Learning to shread...on bass

[razor]

I've decided that I'm going to teach myself how to play bass guitar. Thus far I've been utilizing a book entitled: "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Playing Bass Guitar". It has been a major help. I've learned how to read music and a lot of fundamentals of playing bass. I even know how to play a scale and I don't even own a bass guitar yet. Once I have tuition paid for I'm gonna work on getting one so I can put what I've learned to use.

[ChocloManx]

Awesome. Everyone should learn their theoryzz before even picking an instrument up.

[razor]

Awesome. Everyone should learn their theoryzz before even picking an instrument up.

Thanks. The book I've been reading has been very helpful, now I've got the Major Scale down and soon I'll have Chords down. I've been able to practice on my brother's guitar. Since using the 4 lower strings is basically like playing on a bass.

Edit: Edited for more on-topicness and less DBness.

[razor]

Me and my little brother think it would be cool to start a rock band someday. He's learning electric guitar, though it took some effort to convince him to practice.

I can't wait to actually get a Bass in my hands.

[ChocloManx]

Hm, I've had bad experiences trying to convince people in bands to do things. Make sure he really wants to practice.

[razor]

I wouldn't even think about it if he wasn't going to practice, we're both going to get a lot better before we try to get a band going.

[BomanTheBear]

How much time have you gotten to spend playing an actual bass?

[razor]

How much time have you gotten to spend playing an actual bass?

Less than an hour.

[BomanTheBear]

Well, bass is different from guitar in one fundamental way. Whereas guitar is hard to learn but easy to master, bass is easy to learn but hard to master. What I mean by this is that when you start up guitar, you just plunk around for like six months. But after that, it's easy to get better. Bass is the other way. You can sound pretty professional after two or three weeks of practice, but then it takes some major breakthroughs to be absolutely awesome. Just saying, don't get disillusioned a couple months after you start if you feel like you're no longer making major strides.

But don't worry dude, you'll get there. Glad to hear of another future wicked bassist.

[razor]

Well, bass is different from guitar in one fundamental way. Whereas guitar is hard to learn but easy to master, bass is easy to learn but hard to master. What I mean by this is that when you start up guitar, you just plunk around for like six months. But after that, it's easy to get better. Bass is the other way. You can sound pretty professional after two or three weeks of practice, but then it takes some major breakthroughs to be absolutely awesome. Just saying, don't get disillusioned a couple months after you start if you feel like you're no longer making major strides.

But don't worry dude, you'll get there. Glad to hear of another future wicked bassist.

Yeah I'm tired of Bass being considered the instrument people get "stuck" with. It also seems like most people that play bass play it as a secondary instrument. I don't think any other instrument suits me as well as the Bass. While I'm not pursuing music as a career, I would like to be able to play Bass at the professional level someday.

[BomanTheBear]

Well, bass is different from guitar in one fundamental way. Whereas guitar is hard to learn but easy to master, bass is easy to learn but hard to master. What I mean by this is that when you start up guitar, you just plunk around for like six months. But after that, it's easy to get better. Bass is the other way. You can sound pretty professional after two or three weeks of practice, but then it takes some major breakthroughs to be absolutely awesome. Just saying, don't get disillusioned a couple months after you start if you feel like you're no longer making major strides.

But don't worry dude, you'll get there. Glad to hear of another future wicked bassist.

Yeah I'm tired of Bass being considered the instrument people get "stuck" with. It also seems like most people that play bass play it as a secondary instrument. I don't think any other instrument suits me as well as the Bass. While I'm not pursuing music as a career, I would like to be able to play Bass at the professional level someday.

Well, the way it worked for me, I started playing guitar about ten years ago. About 5 years after that, I bought a bass. Now I find myself to be more of a bassist than a guitarist. Number one, a good bassist is ALWAYS in demand. Number two, it fits my style better. I have great rhythm, but for whatever reason, I'm not nearly as precise as I am fast. I've always believed in playing an instrument that fits your style rather than playing a style that fits your instrument. That's a good way to always be unsatisfied, you know (as in, I would hate my life if I was good at the Sousaphone)?

