Hello, Me again... How should I practice the bass, What scales. If you have any suggestions, please include TABS and or FINGERING.
I very much appreciate it!
I very much appreciate it!
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How to practice
- Thread starter TristanG
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Hey dude!
First of all, welcome aboard. We're cool enough here, I suppose
.
You gotta be comfortable in all positions you intend on practicing and playing, sitting, standing, doing a kegstand, whatever. Being confortable makes you wanna play and learn more in my experience.
In terms of scales, it's great to try to learn them in as many keys and modes as you can. They're great for your creativity and in a way force you to have good technique when played at higher speeds.
I have to advise you both for and against TAB. It will show you the notes you need to play, but it won't teach you anything about timing. Get a metronome of some description. I'm el-cheapo and use an app on my phone (there's a bunch of great ones freely available) and I use my Bluetooth speaker
You will thank me for the boring metronome BS later. I promise.
Finally, I advise you not to beat yourself up if it takes you a long time to learn to use as many fingers as you can and alternate, use a pick, slap etc as quick as you want to - 99% of us are still learning and some of us are old as sh...ahem..what I mean to say is bass is a journey dude, have a blast.
Peace
First of all, welcome aboard. We're cool enough here, I suppose
.You gotta be comfortable in all positions you intend on practicing and playing, sitting, standing, doing a kegstand, whatever. Being confortable makes you wanna play and learn more in my experience.
In terms of scales, it's great to try to learn them in as many keys and modes as you can. They're great for your creativity and in a way force you to have good technique when played at higher speeds.
I have to advise you both for and against TAB. It will show you the notes you need to play, but it won't teach you anything about timing. Get a metronome of some description. I'm el-cheapo and use an app on my phone (there's a bunch of great ones freely available) and I use my Bluetooth speaker
You will thank me for the boring metronome BS later. I promise.
Finally, I advise you not to beat yourself up if it takes you a long time to learn to use as many fingers as you can and alternate, use a pick, slap etc as quick as you want to - 99% of us are still learning and some of us are old as sh...ahem..what I mean to say is bass is a journey dude, have a blast.
Peace
Learn your favorite songs.
I will second this - the more context you have the better. And learn the chord sequences (or harmonic structures) - bass doesn't always play root notes. And, if you can, sing or hum the melody - it gets your ear opened and does wonders for your sense of time.
What you practice. Right now stuff you do not know or can not play. Later you will be practicing things you would like to do better.
Allow an hour a day, yes it can be two 30 minute sessions. My point after an hour it begins to turn to Jell-O. Best to break up your practice sessions into 30 - 45 minute sessions, take a break and, if you must, then go back for another 45 minute session.
What do you need to practice - first?
After the above you will be ready for some songs. You mentioned tab. That is a dead end and all you learn is the tab for that specific song and or lick. Learn the chord progression and the chord spelling for the chords used and you can play any song. Yes sheet music will be part of your game for several years. If you are like most of us our ears did not click in right at first. Use sheet music until they do.
I read standard notation, however, I'm never handed a sheet of standard notation by any director I've ever played for. Good ole boy bands hand out fake chord sheet music. So this is something you also need to get into your bag of tricks. Invalid Link Removed Hear the rhythm, see the chord name and know what to do with that information.
Good luck.
Allow an hour a day, yes it can be two 30 minute sessions. My point after an hour it begins to turn to Jell-O. Best to break up your practice sessions into 30 - 45 minute sessions, take a break and, if you must, then go back for another 45 minute session.
What do you need to practice - first?
- Notes on your fret board. If you can not find the note you are looking for you will just make noise. While here lets talk about rhythm. Gotta be able to hear the beat of the song you will be playing. It's an ear/feel thing and does not come over night. At first play to click tracks, later you will play to the beat of the drummer's kick drum. So when listening to music listen for the beat. That is going to take some study and practice.
- Running your scales. Gets your right and left hand doing what they need to be doing and gets your ear hearing the good and bad notes.
- As 90% of what we end up doing is from chord tones. Run your chord tones. To do that you need to be able to see a chord name and know what notes are in that chord, i.e. the spelling of that chord. Cmaj7 = 1-3-5-7 scale degrees of the C major scale. Yep think in A, B, C and 1, 2, 3. Find the root using A, B, C, and then add the extensions or the other chord tones thinking in scale degrees of 1, 2, 3's. This site will have the spelling you need. Chord Formulas
After the above you will be ready for some songs. You mentioned tab. That is a dead end and all you learn is the tab for that specific song and or lick. Learn the chord progression and the chord spelling for the chords used and you can play any song. Yes sheet music will be part of your game for several years. If you are like most of us our ears did not click in right at first. Use sheet music until they do.
I read standard notation, however, I'm never handed a sheet of standard notation by any director I've ever played for. Good ole boy bands hand out fake chord sheet music. So this is something you also need to get into your bag of tricks. Invalid Link Removed Hear the rhythm, see the chord name and know what to do with that information.
Good luck.
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Learn your favorite songs.
Another vote for this advice.....BUT....learn them by ear using trial and error...without tab. This may seem like a lot of work, and it certainly is at the start, but well worth the time and effort in the long run.
Here is a link to a set of lessons in chronological order....a rare thing on Youtube.
Learn Bass Guitar - YouTube
I posted about Pac-man's sure fire scale practice method in your other thread, where I also mentioned that the major scale in all 12 keys is the single best thing you can practice in the long run.
