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I Wanna Play Faster.

theroan

theroan

Feb 15, 2006
339
2
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
#1
I'm not afraid of some hard work and I know I should play with a metronome, I just know WHAT to play! Can anyone recommend some songs, artists, educational resources or exercises I could do so that I can increase the speed of solo bass parts in finger style?

I know people think Christian music is lame but there is song by Hillsong United called Salvation Is Here and towards the end there is a really fast bass part, that is the kind of thing I'm talking about. Fast and intricate.
 
#2
To play faster, practice slower and use that metronome. As for what to play? Use that very part you are trying to get under you fingers to start.

but there is song by Hillsong United called Salvation Is Here
Click to expand...

Nothing like having an actual, real-world goal to make your practice that much more productive!

Finally, be patient and focus on accuracy and connecting with the metronome when you practice. Don't permit yourself to speed up the beat until you've gotten the part absolutely perfect. That means not permitting the "OK, yeah... I missed that one note, but the rest was OK" CLICK - Nope... Perfect means perfect and you know better than anyone if you are taking shortcuts.

Set the metronome painfully slow and learn to LOVE getting the notes exactly where they belong with the correct feeling - even at that painfully slow pace. If you are playing the part slow but with an attitude of "this sucks... I wanna be faster!" then you're missing the point. Learn to revel in getting it dead on perfect at the really slow paces, then slowly increase the speed. With each increase follow the same protocol - do not allow yourself to up the tempo until this tempo has been conquered.

Before you know it, you'll have whatever part you're working on up to speed. But better yet - you'll have it up to speed and under control - which is the point. Speed for speed's sake is for losers. LOL
 
#17
I'd suggest the Hanon piano book. Look for it in the Janek Gwizdala forum. It is very "un-bassistic" at times and will force you to use fingerings and learn patterns that will question your understanding of fingerboard geometry. If you have problems muting unused strings, barring or crossing strings, it will be painfully evident. The Gary Willis video can help with visual and aural examples of economy of motion.
 
#19
Playing fast doesn't mean you're a great musician just to let you know. Everything you play and can do technically must be for some musical purpose or it's pointless, just to impress.

If you want to improve your ability to play fast passages accurately, play all 2 octave major scales. Part to make sure you have an efficient hand position and to part because they're good for speed if you start slow and work the metronome up slowly
 

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