Bass Guitar - Advice for a Beginner

[stewievslois]

Hey guys,

I've recently started to learn to play the bass guitar, I have been using studybass.com and fininding it very useful. However I am having a few problems:

1) I'm finding it difficult to keep in time. I've tried playing with a metronome and am fine to play a note on the beat, but find it difficult to play a note on a half or quarter beat. Can anyone offer any advice on how to improve my timing?

2) I have quite small hands, to the point where the four fingers on my left (fretting) hand can only comfortably cover 3 frets. I have been advised to play further up the neck i.e. where the frets are closer together until I can comfortably cover four frets with four fingers. Does anyone know any hand exercises that might help?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Cheers guys.

[zrac99]

I've been playing bass for two years. I had a lot of timing issues, but what i did was just play along with songs. I'm sorry I can't offer any more tips on that subject.

As for exercises, do the spider exercise.




|-------------------------1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1---------------------------------|
|-----------------1-2-3-4-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------|
|---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------|
|-1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1---------|
after you do that, move down one fret, and restart. do this until you have played every fret on the fretboard.

It might get tedious, but it will help.

[admkbl]

With the metronome, try clapping on-beat. Once you have that down, begin dividing each beat out loud while clapping with each word like "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and." After this, start to mess around with it and do something like clap 1 and 2....3 and 4 and." It feels kind of stupid at first but it does work. Metronomes or drums (machine or a good human player) help far more than mentally trying to keep in time, especially if you lack a natural sense of rhythm like I did.

Hand exercises:

- With one hand put your thumb and pinkie together making a teardrop shape, spread your other hand out, and place the teardrop in-between two fingers of the other hand. Slowly open up the teardrop as far as you can go without hurting yourself and keep it there for around fifteen seconds. Do this for each finger. To stretch between your index and thumb just open them up as wide as you can.

- Place the pads of your fingertips together, spread as wide as they can go while remaining contact, and slowly bring the inside of the fingers toward one another. You don't want your palms to move, however, because the goal is to stretch your fingers.

- Practice the major and minor scales without shifting your hand.

Reach from one fret as far as you can go to another and keep them there for fifteen seconds.

If you have a keyboard or piano, practice keeping your hand in one position and hitting a different white note with each finger. The ability to move your fingers on either hand independently will help in the long-run, especially as you move toward improv.

You may want to look into private lessons. I taught myself music well enough to play with a group, reading sheet music and all, but working with someone else who knew what they were doing made my playing two or three times better. I picked up lots of bad habits from learning from the internet or books and my technique suffered tremendously. It helps if you learn how to do it right the first time.

[emopunkfan]

to learn songs i went on youtube and looked at bass cover to get the proper rhythem

[Alou]

I'm not a Bassist but I can still answer the first one.

Don't think of music in just beats. Think of music in sub-divisions of the beat. Like instead of 1,2,3,4 do 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and. Where and is halfway between Beat 1 & 2. Then if you need to subdivide further do it. If you think like that generally most notes fall on a 1, and, or a further subdivision (1 e & a for 4 subdivisions in a beat). Hopefully that makes sense.

[stewievslois]

Thanks guys, muchly obliged.

[Tristan Needler]

I've been playing bass for two years. I had a lot of timing issues, but what i did was just play along with songs. I'm sorry I can't offer any more tips on that subject.

As for exercises, do the spider exercise.




|-------------------------1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1---------------------------------|
|-----------------1-2-3-4-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------|
|---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------|
|-1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1---------|
after you do that, move down one fret, and restart. do this until you have played every fret on the fretboard.

It might get tedious, but it will help.
Did you mean to have the fourth and first notes on each string ne played at the same time? Or did you mean to have every note played individually?

I wonder because I've been playing bass for a long time, but I've never done any sort of exercises and I want to get better.

[eliselovesmusic]

All I can say is hopefully you're learning to read actual music rather than cheating and using tab.

A little tip on technique that you'll thank me for: Make sure when you play your fingers don't collapse at the joints. This is howw string players get arthritis and a heck of alot more problems later on in their careers. Keep your fingers nice and rounded. You'll thank me later.

