Well I'm a long time want to be a real bass player and I've fiddled around for years but I came out of retirement when my church band needed a bass player and I thought this was a good reason for playing. The band leader rights out simple tabs for me and I can easily play them BUT I want to be a real bass player so i'm looking into lessons and I'll be doing a lot of reading here. My current gear is a 1984 Tokai Jazz bass that I've had for 15 years and bought for $150 with a little Peavey amp. That was a steal and I just bought a Ampeg BA-115v2 for $200 used and It really sounds good and plenty of sound for me. I'm looking into a what series of books to help me and any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks, COOP
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Welcome to our World. I loved playing Praise music. Have moved to "The Home" and my bass playing - with others - has been put on hold. We used fake chord sheet music which gives the lyrics and the active chord shown over the lyric word. Most Praise bands hand out fake chord so you two can use it instead of relying on the BL tabbing out your bass line. For example: Invalid Link Removed Hint, that Bb/F is a "slash" chord. The bass plays the note after the slash, the solo instruments play the note ahead of the slash.
Praise music has a lot of chord changes and they come quickly, so pounding roots normally gets us by. You can add fills, etc. between verses if the other guys have not clamed that spot. Nothing good happens from two people starting a run and not being in synch.
I got by with chromatic runs - target the next chord's root - miss it by three frets - then walk to it and be on it for the chord change. Not a step for a stepper.
The drummer is your friend. Lock with his kick drum rhythm. If there is a question about what key this song is to be played in, ask the keyboard what key she will be using and you do likewise. Our world is a lot easier if we stay in standard tuning - just ask the keyboard. If you are playing from fake chord sheet music, where the chords are shown, you can just follow the chords and don't have to worry about what key - until the fat lady comes on stage and asks for the song to be in Bb..... Yep ask the keyboard about stuff like this and rely upon the drummer for the beat. The 6 string guitar what with all his special tunings and capos any answer he gives you is suspect.
Other than that follow the fake chord sheet music and pound roots to the beat of the drummer's kick drum. I take peeks at his kick drum foot pedal as well as listen for the beat.
Take the fake chord sheet music and find the chord's name (chord's root note) in first position (first 5 frets of your neck). You need to run this pattern until it is in muscle memory. About a zillion times should do it.
The Major Scale Box
……...Index....Middle...Ring....Little
G|~~|---A----|-------|---B---|---C---|1st string
D|~~|---E----|---F---|--------|--G----|
A|~~|---B----|---C---|-------|---D----|
E|~~|---------|---G---|-------|---A----| 4th string
I let C be my home base. The D is always same string and up two frets. The B is back a fret from the C and the E is up a string from the B. The F is above the C, the G is below the C and the A is below the D. That's where they live all the time. If you need a sharp (F#) move toward the bridge one fret and if you need a flat (Bb) move back toward the nut one fret. The rest of the neck just repeats that same pattern. Worry about that later, get the first 5 frets down first.
Good luck.
Praise music has a lot of chord changes and they come quickly, so pounding roots normally gets us by. You can add fills, etc. between verses if the other guys have not clamed that spot. Nothing good happens from two people starting a run and not being in synch.
I got by with chromatic runs - target the next chord's root - miss it by three frets - then walk to it and be on it for the chord change. Not a step for a stepper.
The drummer is your friend. Lock with his kick drum rhythm. If there is a question about what key this song is to be played in, ask the keyboard what key she will be using and you do likewise. Our world is a lot easier if we stay in standard tuning - just ask the keyboard. If you are playing from fake chord sheet music, where the chords are shown, you can just follow the chords and don't have to worry about what key - until the fat lady comes on stage and asks for the song to be in Bb..... Yep ask the keyboard about stuff like this and rely upon the drummer for the beat. The 6 string guitar what with all his special tunings and capos any answer he gives you is suspect.
Other than that follow the fake chord sheet music and pound roots to the beat of the drummer's kick drum. I take peeks at his kick drum foot pedal as well as listen for the beat.
Take the fake chord sheet music and find the chord's name (chord's root note) in first position (first 5 frets of your neck). You need to run this pattern until it is in muscle memory. About a zillion times should do it.
The Major Scale Box
……...Index....Middle...Ring....Little
G|~~|---A----|-------|---B---|---C---|1st string
D|~~|---E----|---F---|--------|--G----|
A|~~|---B----|---C---|-------|---D----|
E|~~|---------|---G---|-------|---A----| 4th string
I let C be my home base. The D is always same string and up two frets. The B is back a fret from the C and the E is up a string from the B. The F is above the C, the G is below the C and the A is below the D. That's where they live all the time. If you need a sharp (F#) move toward the bridge one fret and if you need a flat (Bb) move back toward the nut one fret. The rest of the neck just repeats that same pattern. Worry about that later, get the first 5 frets down first.
Good luck.
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