How long to adjust to a 5 string?

[Gizmot]

I feel your pain! I don’t have to think when playing a 4 string, but i have to think all the time and be careful playing a 5.

It took me about 12 or 15 gigs to start getting comfortable. I switch my basses every few weeks, so when I got used to my 5, I switched back to a 4.

You’ve got to stick with the 5 until you get in the groove with it, then you can play either one. You’ll still be more comfortable with a 4, but you’ll be more confident with a 5 when you use it.

 

[JoeWPgh]

My problem with a 5 is improvisation. I can play parts on one all day long, but when making a split second decision on what note to play next, my brain grabs for the B string in the hope it's an E string

 

[madbass6]

Been playing a 4 since the late 60's and now this new band I joined does 7-8 songs that would not cut it with a 4.

I've been learning a ton of tunes in the last three weeks, while at the same time trying to adjust to a 5.
I seem to be lost. when I look down at the fretboard, the notes do not register in my head.
The other day I was making notes for a few tunes. At one time I took my hand and covered up the B to my eye so my brain would lock on.

I've done 2 live shows so far with the 5. I've gotten embarrasiingly lost a few times. I have to stay on a strict track, it seems. I cannot take any chances in wandering around the fingerboard, fearing I'll get lost.
I'm also having trouble with left hand-right hand coordination, which means that sometimes I do not pluck the correct string. Othertimes, it's the other way around...I'll pluck the correct string but my fretting hand will be on the wrong string.

I bought a 5'er with 19mm string spacing, thinking it would be an easier transition from my PBass.

I'd guess I have 50-100 hours on the 5.

For those of you who have made the switch, how long did it take you to get comfortable, and
do you have any tips for an old rocker like me?

I have the gift of tenacity, but if the answer is simply "You have to keep doing it until it comes to you", I don't know if I have the time.
I'm wondering if it's worth it (literally.....how long will I be out there playing live?).
Is it worth the effort for a few more years of live playing?

How long? Well that's all up to you!
Just remember 3 things,
1. practice
2.dedication
3. patience!

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Been playing a 4 since the late 60's and now this new band I joined does 7-8 songs that would not cut it with a 4.

I've been learning a ton of tunes in the last three weeks, while at the same time trying to adjust to a 5.
I seem to be lost. when I look down at the fretboard, the notes do not register in my head.
The other day I was making notes for a few tunes. At one time I took my hand and covered up the B to my eye so my brain would lock on.

I've done 2 live shows so far with the 5. I've gotten embarrasiingly lost a few times. I have to stay on a strict track, it seems. I cannot take any chances in wandering around the fingerboard, fearing I'll get lost.
I'm also having trouble with left hand-right hand coordination, which means that sometimes I do not pluck the correct string. Othertimes, it's the other way around...I'll pluck the correct string but my fretting hand will be on the wrong string.

I bought a 5'er with 19mm string spacing, thinking it would be an easier transition from my PBass.

I'd guess I have 50-100 hours on the 5.

For those of you who have made the switch, how long did it take you to get comfortable, and
do you have any tips for an old rocker like me?

I have the gift of tenacity, but if the answer is simply "You have to keep doing it until it comes to you", I don't know if I have the time.
I'm wondering if it's worth it (literally.....how long will I be out there playing live?).
Is it worth the effort for a few more years of live playing?

I don't know man, it didn't take me long at all. You just have to remember that the E is the second string. Then it's all the same scales from there, to get used to what's what on the B. When I got my 5, I had been playing a 4 for somewhere around 10 years. I was good to go with it by the first practice. Which was a couple days after I got it. You'll get it. I guess everything at one's own pace.

 

[SadowskySteve]

It's been over 20 years for since I made the jump to a 5. Had one band leader in a Church setting that never remembered what key for each song he planned. The 5 made my life much easier. Just stick with the 5 until you become used to the B string. Some of bands where the singer needs to drop the key works well with my 5 string. Keep at it!

 

[Heyturnup]

I made the transition by putting the four strings away and learning all the new songs on the five. I have spent years looking at the bass from the top down, so it messed me up bad for a year or two. My short term solution was to pretend a song in G was in C. I still get messed up when I have to look at paper with letters on it, I love numbers instead. It's been five years and I have gotten out a four a time or two, but I love my B string so much that I put them away. Now I look at the middle string and know its A, the rest is just bass guitar.