[Tristan Needler]

True, although bass is played with the flat part of your fingers, not with the very tips like guitar.

[stewievslois]

I am learning to read music as well as trying to learn bass. As they say 'Rome wasn't built in a day'.

I think I'm going to take admkbl's advice and try to get a private tutor to go along with teaching myself. How much do you guys think a standard bass lesson should cost? I've been looking in my local area and they seem to be about £20 ($33 USD) an hour! Does that seem right? I only ask because a friend of mine is learning to play the piano and they pay £8 ($13 USD) an hour...

Again thanks for all your words of wisdom guys

[Smeee]

I am learning to read music as well as trying to learn bass. As they say 'Rome wasn't built in a day'.

I think I'm going to take admkbl's advice and try to get a private tutor to go along with teaching myself. How much do you guys think a standard bass lesson should cost? I've been looking in my local area and they seem to be about £20 ($33 USD) an hour! Does that seem right? I only ask because a friend of mine is learning to play the piano and they pay £8 ($13 USD) an hour...

Again thanks for all your words of wisdom guys

Lessons are always good. Try to get a tutor who comes recommended. I'm a self-taught bassist and lessons would have helped me greatly.

In regards to prices, I pay £18/hour for my piano lessons so your friend has got a crazy cheap deal. My trumpet lessons used to be £10 for half hour. So £20/hour doesn't seem unusual.

[zrac99]

Did you mean to have the fourth and first notes on each string ne played at the same time? Or did you mean to have every note played individually?

I wonder because I've been playing bass for a long time, but I've never done any sort of exercises and I want to get better.


no, sorry about not being clear. every note is played individually.

[stewievslois]

Again, this is probably an obvious question, but I haven't been able to find an answer on the net which clears it up.

In terms of playing a note, whats the difference between a sharp and a flat? For exmaple whats the difference between an A# and a Bb when playing on a fretted bass? A few websites seem to say there is very little when playing a fretted instrument, the difference being so small the notes are virtually interchangeable (from a sound perspective).

Can someone clear that up please? Are they the same?

Thanks again for your help.

[Tristan Needler]

An A# and a Bb are the same note.

Unless your music is written using some weird temperament scale, which no one does. And if it was, your bass isn't made for that anyway.

[Animalhill]

Also just to add to this: DONT learn with a pick.

[Ransomite]

About having small hands, they make basses with shorter scale lengths. You might find one of those easier to play. What kind of bass do you have now?

[Tristan Needler]

Also just to add to this: DONT learn with a pick.
Why?

Learn with whatever you plan on playing with first, then learn the other second. It's better to know both. It takes time to learn to play with your fingers after learning with a pick, but you can do it. Lots of music sounds better played with a pick, and lots of bassists do. Don't let anyone tell you "real bassists" only use their fingers.

[Animalhill]

Why?

Learn with whatever you plan on playing with first, then learn the other second. It's better to know both. It takes time to learn to play with your fingers after learning with a pick, but you can do it. Lots of music sounds better played with a pick, and lots of bassists do. Don't let anyone tell you "real bassists" only use their fingers.
That is debatable. It DOES change the sound of the bass quite a bit- and unless you're playing fast punk I personally feel that it sounds absolutely terrible.

[Tristan Needler]

That is debatable. It DOES change the sound of the bass quite a bit- and unless you're playing fast punk I personally feel that it sounds absolutely terrible.
Have you ever listened to Yes? Sunny Day Real Estate? Foo Fighters?

My favourite bassist, Chris Squire of Yes, and Nate Mendel from SDRE/FF who is one of my top five, always use a pick. And Chris Squire has my favourite bass tone of anyone. Listen to Roundabout by Yes, and pretty much all of the album Fragile. It's an amazing album, and the bass playing is amazing too.

[Animalhill]

Have you ever listened to Yes? Sunny Day Real Estate? Foo Fighters?

