Why no open strings?

[Whousedtoplay]

I've read all comments and have some questions.

If a bass player CAN play OPEN STRINGS and CAN control the note's attack, the note's length, the note's tone and its "evenness" on OPEN STRINGS,
is it a sign of
1. ) an advanced level bass player,
or
2. ) a beginner bass player - a "newbie?"

If that bass player CAN control the note's length on OPEN STRINGS ONLY with his/her right/picking hand,
is it a sign of
1. ) an advanced level bass player,
or
2. ) a beginner bass player - a "newbie?"

(I was talking about Gary Willis.)


And one more question.
If a bass player CANNOT play OPEN STRINGS and CANNOT control the note's attack, the note's length, the note's tone and its "evenness" on OPEN STRINGS,
is it a sign of
1. ) an advanced level bass player,
or
2. ) a beginner bass player - a "newbie?"

P.S. I think we've had similar comments about Slap technique, where the talking point of quite a few commentators was, "I don't/can't play Slap Bass, but Slap sucks anyway."

 

[scottyd]

I play nothing but open strings....

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

Simple as this:
Do what you want, if it works for you.

 

[FretNoMore]

I play nothing but open strings....

Are you a harpist?

 

[radioface]

The reason they tell you to stay away from open positions is because they are not complete bassists who, are both uncomfortable and afraid to play in them. Do not take any further advice from those people.

 

[Ramleg85]

honestly whatever you can do and make it sound musical and tasteful is good.

I think open notes can even work awesome on bass used as chord/drone notes. Peter Hook makes great use of this in Joy Division and New Order.

 

[scottyd]

Are you a harpist?

Contra Harp! Sure it gets some strange looks from the rest of the band... but it's trendy!

 

[Humbled]

I think everything sounds bigger/fatter/rounder/more clear and distinct between the sixth and twelfth-or-so frets, on a five or six string anyhoo.

I'll go to first thru fifth fret if I want somewhat thinner and choked-but-"twangy" tone on a specific passage, but very seldom for more than that. I almost never play open strings on an electric bass.


But that's just me.

I'm probably doing it wrong...

 

[wmhill]

I wish I had all notes as an open strings, then no fretting! love that open string zing!!

 

[johnReeve]

Man, it's not absolute, but staying away from open strings isn't horrible advice.

If you can tell me how to adjust intonation to match the chord or play vibrato on my double bass using an open string, I'd be pretty damn happy to hear it

As far as I can tell, tone wise it mostly doesn't matter matter on BG... though I play a P with old flats on it, so I dunno if anyone would consider my taste in tone reasonable.

However, I play a lot of tunes with folks in various bands and they don't all agree on what key we want to the tunes in (and sometimes the folks I'm playing with can't remember what key we played a tune in last time we did it), and it's much nicer to just play the same pattern moved over five frets than it is to work out what notes I have been playing open and transpose them to a whole new fingering pattern. It's not that I can't do it, it's just that it's easier not to. And that's why I avoid playing open strings when I'm playing with people,a dn also why I don't think it is horrible advice for other folks in some situations.

Do whatever makes you happy and makes the best music however you want.... but the folks recommending staying away from open strings aren't necessarily incompetent idiots.

 

[el murdoque]

Just play a lick that has an A in it. Play it open, E string 5th fret and B string 10th fret. These will sound differently.
Sometimes the sound of an open string is more fitting and sometimes not. I know for sure that on some songs i play, especially when there is some distortion involved, the open stings have a different attack and feel and i prefer them open sometimes, while i rather fret the note on other songs. It is good to be able to do both.

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

One thing for sure is after you've been playing long enough, you just KNOW how the strings are going to sound in different positions. I don't even think whether to play open or fretted. I just know where to go. More often than not, I mix both in the same song.

 

[hasbeen]

A teacher of mine says: no control over the tone.

your teacher needs to work on his left-hand control for muting and right-hand control for muting and attack

 

[Brother Goose]

I employ plenty of open strings with my fretless 6 (especially in church) using them for drones and pedaling tones. (pretty much every tune is in G/C/D it seems) Use EVERY tool available to make the best music possible!

 

[dgrizzly]

Use both open and fretted notes when they make sense. Have fun!

 

[DigitalMan]

If you are advanced enough to use your left hand muting on the opens, they will all sound the same.
I never had a teacher tell me not to use opens unless it was a position learning exercise.
That was back when we had rotary phones, 13 TV channels and no ineernet.

You had 12 channels. They started at 2.

 

[BassFishingInAmerica]

You had 12 channels. They started at 2.

Don't forget, every once in a while you could dial in a couple of UHF channels.

 

[tonemachine]

Whenever I ask anything about technique or learning, people advise away from using open strings. Why?

Is it to avoid odd shapes/patterns?
Is it to avoid sustain or articulation inconsitency?
Is it to avoid the different tambre of open strings?

I just want to know exactly why many bass players choose to stick with fretted notes most of the time. I've already started playing all the sheet music I have on frets only in order to find out why it is preffered. For example, playing the 5th fret of the B string to acheive an E instead of the open E string, despite both options being just as easy.

I want some more experienced bassists than myself to tell me why to do this though.

I'm no expert.

While using patterns is handy, it's more important to use your ear, so patterns should be irrelevant if anything approaching mastery is desired. Woodwinds don't have nice patterns like bass/guitar do and they manage to transpose by EAR (and whatever "pattern"makes up a given scale). The great bass/guitar players that I know don't play by pattern; it's like whistling to them- there is no pattern, they just know where the ntoes are.

Take it from someone who followed dots on a page on woodwind, and then patterns for bass, for too long.... slow down and use your ears...and your open strings.

 

[quickfix]

I play all over the neck, but when somebody says we're gonna play in the key of F I get a real thrill. There's nothing more satisfying than playing F from the first fret on the E string and walking to Bb or C and back to F using the open A string. I incorporate the nut as an extra finger.

I gotta say it also acts like pheromones at the open mics, jams, and church hymn sings/gospel concerts. Need to be careful and responsible when using the power of the nut. Use with caution.

 

[FrankLowend]

Maybe this is a bit more relevant for fretless playing where there is a bigger difference between open and "fretted" notes.

Other than that I think it is good to know there is a difference in tone, but to avoid open strings totally is a bad idea since it may make some bass lines more difficult than they have to be. Any tonal difference mostly drowns "in the mix" anyway, so there is less need to worry anout it than people may think.

As exercise I like to play one same line using different "typing", for example open D and D in the fifth fret, or E on second fret of string D and seventh fret of string A.
But playing I always choose what sounds better to my ears...