 

[waynobass]

I've never tried to make the switch, but might it help to use a black or red B-string? Then you wouldn't visually confuse it with the E-string.

 

[vindibona1]

I agree...you have to put the four aside and force yourself to use the five.

Everybody saying this is correct, at least for now. Your fingers have to learn where to go without the confusion of your fingers going "which bass am I on right now". I've only been playing 5ers since March and I'm pretty well acclimated, but my fingers still forget sometimes and I fumble. But I fumble less and less. Here we are in June and while I can easily go back to my 4 it is starting to feel foreign. I'm sure I'll use it again- but not sure when. I've got three 5ers and having a blast with them all. Stick with it. It will all come to your shortly.

After having played nothing but a P and a J, I finally invested in a 5-string just this past month.

I was quite surprised how quickly I was able to adjust and feel very comfortable within a day or two. Yes, there have been a few accidents along the way, where I either fretted on a wrong string or plucked a wrong one. But for the most part, it's been a fairly easy transition for me.

By the way, my 5-string has a neck width of 43 mm at the nut and 18 mm spacing at the bridge, which seems to work very well when switch back and forth with my P and J.

I was reading your reply and saw the specs and the first thing I said to myself- Yamaha. Then I looked up and it was you .

 

[Wulfensteiner]

Been playing a 4 since the late 60's and now this new band I joined does 7-8 songs that would not cut it with a 4.

I've been learning a ton of tunes in the last three weeks, while at the same time trying to adjust to a 5.
I seem to be lost. when I look down at the fretboard, the notes do not register in my head.
The other day I was making notes for a few tunes. At one time I took my hand and covered up the B to my eye so my brain would lock on.

I've done 2 live shows so far with the 5. I've gotten embarrasiingly lost a few times. I have to stay on a strict track, it seems. I cannot take any chances in wandering around the fingerboard, fearing I'll get lost.
I'm also having trouble with left hand-right hand coordination, which means that sometimes I do not pluck the correct string. Othertimes, it's the other way around...I'll pluck the correct string but my fretting hand will be on the wrong string.

I bought a 5'er with 19mm string spacing, thinking it would be an easier transition from my PBass.

I'd guess I have 50-100 hours on the 5.

For those of you who have made the switch, how long did it take you to get comfortable, and
do you have any tips for an old rocker like me?

I have the gift of tenacity, but if the answer is simply "You have to keep doing it until it comes to you", I don't know if I have the time.
I'm wondering if it's worth it (literally.....how long will I be out there playing live?).
Is it worth the effort for a few more years of live playing?

You know what? I'm the other way around. 4 feels foreign. And there's only one reason I keep one around - slap

All jokes aside, you can't be looking at it from the top down anymore. It has been a long time on 4s, but you CAN adjust. How did you adjust to a 4 string bass initially? I bet my bottom dollar it didn't come to you overnight. It's all repetition and practice.

But fortunately for you, that low B fits rather snugly into even the most simplistic box pattern you're playing once you allow for it. You literally have more notes and a really thick string to introduce. And when it's not in use, the B is a really handy thumb rest

 

[Hevy T]

It didn't take me long to learn the B string, though I have had a 5ver for about 6 years I have yet to leave the house with one

 

[Wulfensteiner]

Actually, you know what was a real bitch for me and eventually got a 'no thanks' after days of frustrating attempts to bond with it? A 6 string.

A 6 string set up E-F. I have done B-C in music shops and kinda dug it. Figured I would adore it. No blast was had.

 

[Chuck M]

I think this is a personal thing. some players can make the switch with ease and others struggle.

I got my first 5 string in the 1980's. Took it on my gigs and did get lost on it a few times before I got used to it. I remember having more trouble understanding what note I was hearing because my ears were not used to hearing anything on bass below the open E string.

I play upright bass a lot these days but do own a nice collection of electric basses. I have 4's, 5's and 6's. I mostly play 6's these days but have no real trouble playing a 4 or 5.

My only insight into my ability to play different string configurations is that I have spent a lot of time developing note awareness. I know what notes are under my fingers (all of my fingers) at any position on the fingerboard. That seems to be the key for me.

 

[Dluxe]

I switched over in 2006. A 1989 Stingray 5. I think that the narrow spacing helped me. I just took it to a gig and somehow got through. The funny thing is I had a hard time switching back to the 4 for a few years after. Now after several years both feel great.

