Moving On Up (the fretboard)

[Appogee]

I've seen a couple of famous bassists over the years advising newer players to focus their learning the fretboard from the nut to the fifth fret. The advice is usually along the lines of "the lowest frets are your 'money makers' - where most producers and bands will want you to play".

Back when I was in an original band, I do recall most of my bass parts used (relied on?) open strings, and I played most of the time around the nut to 5th fret.

Many years later, I'm playing in an accoustic duo now, and I've noticed that most of my playing - of other people's songs, in keys that my guitarist partner is able to sing in - is around the 4th to 8th frets.

I do of course embellish with higher frets from time to time, and also go to lower frets as needed. However, most of my playing seems to be in the zone of the 4th to 8th fret, and I even tend to fret notes on the 5th fret rather than playing open strings.

In which zone do you tend to spend most of your time on the fretboard?

 

[Lobster11]

Exactly like you -- the only difference being that I started that way. I've always preferred fretted to open notes, and it's just much more physically comfortable to play above the 3rd or 4th fret.

 

[Appogee]

...and it's just much more physically comfortable to play above 3rd or 4th fret.

It's even more comfortable when, like me, you play a 30" scale bass!

 

[tb-player]

I've seen a couple of famous bassists over the years advising newer players to focus their learning the fretboard from the nut to the fifth fret. The advice is usually along the lines of "the lowest frets are your 'money makers' - where most producers and bands will want you to play".

Back when I was in an original band, I do recall most of my bass parts used (relied on?) open strings, and I played most of the time around the nut to 5th fret.

Many years later, I'm playing in an accoustic duo now, and I've noticed that most of my playing - of other people's songs, in keys that my guitarist partner is able to sing in - is around the 4th to 8th frets.

I do of course embellish with higher frets from time to time, and also go to lower frets as needed. However, most of my playing seems to be in the zone of the 4th to 8th fret, and I even tend to fret notes on the 5th fret rather than playing open strings.

In which zone do you tend to spend most of your time on the fretboard?

This is why I enjoy a 5-string bass so much. I can do the 1st position work up at the 5th fret. The notes are fuller and the stretch is less fatiguing.

With regard to advising new students to focus on the 1st 5 frets, I believe (my opinion) that line of thinking is fundamentally wrong. Those folks would do well to study Progressive Repertoire by Francois Rabbath. It’s a curriculum for the double bass. In that coursework, the student is playing up the neck in thumb-position by the 3rd or 4th lesson. It teaches the student to have no fear or dread when it comes to the entire bass neck.

So many players are like, “I wouldn’t know what to do up the neck” because they’ve been taught to be intimidated by it. A good teacher makes a new player comfortable with the entire instrument, not just the ‘money’ notes.

 

[flannel cat]

I paid for the whole fretboard so i use it from one end to the other... nothing wrong with getting into a little 'treble'' now and again...

 

[Fernando Costa]

Anything between the third and twelfth makes me comfortable, even up to the fifteenth is okay. I also avoid open strings, they always sound different, no matter what bass you use, they vibrate a lot, out of control, even with zero fret they don't work for me. They say that the money is on the first 4 frets, it's true, almost all popular music can be played in this region.

 

[2saddleslab]

Open strings are a great tool to navigate certain runs. Not always the best choice when you have the fretted option but nice to have them when you need them.

While it's true most time is spent closer to the nut, especially playing roots music, anywhere on the board works if it enhances the tune.

 

[Les Fret]

All zones. I don’t buy the dreaded Moneyzone thing. To really master any instrument you have to be able to play in all registers.

 

[Old gold]

I too prefer fretted notes, but sometimes an open note works for me when I need to switch positions to get farther up the neck. And, for me, playing above the fifth fret can make some fingerings easier and add to tonal variety.

 

[Killing Floor]

Play wherever the song needs you to play. If you’re playing in a bar some patrons will want to wait for a break to refresh their drinks. That’s when you can play a bass solo.
The range you play should be between you and the guitarist in your case. And possibly based on your singing(?).

