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Drop D on a 5 string?

#25
Well it is a five and i really dont mind. I played tonight and arranged all my Drop d tunes for the time after i detuned then retuned back to normal. I just thought that since i play alot of drop D tunes i could tune up the B to D and have it there all the time. I play alot of tunes in Reg tuning and it would make it nice.How do bassists do it in live bands? Do they use one of those hipshot things or change basses?
 
#26
most will either stay in drop d the whole time or leave it normal tuning. i have had to deal with changing from drop d to e tuning between songs in a live situation and it wasnt that much of a problem. i have seen some that switch basses and i dont know about whether or not a lot of people use the hipshot d tuners or not. they just seem like a nifty tool.
 
#27
.two of the top guitarists i know one a bassist and another a reg guitar told me they never do scales and if i ever get half as good as them i will be fine.
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I agree with your two friends, if you know chord structure the scales are within that structure.

Learning a bunch of scales and then trying to implement them into your music doesn't work. It's better to know where and why and how they work.

I play by ear as well as read. My reading skills have helped my ear playing tremendously.

Fen, if you play guitar, think of the low B string as if it just keeps going, only backwards, do you understand that?

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Treena
 
#29
Originally posted by fenbull
Dude...i think you see my point.O.k. here is a tab played on drop D.- 9/12--0-9-7-0-2p0-2 In drop D it is that simple..but in B where do i go cuz the note in B will not be the same. This is the reason i stick to just detuning the string. i understand that the open D is the 3rd fret but what about all the other notes...i would have to transpose all tab in drop d then? If i played the same tab in standard E it would not be right cuz the whole string is in E....Hey im tryin guys give me a break! :D
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Like the other guys, I'm gonna tell you to learn the notes on the neck of your bass. That line could be easily played on a five string as:
A-4/7 B-3 A-4-2 B-3-5p3-5
Learn your notes, it gets bloody easy.
 
#30
Yea I'm with Govithoy on that one. The easiest way to solve your problem is just to learn how to use the B string. It seems hard right now, but thats because your just not familiar with it. It's really easy, honestly. I think it would take you at most 2-3 weeks to get it down. It will be different at first, but you will really be able to put that B string to good use and learn alot more about your bass.

The more you learn about your bass, the more you will like playing it. :bassist:
 
#31
Govithoy, your A string part of the tab is two frets sharp, cause he's going from a D string in his tab, not an E. Good work though, I did it about halfway through the thread. ;)

Get into some music theory sorta stuff, learn the notes on the neck. You'll free up your technique, rather than just relying on tab and your ear alone, you can back it up with a bit of theory. It helps, cause rather than just blindly searching for the note you have in your head, you can go 'this may sound good', or 'whys that note I'm playing sounding odd with the rest of the band playing'.

Possibly what Treena means is that the B is kinda like the D, notes-wise, except that it continues further backwards, to the B. Its like a reference point, from the 3rd fret on the B string, its exactly the same notes as if you're tuned D. You just get more notes 'backwards' from the D.

Josh D
 

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