Anybody switching between 6 and 5 or 4?

[Wasnex]

Thing is, we usually tell people to start learning on a 4 before going to a 5 or 6.

IMHO this is bad advice. IMHO, ideally you should start with however many strings you will ultimately use. Of course no one can see the future, but it sounds like you are already established on the 6. Unless you have some pressing reason, I suggest continuing on the 6.

Why I think an incremental approach is bad advice. IMHO learning 4 and then switching to 5 or 6 is not an incremental change. The number of strings has an impact on the logic you use to navigate the fretboard. Ideally you should know the fretboard cold, and fingering and shifting should happen automatically. Whenever you change the number of strings, I believe most people will need to update their mental map of the fingerboard. So basically in order to be really fluent on a 6 you have to tear up your 4 string map and vice versa.

Don't get me wrong, this is something that can be managed. So if you have a good reason to switch between 4, 5,and 6 it can be done. But IMHO, the required versatility is not free. It requires you to give up a bit of extra fluency you can build if you play one instrument exclusively.

Whether this is significant can vary depending upon the processes you use to learn and maintain music. I find it makes a bigger difference whenever I think in terms of note names and/or reading music notation or chord changes. When using this type of logic, I find the physical references on the fretboard are very import. I find it makes a much smaller difference when I think in terms of intervals and patterns, and/or play primarily by ear.

My experience. I was a full time pro for about 18 years. I started with 4 and transitioned to 5 and then later 6. Both of the transitions were fairly long and arduous for me. I would say doing the transitions knocked my progress back about 2 years. If possible it would be best to avoid having to overcome the related difficulties. I would say it took about a decade before I really started feeling like a naturalized 6 player. Before that, I felt more like a 4 player with a couple of extra strings.

At this point I am most at home on the 6, and tend to stumble more when I pickup a 4 or 5. If I play a 4 or 5 for any significant time, it starts to rewrite the automated processes I use to play the 6, and degrades my fluency. This occurs with < 1 hour playing a 4 or 5. So I choose to play the 6 almost exclusively, even if I don't need all 6 strings.

I do switch between BG and upright bass. I seem to have totally separate mental maps for these two instruments as they require different logic for shifts and fingering. Initially I used Simandl fingering on both BG and UB, but about two years into being a pro, I transitioned to essentially one finger per fret on bass guitar.

The one challenge will be finding someone who is able/willing to teach you on 6. Also finding material specific to the 6 will probably be challenging. Even with these detractors, I would prefer to learn on the 6. Learning might involve expanding material you are tasked to learn so it is relevant to the 6 string. For example if you are given a set of written arpeggios or some other sort of reading exercise, you might write out extra arpeggios that fall in the range of the low B and high C.

 

[Ellery]

Your goal should be to know your scales well enough to use any bass and apply them. If you only think of them as visual patterns, the “boxes” if you will, you are limiting yourself. If you think of them as the sequence of intervals that they are, switching between 4/5/6 strings, OR playing the same scale or phrase across all strings or 2 or 3 or even 1 string should be easy. I will occasionally pick up a guitar and practice single note basslines on different parts of the fretboard, even high register, and also on a keyboard. Challenging but worth it.

 

[Rezdog]

Greetings from the North,

As of late I have been favouring the 4 strings that I have restrung and set up. But I still enjoy the variety of playing 5 and 4 strings. On the 5s just have to remember the A is in the middle

Rezdog

 

[coyote1]

I’ve been playing a 6 string bass exclusively for a year now, and I’ve just started taking lessons after playing for some 20 years. But I don’t know which instrument to learn on — the 4 or the 6 string?

More specifically, I’m learning scales/modes. My goal is to be able to start on any note and from there play any scale fluently on the entire neck.

Thing is, we usually tell people to start learning on a 4 before going to a 5 or 6. On the other hand, the 6 is my main bass. It’s the one I play with in my bands because I use the B string, and quite frankly, my 4 doesn’t sound all that good (Fender MusicMaster Bass).

There are also people on here who preach the importance of committing to a 6 string if that’s what you want to play because it allows you to play more vertically than horizontally, like on 4.

Which brings me to my second question — I also want to get another bass to pair with the 6. I want something lighter, passive and without the C string for the bands. Would it be easier to go from 6 to 5 or does it not matter?

Thanks.

I found 6 string bass helped me see arpeggios/chords more clearly. Having two+ octaves available without having to change position is wonderful.