 

[FullumMusic]

Yeah, that “always play below the 5th fret” thing isn’t a rule. It’s a hyperbole and a clever phrase that exemplifies the fact that most of the time in most songs, the bass should be playing the bass, and that’s where the bass notes are. Do what the song needs, and most songs need the bass to play notes in the lowest octave most of the time in most popular genres. It’s not a rule forbidding you from playing A and B on the E string and forcing you to play them on the A string below the first fret. It’s a generalized catchphrase, like “practice makes perfect.” Does it really make you perfect? No. There’s no such thing as perfect. But you should still practice. And playing primarily in the first octave of the bass is probably where you’ll spend most of your time not because you have to but because most songs need it. But if the song needs you to play different notes, play those.

 

[mrcbass]

I suspect that the "first five frets = $" trope comes from the old days when bassists were heard and not seen. The bass lines were expected to be simple so as not to interfere on the emerging, relatively simple, styles of the day. It was a saying to remind bassists not to get fancy. Playing up the neck would interfere with other parts in the old school mindset.

I also suspect the fact that bassists learn those 5 frets in school when first exploring music, so that's where they are most comfortable.

I haven't found this to be true in today's world. Of course there are plenty of songs where this does apply, but I for one, am more often not below the 5th fret. I play a fiver and even if I am playing "first five" type lines, I do it at the fifth fret most of the time.

I would say that my go to "zone" (per OP) is mainly 3-10. I do get above the octave and play at the nut , but generally speaking, I don't hang out in the first five.

 

[HardNHeavy]

12th fret and below

 

[in tune]

I use to play the entire instrument, 99% is fretted notes (for sound evenness)...most comfortable area for me is among 3th and 14th fret..

 

[Koshchei]

I've seen a couple of famous bassists over the years advising newer players to focus their learning the fretboard from the nut to the fifth fret. The advice is usually along the lines of "the lowest frets are your 'money makers' - where most producers and bands will want you to play".

Back when I was in an original band, I do recall most of my bass parts used (relied on?) open strings, and I played most of the time around the nut to 5th fret.

Many years later, I'm playing in an accoustic duo now, and I've noticed that most of my playing - of other people's songs, in keys that my guitarist partner is able to sing in - is around the 4th to 8th frets.

I do of course embellish with higher frets from time to time, and also go to lower frets as needed. However, most of my playing seems to be in the zone of the 4th to 8th fret, and I even tend to fret notes on the 5th fret rather than playing open strings.

In which zone do you tend to spend most of your time on the fretboard?

The whole neck. Open to 24.

 

[JRA]

In which zone do you tend to spend most of your time on the fretboard?

i play with horn sections in both bands so i play a lot of tunes in keys like F, Bb, Eb, etc., so i'm playing in the same general area as you, most of the time. i rely on open strings for some tunes and try to avoid open strings for others, depending on the tune and what i'm trying to convey when playing the part/line.

 

[tlc1976]

I spend probably 80% of the time from open strings to the 7th fret. As that is the octave after moving up a string. And I’d say I spend 99.9% of the time below the 14th fret.

But I’ll change it depending on the bass too. My Ibanez 5 string does better with the bridge pickup sound, and it sounds better played near the nut. But the P bass has a certain harmonic quality, and the same notes sound better played up on the lower strings.

 

[jnewmark]

Don't much wander past the 5th fret unless the song calls for it.

 

[fdeck]

There are famous players who aren't necessarily great teachers.

We learn for the future, not the past. The music world is transforming. Much as I love rock music, it's in decline, and its rules don't define my future. For some of us, the "money zone" is a joke -- we abandoned the money side of playing music long ago, and owe it nothing. I get paid for gigs, but certainly not enough to support a family.

You don't have to tell the electric guitarists, or even the electric bassists, that you're learning more frets.

/rant

 

[Slade N]

Learn the whole neck, its all valuable, usable, and valid. There are times where higher is better and times lower is better and the same goes in between. Like an effect or busy vs simple, learning when and where to use it is part of learning the instrument.