[mosc]

Learn chords and chord progressions. Knowing how to hit the string and what finger to hold down are fairly trivial and not that demanding on bass. Knowing WHICH note to play on the other hand is much more useful. People under-estimate the theory knowledge required to be a half way decent bass player. I would expect a half way decent bass player to be told a progression and figure out the rest. Very rarely for bass is the part written out in detail if it's written at all.

[razor]

Yeah, I've got the Major Scale completely down, and I'm getting chords and arpeggios now.

[Dr.Robert]

Yes! I love bass! I've always wanted one for myself, but don't seem to have the money for it.

And people always seem to think that the Bass should be nothing more than a background instrument, but I disagree. This is why I love bands like Yes -- complex songs with even more complex bass lines. You should check them out in the future for some more difficult bass stuff.

[ChocloManx]

what he said. Also King Crimson and Rush and Gentle Giant.

[Felstaff]

1.) You should only play bass if you look like/have the same build as Krist Novoselic
2.) The first thing you should learn, upon acquiring your bass guitar, is the solo bass riffs on You Can Call Me Al and My Generation.
3.) Flea is a rubbish bassist. Don't emulate him.
4.) Geddy Lee is consistently voted as 'Sexiest Bassist Ever' by a panel of judges comprised of his wife and Geddy Lee. It's fortunate he's such a stunner, because his bass playing is consistently awful.
5.) Pete Wentz is generally regarded as the greatest, most prolific, and most technically sublime bassist who ever lived. Time, Variety & People Magazine all placed him at #1 for the title of "Man of the Year (Bass Guitarist)" in 2003.

[BomanTheBear]

I agree with everything you said except for your comment on Flea. Flea is awesome. Go see them live, and you will agree. Also, he's a wicked songwriter.

[mosc]

Victor Wooten. There, I said it.

[BomanTheBear]

Victor Wooten. There, I said it.

THIS.

I saw him live at an unannounced concert and he signed my bass. It was truly a religious experience.

[enk]

Victor Wooten. There, I said it.

THIS.

I saw him live at an unannounced concert and he signed my bass. It was truly a religious experience.

sbass.jpg (36.64 KiB) Viewed 3527 times

[BomanTheBear]

Wow.

Such a horrific pun.

[mosc]

Awesome, awesome, awesome. The cool part is I can still see people wanting one of those!

You know the concept of a fiddle duel with the devil? The only devil decided to challenge a fiddle player because he knows if he went after Wooten's Bass, it wouldn't even be close. Yeah... rephrase that in some way that's funny and clever. Anyone?

[razor]

lol Guitar Hero III battle with Lou. I play guitar hero a lot with my brother and I do bass. I think my favorite bass part is in Sabotage.

[rahulb]

Hi friends, I am a newbie both here and in the world of bass. I am not able to decide how should I begin learning? Do I pick it up with the help of a book or do I see some online videos or get in touch with a teacher. My knowledge so far is limited to the Tool/Primus songs from tabs which was eventually picked up by me from a site. In some cases I found the guitar instructors do charge too much for their lessons. Cant get a clue what should I do to make my bass skills perfect.

[ChocloManx]

4.) Geddy Lee is consistently voted as 'Sexiest Bassist Ever' by a panel of judges comprised of his wife and Geddy Lee. It's fortunate he's such a stunner, because his bass playing is consistently awful.

Rush may be a lame band, but him and Neil Peart are radd.

[Felstaff]

I've got to start posting with sarcasm tags.

(Contrary to popular belief, Pete Wentz never actually won Time Magazine's Man of the Year)

[BomanTheBear]

I've got to start posting with sarcasm tags.

(Contrary to popular belief, Pete Wentz never actually won Time Magazine's Man of the Year)

HAHA Oh wow. I didn't even kindof think you were being sarcastic. /em facepalms.

[razor]

Hi friends, I am a newbie both here and in the world of bass. I am not able to decide how should I begin learning? Do I pick it up with the help of a book or do I see some online videos or get in touch with a teacher. My knowledge so far is limited to the Tool/Primus songs from tabs which was eventually picked up by me from a site. In some cases I found the guitar instructors do charge too much for their lessons. Cant get a clue what should I do to make my bass skills perfect.

