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Topic ClosedAny good tips about bass guitar?

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Slartibartfast View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 15 2010 at 20:31
Originally posted by Triceratopsoil Triceratopsoil wrote:

get a chapman stick

Tony Levin Funk Fingers:

Then you must use a bow. Tongue
Tony on Chapman



Edited by Slartibartfast - December 15 2010 at 20:37
Released date are often when it it impacted you but recorded dates are when it really happened...

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2010 at 22:41
Originally posted by Slartibartfast Slartibartfast wrote:

Come on people.  His teacher has likely heard scales so many times to be bored to tears with them.  Pick your strings with your teeth and then set your bass on fire. Tongue

It's weird, but when I recommend improv, no one joins in with me on it.  Scales are for fish...

Hey i'm with you :) 

hey, you could learn the modes of each major scale! that helps with improv...
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: December 18 2010 at 23:40
Jack Bruce always said practice yer Bach.
Can you tell me where we're headin'?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 10 2011 at 16:19
Learn some Gentle Giant stuff like me. Or some Yes like Heart of the Sunrise and the bass solo on the Gates of Delirium.
La victoire est éphémère mais la gloire est éternelle!

- Napoléon Bonaparte
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2011 at 15:44
He'll probably be impressed if you practice hard and listen/learn what he is teaching you.
Tony C.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2011 at 16:14
Hi,
 
I'm the world's worst bass player, and on top of it, I refuse to practice, and I am still playing it, and I don't care what anyone says or thinks.
 
But there is something that I can do ... that many can't ... and I was playing with an instructor one time, and I did the homework ... and when it came around to the end, I adjusted it to my feel and ending ... and he said ... wow, that was nice ... how did you do that? ...
 
I'll tell you what I did ... I played it through and practiced it, and it sounded dry and tuneless and boring, and I did not want to do another Chuck Berry song again. So, in the middle of it, I shut off everything and just followed MY OWN MUSE ... and the notes ... completely away from any lyrics and conceptualization ... and when I flowed on it, the song wanted to end this way ... not that ... and I did ... and he still says, that I am the only student he ever had that could color and adjust and add something to anything that was already there. And I did it more than once, and many times even in the middle of things, not just in the end. Or the start, many times of which I liked to adjust to help the music get stronger.
 
The issue, FOR ME, is this ... you have to tell the notes to get lost and screw them! ... and you have to learn, and teach yourself to "FEEL" the notes and their vibration through your fingers and then arm, and such ... and the minute you do, you will be a very good bass player ... since a band will immediately want to use that ability to help them color their own material ... BUT, if you are playing the Red Lion circuit ... yeah ... leave quickly, because your "moments" will never be heard, or appreciated.
 
Too many people think that it is just about the mechanics and the notes ... it's not! ... it's about YOU ... and the sooner you know that and learn that, the better ... all else is not important ...
 
But you have a decision to make, specially now that you read this ... it will show up and come to you ... put your money on it ... and you will know what you want to do that very minute ... and either go for it, or quit -- because playing a bass, or anything else ... just got really boring and not worth it!


Edited by moshkito - January 17 2011 at 16:20
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 17 2011 at 17:53
I kind of agree with the post above,  there's nothing wrong in adding your own feel to stuff, I do it all the time. I never practice either as it happens, and i've never had any lessons. I guess it depends on what level you wanna be at.
Tony C.
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irrelevant View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 18 2011 at 07:13
Originally posted by moshkito moshkito wrote:


 
Too many people think that it is just about the mechanics and the notes ... it's not! ... it's about YOU ... and the sooner you know that and learn that, the better ... all else is not important ...
 

You're absolutely dead on with that one. Clap


Edited by irrelevant - January 18 2011 at 07:15
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 18 2011 at 15:06
If you play in a band, is one of the most important play together. The sound of your instruments should blend smoothly. Remember that the bass notes often form agreements in conjunction with the notes played by other instruments. Unfortunately, the bass is often the main attraction for many groups.

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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 19 2011 at 04:50
Originally posted by avinpiter avinpiter wrote:

If you play in a band, is one of the most important play together. The sound of your instruments should blend smoothly. Remember that the bass notes often form agreements in conjunction with the notes played by other instruments. Unfortunately, the bass is often the main attraction for many groups.


What's wrong with that? I mean people that play their bass like a lead guitar is annoying, if that's what you mean.   
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 22 2011 at 22:57
Idolize John Myung, Tony Levin, and Chris Squire. This is the key to success.

Seriously, though (although that is good advice Wink)
Practice, practice, practice. Know your scales, how to play them easily and lucidly, and how to whip out a nice bass line, even it's really simple. Also, practice more than just rock music. Jazz, funk, reggae, and even pop and soul music have very unique and important styles that can make you a really dynamic player. And don't forget to jam out!
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2011 at 14:56
I learned to play music mostly on my own. So when someone asks for advice (doesn't happen often), I say simply learn your basic chords and start playing along to your favorite records. Learning a song will give you all the motivation and feeling of accomplishment.
It's funny how the colors of the real world only seem really real when you viddy them on the screen.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2011 at 15:39
As a long time guitar player, I would pick up the bass in band practice and I could play all the notes but it sounded like a guitar player.
 
I was given a bass about 10 years ago. What turned me into an at least credible bass player is dozens and dozens of times of playing along with James Brown's Greatest Hits. It sounds cliche but it worked. I don't think about guitar and bass in the same way at all anymore.
 
 
Bass is a rhythm instrument. Lock in with the drums. Play along with basic songs and work on locking in. The point is not being in a expert in 3 chord rock, it's training your ear to be able to turn your bass and the bass drum into a single tone.


Edited by Negoba - January 28 2011 at 15:40
You are quite a fine person, and I am very fond of you. But you are only quite a little fellow, in a wide world, after all.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: January 28 2011 at 18:41
Originally posted by Epignosis Epignosis wrote:

Originally posted by janealex janealex wrote:

I these days i am learning how to play Bass guitar so i need some good tips to impress my music teacher. If someone knows that please share with me.


First, don't try to impress your teacher.  Practice what you are taught at least 30 minutes each day.  Learn all the notes of the fretboard and how they interact (i.e., learn scales).  Practice with all different kinds of music because the skills in various genres can carry over into one another.


^ this and pick up a Carl Thompson bass. Big smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 02 2011 at 20:59
I, too, am currently learning how to play bass and lets just say that I'm so new to playing ANY instrument, that I'm just learning about notes and how to correctly pluck my bass!  It's all very hard for me (as I'm sure it is for anyone just starting out), but I'm feeling more and more comfortable with my bass.
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2011 at 14:13
Play jazz music and do not slap your strings
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2011 at 14:15
Do the slap. 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2011 at 15:29
Originally posted by Xanatos Xanatos wrote:

Play jazz music and do not slap your strings when you feel like it Smile
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 03 2011 at 17:10
I just played School by ear (on bass)
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 04 2011 at 02:10
Yeah, make sure nobody can hear it. And don't get any ideas, EVER. Just follow the guitarist and make sure you don't detract from anyone else in the band. Just remember, you ARE the least important member.
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