How fast should a competent bass player be able to play sixteenth notes

[+6dB Dan]

This might be too fast for any actual use.

What's going on here? All I hear is a metronome and some weird rumbling sounds.

 

[Chad T]

I have a song at church coming up, the whole song is 16th's at 100 bpm. I just cannot hang with that. Bought a delay and play 1/8th's and it passes for 16th's. If it was just 4 bars I could get along with it, but no, the whole song!

What song if you don't mind saying?

 

[Luciferiad]

Disclaimer: I play with a pick so this might all be moot

I routinely practice to a few Iron Maiden songs (I know! With a pick!), among them "The Trooper," which is 152 bpm. I don't think Steve's triplets quite make a 16th (a 12th maybe?) but that's a fast paced song and galloping triplets throughout. I would say it can be done.

Admittendly, I do tend to suffer from "triplet wrist" when I'm done.

 

[matthewbrown]

I remember watching Joe Jackson's bassist play "Stepping Out" on SNL. That's all 8th notes, at a good clip, 160 bpm or so, in octave patterns, so as 16ths, 80 bpm. By the third minute of the tune, he was looking stressed out. There are no rests and no open strings; it's relentless. I've played the tune, and it's one that will give you hand cramps, for sure, since it's really a keyboard pattern. (I suspect it was sequenced on the original recording).

By comparison, Teen Town was easy, at least from a the POV of stamina.

 

[GroovinOnFunk]

Just use a pick for now until your fingerstyle catches up.

I'm curious as to how using a pick will help develop fingerstyle speed :-/

Nothing wrong with using a pick... Just not sure how this advice would actually help the OP get better at playing fingerstyle 16th notes fast.

 

[jeepsk8]

What song if you don't mind saying?

He Is Our God, Bob Kauflin

Not sure if he is using a pick or using a delay (maybe both), but he's a busy dude.

 

[monsterthompson]

Depends if you play for Slayer or Sleep.

 

[Pbassmanca]

 

[Chad T]

He Is Our God, Bob Kauflin

Not sure if he is using a pick or using a delay (maybe both), but he's a busy dude.

Thanks. Never have heard that song, but like to learn new stuff. Just ran through it and it's doable. I am a pick player, btw, and it sounds like that's what he's using.

Hillsong's Broken Vessels is a good P&W song for building strength and stamina for 16ths. Haven't played it for awhile, but I believe it's around 80bpm and lots of 16ths.

 

[grimjim]

Depends on the musical style. I'm playing in a death metal band right now, the bpm can go as high as 250. As was said earlier, straight single notes are a lot easier to play at speed than some kind of intricate run. I'll usually learn the parts at a much slower speed and then work my way up. And yes, fingers, no pic.

Here's a sample at 190. Not the best recording but......I am playing all the notes the guitars are. Some guys half time the bass lines in this kind of music. I challenged myself to learn different techniques to keep up.

 

[cheechi]

a competent bassist plays 16ths slowly enough to keep the drummer on tempo.

 

[MYLOWFREQ]

I've also noticed that often times fast, repeated 16th notes get lost into one big muddy mess on bass.

very true. also depends on your tone.. try fingerpicking the flats with the tone rolled off, and good luck!

 

[James Collins]

What's going on here? All I hear is a metronome and some weird rumbling sounds.

I think he is playing fast enough that it changes the pitch.

 

[Nev375]

You shouldn't play any faster than the wavelength of the note. As a matter of fact, don't even get close to that. If you do, what you hear wont be musical.

 

[bobba66]

IT's the spaces between the notes that makes it hard.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I may not be competent, but I can only go continuous 16ths at around 100 to 108 bpm depending on how intricate the line. Funny enough, I am a bit faster changing notes than just playing the same note, so I think the hammer-on/pull-off aspect of note changing helps me even though I am trying to pluck every note.

If I had a part with strings of endless 16ths I'd probably finally start working on my pick technique for real, and hope the part doesn't have too much string skipping.

The plucking speedsters, Mr. World Record holder excepted perhaps, use either a 3-finger or 4-finger plucking technique. That world record thing sounded terrible. It wasn't just the playing, which seemed pointless, it was even more the recording, which was atrocious.

Yeah, sounded like someone playing a kazoo out their ass.

 

[BassFool61]

For me a lot depends on the rebound of the strings. Playing stiff stainless hex core strings with a note on the ninth fret is a lot faster than playing an open round core string. Plucking or picking nearer the bridge helps me too. I usually don't worry about speed except when the drummer has too much coffee.

 

[Fender_Bender]

I have found that playing fast requires both hands to have the fingers as close to the board as possible at all times , especially the plucking fingers.

 

[Groove Doctor]

I'm curious as to how using a pick will help develop fingerstyle speed :-/

Nothing wrong with using a pick... Just not sure how this advice would actually help the OP get better at playing fingerstyle 16th notes fast.

It doesn't. You still work fingerstyle at home, in the meantime use a pick at band practice/gigs. I thought that was obvious enough....

 

[popcat]

Depends if you play for Slayer or Sleep.

Sleep with one eye open....