Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Marcus Johnson Gufenov, I've been to Pittsville, so I know what you're saying. Not exactly a hotbed of DB activity, is it! |
Neither is Central WI as a whole. I'm in Marshfield.
Now, I don't play DB, I am just doing electric bass. But same thing applies. I am teaching myself due to resources available. I would like to have a teacher teach me right technique. Beyond that, theory, patterns, etc. I've been able to find more than enough info on the web. Even been able to find technique videos and such on the web. Then I have watched other bassists, and no one plays their bass with the same technique. It seems more of a fact that you should find a technique that is comfortable for you.
What I have been doing for technique is watching what others are doing and trying that. I have found some observations helpful while others not. I have also found that doing hand exercises (such as using the gripmaster thingies) and coordination exercises I have read that I can now perform certain techniques easier than before.
Example. The first song I toaght myself to play on bass (this was last november) was Pink Floyd's Money. I happen to be sitting with a guitarist friend of mine. He played it with no problem (incidently that got him hooked on playing bass). however, I couldn't do it the way he did. He held the 3rd and 4th string down at the same time with his pinky or ring ringer. I just didn't have the strength in my fingers to do that. So I'd move my index and middle finger to play the 4th fret on those strings for those notes then move back to the bottom strings 2nd fret. However, now after doing the exercises I can play Money without moving my hand around and without looking at the fretboard.
The cool thing about using one of the spring exercisers and the coordination exercises (I think I read about them here) is I can do those while watching TV. That's what I have been doing. When CSI comes on I sit in the chair and exercise while watching.
I know if I could get a teacher there are somethings that I could learn quicker. I tend to learn by example better than anything else. And there are somethings that are tough to find. Like I know what an arpeggio is, playing each note of a chord, however it seems most beginner books and websites don't even mention them. I know they are important. My guitarist friend who never played bass before was just dinking around on my bass. It sounded awesome. I asked what he was doing and he said he was just playing arpeggios.
So the questions is, would a teacher teach something like that?
Quote:
|
I do sometimes wonder how I'd sound now if I'd majored in bass, rather than trumpet, when I attended UW-Eau Claire. What the hell was I thinking?!
|
But trumpet rules (I played trumpet in high school and college)