My favourite bassist, Chris Squire of Yes, and Nate Mendel from SDRE/FF who is one of my top five, always use a pick. And Chris Squire has my favourite bass tone of anyone. Listen to Roundabout by Yes, and pretty much all of the album Fragile. It's an amazing album, and the bass playing is amazing too.
I Love Sunny Day (my fav album is your avatar) but do not like his bass tone.
The bass tone on "Worship and Tribute" by Glassjaw is PRIMO. I just dont dig the scratch that comes with the pick, I like bass tone that is smooth as hell.

[patrickhowell]

I Love Sunny Day (my fav album is your avatar) but do not like his bass tone.
The bass tone on "Worship and Tribute" by Glassjaw is PRIMO. I just dont dig the scratch that comes with the pick, I like bass tone that is smooth as hell.

I can't stand smooth bass tones. I like bass that really cuts through a mix.

[Animalhill]

I can't stand smooth bass tones. I like bass that really cuts through a mix.
Just because its smooth doesnt mean it doesn't cut through. Listen "Ape Dos Mil" by Glassjaw

[zrac99]

Also just to add to this: DONT learn with a pick.


Ignore this, and learn a variety of styles to become a well-rounded bassist.

[Animalhill]

Ignore this, and learn a variety of styles to become a well-rounded bassist.
Pffft it is much better to learn with fingers, and then experiment with a pick than vise versa.

[stewievslois]

Thanks for all the above advice, its greatly appreciated guys.

Can anyone recommend a good beginners song for me to practise with?

Also where do people get tabs / sheet music from? (the tabs I've been getting from bassmasta.com and ultimate-guitar.com I haven't found anywhere to get sheet music form though)

[Animalhill]

Thanks for all the above advice, its greatly appreciated guys.

Can anyone recommend a good beginners song for me to practise with?

Also where do people get tabs / sheet music from? (the tabs I've been getting from bassmasta.com and ultimate-guitar.com I haven't found anywhere to get sheet music form though)
I find Ultimate-guitar to be the best for guitar tabs, but not too sure about bass. I would recommend easy stuff like old Green Day, MxPx, old Blink 182 etc.

[patrickhowell]

Just because its smooth doesnt mean it doesn't cut through. Listen "Ape Dos Mil" by Glassjaw

GREAT song, but I'm not a huge fan of that bass tone. I'd much rather hear something like this:

DlQKRgrqWvE

[Animalhill]

GREAT song, but I'm not a huge fan of that bass tone. I'd much rather hear something like this:

DlQKRgrqWvE
Can't see what you posted- at work. What song is it?
You may not like it, but it cuts through doesn't it?
PS: Glad you dig GJ :-)

[patrickhowell]

Can't see what you posted- at work. What song is it?
You may not like it, but it cuts through doesn't it?
PS: Glad you dig GJ :-)

Rancid - Rwanda

But really, anything off of Rancid [2000]. That record is the holy grail of bass tone as far as I'm concerned.

[Animalhill]

Rancid - Rwanda

But really, anything off of Rancid [2000]. That record is the holy grail of bass tone as far as I'm concerned.
I guess it comes down to, "To each his own". Pure preference.

[Tristan Needler]

byeSPOIffVE

Roundabout by Yes.

The video was just made by the user, but whatever.

[lew_1987]

I've been playing bass for two years. I had a lot of timing issues, but what i did was just play along with songs. I'm sorry I can't offer any more tips on that subject.

As for exercises, do the spider exercise.




|-------------------------1-2-3-4-4-3-2-1---------------------------------|
|-----------------1-2-3-4-----------------4-3-2-1-------------------------|
|---------1-2-3-4---------------------------------4-3-2-1-----------------|
|-1-2-3-4-------------------------------------------------4-3-2-1---------|
after you do that, move down one fret, and restart. do this until you have played every fret on the fretboard.

It might get tedious, but it will help.

A way to do it which might be more effective would be to go:

|-------------------------4-5-6-7---------------------------------|
|-----------------3-4-5-6--------5-6-7-8-------------------------|
|---------2-3-4-5-------------------------6-7-8-9----------------|
|-1-2-3-4------------------------------------------7-8-9-10------|

That way you are stretching your fingers more, and it is also great for warming up. You can obviously change any exercises to make them more comfortable for yourself and/or more effective.