Satriani said scales are simply to tell you what is possible,

You don't play them. You practice them.

I find it amazing that bass players still don't learn their instruments in a musical fashion.
There is no tradition with the bass like a classical instrument where technique and theory is instilled.
It is there with some contemporary music courses like the AMEB out of NSW Australia and I am sure many USA colleges.
The best thing you can ever do to improve your musicality is to learn to read music. Jeff Berlin stands by this.

And it is really a matter of a short period of dedication. That will save you years of reading wrong Tabs etc.

[Chris A]

The best way I've found to learn higher positions on the fretboard, which I think is what Derek is asking, is to play your scales up there and say the names of the notes out loud. It works best if you actually say them out loud and don't just say them to yourself. Practice major and minor scales from the 5th fret on up to the 12th or so. Do them slowly and focus on saying the notes out loud. Remember you are trying to learn the fretboard, not blazing speed.


Chris A.

[vinny]

Memorize the fingerboard. It isn't that hard & it will save you a lot of time & hassles in the future.

[Wonka]

I'm with IanStephenson on this. If frustrated with memorizing the upper register, I'd learn a little theory, and the relationships between chords. Learning to read music helps, to a degree. I learned mindless "Hanon" excercises on piano as a youngster, and developed technical facility in locating notes, but but not a clue as to their relationship. I lost heart when trying to memorize notes on the fretboard outright. With standard tuning, understanding and playing modes allowed patterns to emerge; I attached notes to the degrees of the scale, and only had to learn the positions on the neck. Having a Casio keyboard helped me.

I wouldn't say it's easy. Motivation and natural ability helps. Being Michael Manring helps! (10 string bass in altered tunings)

www.bassplayers.co.za/interviewmichael-m.html

[DaftCat]

Originally Posted by thumbzilla

You can buy a poster-sized fretboard diagram in any music store for 5-6 bucks.

..or he can print these off.

http://www.duanewhite.com/images/fretboard.jpg
http://www.thesamuels.cc/bass/pics/bas-nts.gif

[EricF]

Originally Posted by vinny

Memorize the fingerboard. It isn't that hard & it will save you a lot of time & hassles in the future.

It's not hard, but it takes time and focus. It's part of leaning how to be a better musician. It's also a big help if you plan on playing with other people. For example, if a guitar player tells me that his chord progression is G-C-D, I know exactly where I need to go and have a pretty good idea about what options I have before I've even heard the music. Knowledge is power.

[Bluez Dawg]

Originally Posted by EricF

It's not hard, but it takes time and focus. It's part of leaning how to be a better musician. It's also a big help if you plan on playing with other people. For example, if a guitar player tells me that his chord progression is G-C-D, I know exactly where I need to go and have a pretty good idea about what options I have before I've even heard the music. Knowledge is power.

See that's the the point I am trying to make. I know I don't know my fretboard really well. But like you said if he said c g and d chords. I know where they are. and I know my options and freedom. So am I just wierd or its all how you work when you play that way? I don't know. and sorry for the confusion.

[EricF]

Originally Posted by DerekTbasser

See that's the the point I am trying to make. I know I don't know my fretboard really well. But like you said if he said c g and d chords. I know where they are. and I know my options and freedom. So am I just wierd or its all how you work when you play that way? I don't know. and sorry for the confusion.

If it sounds right, it probably is, but more knowledge is only going to help.

A couple of things to work on maybe...
1. Notes on the fretboard (work on this until you don't have to think about it anymore - I'm still working on it)
2. Locations of chord tones in relation to the root note. For example, if you're playing over a C Major chord, the root is at the 3rd fret on the A string (let's not get into alternate locations right now). Get familiar with where the Major 3rd, 5th, and octave are in relation to the root. You don't even have to know the names of the notes, just the pattern of where they are in relation to the root.
3. Get a teacher. Your learning curve will improve dramatically and he/she will be able to answer your specific questions immediately and precisely.

[ToR-Tu-Ra]

Get a fretless! No need to worry 'bout frets!