Learn To Play Bass Guitar

Perhaps the question should be “how often should you practise?” There are loads of thoughts about that question, and when you learn to play bass guitar it perhaps isn’t what you initially think too much about. You just want to play, right? I hope that’s why you want to learn to play bass guitar.

Here are a couple of thought stimulators for you.

Jaco Pastorius was reported to spend 12 hours a day playing bass guitar. Charlie Parker spent that amount of time on the saxophone. Painters and writers and artists of other categories have spent an equal amount.

At the other end of the spectrum are the two-pages-a-day authors. Ernest Hemmingway wrote said two pages each morning and then went out deep-sea fishing or lion hunting for the rest of the day. (Sounds like something guitar player Ted Nugent could concur with).

For you as a beginner it is of course ludicrous to contemplating spending 12 hours in what tantamount to a dark cave, practising your bass guitar. I am not sure how mentally healthy it has been for the people who did so.

However, committing to playing on a daily basis is important, even if it is for a short time. In order to get a sense of intimacy with the instrument and the music you play (it goes for anything you want to learn) it is paramount that you get into the habit of doing it daily, no excuses, no do-it-later stuff, just do it.

In times of dwindling motivation I want you to think about why you started to learn to play bass guitar in the first place. Was it because it looked cool? Was it because you really like music? Clarifying those reasons might make it easier to learn to play bass guitar. Or it might dawn on you that you weren’t that interested in it at all. In any case, if you play, you should have playtime, it should be fun.

In the beginning this is of course super easy, you’re really at it and think of nothing else. In a couple of months the scenario might be different. You might rather pop out to play baseball or whatever. There’s a saying: Skip one day and no one will notice. Skip two days and you will notice. Skip three days and everyone will notice.

The point of all this is, show up for a set time every day and block out every distraction and only focus on your work for the period you allocated. 10 minutes of super concentrated playing (or practising, jamming, playing along to songs) is more valuable than three hours every Thursday. Art is about continuity, everyday activity, and not catching-up sessions in huge chunks, so when you learn to play bass guitar it is good to keep this in mind.

Here are a couple of links that might give you some inspiration:

Beginner Bass Guitar Lessons – Looking for beginner bass guitar lessons? Then you will be delighted to know that you can now get lessons for beginners online. This allows you to learn quickly.

Bass Guitar Advice – 5 Tips For Beginners – … do them you will see much better results. Before you know it you’re be playing in a band, jamming with friends and becoming a great bass player. Peace, Love and Rock n Roll,. Tom Boyd. Tags: Bass Guitar Advice, Beginner Bass Guitar …

An important thing when you learn to play bass guitar is to develop your left hand technique, the fretting hand, so to speak. It does make sense – you need to have strength and coordination in your fingers. After all it’s a fretted instrument and you need to press the strings in order to make note changes.

However, I think many players spend way too much time developing flashy meaningless left hand acrobatics. Back in the late 70s (if you can stomach a digression) Rumanian female gymnasts became ever younger. In the end it was mere kids performing acrobatics at the Olympics. All elements of performing art and dance were gone. It was circus.

I think there is a fine line between acrobatics and art in music as well. I admit that there are divine players around (the Pastorius’, the Clarks’, and so on). I too find it impressive to listen to Donna Lee (though my favourite Jaco track is Come On, Come Over – pure R’n’B), but I enjoy a lot more listening to a cool reggae bass line, a good song, a good melody, than instrumental fusion jazz. That’s me. Now you know. You might think I missed the point. I think that’s ok.

Back to what I wanted to say: As you learn to play bass guitar you have to develop some technique. I don’t like the terminology, though, as I am much more in favour of simply playing. So that’s what I will call it, playing.

So you want to be good to play. Forget about meaningless scales and stuff like that. A lot of teachers will have you practising boring scales up and down, up and down, and then ask you to be creative with them. I think that is rubbish. You need to play songs. You need to learn simple chord progressions to popular songs and simply play those chord progressions over and over and over again.

One of the most recognisable chord progressions is the blues. You can find elements of this progression in all Western popular music. It’s the music of the simple uneducated country folks. Be you from Ireland, the USA, Scandinavia or wherever, this is us regular Joe’s and Jane’s type of stuff, before the elitist musicians made it complex beyond recognition.

When I practise technique (again, I really dislike the terminology) I play the blues chord progression. I would take my metronome, have it click at 60 beats per minute and simulate the 2 and 4 of the beat (effectively playing at 120 beats per minute), just as if it was the snare drum, and I would start playing something along the style of this BB King song.

It would just be the metronome, my bass and me. I change keys and tempo as I like, sometimes slow, sometimes fast, but always in the groove.

This is how you learn to play bass guitar. I encourage you to go on in the same fashion. Look for chord progressions in your style of music, your interests, and just jam along and really get the chord progression into your head, try to copy the bass line, start with something simple, play as much as possible and your technique will develop by itself, guaranteed.

And before I forget – the bass player on the track is Jerry Jemmot. If you’re into anything soul or R’n’B related I encourage you to check him out.

Here’s some stuff that might be interesting:

AOL Playboy and Tommy Christopher Drama – Did I hit all the key buzzwords in the title? I think so… Anyway, I’ve been enjoying a self-imposed blog break to move on to other more important things in life, like sell the house, learn to play Bass guitar among other things. …

Learn to Read Bass Tabs | Learn to Play Bass Guitar – Learn to Play Bass Guitar. Free lessons to get you started on the road to the bass. Recent Posts. Learn to Play Bass Guitar! … Theme by Dugu Miko. Copyright © 2008 Learn to Play Bass Guitar. All rights reserved.

The original Funk Brother from countless Motown hits. This is a prime example of his beutiful basslines.