I once came up with fingering charts for Pac-man's method, but he pointed out that fingering charts, tabs, etc were counter to the spirit of the exercise. you work out the notes names of scale steps for yourself, identify the locations of the notes for yourself, one position at a time, and do the work, which will seal the information in your head in a superior way.
There might be easier ways to get up and running with a bunch of scales, but for something this fundamental I encourage you to do it the "hard way" ( which in the long run will make everything else much easier.)
Find a radio stream of whatever kind of music you like and want to play.
Listen and play along. Listen to what the bass players are playing. Copy them. Learn lines, if patterns - like in rock.
Listen for the roots of the chords - the note that most sounds like "home".
If you want to learn more about what you are playing, find a GOOD teacher. Ask around or at a music store.
or buy a good music book; like "The Improvisor's Bass Method" by Chuck Sher and teach yourself.
Take music performance and theory classes in school, or at a community college.
LISTEN and make time DAILY to play your bass! HAVE FUN! Play with others a lot. Good luck!
Listen and play along. Listen to what the bass players are playing. Copy them. Learn lines, if patterns - like in rock.
Listen for the roots of the chords - the note that most sounds like "home".
If you want to learn more about what you are playing, find a GOOD teacher. Ask around or at a music store.
or buy a good music book; like "The Improvisor's Bass Method" by Chuck Sher and teach yourself.
Take music performance and theory classes in school, or at a community college.
LISTEN and make time DAILY to play your bass! HAVE FUN! Play with others a lot. Good luck!
Find a good teacher. With Skype, you can study with someone anywhere in the world. If you don't have money, get a part time job. A good teacher will help you progress faster than any online lessons, books, videos, etc. because they can provide feedback on what you are doing right, wrong, and what to work on.
Practice by reading Chord Charts (Not bass tabs!) This will help you learn to play songs you enjoy, while also helping you learn the notes on your fretboard. You can even take it a step further and practice with arpeggios as you begin to learn those and you can get more creative with a song.
I would recommend checking out Janek Gwizdalas books.......specifically the chop builders ones. He has one for Major modes and one for Minor modes........exercises cover every degree of the mode in all positions and in all keys........tab and notation.......These two books are exactly what I would recommend for what you are asking.......you can find them on his site as well as Amazon......good luck!!
Get the best teacher you can afford.
Commit to practicing daily. When you practice, have a clear vision of what you want to do. Dont flail at it. Dont practice a given scale more than 5 minutes without a break of at least 5 min. Take a break at least once an hour. Try not to be distracted by the internet
Practice perfectly. Use the metronome as a guide and coach.
Commit to practicing daily. When you practice, have a clear vision of what you want to do. Dont flail at it. Dont practice a given scale more than 5 minutes without a break of at least 5 min. Take a break at least once an hour. Try not to be distracted by the internet
Practice perfectly. Use the metronome as a guide and coach.
Reinforcing what MalcolmAmos said:
When you practice something, know exactly the scale degree of the notes you are playing. For example, if you play A C G over a A, you should automatically think 1 b3 5. This allows you to recognize musical patterns in diferrent fingerings. One of the best guitarists I know doesnt know how to read music but has a perfect ear and can tell you exactly the scale degrees of the notes hes playing over the chord.
When you practice something, know exactly the scale degree of the notes you are playing. For example, if you play A C G over a A, you should automatically think 1 b3 5. This allows you to recognize musical patterns in diferrent fingerings. One of the best guitarists I know doesnt know how to read music but has a perfect ear and can tell you exactly the scale degrees of the notes hes playing over the chord.
Hitch hiking on the above, I do not think we ever got around to the major scale box and all that 1, 2, 3 stuff.
Major scale box showing scale degree numbers and the root note on the 4th string.
G~~|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D~~|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A~~|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E~~|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string
Place the box's R (root note of what you want) over that note on your fret board and then play the spelling for what you want.
Want the major scale - that spelling is R-2-3-4-5-6-7 Place the root on a C and you get no sharps or flats. Place the root on the G and the pattern will give you a F#. Let the pattern find the correct sharps and flats for you.
Want the natural minor scale - that spelling is R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Want the spelling for the Cmaj7 chord - that spelling is R-3-5-7
And the Cm7 spelling is R-b3-5-b7
Right at first find the root note in first positon - first 5 frets - need more than just roots, think scale degree numbers:
The 3 is always from the root up a string and back a fret.
The 5 is up a string and over two frets, or down a string same fret.
The 7 is up two strings and over one fret. Always, that is where they live, just waiting on you.
Happy trails.
Major scale box showing scale degree numbers and the root note on the 4th string.
G~~|---2---|-------|---3---|---4---| 1st string
D~~|---6---|-------|---7---|---8---|
A~~|---3---|---4---|-------|---5---|
E~~|-------|---R---|-------|---2---|4th string
Place the box's R (root note of what you want) over that note on your fret board and then play the spelling for what you want.
Want the major scale - that spelling is R-2-3-4-5-6-7 Place the root on a C and you get no sharps or flats. Place the root on the G and the pattern will give you a F#. Let the pattern find the correct sharps and flats for you.
Want the natural minor scale - that spelling is R-2-b3-4-5-b6-b7
Want the spelling for the Cmaj7 chord - that spelling is R-3-5-7
And the Cm7 spelling is R-b3-5-b7
Right at first find the root note in first positon - first 5 frets - need more than just roots, think scale degree numbers:
The 3 is always from the root up a string and back a fret.
The 5 is up a string and over two frets, or down a string same fret.
The 7 is up two strings and over one fret. Always, that is where they live, just waiting on you.
Happy trails.
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