Getting a 5 string after decades on 4s - tips?

[smurfco]

Well I finally bit the bullet - after playing 4 string basses for the last 25 or so years I have ordered my first 5er.

Any tips or tricks? Things to focus on, to watch out for? I'm primarily a rock player, fingerstyle. McCartney is my biggest influence, But I'm looking to broaden my horizons.

Thanks in advance for any tips!

 

[Groove Master]

I played a concert with my first 5 strings the first day I got it. Played only one wrong note ( a fifth instead of a root) at one point in the show.

I did this by visualizing all the songs in my head with the extra string and when and where I could play it. And I worked ;-)

Scales and arpeggios are great for that also.

 

[SteveC]

A lot of people suggest putting the 4 string away for a while. Just play the 5 and get used to it. I think going from a 5 to a 4 (I am doing this) is a little tougher. If nothing else, the B string is a great full length thumb rest until you want/need it.

Nice Ric. Enjoy.

 

[MrLenny1]

Toughest thing I had was confusing the B for an E as your lower string/note.
If you use a thumb rest the B is excellent.
I started learning tunes with low B with Jimmy Johnson on bass.
New Country is loaded with tunes that use the low B.
Took me about a year to play without any clams.
Now, all my axes are 5 strings.

 

[smurfco]

Here it is!

I like it a lot! It is going to take some getting used to that low string but it is ‘t as big a change as I was expecting. It aounds really good. Thanks for the advice!

 

[Joe Nerve]

Awesome choice !!!!!!

I switched to 5 string after about 20 years of playing a 4. It was nerve wracking until I completely committed to it. I had to make it my only bass for a while. Once totally comfortable it was easy to switch back and forth.

After about 5 years and my no longer being in any bands that require a 5, I went back home to 4s. I'm a 4 string guy, fer sure.

 

[smurfco]

If and when I go back to playing four strings will I have another readjustment period? Or will it be easier to go backwards?

 

[SteveC]

I thought it was harder to go back to a 4.

 

[QweziRider]

Or will it be easier to go backwards?

I've found that not to be the case every time I try to go back. After playing mostly fivers since '91, my brain just needs the B more than an E as an anchor. So I tuned all my 4 stringers BEAD. Much more comfortable to "go back" that way for me.

 

[JW56789]

I went to fives in the late 80's, played them ever since. But when I did make the switch . . . .

It took a while to convince my hands the four strings I was used to 'moved down one space' . . . .

It took a while to NOT put a depth-charge low D or C everywhere I could . . . .

. . . . and once I embraced the idea of combining playing at the nut and partway up the neck, and began to approach it playing across the fingerboard (which was the original reason I wanted one) kinda using E on the B string as home plate, the light came on, the birds began to sing, and then, it worked as advertised. Bingo !

I never owned a four-string since '88 until last year (I thought it would be confusing to go back and forth), but strangely enough, I zoom around on it (a Jazz) as four-strings and no 24-fret neck makes it feel so fast, and small.

 

[Beersurgeon]

Congrats on switching to the dark side!!! and beautiful bass too!

 

[Rocksolid]

I found that songs I've played on a 4 for years were hard to play on 5 initially because of muscle memory and habit. I decided to learn new songs on a 5 to start with.
I honestly prefer playing a 4, but if I need a 5, then so be it. I'll use it

 

[thabassmon]

Play lines you know but reposition them so you incorporate the newer string, they won't sound the same tonally but you'll be using what you already know to associate pitch with positions.

If you are a person the practices scales. Incorporate the lower range into your practice for example in the key of F, there is F G A Bb C D E F you could ascend in a normal fashion reach the octave decend from the ninth until you reach the low C and ascend til you reach the F again.
F G A Bb C D E F G F E D C Bb A G F E D C D E F or whatever you like really.

If you extend the scales to your new lower range you gain a sense of which of the new notes a diatonic in which keys.

What I did when I switched to five is learn to play all 12 keys from the very lowest diatonic note to the very highest diatonic note available, I also put myself through learning to do it in thirds, fourths, fifths, sixths, individual strings, isolated five fret range etc. Way more than necessary but I was really determined to know the fingerboard extremely well.

Now I play six and because I had already done so much work on the fundamentals the transition was instant.

 

[factory presets]

I think going from a 5 to a 4 (I am doing this) is a little tougher.

Currently doing exactly that. But I m losing the G instead of the B. Fairly seamless. But sometimes I see 4 strings and assume the low string is an E. Doesn't happen mid-song tho. Just got to pay attention at the start of songs.

 

[seanm]

If you are a person the practices scales. Incorporate the lower range into your practice for example in the key of F, there is F G A Bb C D E F you could ascend in a normal fashion reach the octave decend from the ninth until you reach the low C and ascend til you reach the F again.
F G A Bb C D E F G F E D C Bb A G F E D C D E F or whatever you like really.

When I played the sax, I started all scales on the lowest root, went up as high as I could, then went as low as I could, then back up and ended on the root. It feels, and sounds, really weird at first but you get used to it. It it means you get much more practice on the low and high notes.

 

[thabassmon]

When I played the sax, I started all scales on the lowest root, went up as high as I could, then went as low as I could, then back up and ended on the root. It feels, and sounds, really weird at first but you get used to it. It it means you get much more practice on the low and high notes.

That is exactly it, I play sax too. You learn the whole instrument, it just makes more sense to learn where all the notes your instrument has in each key.

 

[Bob_Ross]

Things to focus on, to watch out for?

Watch out that you're not pulling notes on the B string sharp; a lot of folks new to the 5-string don't realize that because of the wider neck they're pulling the 5th string down towards the floor when they fret a note on it, and that added tension pulls the pitch slightly sharp.

If and when I go back to playing four strings will I have another readjustment period? Or will it be easier to go backwards?

fwiw -- I've been playing 6-string (BEADGC) since 1988, 5-string (BEADG) since 1996, and 5-string (EADGC) since 2014...but I've been playing 4-string since 1974 -- any time I go back to playing 4-string, no matter how long I've been away, it feels like home. Super comfortable, super intuitive, it's like my body instinctively knows this is where it all started.

 

[basscase666]

Those bass strings that come in different colors? Buy one and use it as your B string. Every time you look down, it will remind you that the B is not the E.

After I adjusted to having a B string, I got rid of the colored B string because the colored coating was icky.

 

[JimmyM]

My only tips are dedicate serious time to it, don't let the extra string throw you (hence dedicating time to it), and don't sell your 4's right away

 

[pasmithy]

Put your "4's" away and play exclusively on the 5'r. It prob won't take you as long as you think to get accustomed. Then the first time you are out somewhere, and your buddy hands you his 4 to play a song with, you might be a "4th" out for a measure or two. LOL (at least that's what happened to me) Funny thing is that never happens to me when I'm switching from 5 string electric to upright though.