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Four or Five? I like this perspective.
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Everyone likes what they like. I've never thought I needed a 5th string and will stay with 4. YMMV
For the last few years, I have been taking lessons. It took me a while, but I have developed some facility as a reader and I have gotten much better at finding notes on the fingerboard. For the past year and a half, I have tackling Jazz and walking. My assignment this week is to learn a transcription of Paul Chambers walking during Miles Davis’ first solo on “So What?” Seeing where Chambers placed his notes is quite an education. I could do it on a five, but playing a four and knowing that I have to make certain choices really helps me get inside the head of upright players who overwhelmingly have used fours.
Jazzdogg
Less barking, more wagging!
This subject seems analogous to a discussion of 4-speed manual transmissions versus 6-speed manual transmissions...
Smooth_bass88
vaxx!
- Oct 31, 2006
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It’s just so much easier to keep a five string bass around. Being proficient on one has led to some seriously lucrative gigs for me. I’m glad I made it a point to own and use onei don't see how the two can be separated. one is the other. it's music/art. how is a painting made: is it the artist or the brush?
that's how i took it.my post was just an 'admission' --- i play fours, never took up fives.
you can make a living playing only fours. lots of players do exactly that!
per the discussion: it makes sense to defend/support/'sell' how you'd accomplish a task (e.g., playing a bass part). it also makes sense to accept how others accomplish the same task even though they go about it differently. but everyone already knows this, right?!
i prefer a 4, but end up playing a 5 most of the time. I like the 4 extra low notes for dramatic effect, and I typically memorize progressions by shape, and we have lots of singers that enjoy last minute key changes, so it makes my life a lot easier if i can drop down a string.
There are plenty of radio hits where bass guitar hits low D, low C, whatever. It's not just harder rock like Nickelback/Seether. There's also modern country (Aldean, etc), and dance pop: gotta have low D for Uptown Funk. Add to that the many hits with synth bass going down low.
If you don't have a five, then become really adept at detuning your four. I did that for many years, but it's not the best solution: hard to set up a bass so the low E is playable when tuned down to C, and also at standard pitch. Hipshot Xtenders help a little bit, but I needed more than one low note even back then: Eb, D, C#, even C for a song or two.
It's a mistake to think your bandmates won't notice missing low notes. After a four string player subbed for me in one of my bands, my bandmates said he did a great job, but some of the tunes sounded weak without the sub-E notes. Even if he had gone to low D, there were tunes where low C and C# were needed.
TL;DR: You'll be a LOT more marketable if you can easily play bass/synth lines that travel below low E, and five string is the most effective way to accomplish that.
P.S. Once I became familiar with 5 string I realized that the sub-E notes were nice, but the biggest advantage was having more range in each fingering position. After all, the B string can be played above the 5th fret. It can get dodgy in the upper register (hard to reach; intonation can be off) but I frequently play low B in the middle register: 5th to 12th fret, I suppose.
I wonder if synth players have similar debates regarding number of keys on keyboards without transposition functions.
songwriter21
I have an obsession for wood. The musical kind.
I've been really busy and unable to watch the full video, but I think he's talking about beginners. I would suggest that people look at the bassists that are playing the music they want to play and go with what they are playing. Playing 5 string is just a little more difficult than 4. Learn floating thumb and you'll do fine on 5.
There are certainly an infinite number of artistic possibilities, and far be it from me to comment on any kind of “universal truths.”i don't see how the two can be separated. one is the other. it's music/art. how is a painting made: is it the artist or the brush?
it makes sense to defend/support/'sell' how you'd accomplish a task (e.g., playing a bass part). it also makes sense to accept how others accomplish the same task even though they go about it differently. but everyone already knows this, right?!
My statement was more directed at the segment of performance of established / known / cover music; in which, the audience and /or band leader expect to hear certain parts. No laws, and players can choose to play Chicago Blues lines over Wagon Wheel, if that works for them. Otherwise, those certain parts are expected. Kind of like doing commercial art. Someone paying for a portrait wouldn’t expect to receive a completely abstract creation after sitting; though I’m sure that has happened.
It is true that a significant aspect of popular music is consistently bringing something fresh to each performance, while maintaining the original aspects. The point in my post, which you quoted, was merely that bass parts require certain notes; which need to be played irrespective of the number of strings on the instrument. The part matters to the audience, not the tool used to play it. Players are certainly welcome to have their artistic prefs; like different kinds of brushes. The end product is what mattters; the brushes used, not so much.
Paul Chambers is a good start. Don't give up and check out ron carter's book later.
After thinking a bit on the matter, I probably did a poor job commenting about the OP vid.
I believe the issue that underlies this discussion, and which we talk about may be less about the number of strings on the instrument and more about a general philosophy about shifting. The OP vid specifically mentions this aspect.
There is a general perception that more strings = less shifting; and a substantial fraction of players prefers having more notes under their fingers without needing to shift. I believe this was the design philosophy behind the original Fender bass V.
@Fuzzbass is entirely correct that there are certain bass parts best played on a 5 string, due to range. That is my primary reason for gigging the 5, when I use it.
At the same time, there are players who don’t use that range per se, but prefer to play parts across the strings to avoid shifting. That too is perfectly legit; and if it works for them on their gigs, then great.
I feel there is a whole other discussion about shifting vs position playing; and threads like this are somewhat arguing at cross purposes about separate problems.
Shifting has a number of interesting aspects. For example, the C 3rd fret on the A string is the same note as the C 8th fret on the E string. Yet, those same notes can have very different characters relative to the part. I believe the OP vid was somewhat trying to make this point. Optimal fingering choices will always be a dynamic discussion. Convoluting that discussion with number of strings / range issues makes for confusion.
B12, I was originally a classical piano student. When I later began playing in bands, I also never heard a Wurlitzer or DX player look at a CP80 Yamaha electric grand and say I never play down there or up there. In keys you often see an 88-key Yamaha or Nord or Roland keyboard atop a B3 and hear any kickback, we simply go back and forth.
4 vs 5 vs 6 often seems to be framed as some test of skill or musical manhood, and it's silly, big time. Just Play !
The subjects are related because the OP notes that there is less ability to hang out in one spot on a four so a player will learn to shift. The ideal situation, of course, is to master position playing and shifting.
On five string I still shift a lot even when I don't have to. Main reason is tone: sometimes I want a phatter tone from a lower string. But certainly, I also use the extended range in each fingering position to avoid shifting when shifting is awkward.
