These scales are killing me... what is wrong with my brain?

[RemoteOutpost]

So I had my first private lesson a few days ago and I really think my teacher is awesome. He ticks all the boxes I wanted in a private tutor and I feel lucky to have found him. Anyway, my first lesson is to play one string, two string, three string and four string major scales in as many keys as I can get through until my next lesson. I'm working on G major and just getting the patterns under my fingers is taking forever. They look simple enough on paper and I can play them most of the time from memory but then my brain just decides to stop working and I end up finishing in places other than where I started and just generally forgetting a part of the pattern I thought I knew. I guess I'm just blowing off steam about it, I hope I at least get the patterns down pat by my next lesson.

 

[jallenbass]

How fast are you trying to practice them?

 

[RemoteOutpost]

How fast are you trying to practice them?

I can play them with some consistency, not perfectly, at 60, around 100 it gets haywire.

 

[lfmn16]

I can play them with some consistency, not perfectly, at 60, around 100 it gets haywire.

If you can't play them perfectly, slow down. There's an old saying, "Practice slowly, learn quickly." If you Practice sloppy, you will play sloppy.

Have patience, you're not going to master the bass in a few days.

 

[Malcolm35]

You are on the right track. Thirty minutes sessions then take a fifteen minute break. Then as many more 30 minute sessions as you like. The key to this is short sessions then a break.

Slow down and get it right. If you practice bad stuff you get reallly good at bad stuff.

Good luck.

 

[RemoteOutpost]

You are on the right track. Thirty minutes sessions then take a fifteen minute break. Then as many more 30 minute sessions as you like. The key to this is short sessions then a break.

Slow down and get it right. If you practice bad stuff you get reallly good at bad stuff.

Good luck.

Thanks man, good advice.

 

[Mushroo]

I find it helps me learn scales to sing the scale out loud while I am playing it on the bass. And also to sing the scale throughout the day, for example when I am in the shower or driving in the car. Sometimes I sing each note's letter name, sometimes I sing 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8, and sometimes I sing do re mi fa sol la ti do. Also, I listen to the radio and try to hear which songs use the same type of scale I am working on in practice. For example if Rolling Stones "Satisfaction" comes on, I would think no, that does not match the G Major scale I've been practicing, but then I hear Van Morrison's "Brown Eyed Girl" and I think yes, that does sound like it could be my G Major scale..

As you play (and sing) through all the different permutations of the G Major scale, do familiar melodies star to emerge? Can you use the G Major scale to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb"? What about Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Amazing Grace, Frère Jacques, Happy Birthday, or She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain?

A final thought (very important) is that you must know where the whole steps are in the scale (2 frets), and where the half steps are (1 fret). For all major scales the pattern is the same: the half steps are between the 3rd and the 4th, and the 7th and the 8th. In G Major the half steps are from B to C and from F# to G. You can use that pattern to basically never get lost.

 

[Scottgun]

When first learning a scale or piece, don't use the metronome. Sing or say the note name you are playing and move to the next taking as much time as you need to find it until it is the right note. Do this until you brain knows it. NOW get the metronome and set it as slow as needed so you can play it without error. If you can play it 2 or 3 times without error, bump it up a notch and repeat. If you make a mistake "penalize" yourself by knocking it down two notches. Do this until it is perfect at the tempo you want.

Trying to play something to a metronome when you don't really know it just adds needless frustration. Playing in time and with speed will come...err...in time. Learn what buttons to push and the order to push them in first. Then work on doing it in time.

 

[MonetBass]

Sounds like you're getting lost on the fretboard. It's OK to look at your fingering hand at first until you develop some muscle memory.

 

[La Faro]

You could also start closer along the fretboard around C, where the frets are closer together. Having less of a stretch makes it a little easier to focus n and get good tone. When you get that down, move up a fret of two

 

[4StringTheorist]

You're not performing yet, you're learning vocabulary. Forget speed. Honestly forget the metronome for this.

Also... Watch this. The whole thing.

 

[Smooth_bass88]

So I had my first private lesson a few days ago and I really think my teacher is awesome. He ticks all the boxes I wanted in a private tutor and I feel lucky to have found him. Anyway, my first lesson is to play one string, two string, three string and four string major scales in as many keys as I can get through until my next lesson. I'm working on G major and just getting the patterns under my fingers is taking forever. They look simple enough on paper and I can play them most of the time from memory but then my brain just decides to stop working and I end up finishing in places other than where I started and just generally forgetting a part of the pattern I thought I knew. I guess I'm just blowing off steam about it, I hope I at least get the patterns down pat by my next lesson.

