Just curious if there are more of u like me...I am RIGHT handed, i play right.h bass with strings reversed, or upside-down how ever you wanna say it...I do this cause the tabs to me are backwards, a guy finally showed me if i stand it up, then showed me tabs. I understand now, my bf says they read as if your looking down like on ur bass. All of it still is wrong!! Lol i try to play and naturally when i see tabs on e string (im trying to hit g, same for g, i try to hit top e) so i put the strings on backwards! Now i play awesome!! It just feels right, plus in my head the low e should be bottom...and high g top!! right?!?! anyways thats how i play, also im small so its very hard to reach the 2 main notes e & a on the 1-4 freds my first bass was short scale which i love! I just got a new ibanez and my bf begged me to TRY to play normal!! ( gave it a sporting chance) immediately i noticed the neck was longer, to hit e or a on 123 i had to literally line my arm wrist to elbow with the neck and i had about 5 sec till my wrist cramped up and i was like yep im stringing em back to how i had it!! when i was done i was like ahhhhh i tried normal for about a week after playing backwards for 2 years! btw thats what i call it i tell ppl i play backwards bass... why dont ppl ever say that its catchy!! lol originally i had usedthis as a reply but I joined the site for this topic so after going on and on i might as well copy paste lol
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Well, I can just hear most people here getting ready to tell you to lose the tabs and play "right".
Me, I say if it is working for you at this point and all you want is to play songs you can find tabs for by all means go for it.
Although I would think that your bass might not have the best sound being strung that way. But again, if you are happy that honestly is all that matters.
Russ
Me, I say if it is working for you at this point and all you want is to play songs you can find tabs for by all means go for it.
Although I would think that your bass might not have the best sound being strung that way. But again, if you are happy that honestly is all that matters.
Russ
well that wont bother me, i just play at home with my bf mike! and my luna bass took me months to get my e string and a so so to sound right, made kinda a twangy echo idk how to describe but tuner said flat note so after much youtubing googling and endless tweaking finally got it all on key the e string was never 100% tho...now this ibznez i couldnt believe it, i got all of it perfect in one night!!! yea i felt like a pro, not gonna lie... as for the lectures prob will sound just like my bf...''you need to learn the right way'' ''your never gonna be able to work with anyone like that'' ''blah blah blah'' when i got my ibanez i really tried!! This just feels natural!!
I say if it works for you the way you describe then go right ahead and do it your way.
I get the funny feeling I'm going to be seeing you on t.v. when you're famous and in a band...
Every once in awhile someone bucks the trend and goes right to the top......seriously.
Keith Horne is left handed, but plays with the bass strung right handed. It works great for him as he's one of the best bass players I've heard in my life! If it works for you, keep on playing that way.
thanks everyone!!
thanks but i dont think id want that, maybe a youtube video will get some attention, but that would be it...i just play for fun. we do have a band name but i cant tell outta fear of it being stolen! lol
thanks but i dont think id want that, maybe a youtube video will get some attention, but that would be it...i just play for fun. we do have a band name but i cant tell outta fear of it being stolen! lol
I have seen Horne up close...in the '90s, his band Secrets played local bars here in Va. Beach. Seeing him slap/pop was an experience.
Jimmy Haslip (Yellowjackets) does the same thing.
When he was local here in Nashville, he came to the music school I was going to and actually played through my rig. Seeing how he plays up close is insane! I still can't figure out how he slaps so well with his bass strung that way. He, Victor Wooten and Roy Vogt did a show at my school, and Keith was the star of the show in my opinion! Of course, all three are amazing!
Wooten is from around here, too.
Last time I saw both play, it was at clinic in a local music store...at the time, Victor had graduated from sounding like 2 bassists playing to sounding like 3 bassists playing.
...and we had Oteil Burbridge here in the same time frame. Has not been the same since those guys left.
Last time I saw both play, it was at clinic in a local music store...at the time, Victor had graduated from sounding like 2 bassists playing to sounding like 3 bassists playing.
...and we had Oteil Burbridge here in the same time frame. Has not been the same since those guys left.
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Andrew McCluskey of OMD has been playing that way since he started. If it works, then it works.
One nice thing about reading music is you don't have to reinterpret tabs 
If you can reinterpret tabs, you can read music. So I'll be that guy and recommend going for learning the notes. As for playing bass upside down, I'm all for it if it's working for you.
If you can reinterpret tabs, you can read music. So I'll be that guy and recommend going for learning the notes. As for playing bass upside down, I'm all for it if it's working for you.
I'm all for whatever works, and different is cool if it works. But since the bass plays more natural that way, then nothing wrong with that at all.
I don't like to use tab, I prefer to read the notes and then develop my own way to play it. To each their own.
Depending on what bass you have, stringing it in reverse could give you a reverse headstock and a reverse P pickup. Some people like the sound of those.
