Tips for the beginning Bassist

[Headstock]

I have not ventured into this area of the EBMM side much. Not as scary as I thought it would be... I've been lurking a little and acquired a sickness for the Bongo that is about to be cured.

Any tips/tricks/ tutorials/ books/dvd's that you would recommend to the beginning bassist? Habits top avoid, habits to form, etc.

 

[thunder]

practice, love your intrument and PLAY with everyone you can!ooh, and ask a lot of questions.

 

[adouglas]

Musicianship tips

This month's Guitar Player has a list of 100 noob mistakes. Most if not all of them apply equally to bass.

Here are a few of mine, split over three posts:

Musicianship:
- LISTEN to the band, not just yourself, and make the whole song sound good. Since you're not playing a lead instrument, you must become a team player. (Lead musicians should also be team players, of course, but they can get away with treating the band like it's nothing more than a recording. A drummer, rhythm guitarist and bass player who aren't listening to each other, though...that's not a good thing.)

- When you're playing with a drummer, use the hi-hat and snare to hear the beat.

- Take some time to learn some theory. Too many of us cruise through life just playing by ear. Trust me...sooner or later it's going to wind up limiting you. (Now is a golden age of information...you can get TONS of stuff on the net, presented all sorts of different ways.) If you know what a fourth and a fifth are, you will know what notes are likely to be in the vast majority of songs you'll play.

- Knowing some standard blues patterns and turnarounds can go a long way when jamming.

- Learn a few standard scales (major, minor, blues, pentatonic for starters) and learn to play them all over the neck, in every configuration.

- For a bass player, time is everything. You are the heartbeat of the whole band. Start with the basics. Are you keeping time? Learning the latest wanktastic lick means nothing if you can't keep the beat. Less is more, Grasshopper.

- The spaces between the notes are as important as the notes are.

- Don't waste your time learning to slap and pop at first. It's fun, but seriously limited in actual usefulness. A thread here a couple of months ago showed that very, very few of us actually do this when playing with a band.

 

[adouglas]

Gear tips

Gear:
- Learn how to work on your instrument, at least to the extent of doing trussrod adjustments. Doing a proper setup ain't rocket surgery, but you do have to know what you're about. A well set-up instrument is a LOT easier to play.

- Don't screw around buying effects pedals looking for tone. Waste of time and money. Tone comes from your hands first, a great instrument second, and a good rig third, not from the latest-greatest ultra-compressophonic-bass-gonaderific gadget.

- Don't be penny-wise and pound-foolish. Spend money up front to get a good instrument and keep it, rather than buying something crappy and modding it. I know a guy who bought a F****r and has been seriously considering buying a preamp and new pickups for it. He could have had a nice used Sterling or Stingray for the same money and wound up with a much better bass.

- Buy a big enough amp to get the job done. When I was first starting out I had to gig with a practice amp and it was not a good experience.

 

[adouglas]

Playing mechanics tips

Playing mechanics:

- Don't fall into the trap of wearing your bass too low. Get that sucker up where you can use your left hand properly.

- Learn to mute.

- There is no "right" way to use the plucking hand. Moving thumb is what I use (the thumb anchors on the string below the one you're playing). Others anchor the thumb on the edge of the pickup. Others use a pick. Do what you're comfortable with.

- Pay attention to good left-hand technique. It will pay dividends.

- RELAX. You don't want to have a hand or forearm cramp in the middle of a set. It's happened to me.

 

[adouglas]

And finally......

Last, most important tip:

HAVE FUN!!!!

 

[mynan]

Gear:(I know a guy who bought a F****r and has been seriously considering buying a preamp and new pickups for it. He could have had a nice used Sterling or Stingray for the same money and wound up with a much better bass.

Did you add that, or was it actually in the article?...NICE!

 

[adouglas]

Did you add that, or was it actually in the article?...NICE!

As I said in the first post.....

Here are a few of mine, split over three posts:

All of these tips are from me, not GP. Some of them are probably the same, though (I didn't actually read the magazine...just happened to see it on the newsstand yesterday).

 

[mynan]

Gotcha...great advice.

 

[mammoth]

good advices there! the most important is to enjoy it.

