Learning to play Bass?

czech · Unread post by **czech** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:19 pm

So I got recruited by an old college friend to play in a band with him. we used to do open mics together which turned into an offer to be the bi-weekly act, but we were too busy. He moved to san diego and was playing some stuff he wrote and it is fucking awesome. he doesnt even listen to DMB, but some of the stuff he has written is very reminisent of LIOG and shit. And since i am so into the jam band style ( i know dmb isnt a jam band) I am helping him write these songs into longer jam style songs.

So he wants me to play bass for him, but I dont know how. any advice? he is giving me his bass and i was just wondering if anyone has done the transition and help. I dont want to be the borig bassist that plays just the root notes, i want to actually play.

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:34 pm

learn to slap/pop

Coldchillin · Unread post by **Coldchillin** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:48 pm

Yeah. Slapping is essential at times. I am not much help, but try to google and find online lessons for the time being. Try to listen to other bass parts of other players and see how they use the scales to write complimentary bass melodies.

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:49 pm

oh yeah... and actually use the low strings... ive seen a few bassists recently that think they're cool because they play the same bass note as the guitar with their hand all the way at the 12th fret... that defeats the purpose of a bass

Duffman · Unread post by **Duffman** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:50 pm

victor wooten has an instuctional video that i found on emule.

juineaux · Unread post by **juineaux** » Mon May 02, 2005 2:58 pm

I played bass for about 4-5 years untill the guitar fully took over my head....help. Anyways, I would suggest that you don't do the slap & pop stuff. That instantly turns me off, unless its unbelievably good(Wooten, Claypool), or unbelievably tasteful(Mike Gordon).

I would suggest you focus on getting as tight as you can with the bass drum and snare, and learn to play off the drummers rythym(I assume this will be a band, not a duo, right?). You can also learn to play some nice harmony to whatever the guitar is doing, or you can follow the vocal melody.

If the bass is cheap, and your friend dosn't care, you can make it into a fretless....or a better option, a fretless after the 8th fret(not sure if that would work, but it sounds cool). I've converted mine to a fretless, so ask me before you try it-

myxomatosis · Unread post by **myxomatosis** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:26 pm

juineaux wrote:If the bass is cheap, and your friend dosn't care, you can make it into a fretless....or a better option, a fretless after the 8th fret(not sure if that would work, but it sounds cool). I've converted mine to a fretless, so ask me before you try it-

how would making it into a fretless bass help him?

juineaux · Unread post by **juineaux** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:30 pm

thepackage0 wrote:
juineaux wrote:If the bass is cheap, and your friend dosn't care, you can make it into a fretless....or a better option, a fretless after the 8th fret(not sure if that would work, but it sounds cool). I've converted mine to a fretless, so ask me before you try it-
how would making it into a fretless bass help him?

how does slapping help him?

anyways, he wants to do something that isn't just standard root playing...and a fretless will give you a different kind of sound that isn't boring. On second thought, I wouldn't do the fretless thing, because its alot of pressure to always play with proper intonation live.

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:31 pm

hes a seasoned guitar player. a transfer to the basics is pretty much effortless to spice it up he can slap, go fretless, tap, whatever his style is.

myxomatosis · Unread post by **myxomatosis** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:37 pm

juineaux wrote:
thepackage0 wrote:
juineaux wrote:If the bass is cheap, and your friend dosn't care, you can make it into a fretless....or a better option, a fretless after the 8th fret(not sure if that would work, but it sounds cool). I've converted mine to a fretless, so ask me before you try it-
how would making it into a fretless bass help him?
how does slapping help him?

anyways, he wants to do something that isn't just standard root playing...and a fretless will give you a different kind of sound that isn't boring. On second thought, I wouldn't do the fretless thing, because its alot of pressure to always play with proper intonation live.

I didn't know that fretless basses had a different sound to them. :shock:

I still wouldn't do it because he's just learning the bass... maybe after he gets a better feel of it he could go fretless.

And although I'm not the one that said for him to learn slapping, it would help because it is a valuable technique to have... not that its the first thing he should learn.

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:39 pm

thepackage0 wrote:
juineaux wrote:
thepackage0 wrote:
juineaux wrote:If the bass is cheap, and your friend dosn't care, you can make it into a fretless....or a better option, a fretless after the 8th fret(not sure if that would work, but it sounds cool). I've converted mine to a fretless, so ask me before you try it-
how would making it into a fretless bass help him?
how does slapping help him?

anyways, he wants to do something that isn't just standard root playing...and a fretless will give you a different kind of sound that isn't boring. On second thought, I wouldn't do the fretless thing, because its alot of pressure to always play with proper intonation live.
I didn't know that fretless basses had a different sound to them.

I still wouldn't do it because he's just learning the bass... maybe after he gets a better feel of it he could go fretless.

And although I'm not the one that said for him to learn slapping, it would help because it is a valuable technique to have... not that its the first thing he should learn.

oh yeah fretless tone makes normal tone sound like pins and needles

juineaux · Unread post by **juineaux** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:41 pm

thepackage0 wrote: And although I'm not the one that said for him to learn slapping, it would help because it is a valuable technique to have... not that its the first thing he should learn.

Youre right its a valuable technique to learn, hell I loved doing that. I'm sorry to be so anti-slapping at the moment, but I had to judge a battle of the bands last weekend....seven full hours of bad heavy metal slapping-

mangold · Unread post by **mangold** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:43 pm

juineaux wrote:
thepackage0 wrote: And although I'm not the one that said for him to learn slapping, it would help because it is a valuable technique to have... not that its the first thing he should learn.
Youre right its a valuable technique to learn, hell I loved doing that. I'm sorry to be so anti-slapping at the moment, but I had to judge a battle of the bands last weekend....seven full hours of bad heavy metal slapping

when done poorly slappin is bad. everybody thinks they have to go as fast as possible to sound good

filmdude100cms · Unread post by **filmdude100cms** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:58 pm

since you can play guitar, youve got the essential basics, so you can move on, to pops, runs, taps ect. have fun

fatjack · Unread post by **fatjack** » Mon May 02, 2005 3:58 pm

slapping should definitely NOT be your first concern.

like juineaux said, locking int he rhythm is the most important thing to get down when you first start playing.

as for not playing the root, you need to have a thorough knowledge of arpeggios and know the progression of a song inside and out. it takes time and lots of practice, but you'll start to see which patterns and rhythms are idiomatic

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Learning to play Bass?

Learning to play Bass?

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