Any tips on playing the up-beat?

[Rich Gags]

Hey y'all. I've been playing bass for only a little over a year and I've got this bass tab (pic below) and I cant get the feel for playing the "up-beat" (if that is what you call it - I come from the DJ world).

Anyway, I feel like such a spaz trying to just play the "and."

Any tips?

Thank you.
Rich

 

[buldog5151bass]

Count 1 and 2 and 3. Start where the next "and" would be.

 

[pklima]

I know people who have a hard time getting this sort of thing - rests, especially when they come on the "one" of a bar ("one drop" in reggae terminology) or other strong downbeats. I will mock them in a friendly way, usually something about "white people problems". But what might actually help is - don't think of this as an empty void during which you're not playing. Think of the downbeat just as if you were playing a note there, maybe make a gesture with your hand as if you were about to pluck the string or nod your head or something, just don't do the actual note-plucking, sound-producing part of playing. Then play the next note. Do it slowly at first if you have to.

If that doens't work, you can first try playing that example as straight 8th notes at first, then leave those notes out - again, think of them as an event that happens, so you still have an 8th note rhythm going in your head, and just aren't playing all of those. Think "note-note-uh-note-uh-note-uh-note-uh-note-uh-note-uh-note-note-note" basically.

 

[Lobster11]

Building on @pklima's suggestion: Set a metronome for straight 4's at a relatively slow tempo. Let the metronome go around (1 2 3 4) a few times while thinking (or saying out loud) 1&2&3&4&. When you're ready, play a note on the first "&" but nowhere else -- so what you'll hear is 1&2 3 4). Practice that until you're comfortable with it, then start working on playing a note (only) on the second "&." Rinse and repeat for the 3rd and 4th &'s. Once you're comfortable with each of those exercises, try combining them in various ways, e.g. play a note on both the first and second "&," or the first and third, etc.

Like learning anything else, it's important to start at a tempo that is slow enough that you can do these exercises comfortably and accurately. If the tempo is too fast you'll make a lot of mistakes -- and then you'll just be practicing making mistakes. Increase tempo gradually over time as you're able, but never faster than you can do comfortably and accurately.

 

[SteveCS]

...
Anyway, I feel like such a spaz trying to just play the "and."

Any tips?

Thank you.
Rich

View attachment 5375184

Well it is the 'ands' you need to be playing, so this might help.

If you listen to the recording, every note gets full value and ends bang on the beat - concentrate on lifting and muting for a clean 'off' at the right time and you will be close. In simple terms you need to be 'playing' the rests.

 

[BadMonk]

Like pklima suggests, I do a head nod or sometimes a foot tap to catch the beat.

 

[Jay2U]

When I was still inexperienced, I played an "air note", just above a string to stay on pace.

 

[stubborne]

Also, and this may go against conventional wisdom at Talkbass, the drummer is your friend. I'm not familiar with that song but key in on whatever the drummer may be doing on that "And". Is it a high hat, second snare, kick? Find it and key in on that feel.

 

[groooooove]

i teach 10-12 year olds to do this literally for a living.

rule number one..

do not learn it via the music. learn it separately.

put on a metronome (google has a free one that works just fine) around 80. litter faster or slower is fine.

first just play (or clap, honestly) one note with the metronome. right on it. feel those quarter notes! the actual note you play does not matter. open note, fretted note, don't matter.

then double your speed. two notes per click. do this a bunch till it feels good and natural. this can take anywhere from 30 seconds to 2 years to get good at (speaking from personal experience as a music educator ) - but seriously, let this soak in.

then verbalize the counting. we count "one and two and three and four and." you are most likely to miss the "and" following the number four.

now you can try and combinations depending on how you are doing. i'd play this example at this point if i were you:

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

having a note on one and two is a great scaffolding to get you to nail that "and of three" (the up beat after 3.)

then i'd try something like

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

you'd be wise to do many variations, as many as you can think of. have fun with it. this does not need to be stressful.

then try

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

and finally :

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

then apply the notes of the music.

you've now not just learned the intro to this song, but a whole lot of valuable skills that will apply to any and all music making in your life.

this is a rough sketch of how i'd teach this. i suspect most students will do perhaps a dozen variations before i'd get to one that's very close to the final goal.

 

[bucephylus]

Moves Like Jagger

 

[dbsfgyd1]

Hey y'all. I've been playing bass for only a little over a year and I've got this bass tab (pic below) and I cant get the feel for playing the "up-beat" (if that is what you call it - I come from the DJ world).

Anyway, I feel like such a spaz trying to just play the "and."

Any tips?

Thank you.
Rich

View attachment 5375184

the only way know how to explain this is to count it out loud don’t play it,. The notes and rests have the same time value. Sing or say each measure using using “da” for the notes, and the word “and” for the rests . when you can say it in meter, and you realize rhythmically it’s just 8 beats in a row, not playing some of the notes, it should becomes easier.

 

[Jeff Hughes]

Think about the up beat as your foot coming up when you tap on the down.

Sit at a table and tap your foot. Every time you lift up your foot tap your finger on the table.

