improveing playing

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on February 6, 2012 at 10:29am

Did you ever hear that old joke,asking "What's the way to Carnegie Hall?". The answer is "Practise!" and the same applies here. I'd start with scales in the keys you commonly play in. Even over one octave, you'll have to break out of that little box you described, although ideally you will extend them to at least two octaves and also learn how to fill in the lower notes (so, for example, rather than stopping at a C, you can carry on down through B, A, G, F and E when playing a C major scale).

As well as this technical approach to improving your comfortable range, work on learning the basslines from recordings. Pick songs you like and which don't sound too difficult. What you are really looking for are the tunes that are fairly easy but make you work a bit and, again, pull you out of of that box.

Permalink Reply by Timothy Nelson on February 6, 2012 at 3:05pm

So, how much do you know about music? Do you read music? There are some great DVD's to help us develop. I like to add notes in sometimes that are in the cord structure.

Here is a good thing to try? MJS Music PublicationsEasy Bass Guitar Theory (DVD)

Blessings,

 

Timothy

Permalink Reply by dan smedley on February 6, 2012 at 10:36pm

not much i know if it says the note say G i ussauly use the G string or E string 3rd fret but carnt read the dotes. dont know much about music as im dyslexic so that donst help. thanks will check them out!

Permalink Reply by Timothy Nelson on February 7, 2012 at 12:46am

well that's okay. just get a poster of the bass neck and begin to learn new notes on the neck.

Permalink Reply by Christopher Reyes on February 17, 2012 at 12:10am

Well, there are patterns on the fret board that you can use to find other notes. A guitar player on your worship team should be able to tell you the basics of Chords. Whatever notes are in the chords can usually be played with that chord. For example, the G chord is made up of a G, B, and D notes, and you can use any or all of them while the G chord is being played by the guitarist or pianist and it would sound good. Once you know that, learn where the octaves of notes are. Also, learn the notes all the way to the double dot on the first string(E)......then the second(A). Once you know those things, then you'll find tha the whole fret board is you playground. And keep it simple, Go with the feel of the Spirit. You can never go wrong with that!

Permalink Reply by Greg Newhouse on April 10, 2012 at 12:36am

Scales. Scales using double thumb. Octaves. Sight reading. I'm doing musical theater, currently doing bass for a high school production of "Footloose: The Musical", playing from the score. I know many who claim that improvising from a chord chart makes one a better musician, but I've never found it so. I find that it can make me lazy, and the demands of having to play exact phrases on demand, on tempo, from the "dots", really cleans up my church playing when I return to it. Playing through the Storch-Hrabe double bass exercises on the electric, a work in progress, very helpful since the acoustic double bass is also tuned E-A-D-G. Get some new strings. Those old ones are losing their nice metallic clang when you slap and pop them, so the new ones will inspire you to practice. I don't know if these are practical for anyone else, but they're working for me.

Permalink Reply by Toni on April 10, 2012 at 10:19am

Something I've noticed is that bass players are usually MUCH fussier about technical musicianship than guitarists. I'm not sure if it's because there are less strings, because it can be difficult to hear whether the bass is playing appropriate notes or just simply because they need to underpin everyone else musically and it requires a better working knowledge of musical mechanics than it does to improvise on guitar.

I'm never going to be a 'good' bass player because I've no interest in learning more than I need to 'get by'.

Permalink Reply by Greg Newhouse on April 10, 2012 at 1:16pm

"Less is more" is a good rule for bass anyway. When I finally get something new like the double thumb technique, and it becomes less unnatural, it just creeps into my playing and I don't have to force it. When I force something I'm not quite there with yet, that's when I feel like I'm drawing attention to myself. I've never used slaps and pops before in any coherent way, but now that it's becoming more natural, I can do it without it becoming a "look at me" event, and it becomes that something extra I can occasionally bring as needed.

Permalink Reply by Wulf Forrester-Barker on April 11, 2012 at 10:23am

To improvise from a chord chart will require you to be a better musician than the guy who looks at it and says "I can't do that". Of course, it also requires you to be a better musician to nail the dots or play coherently entirely by ear.

I think the key point is to work on things that stretch you and seize the opportunity to play in settings that start out just a little bit beyond you. Playing from a written score, backing up a musical, would definitely be a learning opportunity (in fact, one I wouldn't mind a crack at myself) even if your worship playing context doesn't provide a set of dots to follow.

Wulf

Permalink Reply by Greg Newhouse on April 11, 2012 at 1:02pm

By ear, by chart, or by score, everything in its place. I have a tendency to find things that I don't do well and work them to death, rather than repeating things that are easy. I find sight reading difficult to retain for very long when I'm doing the other things, so I look out for excuses to exercise it.

Permalink Reply by Diana Jurss on April 16, 2012 at 9:28pm

Any advice on how to improve the rhythm of bass lines?  I think I'm fairly proficient with the

fretboard, scales and knowing what notes make up chords etc.  But the drummer wants me

to break out of my rhythm "box" and not  just be stuck on eighth or quarter notes on downbeats.

Sometimes I hear counter rhythms in my head but not often. How can I get better at that?

Permalink Reply by Timothy Nelson on April 16, 2012 at 11:33pm

Could it be that the drummer is wanting the bass to do something that is not needed?

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