Just swinging by to say thanks on the tips fellas. Reforming the chord while lifting my hand from the fretboard (or shaking out my hand) has really improved me being able to form the chords without thinking.
My band is playing a show on Friday and our bass player will be out of the country. Therefore I am assuming his duties for this show.
I am a novice bassist at best and this will be the first time Iāve ever played bass in front of an audience, covering for a musician who is substantially better at this instrument than I am and attempting to wing my way through parts that are beyond my skill level. Lord, beer me strength.
While not really the same, I recently started learning to play the ukulele. Anyone in here play? I was wondering what kinds of things I should focus on in the beginning, or if anyone has any sort of advice. Iām pretty new to music in general, so any advice is appreciated.
Was just reading through this thread again and I have another tip for playing exotic leads the cheapo way. If youāre playing leads in the minor pentatonic scale and you want to introduce more tension (or cop more of a sense of āoutsideā notes like jazz players do), try dropping the root note and its octaves down a half-step. For example, if youāre in E minor, all instances of the E natural should be replaced by E flat.
Like my previous tip, it wonāt work in every context, but play around with it. And once youāve introduced that sense of tension, you can resolve it by reverting back to the standard minor pentatonic scale.
Flash fact: this will work better over simpler backing partsāi.e. fewer chords with fewer degrees, so that the modified notes have less of a chance of conflicting unpleasantly with the established harmony.
Playing diminished stuff works great for āoutsideā playing too. Doesnāt really matter if it sounds nasty, because thatās the point of it-- just as long as you land right back into the correct notes and donāt get lost in the progression, you should be fine. Iāve been working on this kind of stuff recently since Greg Howe does it a lot, especially in his āExtractionā album. Canāt name a song off the top of my head where he DOESNāT play outside.
Oh, and Daniele Gottardo is a fucking monster.
[media=youtube]HJZzbpugCk8[/media]
Yo @kaz, youāre the other guy here that plays 6-string bass, right?
Do much slap playing, because id like to bounce a few questions off you?
ģ ė ė” ė²ź±“ė ģ ėź¹?
This forum is fucking awesome! Read the entire page and really appreciate the practice tips for beginners like me. Iāve been meaning to master my martin acoustic guitar; its the most expensive item I bought so far for a hobby. I spend way too much time in yt watching acoustic versions of my favorite songs.
So, letās discuss slap bass:
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/01/29/a6uny7a5.jpg
IT HURTS SO GOOD!
ģ ė ė” ė²ź±“ė ģ ėź¹?
Go ahead, shoot! Yeah, I do play 6 string, although I parted ways with it (some guy bought it from me). Planning on getting another soon. Rollinā with my Fender Jazz bass at the moment.
Awesome man,
Well, Iāve discovered that Iām not doing terrible with slap anymore, but Iām discovering this on a 4-string in Korea. I think itās possible the spacing on the strings on my 6-string isnāt so conducive to accuracy on playing slap.
But letās get on with the questions:
Any ideas on improving accuracy, especially when you get down to the D and G strings? I find my hand brushing up against A and E and causing a buzz on those strings as I strike anything higher pitched. Is it a matter of muting the E and A on my left hand?
Is slapping and instantly lifting off the fret an acceptable replacement to actual pops? Iām having troubles getting my fingers under the strings for pops.
Triplets: whatās the best method? Right now Iāve been slapping with my thumb, then recoiling so my pinky slaps, but itās a little inconsistent right now.
ģ ė ė” ė²ź±“ė ģ ėź¹?
What is the string spacing on your 6 string? Most of the smaller spacing for 6 strings usually is around 16mm, my old Carvin was 16.25mm; either way itās pretty tight. It can work, but it really depends on your technique more than anything. Iām going to get a new 6 string with at least 17mm spacing, 18mm is probably optimal.
But as far as accuracy goes, take a look into the gauge of strings youāre using - sometimes I find using a thicker gauge helps with the smaller strings. Itās an adjustment at first as it will require more strength from your hands/forearms but worth the payoff.
Try these also if you can.
Part of the challenge of slapping/popping on the higher strings is keeping the other strings as quiet as possible. Some of it is using your fretting hand, the other to some degree is technique of the right hand. You donāt have a lot of room for error with your right hand so the smaller range of motion you have the better. Donāt worry about force to make volume, just turn up your amp to compensate.
Also, play major scale exercises on the higher strings just by thumb slapping the note.
What do you mean by, āIs slapping and instantly lifting off the fret an acceptable replacement to actual pops?ā
Triplets? Thereās multiple ways. You can try three quick thumb up/down strikes in succession, string pop upward > thumb strike down > left fretting hand muted note strike down, or do the Victor Wooten technique - thumb strike down> thumb string upward > index finger pop.
Iāll have to record a video and post it.
@kaz question. How do you hit thatā¦one note (you know) in portrait of tracy? do you do the 4 fret stretch or the o other way that I completely forgot how to do?
Are you talking about that chord with overtone note at :19 seconds or :30 seconds in? Itās been a minute since Iāve listened to that song or tried to play it.
I vaguely remember seeing a video where Jaco played part of that doing a 4 fret stretch with a harmonic on the G string - I think the vide is called Modern Electric bass or something, itās on youtube. Itās the one where Jerry Jemmott interviews him the entire time.
Man, I donāt even know how to describe it, heh. The harmonic that plays right as the clock flips to 0:10 here
[media=youtube]nsZ_1mPOuyk[/media]
Jaco played it by fretting 2 on the A string and hitting the harmonic at 6. Thereās another way to hit that note that I donāt remember at all. the 0:19 part is easy and 0:30 isnāt particularly challenging.
The part you vaguely remember is probably the last chord, which is also hella hard to play cleanly because itās a 3 string 4 fret barre harmonic.
Actually, I just found the part youāre talking about right here.
^ Yeah thatās exactly what I was talking about. Iām not really sure of any other ways people play that song.
Been spending more time learning Teen Town thoughā¦
This man and his band are gods. He plays an 8 string so beautifully.
[media=youtube]I-lv9ltZ2cw[/media]
Fuck is that yours?
Well yeah but I was asking if that was a picture of YOUR guitar lol