So my bass playing...
Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Other music related lounges
Forum Name: Music and Musicians Exchange
Forum Description: Talk with and get feedback from other musicians on the site
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=31978
Printed Date: November 22 2024 at 12:59
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Topic: So my bass playing...
Posted By: progismylife
Subject: So my bass playing...
Date Posted: December 08 2006 at 12:12
| Can anyone out there help me with my bass playing? I find myself making up stuff that sounds like crap. Any suggestions on what to focus on like scales or anything would be much appreciated. |
Replies:
Posted By: blazno
Date Posted: December 08 2006 at 12:17
Try here http://www.bassmasta.net/b/bass_lessons/ I'm almost as good as Levin  , but seriously it halped me a lot.
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Posted By: jalas
Date Posted: December 08 2006 at 12:23
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I am not a bassist, but I can recommend aiming low at first and learning from Roger Waters who was able to write music with so much emotion. Try to leave spaces and complicate the patterns a bit. Also, have more confidence in your music. Sometimes, it's the arranging that makes the difference. ------------- 
JOIN THE COMMUNIST PARTY! |
Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: December 08 2006 at 12:29
| ^^ Have you ever heard Pink Floyd basslines? Some of those are pretty tough. |
Posted By: darren
Date Posted: December 09 2006 at 07:39
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Just keep practicing. It all comes eventually.
I'm pretty much in the same situation. ------------- "they locked up a man who wanted to rule the world. the fools they locked up the wrong man." - Leonard Cohen |
Posted By: Xeroth
Date Posted: December 13 2006 at 20:33
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Yay, I suck too! Makes me feel good I'm not the only one....
Recently I spent an hour just getting one short riff down from Rush....
still, you don't want to hear it. Though the songs I've made up,
I'm kind of proud of. You just have to play around and excert
your abilities alittle bit. I've also like taking piano songs
from early learning stages and playing those too. Try playing
marry had a little lamb! That's a fun one! One suggestion
too, try to avoid tabs from tabs sight. Those things are stupid
in my opinion, hence my slaughtering of Rush. Poor Rush, I hope
they never hear my futile attempts to play thier material. But
just start simple and slowly move on, you have to challenge your self
with something harder. If you don't mind metal, Queensryche has
some tight stuff, but also a little more simple in some places, just do
something that's challenging but not impossible.
------------- I once was cool, but now I'm cold. Can you please turn up the heat. |
Posted By: sleeper
Date Posted: December 13 2006 at 20:52
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Learn your scales and see what notes work together for a certain mood and in what wayyou play it. Experiment is the best option IMO.
------------- Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005 
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Posted By: Sasquamo
Date Posted: December 18 2006 at 22:46
| Learn as much music theory as you can. |
Posted By: EssentialFaris
Date Posted: December 21 2006 at 13:40
| scales are good but i think you should focus on whats going on with the other instruments,also focus on hiting notes in the key rather then a specific scale. |
Posted By: Eetu Pellonpaa
Date Posted: December 21 2006 at 14:17
Listen to those fabulous RUSH albums, and play over them with your bass!
I used to find lots of their tabs from the OLGA website which is now down, but I found these from the goolge:
http://www.911tabs.com/tabs/r/rush/ - http://www.911tabs.com/tabs/r/rush/
http://www.cygnusproductions.com/rtp/ - http://www.cygnusproductions.com/rtp/
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/rush_tabs.htm - http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/rush_tabs.htm
http://www.fretplay.com/tabs/r/rush/ - http://www.fretplay.com/tabs/r/rush/
http://www.rockmagic.net/guitar-tabs/rush/ - http://www.rockmagic.net/guitar-tabs/rush/
(some of them are probably crap)
In time you find cool sounding patterns on the neck which you can start to improvise and develop further with your own imagination!