But I disagree with the “you must commit” notion. I play many instruments, and what I learn on one carries over to others. Virtually every good musician I know can sit with a guitar or bass or keyboard or drums, and make it musical. If you are a prodigy on one, perhaps you focus relentlessly on that one. I don’t know. I can say that what I learned on 6 string carried over to 4 string upright acoustic.

Just my opinion and experience though. Yours may vary.

 

[logdrum]

It is personal. No pedagogy on this,. If you can hear the lines and phrases in your head. - it's just a matter of executing them.

 

[ElectricBass72]

I have one 6-string, five 5-strings and a bunch of 4's. I don't play the 6 as often as the 5's.... but it's a good option. Keeping the strings not being played deadened with right and fretting hand is the biggest challenge of the 6, in my opinion. The wide neck don't bother me.

 

[ad9000]

I agree with others that have said it's not difficult to go between a 4, 5 and 6 or any combination of those because of the symmetrical nature of tuning in 4ths - there's much more thought involved in going from a 6-string bass to guitar, for example. I took my first 6-string out on a gig the day I got it and had no problem navigating it.

What is more difficult with a 6 is muting the B string so it's not ringing out when you're playing the upper strings - took me a while to get a handle on that. Somewhere I saw a video with John Patitucci where he shows his method for muting, which looked like the most efficient way to do it. My way of doing it is more unconscious - if I had to explain to you right now I probably couldn't!

 

[HelpImaRock]

Have you ever considered not being wrong?

 

[ardgedee]

IMHO, the required versatility is not free. It requires you to give up a bit of extra fluency you can build if you play one instrument exclusively.

I think it can depend on what's being played. I'm reasonably certain I could pick up anything and chug out a simple eight-bar blues walk or country root-and-fifth on cue. For something more complex or requiring greater technical skill... well I'm screwed anyway er I mean I would want to stick to the number of strings and physical layout that I regularly practice on.

 

[GreyBeard]

What does your teacher think?

 

[MrLenny1]

I say start on 4 string. Others will say it doesn't matter how many strings, true but
until you know the neck well a 4 IMHO will make it easier.

 

[SunByrne]

The annoying but real answer:
It doesn't matter.

I mostly agree. Most of the important patterns (e.g., scales/modes) go across 3 strings, and if you can generalize to 4 then you should be able to generalize to 5 or 6, too. Some people find it easier to visualize with more strings but in principle it shouldn't matter.

The motor skills are not quite the same, particularly muting. I mean, if you can mute on a 6 you can certainly mute on a 4, but the other way around will take some practice.

I think the advice to start on a 4 is based on a couple things that apply particularly to beginners (easier to reach everything, and muting is easier) but aren't really deal-breakers even there. I'll readily admit that it's probably good that I learned on a 4 because a shallower learning curve was important for me at the time, but now it's less of a thing. I mean, I still play mostly 4s and sometimes when I pick up a 5 I have to remind myself that muting is a little more work (and where the A string is, for some reason—no issues with the others). But it's not like this is spectacularly difficult to master. I just acquired up my first multiscale (i.e., fanned fret) bass, and there's a little adjustment there as well but it's not like it's a huge deal. Similar thing to adding strings--it's a little different but it's certainly not insurmountable.

I will say that a 6 perplexes me, not because I can't understand how to play one, but because I can't figure out what I'd ever use the C string for. But that's more about the music I tend to play, not anything inherent to 6 strings. If the stuff you're trying to play needs the high C, then go for it.

So, yeah, if you plan to mostly play a 6, there's no compelling reason not to just stay on the 6.

 

[FullumMusic]

I will say that a 6 perplexes me, not because I can't understand how to play one, but because I can't figure out what I'd ever use the C string for. But that's more about the music I tend to play, not anything inherent to 6 strings. If the stuff you're trying to play needs the high C, then go for it.

Hehehe, this is one of the main reasons why after nearly 30 years, i sold my 6. There were other reasons too, but mostly this.

Unless i was playing along with Primus songs, alone, at home, i had no use for the C string. Even if i played notes that were on the C string, i often played them on lower strings because i prefer the smoother tone of the same note on a thicker string. Occasionally it would be fun to do some clever tapping patterns on. Still, that would only ever be me screwing around at home, alone.

Now the low B string... that i enjoy using a lot, and have ample valid musical reasons to use it. Dance, Hip Hop, R&B; anything that makes the earth shake more.

