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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: Bass help
    Posted: October 23 2006 at 16:04

I have been playing bass guitar for about 8 months and i would appreciate any help to help me with my bass playing technique. I would like to be able to play more progressive rock.
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GabbleRatchet View Drop Down
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Points: 23 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2006 at 16:26
I might be able to help. You can email me at [email protected]
I play most basses and write for Bass Guitar and Bass Player Magazines.
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chopper View Drop Down
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Points: 20029 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2006 at 16:27
Learn your scales and practise! Prog is probably not the easiest place to start, learn the basics first.
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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 23 2006 at 18:47

I have been able to play some Rush songs already. A little bit of YYZ and some Led Zeppelin songs already.
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EyeShakingKing View Drop Down
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Points: 14 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 24 2006 at 17:08
Maybe that's a good route to take... learn your favorite basslines then think why they are your favorite (what makes them great?)
Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight.
I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it.
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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 24 2006 at 17:36
Yeah i think its a good route to take because then i see how complicated the basslines actually are and have more respect for the bass player.
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Eetu Pellonpaa View Drop Down
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Points: 4828 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 25 2006 at 01:57
Originally posted by progismylife progismylife wrote:

I have been able to play some Rush songs already. A little bit of YYZ and some Led Zeppelin songs already.
 
I started by playing RUSH and BUDGIE whilst listening their records. Both have loud bass guitars so it was quite fun. I also found some playing guides for the library!
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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 26 2006 at 05:28
Originally posted by EyeShakingKing EyeShakingKing wrote:

Maybe that's a good route to take... learn your favorite basslines then think why they are your favorite (what makes them great?)
 
What makes the basslines I like great are the fact that it sounds simple but is really complex. It takes a lot of talent to make a complex thing sound simple.
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Jay440 View Drop Down
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Points: 118 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 26 2006 at 22:42
The best thing to do is to sit, listen, and figure out songs by ear, eventually building on your memory and knowledge of where the notes notes are on the fingerboard until you can figure pretty much anything out by ear....even if you can't play it very fast, at least you know what notes to play.

Practicing scales can also be a big help.

I have maybe 2 or 3 hand-drawn pages of all sorts of scale patterns, from your usual major and minor, to the patterns for the Modes and all sorts of very exotic scales.

These are endless fun to explore....If I can get my scanner working i'll try to post them here some day.
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el böthy View Drop Down
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Points: 6336 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 30 2006 at 15:33
8 months and already playing Rush? After my first 8 months of playing the guitar I was "trying" to play punk LOLLOLLOLLOLLOLLOL
"You want me to play what, Robert?"
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progismylife View Drop Down
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Points: 15535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: October 30 2006 at 16:21
Well, if it helps any, it took me a while to learn the basslines.
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lucky_man123 View Drop Down
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Points: 35 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 17 2006 at 18:26
I would recommend Funk. I would also recommend checking out large compilations from the library for a week or two instead of starting a massive collection.

Usually, you'll get 3 or 4 different basslines or grooves per song - simple but standing out. Start with Parliament and Earth Wind and Fire and move to Graham Central Station and Sly and the Family Stone (Larry Graham was the inventor of Slap Bass)

Why do you want a lot? It's simple music with little structure. You run out of stuff to play really fast - that's why I'd recommend the library.

Edited by lucky_man123 - November 17 2006 at 18:27
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BePinkTheater View Drop Down
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Points: 1381 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: November 18 2006 at 18:26
while you learn bass and learn technique, learn as much about music theory as you can. Especially if you want to learn prog.
Learn theory, and harmony, scale pattern, chordal theory, chord progression, all that fun stuff.
Then you can study some theory specifically for bass. Classical use of bas lines and bottom voices ( try string quartet [the cello parts] to learn about some movement and stuff you can do as the bass voice of a piece in a progressive way). Study some figured bass too.

Good luck.
I can strangle a canary in a tin can and it would be really original, but that wouldn't save it from sounding like utter sh*t.
-Stone Beard
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purplepiper View Drop Down
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Points: 280 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: July 02 2007 at 02:03
learn the scales. that is the key. Don't ever settle for half blind fret navigation! You must know how a note will sound BEFORE it is played. Paramount!
for those about to prog, we salute you.
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