 |
Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: December 21 2006 at 14:18
| ^^I would do that but their is a possibility that tabs might not be legal so some of the sites stopped posting tabs. |
Posted By: Barla
Date Posted: December 21 2006 at 16:43
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First of all, do you go to a proffesor? I play bass, and what I did is first learn the arpeggios, scales and positions on all the bass. I remember I started with simple blues and improvisation on it, then rock in general, hard rock, metal, etc. Then the modes, some theory (don't know if that's the right spelling in English), and lots and lots of improvisation ... Actually I'm improvising on complex harmonies to improve my skills (recommended with jazz rock, that has helped me A LOT!) and I'm starting with some exercises to increase speed. Also, if you have a good professor that may help a lot. ------------- http://www.last.fm/user/Barla/?chartstyle=LastfmMyspace">  
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Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: December 21 2006 at 16:45
Thanks, that is really helpful. And you did spell theory right. |
Barla wrote:Posted By: GabbleRatchet
Date Posted: January 02 2007 at 01:59
| If I were you, I'd get a bass guitar teacher, as you're obviously having lots of problems trying this on your own. |
Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: January 02 2007 at 09:32
| ^^ I will look for one but I don't know if I am able to get bass guitar lessons and piano lessons at the same time. It might get a bit confusing. |
Posted By: Passionist
Date Posted: January 05 2007 at 20:47
And ignore most of the rest. Then if you want me to like you, bass is not just for rythm, it's a marvellous instrument that should be swinging in the background. So try forming patterns and music, not just one note on the 1st hit. |
Posted By: OpethGuitarist
Date Posted: January 05 2007 at 20:53
All it really takes is desire and discipline. Teachers help but can be expensive. I've found that if you work hard enough you can learn almost anything. Best example of that philosophy at work is me. I've never had a guitar teacher, but I've taught myself how to play guitar and some rudimentary bass. Now I'm learning some of the most technical material available (on guitar) and I've only been playing for 4 years. Hard work can take you lot's of places. There will be bumps in the road, but you just keep pushing yourself and anything is achievable. ------------- back from the dead, i will begin posting reviews again and musing through the forums |
Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: January 05 2007 at 20:54
Thanks for the suggestions and wonderful help.  It has been steadily improving since I posted this topic. |
Posted By: Stars Die
Date Posted: February 08 2007 at 19:34
Just keep making crap, eventually something is going to turn out well  ------------- Du Skojar om att jag Skojar men jag skojar inte alls |
Posted By: rileydog22
Date Posted: February 08 2007 at 20:27
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What I've been doing is that every couple of days during our free time at school me and a friend or two will go to the music room and jam 12-bar blues. In a little over a month, I'm really learning what rhythmic and melodic patterns sound good. There's no better way to improve than to play with other musicians. Especially superior musicians; you'll have to improve to keep up. -------------   |
Posted By: Flyingsod
Date Posted: February 08 2007 at 21:51
most excellent advice. ------------- This space intentionally left blank |
Posted By: Arrrghus
Date Posted: February 08 2007 at 21:55
Like Styx! ------------- 
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Posted By: purplepiper
Date Posted: June 20 2007 at 16:57
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always remember that the bass player 'holds down the show'. You need to make sure to hit the roots! Also, playing passing/grace notes can add flavour to the mix. Make sure you know the scales. Also, hitting octave is quite effective. And for god's sake, don't use a pick!!! Real bass players use their fingers! ------------- for those about to prog, we salute you. |
Posted By: progismylife
Date Posted: June 20 2007 at 16:59
^ You're saying John Entwistle is not a real bass player?  He used picks on some songs Anways I totally forgot about this topic....  |
Posted By: Melomaniac
Date Posted: June 20 2007 at 17:00
So that makes Chris Squire a fake bass player ???!?!??!?! ------------- "One likes to believe in the freedom of Music" - Neil Peart, The Spirit of Radio |
Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: June 20 2007 at 17:03
ah, the Barry Manilow Theory Ben, ever used a Fuzzypick? |
Posted By: Eetu Pellonpaa
Date Posted: June 21 2007 at 02:02
I quess that the "pick" issue is a political question.
Probably both styles have their advantages and disadvantages (f.ex. the cool sound on the beginning of the "Roundabout" song), so it would be best if one could do both. I can't, that pick just wont fit my hand, so I'm happy to play without. Could try to learn someday though. |
Posted By: mystic fred
Date Posted: June 21 2007 at 02:18
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[QUOTE=purplepiper]always remember that the bass player 'holds down the show'. You need to make sure to hit the roots! Also, playing passing/grace notes can add flavour to the mix. Make sure you know the scales. Also, hitting octave is quite effective. And for god's sake, don't use a pick!!! Real bass players use their fingers![/QUOTE]
a rather sweeping statement
 - some of the best bass players in the world use a pick, i know bass is the new "cool" but we're not all "phunky phat" finger players - besides some of us HAVE to use a pick if our fingers don't work properly...-------------  Prog Archives Tour Van 
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Posted By: stonebeard
Date Posted: June 21 2007 at 02:26
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Learn scales (not sure how important that is for bass, as I play guitar). and study your ass off in the theory of composition. I know all that is necessary to teach myself good composition, but I lack the will and motivation to do so. You might have this.
------------- http://soundcloud.com/drewagler" rel="nofollow - My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want! |