I find keeping yourself motivated to better your skills the best way to ensure they keep on improving, when you hit a brick wall build a big ass funky ladder and haul yourself over.. hehe

 

[jaylegroove]

Musicianship:
- LISTEN to the band, not just yourself, and mae the whole song sound good. Since you're not playing a lead instrument, you must become a team player. (Lead musicians should also be team players, of course, but they can get away with treating the band like it's nothing more than a recording. A drummer, rhythm guitarist and bass player who aren't listening to each other, though...that's not a good thing.)

So true. Our drummer just got fired exactly because of this. We basically had the feeling that what he played through our whole 18 gigs was almost only drum soloing.

My main advice to any beginner musician - no matter what the chosen instrument is - is learn to play tight and musically instead of trying to mimic music heroes or play 775 notes per second.

Just IMO, of course.

 

[Psycho Ward]

I can only add this tip, it works for me...

If you're going to play while drunk, you should practice while drunk.

 

[mynan]

Broken equipment equals broken technique...

 

[adouglas]

I can only add this tip, it works for me...

If you're going to play while nekkid, you should practice while nekkid.

Fixed it for ya.

Seriously, that raises a good tip.

IMHO alcohol does NOT help you in any way except making you think you sound great at the time.

You don't. It's the exact same principle that enables you to go to a bar and completely ignore the screwups that the band is making.

Even a couple of drinks, not even enough to give you a noticeable buzz, can mess with your timing. Staying exactly on time, sitting squarely in the pocket and hooking into the groove is a lot more difficult than, say, driving a car.

Of course, it all depends on the circumstance. Most of us are so cranked and sweaty during a gig that a beer or two (moderation, always) makes no difference. It's too easy, though, to go too far. Better in my book to just not drink at all while playing.

Play clean. Get dirty drunk later.

PS: Trying to learn while drunk IMHO is pointless. You forget all the deep revelations and secrets of the universe you discovered while under the influence.

 

[RitchieDarling]

IMHO alcohol does NOT help you in any way except making you think you sound great at the time.

You don't. It's the exact same principle that enables you to go to a bar and completely ignore the screwups that the band is making.

+100 on this one! It can not be stressed enough! I recently went through a bunch of old soundboard tapes in order to dump them onto my computer.

Well, let's just say that figuring out when Ritchie was legless isn't hard!

In one tape, I was one note behind the band all night long! Song starts in "C", where am I? I'm in "G".

Having a drink before you play is ok. Having the entire bar before you play will only create a mountain of suck!

Ritchie

P.S. I know that somewhere out there, somone is reading this and thinking to themselves "Ah, Ritchie is full of s**t. I play great when I am drunk"! No, you don't.....

 

[T-bone]

adouglas,

Wow, those are some of the best tips I've read. I especially liked:

latest-greatest ultra-compressophonic-bass-gonaderific gadget.

Seriously though, your timing tips are dead on! One of my biggest downfalls is coming in at the top of the beat. While it's not as critical during recording (don't you just love pro-tools) when playing live it tends to speed up the drummer (no machines in our group). And nothing upsets our leader more than speeding up his songs.

Thanks for the tips, adouglas, and keep em coming.

tbone

 

[phatduckk]

id say playing with different musicians goes a really long way. jam with buddies and other people you get along with in town. its more fun and quite a learning experience esp if they play stuff that's not your normal "thing".

 

[thunder]

So true. Our drummer just got fired exactly because of this. We basically had the feeling that what he played through our whole 18 gigs was almost only drum soloing.

My main advice to any beginner musician - no matter what the chosen instrument is - is learn to play tight and musically instead of trying to mimic music heroes or play 775 notes per second.

Just IMO, of course.

thats my pet peeve. when musicians are more concerned with showing off than making the song sound good.

 

[thunder]

+100 on this one! It can not be stressed enough! I recently went through a bunch of old soundboard tapes in order to dump them onto my computer.

Well, let's just say that figuring out when Ritchie was legless isn't hard!

In one tape, I was one note behind the band all night long! Song starts in "C", where am I? I'm in "G".

Having a drink before you play is ok. Having the entire bar before you play will only create a mountain of suck!

Ritchie

P.S. I know that somewhere out there, somone is reading this and thinking to themselves "Ah, Ritchie is full of s**t. I play great when I am drunk"! No, you don't.....

A-MEN

 

[tkarter]

I am with Chuck on the practice while drunk thing. That part works different for some.

tk