Freaked Out Beginner

[Ianhin]

Ok so i m a beginner bass player, i m playing in a cover band, and have a lot of material to learn!
But there s certain parts to some songs, it doesnt matter how much i play them over and over, when it comes to playing the whole song, when it gets to that difficult piece i mess it up!
Like that little run the bassist in Dire Straights does at the end of Sultans of Swing..during the last lead solo - it s quite a quick little run starting on D....anyine else struggle with that one?
Another one is Black Night by Deep Purple there s quite a few tricky parts there for a novice to learn!
Then there s a tricky part in Sex on Fire too when he jumps from the A string quick to the D and then the G in that little run - whoaaa!
Then there s that quiet bit at the the end of Under the Bridge by RHCP that also trips me up hoo boy i ve got a lot to learn!
I bet some of u pro s r hosing urselves right now! Hehe..
I d be interested to know if anybody else struggled with those.
Sultans is such a cool song to play pretty straight 4ward and then he throws that run in - i bet he put that there to freak the beginners out!

 

[strictlybass_ic]

I've had some of the same, and may similar struggles. Best way I've found to get over the hump is to break it up and slow it down. Cut it into short sections, and play them at about half speed. Gradually work on each section playing it faster and faster until you can go as fast or faster then the recording. Then put them all together and go back to half speed, again working your way up. The main riff to Hysteria used to look utterly impossible to me, now I can play it at double time. Just a matter of muscle memory and training.

 

[/\/\3phist0]

You can use a program (free) called audacity to slow the playback without changing the pitch. There are other programs too.
Advice you "psyching" yourself out. Tensing up knowing the part is coming.
Next suggestion find alternate fingerings different string and or fretting position for that part that you are stuck on (higher on the neck lower pitch strings or the inverse higher strings lower frets)

 

[Ianhin]

Cool thanks guys...good advice.

 

[thabassmon]

Everyone has hurdles mate it's just part of learning.

Strictybass nailed it.

Small parts played slow. Then gradually put together and sped up. The very first song I ever learnt on bass was Rage Against the Machines' Bombtrack and this is exactly how I did it, it has tricky for beginners intro. Worked for me, hope it works for you.
Best of luck.

 

[dgrizzly]

I've had some of the same, and may similar struggles. Best way I've found to get over the hump is to break it up and slow it down. Cut it into short sections, and play them at about half speed. Gradually work on each section playing it faster and faster until you can go as fast or faster then the recording. Then put them all together and go back to half speed, again working your way up. The main riff to Hysteria used to look utterly impossible to me, now I can play it at double time. Just a matter of muscle memory and training.

^ This If I'm learning a difficult cover song, I still do this.

Also, YouTube can be helpful to see what position to play stuff in and which fingers to use, etc

 

[Coolhandjjl]

Garage Band lets you slow down w/o altering pitch also.

Don't sweat it if you can't cop someone elses vibe. Some of those guys have serious chops that took years to develop. I tried to do 'I Want You/She's so Heavy' note for note. Had to give up. Macca's doing the full tour de force here. He's doing hammer-ons, pull-offs, bends, runs of various lengths, some shredding (before there even was shredding) and IIRC, a full 12 fret glissando in about a second.

 

[Growlmonkee]

What Strictlybass said is one of the best ways to learn difficult sections of a song. There will probably always be parts of some songs that you'll have to take apart to learn, but as confidence builds, by having done that so many times, it becomes less stressful. A riff that you just can't get now will become something to look forward to in a song in time. Given enough time, and practice, you might even hope there's something like that in a new song.

 

[kcole4001]

Some parts are just more tricky to pull off cleanly.
That little run in 'Sex on Fire' is one of them.
Not difficult but a little awkward, so sometimes hard to get to flow, depending on your physical/mental state.

Realize that your state of mind and general tiredness make a difference in how you play and don't get too down about it.
Sometimes progress is slow.

And I read somewhere that after a certain amount of time, further practice is actually detrimental, so take a break, watch a show, get a snack, take a nap, whatever.
when you come back to it, you'll hopefully feel refreshed and your time will be better spent.

 

[WannabeBassman]

And I read somewhere that after a certain amount of time, further practice is actually detrimental, so take a break, watch a show, get a snack, take a nap, whatever.
when you come back to it, you'll hopefully feel refreshed and your time will be better spent.

I believe I read somewhere that 45 minutes is about as long as most people can focus on a single subject.

Like is said above, small, bite sized pieces, played slowly. If you can't play it slow, you won't be able to play it fast.

Also, my teacher likes to have me learn things backwards. Not literally backwards, but master the last measure first, then back up a measure, master that, and then put the two together. Then back up again.

 

[elgecko]

All good advice but let me add that you should try not to hold up the rest of the band. Figure out a way to simplify the parts to allow you to play them to hold you over while you woodshed them. After all, the show must go on!

 

[Yools]

Here's the best advice I've ever heard on this subject... I wish I had heard and understood this about 25 years ago when I was first starting out.