I personally feel like it's not a good idea to think of scales as finger patterns, but rather, think of them in terms of the actual notes. This requires you to know where every note on the neck is first. Say the notes to yourself out loud. Take it slow, be patient.

 

[Chrisk-K]

You don't practice patterns for a scale. Practice notes.

 

[Huw Phillips]

Just go slowly and as above say the notes or sing them, the next step is to learn the position of the notes on the fretboard, there is an app called fret trainer that is awesome, if your commuting by public transportation it's a great way to learn
Good luck and glad you found a teacher you like that's v important

 

[jthisdell]

After you do your scales 20 or 30 thousand times they won't be so bad.

 

[Groove Master]

So I had my first private lesson a few days ago and I really think my teacher is awesome. He ticks all the boxes I wanted in a private tutor and I feel lucky to have found him. Anyway, my first lesson is to play one string, two string, three string and four string major scales in as many keys as I can get through until my next lesson. I'm working on G major and just getting the patterns under my fingers is taking forever. They look simple enough on paper and I can play them most of the time from memory but then my brain just decides to stop working and I end up finishing in places other than where I started and just generally forgetting a part of the pattern I thought I knew. I guess I'm just blowing off steam about it, I hope I at least get the patterns down pat by my next lesson.

Listen to it while you play !!! You are not listening with your ears and you play with your eyes and fingers. That is the problem most students have. There should be a direct connection with the brain and the ears not the fingers.

 

[Fredrik E. Nilsen]

If you can't play them perfectly, slow down. There's an old saying, "Practice slowly, learn quickly." If you Practice sloppy, you will play sloppy.

Agree, but: from time to time, practice a bit faster than you can comfortably play. Force your mind and fingers to work at a stressfull tempo. Start from the top, play fast until you mess up, then start again. Rinse and repeat. (This is related to technical excercises, not necessarily scales).

 

[DeepThoughts]

Sounds like a good teacher... Be sure you understand the harmony/theory of these scales you are playing. (i.e. modes of the major scale etc.) this will develop your ear at the same time. I don't think your teacher intends for this to be a technique exercise...but a way of learning the fretboard better, and it sounds like you need it. Good luck and rock on !!

 

[glocke1]

So I had my first private lesson a few days ago and I really think my teacher is awesome. He ticks all the boxes I wanted in a private tutor and I feel lucky to have found him. Anyway, my first lesson is to play one string, two string, three string and four string major scales in as many keys as I can get through until my next lesson. I'm working on G major and just getting the patterns under my fingers is taking forever. They look simple enough on paper and I can play them most of the time from memory but then my brain just decides to stop working and I end up finishing in places other than where I started and just generally forgetting a part of the pattern I thought I knew. I guess I'm just blowing off steam about it, I hope I at least get the patterns down pat by my next lesson.

Try playing them with the metronome set to 60 BPM, playing one note every other beat until you can do that comfortable.

One thing I learned recently, after more years of playing than I care to think about is that it's OK to practice and play things slowly. In the past I had teachers that would discourage that and would put something up in front me and be like "now dude, play this with the metronome on 2&4 at tempo".

It's no wonder I was such a horrible player in some respects for so many years. Still am, just less horrible.

 

[IamGroot]

When first learning a scale or piece, don't use the metronome. Sing or say the note name you are playing and move to the next taking as much time as you need to find it until it is the right note. Do this until you brain knows it. NOW get the metronome and set it as slow as needed so you can play it without error. If you can play it 2 or 3 times without error, bump it up a notch and repeat. If you make a mistake "penalize" yourself by knocking it down two notches. Do this until it is perfect at the tempo you want.

Trying to play something to a metronome when you don't really know it just adds needless frustration. Playing in time and with speed will come...err...in time. Learn what buttons to push and the order to push them in first. Then work on doing it in time.

Good point. Understand what you need to do before clocking it against the metronome . The metronome will show you nothing new, it will just make sure your rhythm is correct

And 60 bpm is a very good starting speed for new stuff.