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

[InternetAlias]

You increase it by 1? I increase it by 10. Should I not do as much?

If you can consistently keep it up, great. However, the issue is that you'll quickly run out of place to go, and progressing too fast will leave your technique sloppy. It's better to go from 80 to 180 in increments of one, than to get to 180 quickly, but it's super sloppy and it frustrates you.

 

[Groove Master]

You increase it by 1? I increase it by 10. Should I not do as much?

Yes by 1 only when you are getting closer to your max...

 

[ddezz]

To answer more directly:
"What is Hip " is variously reported at 105 -110 bpm, and Rocco Prestia is arguably competent.

Rocco is great but Lenny friggin Pickett dancing is amazing!

 

[JustFunk]

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?

The fact is that, as we observed in the Guinness world record video, speed can become something very music unrelated. When it’s about speed, I always mean something we can clearly hear in a music context and that makes sense. That video apart, I don’t think that a 250 bpm death metal bass could be compared here as that bass has the only function to provide “a bass-like noise” that honestly, can be done with whatever bass and pick and won’t make any tangible difference. That’s not the Steve’s bass in the Maiden, which is a proper instrument played to make music. You can hear his job, distinguish all notes and appreciate his expression.

As another TBer said in another post, if you can groove well your 16th with a drummer at 120 bpm for prolonged time (not 1 bar), where by grooving I mean that your rhythmic is even, precise, and you maintain a tone that adds real value to the context (sounds good!), then you’re an advanced bassist already. If your tone is not good, and you are not precise and even like a sequencer, then you are neither middle level (check if you can play it properly at 100, you probably won’t as this usually is a sign of a lack of control that requires longer experience in order to be fixed). This just to point out how much the final musical result (rhythmic and sound people hear) make all the difference.

 

[Whousedtoplay]

if you can groove well your 16th with a drummer at 120 bpm for prolonged time (not 1 bar), where by grooving I mean that your rhythmic is even, precise, and you maintain a tone that adds real value to the context (sounds good!), then you’re an advanced bassist already.

I use a few bass-lines for my "training" purpose. Those (kind of, disco) bass-lines are simple and repetitive, but frequently appearing the "flurries" of 16th notes forces you to be "alert" in order to properly (rhythmically) articulated those notes.
All those repetitive 16th notes must sound clearly pronounced like "pebbles."


Save Me · Michele Chiavarini
Just the Bass & Drums.
Ex.1:

Another one.

Method Funk - Emrik.
Just the bass & drums.

And the last example.

Jessie Ware - Beautiful People.
Just the bass and the drums.

 

[dreamadream99]

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

As fast as is needed. Really. That’s the answer. A competent player should be capable of playing fast notes at all the speeds in which they occur. So how fast is the right speed? A little faster than the fastest one you know of. Aim for that, and you will never fall short.

 

[EastCoastThump]

necro thead...b/c we've all been woodshedding our uptempo touch?

I use a few bass-lines for my "training" purpose.

this is a good one for practicing getting to speed while keeping touch, tone, and groove—Vulfpeck's "Dean Town," but faster

 

[JustFunk]

Dean Town 16ths didn't seem difficult to me as they are kind of 110 or 120 (don't remember exactly). I find those of Gossip (High Fade) much more difficult (138 BPM and pretty consistent). I got there but don't remember of another song that required me so much training on 16ths. Heard XYZ by Rush and that seems pretty engaging too!

Ps: I play with 2 fingers, except when playing triplets ala Steve Harris (and hadn’t this need from ages)

 

[Whousedtoplay]

his is a good one for practicing getting to speed while keeping touch, tone, and groove—Vulfpeck's "Dean Town," but faster

The rendition of that track (along with the recording) is mechanically challenging, but articulation-wise, mediocre.
I don't hear notes as "pebbles" with specific notes' lengths, dynamics, etc...
That's not my approach.
It's only my personal and deeply-rooted opinion.

 

[pepj]

No idea. You keep going as you hear it.
Rhythm Stick is a decent target to aim for.