What is your most difficult challenge in playing bass.

[FenderB]

The same problem I have with learning a song on the drums...fills. Kill me every time.

 

[micguy]

Small hands.

Huge hands can make certain things tough. I can’t really play fast on a J width neck - the strings are just too close together. As I’m working 5’ers into my gigs, the tighter string spacing on those is something I’m having to get used to.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Just wondering what everyone struggles with the most in bass world. Speed, theory, fills, gear?

Don't get me wrong, I'm always working on improving my technique, but for me, a relatively new player, the biggest challenge by far, has been understanding gear, effects pedals and order in the chain, especially in live situations. It almost seems like you have to be a scientist to get all your amp settings and effects pedals and levels and being heard but not being too loud all integrated well, especially in live situations.

How about y'all?

Finger speed (plucking hand) while staying in rythym.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Huge hands can make certain things tough. I can’t really play fast on a J width neck - the strings are just too close together. As I’m working 5’ers into my gigs, the tighter string spacing on those is something I’m having to get used to.

Yup, I need big necks and wide spacing myself

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

Finding my sound

That one's easy. Set your amp flat, and play. That sound, is your sound.

 

[Ostie]

Playing the bass well is my biggest challenge.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

And yet strangely, when my guitarist feels that I am too loud, he is the quickest to jump all over it, lol.

Everytime my volume is perfect, my drummer gets too loud, and my guitarist turns up too. Hahahaha. I can drown a fish I never get past 1 o'clock on my master. But I can. That's all a joke by the way. If you didn't get it. But, I could drown a fish. There's never been an instance where I couldn't hear myself...ever.

 

[Govner22]

The opposite of having enough time to play - being able to put my bass down and rest so my tendinitis subsides.

 

[Sav'nBass]

For me it is singing and playing.. playing fast .. and soloing.. improvisation ..

I was one of those guys that started late.. and never got the proper foundation .. I bought my first real bass in 1978 when I was 22 .... and I still have it .. but I never took the time to learn what I later found out was the basics.. I just learned songs .. I never knew the difference between major and minor.. I never learned arpeggios.. intervals.. none of that basic theory stuff.. I played like that for about 4 or 5 years.. then I stopped playing after I got married and started a family .. I sold all my gear except my bass.. and I would pull it out every now and then but nothing even remotely serious .. I picked it up again in 2001 after moving to Virginia in 2000 playing at my church. When I first started to play again, the first 4 or 5 years or so .. I was again just learning songs.. Even reading the chord chart.. I didn't really understand it.. but I knew it was something like D G C ... but I had no idea that was a II V I progression .. I would just listen to the music and pick out the bass part.. That all changed around 2005 when I started to play with other musicians .. Early on I bought books and stuff.. but I could never get into them.. I found out later that I most likely have adult ADD .. and would have probably been better served by getting lessons in the beginning.. Over the past 11 years .. especially since I discovered TB.. things changed.. I started to learn more and be able to find out things that I was missing.. and Scott's Bass Lessons helps too.. I met a few pivotal influences musically that pulled the chain that lit the bulb.. and now.. at 65 .. I struggle sometimes to not beat myself up because of all the time I wasted.. because now I have 65 year old fingers.. but my playing has improved steadily .. I just struggle with soloing .. and I practice scales and arpeggios .... and listen .. and do technique stuff to help with that .. and they are getting better.. I am a better bass player than I was last year .. so I am ok with that .. and the singing and playing.. I have accepted the fact that I may never get but so fast .. but I realize that with practice I can get a little faster tomorrow than I am today .. and I am grateful.

 

[Fat Freddy]

The first bit....

 

[roccobass]

Just wondering what everyone struggles with the most in bass world. Speed, theory, fills, gear?

Don't get me wrong, I'm always working on improving my technique, but for me, a relatively new player, the biggest challenge by far, has been understanding gear, effects pedals and order in the chain, especially in live situations. It almost seems like you have to be a scientist to get all your amp settings and effects pedals and levels and being heard but not being too loud all integrated well, especially in live situations.

How about y'all?

Tapping. It is an ongoing issue for me.

 

[bbh]

My biggest challenge is playing with my eyes open. I’m so used to playing with them closed, it really helps me zone in on the timing. I have no problems playing all over the neck in this fashion with a glance at the neck here and there.
The thing that bothered me about this is it was almost like missing half the gig. I had no clue what’s going on off stage. Now I don’t gig with bands, I just do some local studio work.

 

[bbh]

I'm always struggling with something, and seeking to learn, but the 2 most frustrating things
Snip
We were going to cover Carry on my Wayward Son at our church, and I had to back out because I couldn't learn some of those fast parts in-time. I felt super frustrated. I just struggle playing fast.

I think the fastest parts are only 1/8 notes. Take some time to slowly warm up. That might help with dexterity if that’s the cause. Maybe something less intense like dust in the wind?

 

[bbh]

When in studio, playing perfectly synchronized with the metronome.

Try closing your eyes. It helps me with that big time.

 

[bbh]

For me, it was and still is figuring out how to keep improving myself to become a better overall musician that serves as the bass player in a band/composition context.

I've always been very impressed with bass virtuosos who can do all sorts of amazing things that I can't (and won't ever be able to) do. However, even for these great players, the opportunity to utilize those skills has to be pretty limited.

Similarly, I am skilled enough at what I do where just playing roots or roots and fives on the beat is not satisfying.

Really, the key has been learning more about how music works (theory, chords, etc.). This is helping me strike the balance between delivering a solid bass part that others can rely on and play off while also incorporating enough challenging improvements to a standard bass line.

The key is how to find or create a groove. The rest means nothing if you have Ltd feel.

 

[Ryno1330]

Huge hands can make certain things tough. I can’t really play fast on a J width neck - the strings are just too close together. As I’m working 5’ers into my gigs, the tighter string spacing on those is something I’m having to get used to.

Trade ya.

 

[bbh]

I'm still new at this (playing less than a year), so the details of what feels hardest at any given time changes every couple weeks. Really, though, in the big picture, it's mostly issues of technique: working on getting pick playing to be equal to fingers, speed, details like ghost notes and hammers, just keeping everything smooth. There's so much stuff to learn—and I haven't even really started on theory. I have recently started trying to keep the gear craze to a minimum to focus on just playing. (Have only bought one pedal in 2020, yay progress!) I just don't know how you experienced folks manage to keep everything straight.

It's all good, though, the challenge is part of what makes it fun.

One thing I put an awful lot of work in was getting eighth notes to sound exactly alike finger style. This was back when the police were big and a lot of tunes had the eight note thing going on. Zoning in keenly on Sting started me on that path. Feel, timing and decent tone should probably be your priorities. And play clean well defined notes when practicing in slow motion if necessary.

 

[bbh]

Changing my strings. I do it fairly regularly but it is a chore... fo' shore!

I got a drill attachment for that. Makes it a breeze. Before that, changing strings was a miserable painful experience. Using a drill makes the job go very quickly.

 

[bbh]

Speed, followed by theory.

Speed seems to be something I just can't do. I practice a lot, trying to increase my dexterity but I can't seem to crack the barrier that I'm currently at.

Theory - I've got a bit under my belt but there's so much more to learn and I can't seem to find the time.

If you have great taste, speed doesn’t matter as much. Hope that’s helpful.

 

[Blueinred]

Being a five string player, figuring out how a cat played a run on a four string using notes lower than open low "E" without drop tuning. Or....................maybe he did detune.

Like this song. How does he get that low "D" he plays........especially the riff that starts the instrumental section? I can play it on five string no problem, but how did he do that? Detuned I guess. There's other tunes like this.