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The actual main sound of a typical rock band is the bass and drums and the way they interact. Copying something and creating something are 2 different things, listen to the bass and drums and learn from it. I know I did.
The real key to mastering bass is attitude. You have to think like a bass player. Not many guitarists can do that, especially not lead players. You are not out there to sound good. Your job is to make the singer sound good. Bass is a state of mind.
Singing!
I can sing and play guitar no problem, but I can't sing and play bass, so there must be some difference.
if you want to be the next Les Claypool, then that’s a different thing.
A Bass Teacher is excited about getting a new, young student. The kid is comes in for his first lesson and learns all the notes on the E string. Next week he comes in and the instructor shows him all of the notes on the A string. The third week comes, the teacher is waiting, but the kid never shows up. Annoyed, he calls him to see where he is. The kid picks up and says, "Oh, sorry man, I got a gig..."
Three months on and I have a much deeper respect for good bass players. Anyone can plunk away on the root with a pick, but meaningful and toneful playing with fingers is another matter.
My progress has been slower than I’d hoped, but that progress has also made me understand that there are no fast track routes to playing at the standard I aspire to.
I have got hooked on this though, I’ve sold the Squier, bought a vintage Precision Bass and just last week a Road Worn Jazz Bass.
I practice everyday, a combination of online resources and jamming to music. My playing has got cleaner and more consistent and I’m starting to play bass more fluently and instinctively than I had been, but the more I improve, the more I understand just how much more I need to do.
I can now play along to all of BB King’s Live At The Regal without pause or much thought, and get genuinely absorbed into creating cool blues and walking bass lines which support the music rather than standout from it.
If you’re interested in learning bass, my advice would be to pick up a cheap but decent bass and a little practice amp (mine is a Rumble15) and see how you go. It will go one way or the other, and if it gets you, you’ll find yourself being drawn in and loving it.
Rob
It's both. The easy bit is that you know where all the notes are, understand scales and intervals, flat thirds, sevenths, harmony etc, so the fretboard basics are there.
The difficult bit at first is the scale length, left hand positioning, and the physicality of working with the instrument. I've worked hard on my left hand position and fingering, it's totally different. I'm incorporating a one finger per fret position attitude, but not being too strict on myself to do it everywhere. Often it's index finger and little finger doing the work.
On the right hand, I am NOT using a pick, at all. This is a totally new technique which needs to be practiced to get consistency in volume and dynamics across the strings, as well as being able to play evenly at speed.
Damping is also completely different, at least for me. I'm not muting with my right hand palm as a result of my adopted style. So I generally rest my thumb on the bottom E to mute it whilst it's not being played, lifting off when I need to.
Left hand damping on guitar involves gently toughing the odd string, the bottom E for instance with the tip of your index finger whilst playing a chord. This doesn't work as well on bass because of the sheer mass of the string, so at first I was getting overtones from strings I wasn't playing. For me this has improved quite a lot with just getting used to playing the thing amplified, making sure I play everything as cleanly as possible.
Anyway, that's my experience.
Rob
Fretting hand isn't too bad but you have to do a lot of muting and keeping the fat strings under control.
A compressor is very handy.
The actual playing is not that hard provided you want to play with a pick. If you want to learn to play fingerstyle that's a new technique to pick up.
It's a more physical instrument so it's easier to hurt your hands if you over do it initially.
The main thing is mindset and thinking like a bass player. Concentrating on locking in with the drums and not just noodling about.