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

[IamGroot]

[QUOTE="Mik75, post: 20863265, member: 249910"
Playing with the pick definitely is an important part of bass playing technique. It belongs into everyone’s bag of tricks. ;-) It produces an unique, distinctive sound, and one gets often asked by producers to play with a pick, when it comes to recording.[/QUOTE]
Carol Kaye and Joe Osborn agree.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

Two years ago, we had another similar thread at TB.

how fast is fast !

Three years ago, we had a similar thread at TB.

How fast can you go ?

Here is my 3-year old comment (when I was that "young and restless" and tried to check my "speed".)

This morning, I've tried the 16th notes at 200BPM.
It's way beyond my technical capabilities. I was able to keep up (playing with my fingers - not with the pick!) with that 200BPM tempo for a very few milliseconds...
It's too "muddy"/"blurred".

https://www.talkbass.com/attachment...6/?temp_hash=76b802965bee948abcb6aa6660362ac9

 

[db59]

This might be too fast for any actual use.

I'm not sure what I just watched?!......but now I have a headache.

 

[Bassbeater]

And Henry Ford agrees that all cars should have the option of being crank started. J.O. and C.K. are not really known for blinding fast 16th note runs. (Both great bassists btw, just couldn't resist)
-Sarcasm aside, if speed modern playing is your musical thing, you might want to focus on exercises that use hammer-ons and pull-offs in runs then practicing with a metronome and no effects to get consistent with them. It's possible to be fast and accurate with picked, fingered or slapped and tapped technique. It just takes practice. Those speedy techniques will help you out sometimes even on slower songs as accents.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

120 bpm is the tempo at which you still should be feeling comfortable while playing 16th lines.

Are those 16th notes played intermittently?
Anyway, playing constant the 16th notes on the bass at 120BPM and "grooving" (providing tight rhythmic support with the drummer) is a sign of an advanced bass player.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

It's possible to be fast and accurate with picked, fingered or slapped and tapped technique. It just takes practice.

Besides some Death Metal music (that I can't even decipher the fuzzy/muddy bass notes with Transcribe), how can the Audience even hear those "crystal clear" Metal bass notes at 250BPM?

 

[otp57]

So heres an oddball question - how fast should a competent bass player be able to play sixteenth notes. The context is rock, pop, funk and jazz and not any extreme forms of metal.
Is 100bpm a good measure, or can an accomplished bassists hit 120bpm or higher?

It is not how fast sixteenth notes are played but how stable the timing etc is.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

It is not how fast sixteenth notes are played but how stable the timing etc is.

Yes, my "technical barometer" has been Rocco Prestia's "Come on with it" at 96BPM tempo.

Rocco's "So I got to groove".
He does not play constant 16th notes.
If I can properly articulate that groove - I'm happy with it at 116BPM.

 

[MrLenny1]

Depends on how much work you put into it.

 

[Nev375]

The freq. of a bass B string is 30 Hz = 1800 BPM. Per information theory, you would need to double that as a min to affect the sound. So, 3600 bpm would be deaf metal. The songs would be real short and played by robotic hands.

I know right? People shouldn't do that.

 

[Nev375]

When I was young and experimenting with 2 handed tapping I practiced the same chord arpeggio over and over and timed myself how many times I could do it in a minute. I cannot remember my actual time, but man it was fast. Something like 120 notes a second or something. I honestly don't remember.

I found that technique/lick to be extremely useful for impressing other people like myself who didn't know a damn thing about music.

 

[Alfonso Alba]

Something like 120 notes a second or something.

Riiiiiight.

 

[Coolhandjjl]

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

So make sure you cab has 10's. They're faster.

 

[Paulabass]

I can play ONE at any tempo you like.

 

[Nev375]

Riiiiiight.

Yeah, well that was like 40 years ago. Like I said, I have no memory of the number I just remember it was really freakin fast. Today I'm lucky if I can remember how old I am and that usually takes a minute or two for me to calculate.

Fortunately I don't have to think to fall into a groove or worry how fast it is. I just play music now.

 

[csc2048b]

2 handed tapping I practiced the same chord arpeggio

well that was like 40 years ago

almost the same time eruption was released? you must have had lessons with steve hackett.
Steve Hackett: how I invented finger tapping | MusicRadar

seriously, you have to give me some of that COFFEE you've been drinking. incidentally - are you a lawyer or politician?

 

[jamro217]

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.

Graham Maby is Joe Jackson's bassist. IIRC he used a natural Jazz bass on the SNL clip. Tried to imitate it, couldn't get the timing right. Most of it is a box pattern of octaves in the upper register, but it's hard to play.

 

[jamro217]

How fast can you drum your fingers your desk without losing the rhythm? If it's as fast as the song you're attempting to play, you're in good shape. That's how fast you need to be. Now apply that to the bass. Practice the finger on desk drumming and when you get really good at it your bass technique will improve also.

 

[Joe Nerve]

If your band decides to do a song you can't keep up with, then you're not competent.

 

[Nev375]

almost the same time eruption was released? you must have had lessons with steve hackett.
Steve Hackett: how I invented finger tapping | MusicRadar

seriously, you have to give me some of that COFFEE you've been drinking. incidentally - are you a lawyer or politician?

Not sure what you are trying to imply, but it sounds pretty mean.
What part of what I said does your ego feel threatened by?

Actually I volunteer as crisis support. (depression/suicide counselling)