Apparently, some people only learn 12 and call it good.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
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.
What is this garbage??
- Thread starter Smooth_bass88
- Start date
- Status
Apparently, some people only learn 12 and call it good.
Damn training wheels! They don't make a Rosetta stone for bass, do they?! 
C'mon, it's just a way to help novices remember what notes are where so they don't have to keep stopping in the middle of a song to count frets. Remember, rhythm is just as important as pitch, so slowing the rhythmic part of the education process can be just as detrimental to a student as not knowing their fretboard. If you can play most of the lesson with the right feel and rhythm you can always brush up on the correct notes afterwards. The notes on the staff are permanently in their positions (A is always the top line of the F clef, etc.), but the rhythm (two quarter notes followed by an eighth then an eighth rest...) changes constantly. That's the hardest part to learn, the notes are easy. If this simple little gimmick helps someone retain something from their lesson, I'm all for it. Remember "Every Good Boy Does Fine" to learn the G clef? Same type of thing here. Too bad they don't have big round signs for drummers, like "snare", and "tom tom" that they can tape to the drum heads. That will make it easier for them to understand what you want them to play. If that doesn't work, fire 'em.
C'mon, it's just a way to help novices remember what notes are where so they don't have to keep stopping in the middle of a song to count frets. Remember, rhythm is just as important as pitch, so slowing the rhythmic part of the education process can be just as detrimental to a student as not knowing their fretboard. If you can play most of the lesson with the right feel and rhythm you can always brush up on the correct notes afterwards. The notes on the staff are permanently in their positions (A is always the top line of the F clef, etc.), but the rhythm (two quarter notes followed by an eighth then an eighth rest...) changes constantly. That's the hardest part to learn, the notes are easy. If this simple little gimmick helps someone retain something from their lesson, I'm all for it. Remember "Every Good Boy Does Fine" to learn the G clef? Same type of thing here. Too bad they don't have big round signs for drummers, like "snare", and "tom tom" that they can tape to the drum heads. That will make it easier for them to understand what you want them to play. If that doesn't work, fire 'em.
Last edited:
It hasn’t dawned on me yet why this situation wouldn’t make the fret markers even that more useful...?
You mean, you only play open strings, and two frets on your 4 string bass? Such a waste of a bass, then. Might want to invest in a one octave midi keyboard.
Some people learn differently than you do, you don't need to be a dick about it.
Man, I'm a crappy music learner. Always just played by ear - I tried piano classes in high school but when the teacher left the room I would fold up the music and play what I had heard. Same with guitar and then bass, using tab to find out the tricky bits. So I can play many things... in their original arrangements at least. A few things from the 90s in Eb I just play in E because detuning is a pain for like one song, heh. Transposing is difficult for me.
I can technically read music, but it takes me like a half hour to read each line of sheet - I have to sit and do each note one at a time - and then a few extra minutes to go back and flat or sharp all the notes according to the key signature. It's like reading a foreign language you took one year of in junior high... I have a similar problem with the fretboard, though - beyond the gimme positions like 1-7 and 12, I have to sit and think what note I'm on.
I say all that to say this: Fretboard note-name stickers would sort of only help me if the note names were written on whatever music I was reading from (sheet, tab, whatever), because I just lack that fundamental direct translation between the staff and the fretboard. And if somebody needs the stickers, then that probably means they know the music, just not the instrument, so they're halfway home! =0)
I really do need a good music theory instructor. I've been playing for decades and couldn't even tell you what key 99% of what I play is in, or even what a I-IV-V would be for a given root (without a good hard think).
I can technically read music, but it takes me like a half hour to read each line of sheet - I have to sit and do each note one at a time - and then a few extra minutes to go back and flat or sharp all the notes according to the key signature. It's like reading a foreign language you took one year of in junior high... I have a similar problem with the fretboard, though - beyond the gimme positions like 1-7 and 12, I have to sit and think what note I'm on.
I say all that to say this: Fretboard note-name stickers would sort of only help me if the note names were written on whatever music I was reading from (sheet, tab, whatever), because I just lack that fundamental direct translation between the staff and the fretboard. And if somebody needs the stickers, then that probably means they know the music, just not the instrument, so they're halfway home! =0)
I really do need a good music theory instructor. I've been playing for decades and couldn't even tell you what key 99% of what I play is in, or even what a I-IV-V would be for a given root (without a good hard think).
OMG look at that noob with those garbage helpers!
I am sure he hasn't done anything noteworthy or interesting musically, ever in his career.
My guess is that the numbers helped keep him in place while tripping heavily.
Only hacks have letters on their fretboard.....
Anyone who thinks this is bad, I raise you the following image, which I took myself upon receiving a bass I bought used online:
They carved E, F, G, and A into the neck where those notes would be on the low B. Stickers across the fretboard are welcome any day of the week, in my eyes. Just don't mutilate an instrument!
They carved E, F, G, and A into the neck where those notes would be on the low B. Stickers across the fretboard are welcome any day of the week, in my eyes. Just don't mutilate an instrument!
- Status
