playing technique, reading notes (or translating them to tabs) help

[jordan_frerichs]

i have always wanted to play upright for the school orchestra/jazz band, but had trouble, because there are no fretlines, huge neck, and all that that comes on an upright. (as you can probably tell, i am more used to bass guitar, than upright) this summer i borrowed a 34" scale unlined fretless bass guitar, and really liked, and got the use of it. i want to join this year, buthere are the problems:
i don't know the technique for upright. also i want to know what the common scale length for upright basses. i don't know how to read notes/tell what note is played where, because i use tabs.
here is what i need help on. what technique tips do you have(playing with bow, with fingers, left hand positioning, all that)? what is the scale length? how can i learn to read notes, or spend some exrta time converting them to tabs (i prefer the tabs, and have tme to translate, just don't know how)

[nfblackburn13]

ok an upright bass is a completely different animal
i suggest you get an upright bass teacher
but get
simandl
progressive reportoire for the double bass by george vance
and ray brown's method are the three best upright bass books in my opinion
i play jazz and orch and am a sophmore but have been playing upright for 5 dedicated years
good luck!

[Menacewarf]

Ya, all the stuff you asked is essentially a years worth of two hour a day directed study.
For the start!

But dont worry it's fun!

[Karl]

... and learn your notes. Tabs is really not an appropriate way to write music, if you are serious about music, forget the tabs right away and learn to read music today - its just a few months of work but an essential skill for every musician. Or have you ever seen a pianist or trumpeter play with only fingerings in front of him?

[jallenbass]

Where are you located? Someone here can probably recommend a good teacher in your area.

[Bruce Lindfield]

As has been said - forget Tabs they are just waste of time if you want to play Double Bass and mostly they are about 42" scale - but forget that - again it's not helpful to think about it in these terms - it's not a guitar, just a different instrument completely!

And it goes without saying that you need some lessons with a teacher to get started at least!

[nathanmcnathan]

STOP USING TABS!!! They'e a waste of time, and learning to rely on them only hurts you in the end.

[jordan_frerichs]

i konw that tabsare not the best method, but i want to learnhow to convert notes to tabs, so i can join earlier i plan to get the hang of notes and all that, but i want to be in the class a.s.a.p. turn them to tabs for a quik fix to keep up with the class, while i get the hang of reading music. essintialy the upright and the electric bass are the same instrument, in the since that they are tuned the same. the scale of the instrument is imporatant, so i can see where the fretlines are. i figure when i am in the getting the hang of the feel of instrument stage, playing stuff i already know, will make thingsa little easier at the start.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Nope - you will be better off trying to read music - the sooner you start, the quicker you will learn - and the more time you will have to practice reading!

There are no quick fixes in music - Tabs will just hold you back!

Also, bass guitar and Double Bass are really different animals - completely different approaches and technique!

You don't want to play things on Double Bass, the same way you would play them on bass guitar. That's a recipe for disaster...

[uprightben]

I think if you did a serch on this forum for statements about using bass guitar technique on double bass, you would find hundreds of post by people who are new to DB, are looking for help, but refuse to listen to the many responces by experienced players trying to disuade them of thier misconception. What you won't find is the OP making a follw up post saying something like "you guys were all wrong, I'm using BG technique on DB and I sound great and have no pain/injury issues. check out my sound clip. BG and and DB are exactly the same." You won't find that because it is not true. Contrary to modern popular belief, there are knowable, undisputable facts in this world, and one of them is that DB and BG are very different instruments that require completley different approaches. It is true that they share a simmilar voice and, in many styles of music, the same role. However, technique and approach simply do not translate. Hell, thats why the BG was such a big hit when it was invented, it's way easier to play, and you can play it super loud.

I don't mean to be discouraging. I played BG in high school and couldn't read anything but tab. When I got to college I decided to try to get into music school. I rented a bass, got lessons form the college teacher, and learned to read and play all in one summer. That fall I nailed the audition. The hardest thing I've ever done was getting through music school with such a late start, but I did it. If you are willing to put in the work and quit looking for shortcuts, you can get what you want as well.