Playing any instrument is a physical act. When you're playing bass, especially as a beginner, you tend to focus on the physical part of it - i.e., getting your fingers to hit the right fret, moving them to the next fret, plucking the right string, etc. When you are unable to play a difficult passage, like a quick run of notes at the end of a verse, you have a natural tendency to think of it as a physical limitation - like you are unable to make your fingers do what they need to do. Here's the problem: it's not a physical limitation; if you have been playing for at least a few months and you are able to play in a cover band, then you have developed probably 90% or more of the physical ability (muscle strength, dexterity, etc) that you need to play pretty much any of those parts.

The real thing that you are developing as you improve as a player is the mental link between your brain and your fingers. When your brain decides to play a note, it sends a signal to your hands to tell them what to do. What separates a novice player from an accomplished one is not necessarily that the accomplished player has more dexterity, strength, etc., it's because they know music and their instrument better, and because the signal from their brain to their hands is so loud and strong. I think that's the real reason why some people can pick up an instrument so much faster than others - because their brains naturally produce strong, loud signals.

So what can you do with this concept? When you are working on one of those difficult parts, don't focus on your hand - in other words, don't concentrate on getting your fingers to do what you want them to do. Instead, work on the part slowly until you know all the notes and can play it at half-speed. Then close your eyes, take a deep breath, and then "hear" the part in your head as loud as you can - mentally "shout out" the notes as loud as possible. Right after that, open your eyes and try to play it. What you are doing is you're creating a strong signal that your brain is sending to your fingers - the idea is to make the signal so loud that your fingers have no choice but to play it. Work to make this a habit - focus on hearing the song in your head rather than making your fingers to the work. I think you will be surprised at how much this can improve your playing.

I know this is all counter-intuitive and it doesn't make much sense. Think about it and work on it, and once you get it, it will help. In the meantime, watch this YouTube video. Be patient and listen to it all; especially pay attention to the woman at the end who plays a short passage on the piano.

Also listen to what everyone else has said in this thread. I'm pretty sure we've all been through what you're experiencing right now. The bottom line is that it all takes time and practice - don't be too hard on yourself, and stick with it.

-Y

 

[Ianhin]

Thanks guys all very helpfull and wise tips i will b trying all of this out.

 

[BigDanT]

Though I'm nowhere near a pro, I'm not a beginner and this still happens. Sometimes there will be a run that just had a weird shift in it or something that trips me up. Currently it's the last triplet run in Master Blaster where there's a quick shift.
Breaking it down and going slow and speeding it up... Again and again and again is what seems to work for me. Just kind of get the movements programmed into your muscles even at a slow speed.
Good luck!!

 

[4StringTheorist]

There's a lot of valuable advice here, and I'd be echoing the stuff that 3-4 posters above me have said here. I'll just add one extra thing:

Exhale.

Try intentionally, slowly exhaling through the difficult passage. It's amazing how much more tense we become when we hold our breath and stress over a momentary difficult passage of music. Just exhaling can do wonders to help that brain-->fingers connection Yools was mentioning smooth out.

This works (for me). Now a lot of people will chalk it up to some chi life force razmataz. Nah nah. My guess is it engages your parasympathetic nervous system and keeps your nerves from hitching up.

Either way.. after taking the wonderful practice tips above into consideration, if it's performance crunch time and you feel nervous... just start breathing out a beat before you hit the starting line on the passage in question.

Cheers

 

[corndog]

I agree with all of the advice given, especially trying alternate fingering. Sex on fire is a fun song to play and easier without the g string.

 

[bigboy_78]

I’d advise learning just to bash out the root notes for the difficult passage as well. Keep plugging away with the advise above, but make sure you know how to land if you mess it up.

You’re on stage, you’ve nailed the line in practice, but the time comes and you fluff the first note. You need to be able to let it go, drop back and bash some roots. Playing nothing is waaayyyy worse than playing a simplified part. People are rocking to the vibe, not hanging on each note.

 

[BazzTard]

also, with some songs, if one note is giving me trouble in a riff, I leave it out and the riff still sounds the same.

 

[moody]

I’d advise learning just to bash out the root notes for the difficult passage as well. Keep plugging away with the advise above, but make sure you know how to land if you mess it up.

You’re on stage, you’ve nailed the line in practice, but the time comes and you fluff the first note. You need to be able to let it go, drop back and bash some roots. Playing nothing is waaayyyy worse than playing a simplified part. People are rocking to the vibe, not hanging on each note.

I have done this more times than I can count. Simplify lines, know where the root is.

If it is a quick passage the chances are no one will hear it anyway, as long as you hit the root on the one of the next bar you will be fine.

 

[Bodeanly]

Last week, I had to relearn "Crackerman." It's a straight forward little song, but then there's the "And I'm thinkin' while I'm thinkin'" part that I never played right back in the 90s. So, what I'm saying is... For me, it's better to learn the songs the right way the first time than to have to try and psyche out muscle memory from learning it the easy way in the beginning. Break it down, as strictlybass_ic said, learning the harder parts in segements. While you can get by on playing root notes, it's not going to make you a better musician. And the bassists that catch your shows are going to know you're an imposter. Not really, but really.