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Who plays above the 5th fret?

#161
Decided that I don't like the brighter timbre of notes nearer the nut, so one of my pandemic projects has been to learn to play without using the D and G strings below the 5th fret.
E string tends to get wonky 12th fret and above, so avoid that as well.
Also figured out that the highest note on the G string of most of my basses is Eb. Who knew?
 
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#164
Tom Petty was never noted for bass parts that push the technical envelope. But if you listen closely (as I have since I joined a cover project) there is the occasional excursion above the 5th fret and even above the 12th fret!
No matter what level ambition one has or style one plays, IMHO it behooves anyone to learn the entire fretboard. There's only 4 strings; it's really not that hard.
 
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#165
Jefenator said:
Tom Petty was never noted for bass parts that push the technical envelope. But if you listen closely (as I have since I joined a cover project) there is the occasional excursion above the 5th fret and even above the 12th fret!
No matter what level ambition one has or style one plays, IMHO it behooves anyone to learn the entire fretboard. There's only 4 strings; it's really not that hard.
Click to expand...
Ron Blair had some tasty lines and he was way up the neck a lot. "American Girl" is a good example. Check out live videos of him playing that.
 
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#169
There was a guy that promised to play between the 6th and 8th fret exclusively and after a while his madness made him order that horrid 17th string bass that many make fun of.
C4822A3C-E1C9-4C5C-8D32-3715AAE0D5A4.jpeg

He could only master the B flat minor pentatonic which only allowed him to play a limited repertoire. One can only play "say say say" a limited number of times before losing it.

He then got a bouzouki, got a piercing and lived happy ever after.
 
#170
I think "Cake By The Ocean" is a very catchy tune.
The original (studio) bass line version - bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle - is a nicely crafted and very simple one. I would say, it's a bass line with "no notes above the 5th fret, but...

Here is a live version of the same and by the same bass player.
(Now I know that Cole attended the Berklee College of Music - LOL!)


 
#172
Whousedtoplay said:
I think "Cake By The Ocean" is a very catchy tune.
The original (studio) bass line version - bassist and keyboardist Cole Whittle - is a nicely crafted and very simple one. I would say, it's a bass line with "no notes above the 5th fret, but...

Here is a live version of the same and by the same bass player.
(Now I know that Cole attended the Berklee College of Music - LOL!)


Click to expand...


Are the instrumentals live?
 
#174
I play a lot of riffs and bass lines up to the 19th fret. Runs around the 17th - 19th fret were my trademark 45 years ago and today I still wander there playing songs like "White Room" and "All right now". Am very comfortable there abouts but tend to move over octaves more than stay in one place.

White Room is a song that sifts all the bass players out in the audience. I tend to toss is a few extra runs more than the original or reunion versions and that makes it more interesting for me. Playing anything FREE is about mastering the notes for minimization while holding the song together. "Be my Friend" live is good play to be, easy, yet a little early for the beginner.
 

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