[Mingo Sanders]

Secret #1: There are no secrets.

Secret #2: Find any teacher at all. Make friends with someone who can get you started. Get a book.

Secret #3: Learn standard notation. Tab works for rudimentary, simple musical concepts, but standard notation works for all music, no matter how simple or complex.

Secret#4: Practice.

Secret#5: Listen.

Enjoy.

[EggyToast]

Yeah, there's a reason tabs work for modern popular music -- it's easy. Many songs are based on relatively simple musical expressions, where you can get by with essentially 3 or 4 tabs, repeated occasionally -- oh, except for a new tab on the bridge section!

Recently I was looking at some slap bass videos on youtube, since I don't play slapbass and was wondering what the fuss was about, and the predominant oddity was horrible left-hand technique. Yet, I had seen this same horrible technique in a few local jazz shows, and some online pictures of people excited to play bass live or whatever, and was wondering to myself "OK, I didn't learn to play that way -- where did people learn to hold the neck so... wrong?"

It hit me watching those youtube videos, though, as people excitedly played rockabilly on black tuxedo basses -- they were all trying to hold the bass like a big bass guitar. Even leaning their body's back so the bass was in a more "guitar" form.

Interestingly enough, the comments on all videos oscillated between "wow cool!" and "your intonation is horrible." I'll let you figure out which comments were left by actual upright bass players ;D

The point is, if you just want to play in a band, or have a flashy bass, sure, you can pick one up, muddle through some bits, maybe slap the strings around, and learn a couple songs. But, arguably, you're interested in learning how to PLAY the upright bass. That's the difference in the comments above -- everyone wants to encourage you to actually PLAY the upright bass. They want you to be good at it.

But you get that way by taking some time and approaching it as an upright bass -- not a big bass guitar.

[Bruce Lindfield]

Interesting point - there's not much rockabilly over here and I always assume that if people are looking to play DB they are into Jazz...

I think in this case though - the poster mentioned wanting to play Jazz and in this case there is definitely no substitute for correct technique - i.e. not like bass guitar!

[ClassicRock55]

Originally Posted by jordan_frerichs

i have always wanted to play upright for the school orchestra/jazz band, but had trouble, because there are no fretlines, huge neck, and all that that comes on an upright. (as you can probably tell, i am more used to bass guitar, than upright) this summer i borrowed a 34" scale unlined fretless bass guitar, and really liked, and got the use of it. i want to join this year, buthere are the problems:
i don't know the technique for upright. also i want to know what the common scale length for upright basses. i don't know how to read notes/tell what note is played where, because i use tabs.
here is what i need help on. what technique tips do you have(playing with bow, with fingers, left hand positioning, all that)? what is the scale length? how can i learn to read notes, or spend some exrta time converting them to tabs (i prefer the tabs, and have tme to translate, just don't know how)

I am a senior and I was in a similar position you were in during my sophomore year. I wanted to join the jazz program but had no idea how to read music or play upright. I'll tell you a few things that I learned from my experience. The first thing you should do is get an instructor. They will teach you to read music and the proper technique essential to play upright well. Technique and fingering are ESSENTIAL if you want to sound good and play in tune. Learn to sight read, its a real pain and I'm still not great at it but if you want to play in any jazz or orchestral context, tabs won't cut it. One more thing, playing fretless well doesn't translate to playing upright bass well. It will improve your ears (which is very important), but besides that upright bass is just a completely different animal. The scale lenght and fingering is very different on upright than it is on fretless. I play fretless 100 percent of the time and I still don't sound too good on upright.


Best of luck!

[lowend219]

in order to convert notation to tab, you'd have to be able to read notation anyway...so just learn to read. honsestly, it's not that bad. try getting sibelius or another notation software, that way you can hear the notes go by as you write/read, helped me quite a bit.