 

[singlemalt]

I figured ten years was enough with fives and six strings and went back to fours. And while the trip was fun, I’d probably been better off sticking to four and working on learning tunes.

I was happier with the five set up E-C.

Play whatever it’s going to be exclusively to get your brain rewired. That’s what I found works.

I’m much happier back on a light weight four string. A hip shot detuner is as much extra low as I need or want.

 

[Luciferiad]

I'm trying to think back to when I started using fives exclusively, which was probably around 2010 or 2011. Before that, i primarily used a five and had a four tuned to drop D for a couple songs.

I don't recall it ever being a struggle, at least not of this magnitude. I'm sure I tripped over the B string a few times early on. But I think I really just stayed rooted on the E. We primarily played covers and anything written in E standard, I learned on a 5 string as if that B string wasn't even there. I started learning anything in an alternate tuning (D, Eb, drop D) that didn't require an open D in the song.

I suppose I was still really learning to play bass while I was learning to play 5 string, so I didn't have to unlearn or relearn anything really. But I do remember just always staying rooted to the E string. It's always the E string, and whether there's another one between you and it never seemed to make a difference to me.

Uh...I guess that's kind of rambling and probably doesn't really help. But there you go lol

 

[Nighttrain1127]

It is mostly about not over thinking the whole thing . There are not that many notes on the B string that are not on the E string . So when you play low E use the B and the rest will come to you rather easily. I am barely a fair player and I had very little problem moving to a 5er . Just keep it simple .

 

[Spent]

Just keep playing. I’ll play a four, a 34” five string E-C, a 35” five string B-G and a six. I don’t even necessarily play the same song with any one of them consistently, just play the one I want at the time. My secret? I practice. First time I played a played a five string, it was wretched. Over time it just became natural. You’ll get there.

 

[Bassist Jay]

Been playing a 4 since the late 60's and now this new band I joined does 7-8 songs that would not cut it with a 4.

I've been learning a ton of tunes in the last three weeks, while at the same time trying to adjust to a 5.
I seem to be lost. when I look down at the fretboard, the notes do not register in my head.
The other day I was making notes for a few tunes. At one time I took my hand and covered up the B to my eye so my brain would lock on.

I've done 2 live shows so far with the 5. I've gotten embarrasiingly lost a few times. I have to stay on a strict track, it seems. I cannot take any chances in wandering around the fingerboard, fearing I'll get lost.
I'm also having trouble with left hand-right hand coordination, which means that sometimes I do not pluck the correct string. Othertimes, it's the other way around...I'll pluck the correct string but my fretting hand will be on the wrong string.

I bought a 5'er with 19mm string spacing, thinking it would be an easier transition from my PBass.

I'd guess I have 50-100 hours on the 5.

For those of you who have made the switch, how long did it take you to get comfortable, and
do you have any tips for an old rocker like me?

I have the gift of tenacity, but if the answer is simply "You have to keep doing it until it comes to you", I don't know if I have the time.
I'm wondering if it's worth it (literally.....how long will I be out there playing live?).
Is it worth the effort for a few more years of live playing?

Everything you are saying, I can relate too. I also switched to 5 string basses this past year, after playing 4 strings only for 30 plus years. I made the same post here on TB and had many helpful members respond and give great advice and what they said helped. The best advice was not to play the 4 string basses at all. Going back to them will always be like riding a bike but until your mind makes that switch, stick with playing the 5 strings and it will come. You’ll get it and it will be like a light switch turning on in your head.

 

[okcrum]

I got a 5 after much time playing 4s. ATM I gig with mostly 4s, but practice on a 5. The calendar time to switch from 4 to 5 is immaterial - it's the playing time that counts. If you have to get decent in a week, you're not going to be doing much else except practicing.

 

[klokker]

It took me about ten days of playing a lot. To me, it’s a perceptional matter; once I realized that my five string has a standard four string built into it and stopped thinking about the string nearest me as an E string, things got a lot easier.

Also, I think bilingual individuals already have the brain plasticity that it takes to switch back and forth between mental modes.

Same with me. I made the switch relatively easily I don't remember having any trouble. I don't practice quite as much now as I used to, but at the time I was practicing at least 2 hours a day, sometimes a lot more, and playing out a lot.

It really was no big deal.