Beginning with 5 strings.

[Basta-bass]

After 35 years of 4 strings, I took the step ahead to finally try 5 strings. I've been switching between the two since. And to be honest, it's not so easy...

Do you, who play both 4 & 5, think I should for a time stick with the fiver and let the 4 strings aside until I feel comfortable with 5?
Or should I keep playing both in order not to "forget" my 4 strings habits?

Don't know what to think about it...

 

[Groove Doctor]

What specifically are you struggling with?
If technical stuff, we can help.
If it’s just screwing with your head, welcome to the club.

How long has it been since you got the 5-string?
I recall playing the 5er exclusively for about 3 months until I ironed out my technique, I felt completely comfortable on it for any song & it had become automatic.

Then switching between was a little bumpy for the first half hour of playing. It smoothed out within weeks.

 

[Basta-bass]

Hi!
Thanks for answering.

I bought my 5er 2 months ago but it's only 1 week now that I have it full time at home with time to work on it (thanks to the COVID... ,I had left it on the studio and wasn't hallowed to go pick it!).

So you think I should leave my 4 strings aside for a few months...
I hate the idea...
But maybe it's the only way...

Whatever, I'm now playing scales and arpeggios on 2 octaves to get use to the E not being there where it has always been!

 

[flannel cat]

play em both even if you find you hate it,, that 5th string after awhile the brain just accepts it being there kinda like a tooth ache
itll make ya cranky then it gets tolerable and after a bit your rocking it out and digging it..and those low notes get low to the point satans knocking on your floor with his broomstick to turn down. have fun.

 

[totem]

The thing that got me was looking at my left hand. If I played by feel I was fine. If I looked at my hand, the B string would suddenly become the E string and I’d make a sonic mess. It took me two or three months to be fully comfortable on the 5, but it was well worth it.

 

[Michael Case]

I put the 4 string away for a while and played the 5 exclusively until I was comfortable. I didn't lose any 4 string ability, that's like riding a bike.

 

[Element Zero]

Put the 4 string away. Play more music instead of scales.

 

[fretlessguy]

I put my 4 strings away for a while. In fact, except for occasional recording, I played a Carvin 5 string almost exclusively from 95-98. After a return to the 4 string I would sometimes take my finger to play the low D on the B string I would hit air. But after a few songs into practice 4 string would come back. Now when I go to practice
I use the bass which fits the music I will be playing to eliminate the 4 or 5 string confusion.

 

[Basta-bass]

Ok...
It's better now.
I'm not yet as much at ease than with the 4 strings, but I can now play most of my cover band bass parts with the 5er and not mess it to much!
It's not as accurate and my fills are somewhat clumsy for now but getting better all the time.
My left hand is a bit sore due to the extra thickness of the neck, I'll probably be buying a slimmer one in a few months... maybe one of the new Sadowsky Expresses.
Thanks for the support and specially to totem, whose advice not to look to much at my left hand was very useful, and helped a lot.
I'll let you know..

 

[totem]

I’m glad to hear you’re making progress and that my advice helped you. Keep at it and it will become second nature. I now find that I can easily switch between 5s and 4s, and between different neck profiles and string spacings.

 

[Mili]

Keep playing both. spelling the notes while practicing 2 octaves triads (through circle of 5th) is a helpful method.

 

[the general]

Just keep practicing with the five string. I get tripped up for probably an hour when I pick up the five string after playing a four string for a long period of time.

My muscle memory has to remember that strings are closer together, that my thumb needs to rest on the B string, and adjust for the thicker neck. But after I get situated, all is well.

 

[vindibona1]

You've already got the picture from the previous replies. One would think that the transition from 4 to 5 would be almost seamless, but for most it is not. Like the others, it took me about 3 months to have a basic feel of the instrument, but from time to time I still got fumble-fingered for almost a year, during which time I never really played my 4 string. The thing is that once you get used to a 5er you can instantly transition back to a 4 string (assuming you played one originally).