 

[DionClassic]

I don’t know if this counts…

 

[TheArchitect]

I said goodbye to 6's a while back when I refreshed the entire stable. I have a TRBX605 5 string and basic passive P and J basses with vintage style pickups. I am so happy I made that change. The staples just work best for me.

 

[Wasnex]

I will say that a 6 perplexes me, not because I can't understand how to play one, but because I can't figure out what I'd ever use the C string for. But that's more about the music I tend to play, not anything inherent to 6 strings. If the stuff you're trying to play needs the high C, then go for it.

I was interested in the 6 with a high C because my job entailed playing jazz combo and I was expected to solo. IMHO the high C is very useful for this.

For most cover band material I rarely needed the high C. There were occasional songs where a certain fill felt like it was probably originally played on a 6. Also the C can allow you to access some degree of tonal nuance if you are into that sort of thing. With the original strings that came on the bass, I felt the tone on the C was too thin below about the 5th fret. Not a problem with the strings I use now.

I think the low B is far more useful than the high C. I would say it borders almost on being essential. There is plenty of music where the bass line goes below open E. Also lot's of vocalists need to drop the key, which can sometimes mess up an iconic bass line. Having the low B allows you to play the original bass line without having to invert intervals.

I have played the 6 almost exclusively since about 1995 and I miss the C or B if they are absent; regardless of whether I need them or not. So I prefer using the 6 rather than switching.

I could see switching if I thought it was vital to have a tone my 6 cannot produce. IME that is usually not much of a concern for anyone except the bass player, so I don't tend to worry about switching bass guitars. However, I used to switch between bass guitar, upright with a pickup, and an electric upright.

 

[Just Wrong]

I was interested in the 6 with a high C because my job entailed playing jazz combo and I was expected to solo. IMHO the high C is very useful for this.

For most cover band material I rarely needed the high C. There were occasional songs where a certain fill felt like it was probably originally played on a 6. Also the C can allow you to access some degree of tonal nuance if you are into that sort of thing. With the original strings that came on the bass, I felt the tone on the C was too thin below about the 5th fret. Not a problem with the strings I use now.

I think the low B is far more useful than the high C. I would say it borders almost on being essential. There is plenty of music where the bass line goes below open E. Also lot's of vocalists need to drop the key, which can sometimes mess up an iconic bass line. Having the low B allows you to play the original bass line without having to invert intervals.

I have played the 6 almost exclusively since about 1995 and I miss the C or B if they are absent; regardless of whether I need them or not. So I prefer using the 6 rather than switching.

I could see switching if I thought it was vital to have a tone my 6 cannot produce. IME that is usually not much of a concern for anyone except the bass player, so I don't tend to worry about switching bass guitars. However, I used to switch between bass guitar, upright with a pickup, and an electric upright.

What strings do you use?

 

[JRA]

i've never played anything but 4s, but i'd advise you to use the 6-string you're playing now, per the advice of like-minded others. good luck with your lessons!

 

[Wasnex]

What strings do you use?

Current set is Smith Medium Rockmasters. FYI, I rarely change strings, so I can't really tell you much in regards to how they sound or how long they stay lively.

 

[SunByrne]

I was interested in the 6 with a high C because my job entailed playing jazz combo and I was expected to solo. IMHO the high C is very useful for this

For sure!

Since I'm mostly rock that's treading too much into guitar territory for my uses, but I completely get that other people are in different musical contexts and have different needs. If you need a high C, you need a high C. I just happen not to.

think the low B is far more useful than the high C.

No argument there, which is why my stable has a couple 5s in it.

A moment of devil's advocacy, though, just for fun: from a practical standpoint the vast majority of sound reproduction equipment, including most bass guitar cabinets, don't really go much below the mid-40Hz range, so there's not much loss in terms of what it'll sound like to most audiences by simply going up an octave for anything below probably low D. That is, a 4-string in drop D gives one all the notes that most gear can meaningfully reproduce anyway. Saw an interview with one of my favorites, Justin Chancellor (almost always plays a 4 in drop D), who said anything he couldn't get to on drop D he could just use an octave pedal for anyway. He was half just being snarky, but still.

While there's a legit point in there, that's kind of no fun, and as you noted, lots of lines are just way easier to play if you actually have a low B available. And, of course, it's worth it for the times when you do have something that will reproduce those sub-40 notes. It can be fun to rattle the windows now and then.

My real issue with 5s is string tension, since I'm a fan of balanced tension that means a ginormous B string. Hence the recent purchase of a multiscale.