I have this beautiful 5 string and need to make the transition from a 4 string. What are some good practice modes that I can use to make this easier and better? I am not interested in Slap and pop.
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Learning a 5 string
- Thread starter quindecima
- Start date
Play the usual stuff you would play anyway but use the B string more. By that I mean fretting your notes closer to the neck on the strings below, for example playing the low G on the 8th fret on the B string instead, and so forth. This has the secondary advantage that you need to get out of the "money zone" if you take all your lines and "transpose" them down a string. You may discover that you like playing that way because it's kinda like playing a short scale with a fat neck.
Also go back to the basics, triad and seventh chord arpeggios and do them on two- or three-string groups to include the bottom string. Garry Willis' book Fingerboard Harmony for Bass is an excellent resource in this regard and for your purpose.
Taking lessons with Anthony Wellington helped me (I got my 5 just around the time I was studying with him), and he had me do extended scale runs across all 5 strings.
But really what’ll make a difference is the repetition of integrating the fifth string into your practice (however you end up doing that, whether it’s through trying songs in new positions or running scales and arpeggios) and making the effort to see all five as making up the instrument and not as a four-string bass with an “extra” string
Just to get you started, play music pieces for practice that lets you utilize your B string. It's a good way to get acquainted. Like for example, something in C and use the notes on B instead of the usual suspects. Grab your F off of the B string at the 6th fret. G will be right next to the C like usual on a 4 string, but it's further up on the 8th fret. Same deal with the A. It will be right next to the D like usual, but ever further up the neck.
Try playing just the roots on Mumford & Sons "I will wait" in the key of C using this and you should be on your way. This will give you a couple of things; one will get you used to the comparatively low tone of those notes, and will get you used to where they are on the B string. This is more of a "hack" than actual exercises. It's just to get you to where you can start incorporating your new B string right away, and to get you to where you can tonally recognize when those new uber-low notes are appropriate (and when they are not)...
Try playing just the roots on Mumford & Sons "I will wait" in the key of C using this and you should be on your way. This will give you a couple of things; one will get you used to the comparatively low tone of those notes, and will get you used to where they are on the B string. This is more of a "hack" than actual exercises. It's just to get you to where you can start incorporating your new B string right away, and to get you to where you can tonally recognize when those new uber-low notes are appropriate (and when they are not)...
At first, make it a priority to keep the B string muted when not in in play. A five string will not make you a better player. It might make you suck if you let that B string ring out uncontrolled. Your job as bass player has not changed when you pick up a different bass.
Just play bass like you always do. Play the same songs. Practice the same exercises. Use the B string as you become aware that other notes and options are available. Don't feel forced to do anything. Experiment freely.
Accept that there are whole songs, and maybe whole gigs, where you won't use the B string, and it is acceptable to sometimes, or maybe never, play the B.
Just play bass like you always do. Play the same songs. Practice the same exercises. Use the B string as you become aware that other notes and options are available. Don't feel forced to do anything. Experiment freely.
Accept that there are whole songs, and maybe whole gigs, where you won't use the B string, and it is acceptable to sometimes, or maybe never, play the B.
Get the 4 string basses you own out of your house. Right now they are a safety net. You'll learn the 5 when you have no other choice.
Listen to these men, they know.... Earnest and Two, you said it....
^agreed^
When I switched I went "total immersion" and put my 4 string away and MADE myself practice the fiver until I could navigate without thinking on the stuff I already knew. Then started adding the B string. Now I have to concentrate to play a four...
I think the biggest hurdle is the extra string but you will get use to it. When I switched from 4 to 5, I ran through 1 Finger per fret method to get use to the string size and for my right hand to follow. I ran this up and down the fretboard, then I would make it a point to know what notes were where. For example, I know that G is E string 3rd fret and D is right above it on the B string. C is the first fret on the B string and E was the fifth fret.
I basically took a pen and paper, make a sketch of a fretboard, drew the frets to till I hit the 12th (cause it repeats) and wrote down all the notes of each fret on each string and their enharmonics, D#/Eb etc. Start with what notes you know on the fretboard, then keep adding. Do this and repeat. I know you can keep the paper but I threw it away and restart all over so I basically memorized it all.
As far as the physical aspect, it's something that you will have to put the time in. It's just like working out, it'll be hard at first.
I basically took a pen and paper, make a sketch of a fretboard, drew the frets to till I hit the 12th (cause it repeats) and wrote down all the notes of each fret on each string and their enharmonics, D#/Eb etc. Start with what notes you know on the fretboard, then keep adding. Do this and repeat. I know you can keep the paper but I threw it away and restart all over so I basically memorized it all.
As far as the physical aspect, it's something that you will have to put the time in. It's just like working out, it'll be hard at first.