If you can find a good instructor you'll learn a lot from them I think. But you'll learn the most from practicing. I think it's a good idea to know music theory, or at least know how to read music before-hand.

[ChocloManx]

I've got to start posting with sarcasm tags.

(Contrary to popular belief, Pete Wentz never actually won Time Magazine's Man of the Year)

Dang, the internet is damaging my sarcasm radar.

[SkaBassist]

3.) Flea is a rubbish bassist. Don't emulate him.

I disagree on him being a "rubbish bassist", but I agree that you shouldn't emulate him. He's pretty good, and a valuable stepping stone when learning bass (imo). However, there are too many bass players out there that think he's god. He's just better than most of the bassists you hear on the radio.

One think I have to say - Never, EVER, consider just playing the roots of chords on guitar. You might be able to "get away with it", but it is NOT ok. Also, if I see you doing this live, I will punch you.

Oh, and on picks - There seem to be three schools of thought on picks. The first group thinks picks are great (because they suck at plucking with their fingers and are failures). The second group think that anyone who uses picks are failures. I'm in the third group, which think that picks are acceptable at certain times (see Death From Above 1979), and unacceptable at others (see Green Day). Learn when to use a pick, when to use your fingers, and when to slap/pop.

[razor]

I went to a local guitar shop recently and picked up a bass to play around with and noticed that the biggest difference between playing on a bass and on a guitar (scales, chords, and arpeggios) other than having 2 fewer strings, thickness of the strings, and the spacing of the strings is the space between frets. The distance between the 3rd and 5th fret alone makes it impossible to play a major scale without lifting my hand to hit that 5th fret. The stretch is much further than that on a guitar. I still fail pretty hard at strumming. Quickly strumming up and down, trying to strum multiple strings (without strumming too few/too many), and strumming while palm-muting are all really difficult for me still. Other than that, the learning is coming along pretty quick. I can do any major scale from memory and most arpeggios, chords are still a little difficult because of my lack of strumming skill but I'm working through it. Now I'm familiarizing myself with keys and chord progressions as well as the minor scales. Guess I just gotta keep practicing.

[Aleril]

Ahem.

[razor]

That's an...interesting looking outfit.

Don't really care for the bass though. (really picky about the shape of a bass)

[quintopia]

No one can match Wooten that I know of, but I don't know why Entwistle doesn't get more mention these days.

If you can play like Entwistle, then you're truly a master.

[rutebega]

I want to pick up a bass and learn to play.

[Hyena]

Ahem.

seconded, and hi-fived.

he is what got me into bass guitar in the furst place.

[Chumley]

Les Claypool, imo, is the best bass player alive, followed very closely by Wooten and Stanley Clarke. I play a bit of bass, but the stuff I do know is just me applying my knowledge of keyboard theory. It's a very fun instrument, and good luck.

[BomanTheBear]

Les Claypool, imo, is the best bass player alive, followed very closely by Wooten and Stanley Clarke. I play a bit of bass, but the stuff I do know is just me applying my knowledge of keyboard theory. It's a very fun instrument, and good luck.

Wooten is better, but the Colonel experiments more with effects. I'd say for a creativity:skill ratio, Les has got it, but Wooten is just too good. I mean, shit, his first paid gig happened when he was five. At which time he'd been playing for two years. But if you like Stanley Clarke, check out Stu Hamm, if you haven't already.

[razor]

Just thought it might be nice to post about how far I've come since I made this thread.

I've now bought and sold a couple of basses and I've been playing on and off at home. I've gotten to the point where I can pick out some parts by ear now.

Here's an example of some of my playing:
http://k002.kiwi6.com/hotlink/8t57o53le ... ording.mp3

I've really grown to enjoy playing this instrument and I believe I'll be playing it the rest of my life. Whether I actually ever play in a band or ever write my own material is yet to be determined.

[Deep_Thought]

Having recently picked up my bass for the first time in a while this thread is only a couple of months out of date. It was fun. Much, much fun. I really should play more often.