This can be practiced anywhere. And can annoy most anyone everywhere.

 

[FullumMusic]

Move your body and listen. Yes count too. But body movement helps so much. You don't have to full-on dance. Nod your head and shoulders to the beat. Land on the beat, up to the upbeat. When you're at the top of your nod, play the note.

And listen. What are the other instruments doing on the 3, and on the And of 3? When you hear what they play on the 3 you know you're coming on the And. Just gave a quick listen to the song. It sounds like there's a guitar cue on the 3 and the bass and the drummer hit the And of 3. Listen, and MAKE EYE CONTACT WITH THE DRUMMER. Communicate with the other musicians. Music is interactive.

Also, if your'e coming from the DJ world, i assume you've tapped out a tempo on the decks or on Serrato/Traktor/etc. And i bet you're nodding your head to the beat, not just tapping with your fingers and counting.
Here's an exercise you can do without your bass:
- Without any music on, just start counting 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and while you nod and tap out a tempo with your left hand.

- Keep tapping and counting, but now with your other hand, only tap on the And of 3. It'll look like
L and L and L R L and (repeat).

- Now that you have the rhythmic pattern, turn the song on, maybe loop the intro, and tap along with it the same exact way. Listen to how your right hand should already be hitting where the bass pickup starts on the And of 3.

- Keep the intro looped, pick up your bass, and only play that one note on the And of 3. Count and nod your head on the beat, and just play that one note like:
Nod and Nod and Nod NOTE nod and (repeat)

- At some point, when you're hitting just that one note, just keep playing from there.

 

[cxcxcx]

The advice to slow the tempo down to where you can play it perfectly and then bump the tempo progressively up to where it should be is solid.

Repeated guesses at what you think it is won’t help and is counter to how the brain operates to learn new material. Also, many suggestions about this are great for analysis, but not performance. Few players count and think that much - it’s more of a feel and reaction to the music. The best way to get in it your head, heart, and hands is to do the reps. The reason an experienced player won’t have a lot of trouble with this is because he or she has already worked on a feel like that somewhere else in their past.



I gotta wonder if The Edge gets a royalty check for the guitar part on this…

 

[Bertr]

Think Kylie's 'Out of my head'.

 

[Wfrance3]

straight 4's at a relatively slow tempo

Absolutely!

saying out loud)

Verbalizing always helps me reinforce what I'm learning to play.

I adopt a regular practice routine every week and switch things out to keep it interesting and for well-rounded-ness. One of the ones I like that may help you is to do a strong beat exercise. set your metronome on a 4 beat tempo where all clicks are the same tone (some metronomes have one beat different from the other 3) you are comfortable with. Just sit on a single note and play 1 e and u 2 e and u, 3 e and u, 4 e and u, emphasizing the 1,2,3,4 and play the e and u normally. When you get to 4 and loop back to the 1, do 1 E and u, 2 E, and u... This time emphasize the E. Next loop emphasize the AND, then the U, then back to the 1.
The "e-and-u" are between metronome beat 1 and 2. Like this: Beat 1 e and u Beat 2...
When you emphasize a beat, don't pluck it ridiculously hard, just a little hard. Keep all beats even, whether they are emphasized or not. - Also, don't let the 1 move on you. When you make your second loop and are emphasizing the "E", don't let yourself put that E on the beat. Playing regular on the 1 beat and emphasizing the "E" is hard to do at first, which I guess is the point of the exercise. Keep at it until it feels normal to articulate as prescribed for the 1, the e, the and, and the u. And absolutely follow @Lobster11; there's no such thing as too slow, and verbalize as you play. It will help!

 

[slagbass]

Think about the up beat as your foot coming up when you tap on the down.

Sit at a table and tap your foot. Every time you lift up your foot tap your finger on the table.

This can be practiced anywhere. And can annoy most anyone everywhere.

This one is right out of the Carol Kaye method. Use your left foot (if you pluck with your right hand) to tap the beat (1,2,3,4 for 4/4 time). The upbeat is when your left foot is raised. If you play with a pick, your right hand moves up and down in unison with your left foot - upbeats are played with an upstroke, downbeats are played with a downstroke. It's a very effective method to get your playing more rhythmically accurate.

I remember my bass teacher getting me to play the opening line to "My Girl" by the Temptations using this method. I kept wanting to play the the opening note (which is on an upbeat) while my left foot was down. It took a lot of slow, methodical practice but once I got it, upbeats became a lot easier to play. Good luck!

 

[gmarcus]

Place your finger on the during on the down beat and then pull it up and release it on the up beat. Kind of let your fingers dance with the string. Keep that down beat very much in mind as a pick up to the up beat.

 

[J Wilson]

Take the '1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and' feel, and replicate it with your two hands off the bass, on your thigh, a table top, etc.

So . . . .

Left and Right and Left and Right and Left and Right and Left and Right with the 1 and 2 and . . . .

Get that in your head and you're gonna hit the note every 'Right'.

 

[stringthrough]

How about listening to the actual recording, focusing on the bassline and internalizing the groove.