If I can try to explain the phenomenon of the difficulty of transitioning to a 5 string, I could use 2nd space C from first position as an example. On a 4 string, that C resides one string over from the lowest string which sets about 25% in from the edge of the fingerboard. On a 5er that C is located about dead center. If you think about how some of us fuss over 1mm difference in string spacing, imagine how disconcerting a 12mm difference would be. One would think that we orient ourselves mentally and tactilly from the highest string, bottom of the neck, to the lowest string. And the first time I picked up a 5er that's how I thought I could approach it. But it was totally disorienting. And I believe that's because, without thinking about it, I orient from low to high. Perhaps that explains why I didn't have nearly so much trouble becoming comfortable with my 6 string once I decided to get over myself and practice with it. It took about a serious week with my 6er compared to many months with the 5. Just sayin'.

 

[MrLenny1]

IMHO stay with the 5. Don't forget that a 5 is a 4 with a great thumb rest.
My biggest issue was confusing the B for the E. Took a year to get over it.
I went with 5 strings in 1991. All my axes are 5's. Recently bought a 4
for fun and it feels weird.

 

[phillipkregg]

I went through the same thing. And you’re right, the best thing to do is just to stick with the five until it becomes second nature.

I remember an interview with Muzz Skillings, when he was playing with living color. He said when he first brought a five string on tour he was playing wrong notes all over the place. But it was the only bass he brought on the tour, so he had to get used to it. By the end of the tour he didn’t have any problems anymore

 

[bassnat]

After 35 years of 4 strings, I took the step ahead to finally try 5 strings. I've been switching between the two since. And to be honest, it's not so easy...

Do you, who play both 4 & 5, think I should for a time stick with the fiver and let the 4 strings aside until I feel comfortable with 5?
Or should I keep playing both in order not to "forget" my 4 strings habits?

Don't know what to think about it...

All 5 until you get it. Once you got it you may never look back. I didn’t. Not any easy transition. Commit and don’t quit.

 

[ruju]

Stick with the 5 string until it feels natural.
I actually prefer the wider neck of my 5 strings. You need to adjust your left hand shape to make it feel comfortable. Now when I play 4 strings the neck feels too thin.

 

[JW56789]

I bought my first five and began playing them exclusively in the late 80's. I have not owned a 4-string again until last year. As you can see, I prefer five-strings.

I was gigging 6-7 nights a week in those days and would take my 4 and new 5 to the gigs. Typically I'd start the first set with the five, make a mess of it, and go back to the four before the night was up.

It dawned on me I was NEVER going to get this done as long as my 'safety net' (the four) was around.

So I simply told the band they were going to have to live with a few mistakes for a while until I got it under my hands, never took the four to the gig, and after a few weeks, I was there, never looked back.

I prefer a five-string as it allows me to play across the fingerboard more than up and down it, and it's so much easier to transpose songs for E-flat, D, etc.

As such, while some like to think of it as a 'four-string with an extra string', to me it's a separate and somewhat different instrument than my four-string. I double on keyboards, and have 61-note synths and 88-note pianos. Both have white and black keys, are played in a similar fashion obviously, but also obviously are two different things.

I think of my five-string the same way.

If anything, the five taught me different ways of looking at and imagining the fingerboard, and made me a better four--string player once I bought one last year.

After 35 years' experience, the LAST thing I'd worry about if I were you was getting rusty on your four.

 

[Cut the middle]

My2 cents:
When I started 5 string in '86 I put the 4 string basses aside. I then loosened the "B", pulled it to the top side of the bridge saddle then put some tension back on it and didn't play it at first... Then I played stuff I already knew to familiarize my hands with how the string spacing and relative string position on the neck felt while playing familiar tunes. Once familiar I was able to re-saddle the b and incorporate it into my playing.

But putting aside the 4 stringers was the major hurdle!

 

[vindibona1]

IMHO stay with the 5. Don't forget that a 5 is a 4 with a great thumb rest.
My biggest issue was confusing the B for the E. Took a year to get over it.
I went with 5 strings in 1991. All my axes are 5's. Recently bought a 4
for fun and it feels weird.

I'm going to agree with you except the one statement that I've boldened. As we add strings it becomes more important for the thumb to act as a mute which would probably mean moving, if not floating thumb. Encouraging the use of that 5th string as a thumb rest, even if kidding is a bad suggestion IMO. Once you get started doing something it's a bitch to change. All it takes is 5 minutes of doing it the wrong way and it becomes a habit. 20 minutes and it is an ingrained habit. Trust me. I'm the poster boy for having to correct bad habits in multiple endeavors.