legato

[thehangingmist]

a guitar player showed me some really cool legato exercises and i think one can really work on them and learn to play much faster but then there are only very few people who play legato on bass. so that made wonder why is it so.
is it really way too hard on bass?
do you loose too much attack and definition?
just why is not not as popular on bass? are there some problems with practicing legato stuff on bass?

 

[thehangingmist]

wow looks like its really a very unpopular subject

 

[Atoz]

I'm more interested in the exercises than why a lot of people don't play legato. Would you post them?

 

[Gawd]

I agree, I wouldn't mind seeing the exercises.

I'm sure a lot of bassists use it. For some reason right now the only one that comes to mind that I recall is Berlin.

 

[engedi1]

I think that learning to play legato is hugely important in one's development as a bass player. Just like learning to play loud, or soft, or slap, or finger, or pick. It is one of the skills that you are expected to have and it comes up all the time. I think there are two elements to it, a right hand and left hand. Learning to shift position smoothly and quickly is essential. I'll give you a little left hand exercise that my teacher gave me, that transformed my playing (this was very early on in my studies )

1. finger the A on the G string (2nd fret) with your index finger. Stike the note, and then slide into the 3rd fret, strick the note and slide back to the 2nd fret. Strike the note again and slide into the 4 fret and back. Repeat sliding into the 5th, 6th, 7th, and so forth until you are sliding the octave (14th fret)

2. Here is the challenge: you must be able to do this so you can't hear the slide!!!! You must fret the note, lift pressure just a little, make your slide, then fret the note you are aiming for. Easy to do on the first couple of frets, hard on the octave (or above) It should sound like you are almost hammering the next note. The goal is to have smooth, legato phrasing, playing huge position shifts, with the same finger. You must not be gripping the neck too hard, but have a light touch with the left hand. Thumb must be properly behind the index finger (c shaped grip) REPEAT using ALL 4 FINGERS!!!!

3. This exercise will really increase the accuracy and speed of position changes, which is maybe why some have trouble playing smoothly and with legato phrasing.

 

[engedi1]

Also, many have trouble with legato because they can't use their pinky fingers. hint: when playing with the pinky, make sure you are fretting with all the other fingers behind it. Don't try to make your weakest finger do all the work. Also, when NOT using the pinky, keep it just above the string. Alot of player let their hand fly open when playing with their index or middle finger, and how can you expect to play legato if your pinky has to travel 3 inches to fret the note. This latter is a huge problem I see all the time.

Cheers!

(fyi) My exercise above was taught to me on upright bass. If it can be done on upright, you can do it on electric, I promise!)

 

[engedi1]

last thought...Learn the melody of the song! What better way to learn to play with smooth phrasing then to learn a melody. Pick a song with a legato, flowing melody, like "sounds of silence" as an example, and learn the VOCAL part on your bass, trying to match the phrasing as much as possible.

 

[jady]

Emulate horn players phrasing.

A sax can play hundreds of notes with 1 lungfull of air. That is how Jaco learned to phrase and his legato phrases are awesome.

 

[thehangingmist]

I'm more interested in the exercises than why a lot of people don't play legato. Would you post them?

I agree, I wouldn't mind seeing the exercises.

I'm sure a lot of bassists use it. For some reason right now the only one that comes to mind that I recall is Berlin.

the ones i am going to start working on are basic hammer on and pull off exercises but really i dont know how can i post them in text but am sure if you youtube search the guitar legato exercises and apply them to bass you'll be set!

 

[JimmyM]

i love to play legato when it's appropriate and i do it all the time, especially when soloing. but i'll mix it up, too. some notes will be legato, some staccato, some in the middle.

 

[Bassist59]

Billy Sheehan plays some really great sounding legato lines during his solo. Search "Billy Sheehan Solo" on youtube and it'll come up. Great tone in my opinion. Search "Billy Sheehan Cherry Lane lesson" and you'll see his legato-type (non-picking) exercises. He openly admits they hurt...they do!.. so be careful.

Lately, I've been incorporating shred guitarist, Rusty Cooley's Legato Workout from his DVD, "Shred Guitar Manifesto" into my bass warm-up routine. So far, it doesn't seem to be injuring my hands or wrists and I can feel it strengthening the left hand. I don't see why any guitar legato, pull-off/hammer-on technique couldn't be practiced on an electric bass other than doing so may risk of hand injury because bass requires more strength. I'm using the hammer on pull off exercises from Troy Stetina's "Speed Mechanics for lead guitar" book with my bass too. So far, no injuries. Hands gettin' strong, too!

I suspect the reason this subject is ignored is that it's probably considered going outside what the electric bass was designed to do....I don't care. Legato runs on an electric bass sound really good just warm up slowly and stop if anything starts to hurt.

 

[frisbieinstein]

Emulate horn players phrasing.

A sax can play hundreds of notes with 1 lungfull of air. That is how Jaco learned to phrase and his legato phrases are awesome.

He said that his main influence there was Frank Sinatra.

 

[frisbieinstein]

I got a bad case of tendonitis from playing fast legato on bass, so watch out.

 

[Bassist59]

I've gotten tendonitis as well here and there over the years and it was always after playing fast with "out of shape" hands.

I agree, be careful. Another way to protect yourself, I've found, is to keep the left hand strong so it's not as likely to happen. I have noticed that when I practice legato slowly and accurately, my left hand gets a good workout. Playing fast runs after "working out" for a few days has never caused the problem for me. It was always when I jumped in there, played fast while out of shape, then felt that nagging ache later. Tendonitis!...man, I hate that! If a player has a history of problems, yeah, I guess work on something else...

Playing legato slowly for a few days, then bumping up the tempo once I'm stronger seems to work for me... Do what works and avoid what doesn't.

 

[oniman7]

I'm confused. I thought legato was typically a hammer on or pull off, and a slide was considered something different. I know a ton of bassists who use both (slides and hammer on/pull-offs). Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bass drop/slide is something I'd consider legato.


Anyways, Roger Waters, Justin Chancellor, Michael Todd, Thomas Miller, Michael Lepond, Cliff Burton, and many others use legato a good amount. Maybe it's just because I'm not quite clear on legato, or because I listen to metal.

 

[K2000]

I'm confused. I thought legato was typically a hammer on or pull off, and a slide was considered something different. I know a ton of bassists who use both (slides and hammer on/pull-offs). Correct me if I'm wrong, but a bass drop/slide is something I'd consider legato.

Legato can refer to the sound too, and not always a specific physical technique.