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Post subject: New player
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:19 pm
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Joined: Tue Mar 02, 2010 3:19 pm
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Location: Minnesota
I always wanted to learn how to play bass, and with the wonderful support from my honey I bought a jazz bass, and I love it. I'm still getting used to technique and what's comfy for me. I will glady read any advice from the fellow bass players out there.


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Post subject: playing tips
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 4:29 pm
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1) As soon as possible, get a teacher. I would recommend a university music major if possible, they'll be cheap and educated.

2) Get a good bass book. One I recommend is The Evolving Bassist by Rufus Reid. This book has been around for ages as it is full of good, basic info about chords, improvisation and technique.

3) Always tune your bass before you play it. You'll accustom your ears to playing in tune. The first step in improvising is having an internal tonal center and you'll never get it if you play out of tune.

4) (this one is sure to piss off some people) Avoid alternate tunings. IMHO alternate tunings are great for a chordal approach to playing but the bass in 99% about playing lines. The other thing about alternate tunings I don't like is that music written for string instruments takes advantage of them being voiced in a certain way, and alternate tunings work against this advantage.

GOOD LUCK.


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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:48 pm
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I agree with fretless5, especially the part about alternative tuning. Here's my input.

1) If you can't afford or find bass instruction, get "Play Bass Today! level one" by Hal Leonard. It comes with a CD and DVD. I found this very helpful starting out. Be sure to learn how to read music as well tab.

2) Pick up "Fretboard Roadmaps Bass Guitar" by Fred Sokolow & Tim Emmons. This book and CD combination shows various bass riffs.

3) Get your hands on a TASCAM bass trainer as soon as possible.

4) Start learning songs you like using music/tab and above mentioned music trainer.

Be patient, keep practice sessions under an hour.


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:27 am
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Another thing to add to these good suggestions would be to make sure the bass you picked up is set up correctly. It's bad if it's strung wrong (not saying that it is), but if it's not set up right you can learn how to play in an incorrect way to overcompensate for the action or intonation of your bridge so take it to your local music shop and tell them to set it up for you which is always good to do. Also even if you don't get all the notes down right away listen to songs, pull out your bass, and just try to find or hit the same notes they are in the song. What this does is it first gives you a feel for the whole fret board in it's entirety and gives you a feel for what notes are where for future playing reference. GL enjoy your J-Bass

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Fender FSR Hot Rod J-bass White w/ Matching Headstock and parallel switching :)
~plays like heaven~

Laguna 4-string Acoustic bass-Bubinga and abalone inlays (sounds great)


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Post subject:
Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:17 am
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practice with a drummer..

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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 9:24 am
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Once you have the basics as mentioned above, find some folks that are at or above your ability, interest level, etc., and play with as many different people as possible.

There is no replacement for variety.


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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:11 pm
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Thanks for all the good tips. I continue to practice as often as I can and is paying off. I downloaded a drum beat app on my iPhone, that's preety cool. When my confident builds I'll hook up with some drummers I know.
Keep rockin!!


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Post subject:
Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 10:29 pm
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Eyecandy's advice about a drummer is good and then there's your iPhone app. I have a digital metronome but whatever you use, it is important in self practice to keep a timing beat going when practicing a passage.

It doesn't matter when you're first figuring out a piece. In that case, master being able to run through the notes before worrying about timing. Along those lines, try longer pieces in chunks. You have less to remember at once and get a great sense of accomplishment as you put it all together.

Balance reading and ear training. My one big flaw from years ago was doing reading only. I never developed much of an ear -- not a huge problem in orchestras or other groups where they hand you the music. But I've found it to be a problem in sitting in with free form groups where you have to pick up what the others are playing.

It can sometimes take me longer to catch on than someone with no training and only little experience but who has a "good" ear. But keep in mind that by ear only has it's flaws too, particularly if you want to play in more formal settings. And even with a good ear, being able to read through the music first, even it isn't 100% right (as rock scores often aren't) can give you a head start. Then use your ear to fine tune what you're reading to the recorded version.

Finally (this comes from Bass Player, a good resource to have), work on different styles of music. You don't have to master them all, but you should be able to play more than just one or two styles. For instance, I work on Latin, classical and fusion jazz styles, some funk, blues, pop stylings and a very little reggae once in a while. On the other hand, I'm almost non-existent in hard rock and metal.

You may take a different mix of styles, but the more styles you know, the more you bring to the one you most prefer. That goes along with listening to lots of bass players too, not just those who specialize in your favorite style.


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Post subject: one other tip
Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 4:34 pm
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I forgot one thing that nobody else mentioned and it's a very important point:
Make sure you're playing in a position that makes playing the entire fingerboard in comfort. I admit this is a real peeve with me, and always pisses off players who want to look cool, but as somebody with years of experience I can tell that if you don't take care of your body, it'll bite you on the $@! down the road.

That being said, if you can't afford a teacher, at least get some advice from a reputable bass or guitar teacher about playing position. An easy guideline is this: if you play standing, the bass should be high enough (i.e., adjust the strap) so that neither wrist has is required to bend at a sharp angle for a prolonged period. A good height reference is to have the nut about temple high when holding the bass at about a 60 - 70 degree angle. Look on youtube for videos of classical guitarists. Even though they are playing sitting down, the position the instrument is in in relation to the player represents the best of all things - comfort while playing with access to the entire instrument.

A good rule of thumb: if your hands tingle after you've been playing for awhile, you're doing it wrong.


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Post subject:
Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:10 pm
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Learn the fretboard like you know your alphabet.
Learn chord structures and patterns.
Keep your scales fresh.

All of these will help in soloing and starting to compose with other musicians.

_________________
Fender FSR Hot Rod J-bass White w/ Matching Headstock and parallel switching :)
~plays like heaven~

Laguna 4-string Acoustic bass-Bubinga and abalone inlays (sounds great)


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Post subject:
Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 5:16 am
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whatever you do, enjoy it.. and well scales and chordal notes play an important role but the most important thing is the feeling, since bass carry the back beat... you should provide the appropriate "feel" to the song...

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I Just Do It...


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