• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Playing Bass Wrong

#81
monti2889 said:
The wrong way is to approach any expressive art form as being right or wrong.

If I want to write a song about a car crash...it could be happy...maybe I'm happy it wasn't me, maybe I didn't like the person involved in the crash, maybe I'm sad, possibly because it wasn't me in the crash, maybe it was a good friend in the crash...maybe angry at the person responsible for the crash...etc
To state there's a right or wrong is to invalidate the humanistic element that gives any expressive art context and meaning.
Click to expand...

We're getting off topic here, but since I was one of the posters who first used the word "wrong" ...

You use the term "expressive art." ALL art comprises at least two things: Inspiration, and technique, or craft. One of those two without the other is not art.

You may love your three-year-old child's drawings, but chances are it's because a) the child is yours and you love even her poop, and/or b) it expresses a child's refreshing outlook on her world. But the child will need to learn how to color within the lines - technique - before she can produce art.

It's no different in music, and, truth be told, most of us are happy to be craftspeople. There's nothing wrong with that aspiration!

Your example of writing a song... almost anybody can write a song or a poem. Writing something artful requires craft - meter, rhyming, word choice, harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic choices.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 12BitSlab
#82
AGCurry said:
We're getting off topic here, but since I was one of the posters who first used the word "wrong" ...

You use the term "expressive art." ALL art comprises at least two things: Inspiration, and technique, or craft. One of those two without the other is not art.

You may love your three-year-old child's drawings, but chances are it's because a) the child is yours and you love even her poop, and/or b) it expresses a child's refreshing outlook on her world. But the child will need to learn how to color within the lines - technique - before she can produce art.

It's no different in music, and, truth be told, most of us are happy to be craftspeople. There's nothing wrong with that aspiration!

Your example of writing a song... almost anybody can write a song or a poem. Writing something artful requires craft - meter, rhyming, word choice, harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic choices.
Click to expand...


One exception - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds. :thumbsup:
 
#83
AGCurry said:
But the child will need to learn how to color within the lines - technique - before she can produce art.
Click to expand...
That's where I believe we'll have to agree to disagree.
Without coming off as combative or argumentative...I liken that approach to a paint by number picture. Or a static "the sky is always blue" process in creating art. Which has it's merits in copying a piece of work (ie; covering songs or recreating la familia).
But to tell someone they're holding the brush wrong to paint a portrait or further, to tell someone, if you want to write a sad song you must use dmin (cause we all know that's the saddest key) at 74bpm with an eighth note on every third beat, using only a plectrum with your bass held chest high...is wrong...at least to me.
Although we may be "getting off topic". The discussion may be helpful to the op, to actually see and read the different viewpoints and approaches to the craft.
Maybe they'll relate to one or other, or maybe they'll pick a mix of the two...or better yet, blaze their own approach that...10 years from now may put us both to shame...lol
 
#84
Back to the OP. You received a LOT of advice. One additional tidbit - coming from guitar, I had to learn how to let my fingers lie against the higher pitched strings on the bass. Of course, I mean the part of the finger below the tip, which I'll call the 'shaft'. This keeps the higher pitched strings from sounding. Having only one string 'talking' is one thing we need to do (most of the time).

Obviously, for chording on guitar, it would be a dreadful practice (other than for a barre). So, point being, the finger shaft more parallel to the fingerboard will "kill the spider" and start building a good habit.
 
  • Like
Reactions: AGCurry and monti2889
#85
As others have said, there's nothing wrong with spidery fingers. It's what you do with those fingers and that comes with practice. Check out this guy, he's got spidery finger's and look what he does with them. Keep practicing. You might want to check out Scott's bass lessons online course. You'll probably get more from that than your current teacher.

 
  • Like
Reactions: Watchootognbout
#86
Hey there,

I know this post is a couple of weeks old now, but I wanted to chime in as I am a new player as well. The "spider" finger thing will improve. My fingers looked just like that, and I would get a lot of buzzing.

What I did was learn a few major/minor scales and play through them at various speeds using a metronome. I started slow and only focused on my timing. As I picked up speed it became difficult because of my fingers flying up like that. However, eventually with enough practice I was able to raise the bpm bit by bit and naturally my fingers were staying closer to the fret board. My pinky is still a problem but overall, it's improved.

I attached a few scales and arpeggios for you to use for practice :)

You can free style through them as well and just play around as you make up sounds. It's very enjoyable!
 

Attachments

#87
Old Garage-Bander said:
I wonder how many ... bass players have something "wrong" with their technique?
Click to expand...

Almost all will have something they are working on. In many cases the 'flaws' will be so nuanced that most casual observers will not even notice. But you can bet that they are being addressed and improved through daily analysis and practice...

monti2889 said:
First, there is no "wrong" or "right" way to play.
...
Click to expand...

I think it is important for beginners to understand that every technique is built upon a foundation of other underlying technical aspects which absolutely do have right and wrong ways. Any flaws in those fundamentals can and will impede or prevent progression to more advanced techniques. Better to get it right from the get-go than to waste time constantly revisiting and tweaking the basics.

Not only that, in order to develop and improve beyond 'beginner' there has to be some understanding or definition of a 'right' way with which to
  1. reference and compare your own efforts;
  2. work out what the differences are and
  3. decide what you are going to do to close the gaps.
There may be a small number of 'right' ways*, and they may not all be compatible with each other in some aggregated meta-standard, but anyone wishing to improve has to pick a reference by which to evaluate themselves and develop an improvement plan, lest you end up meandering or going 'round in circles.

* for every one of which there will be any number of 'wrong' ways.

YMMV
 
  • Like
Reactions: 12BitSlab

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back