When you learn to play bassguitar you would do yourself a great service listening to his style of playing. And if technique is something you pre-occupy yourself with, remember Jamerson only used one right hand finger (which he called the Hook) to play these incredible lines. Beginner bass guitar players should think about creating good groovy basslines rather than worry too much about technique.

The following article might also interest you:

HUMAN SPORTS INFO » Little Known Secret to Learn Bass Guitar – While spending time on YouTube looking for bass guitar inspiration, you will find a lot of bass players who are very good at imitating other well known styles of bass playing, but if you are looking for real in-depth fundamentals of how to craft solid, new and original bass lines, there isnt really all that much out there. After making music for many years, you notice a lot of young bass players don’t have an understanding of rhythm and time, it seems to be a dying art. I am not talking about sight reading or music theory, I am talking about building unique bass lines while keeping time.

Learn Bass Guitar – Bass guitars are very similar in principle to electric guitars, but have less, fatter strings which are often tuned to the same pitch of a double bass. This enables them to make sounds at relatively frequencies. …

If you are beginner bass guitar player you might have a need to know a bit about the instrument. This isn’t a lot of mumbo jumbo technical stuff, and you can probably learn to play bass guitar just as well without knowing anything about it all. In any case, a bit of know-how never hurts.

So, let’s dive into deep water and start with the body, that fat chunk of wood at your waste (disclaimer – not your belly!).

At the tail end of the body is the bridge, the piece of metal the strings are attached to. The bridge is important if you need to adjust the intonation (if your bass sound out-of-tune).

At the opposite end is the neck, the long rod protruding from the body (oh dear…).

Between these two points, and under the strings, are the pick-ups. You might have one or two, or in super rare case three or more (who need that anyway?).

The pick-ups literally pick up the string vibrations and send these through to the electronics in the bass and out to the amplifier.

The electronics are at the very least the volume control, tone control and a jack plug (that’s all I have on my two bass guitars). Some bass guitars have active electronics and are powered by a battery. Others are passive (as mine are). When you learn to play bass guitar it doesn’t matter if your bass is passive or active. Most bass guitars are passive.

You might also have a pick-guard (a plastic scratch plate to prevent damage to the paint) on your bass.

Up the neck you find a whole bunch of frets. These mark each new note on the scale, and are placed on what’s appropriately named the fretboard.

On the 3^rd, 5^th, 7^th, 9^th, 12^th, 15^th, 17^th, 19^th frets there are dots to indicate where the chord notes are on certain chords and scales (that’s a theory part you don’t have to worry about now, if ever…)

On the 12^th there are two dots to indicate the octave (same note as the open unfretted string) of the scale.

You can look upon these dots as location markers for where to placing your hand and fingers.

The strings run over the nut (the white bone or plastic thing with grooves for the strings to rest on) at end of the fretboard.

All the way at the top of the neck, the headstock, are the tuning pegs, where the strings are attached and tuned.

Of course you also need a cool strap to hang your bass from your neck.

That’s about it. Not a whole bunch to say really, but nice to know when you learn to play bass guitar.

Here’s a list of articles you might enjoy:

AOL Playboy and Tommy Christopher Drama – Did I hit all the key buzzwords in the title? I think so… Anyway, I’ve been enjoying a self-imposed blog break to move on to other more important things in life, like sell the house, learn to play Bass guitar among other things. …

Lesson One: Notes on the Bass Guitar | Learn to Play Bass Guitar – Posted: August 9, 2009 – 1:22 am | Filled under: Beginner Bass Guitar | Tags: Learn to play bass guitar. Hey guys, Welcome to your first bass lesson on LearntoPlayBassGuitar.org! Today, you will be shown the different notes on your bass …

Learn to Read Bass Tabs | Learn to Play Bass Guitar – Learn to Play Bass Guitar. Free lessons to get you started on the road to the bass. Recent Posts. Learn to Play Bass Guitar! … Theme by Dugu Miko. Copyright © 2008 Learn to Play Bass Guitar. All rights reserved.

Anatomy of the Bass Guitar | Learn to Play Bass Guitar – Posted: August 7, 2009 – 9:52 pm | Filled under: Uncategorized | Tags: Learn to play bass guitar. In order to begin to learn to play the bass guitar, you must first familiarize yourself with the parts of the bass. …

I don’t like the term practise. It conjures images of discipline, stamina, sacrifice, and what not. Playing is what you should be doing when you pick up you’re instrument. We want it to be fun, right? I think it should be, and by employing some fun-time into your quest to learn to play bass guitar it will make it a fun journey.

It’s strange to see how some players develop faster than others. I think it has as much to do about talent, as it has to do about having a good time when they play. Also, I think they have understood early on that playing bass guitar is about being a strong rhythmical player. Try to listen to players playing simple patterns with good rhythm, timing, groove and conviction sounding a lot better than players running all over the fretboard but playing out of time and out of groove.

As you learn to play bass guitar you should first aim on becoming familiar with the instrument. No teacher can help you with that. It is much like learning to swim. An instructor can show you the breaststroke techniques but if you have never been comfortable in water you won’t manage to perform the swim.

I propose that you don’t worry too much in the beginning and simply sit down (or get up) and try to play something, anything. Mess around with strings, pluck them with your fingers, use a pick, try whatever. Do this a lot and try to make some music. Don’t be judgemental towards yourself, have fun and experiment. Don’t worry.

When you get used to holding the bass guitar and you feel you get a bit of connection with the instrument, get hold of a metronome (or a drum machine). Set the metronome to click to a medium tempo beat (60 bars per minute often seems to be ok) and start playing notes at exactly each beat. I suggest that you play the same note for between 4 – 8 times before moving to the next.  By doing this you will start to develop a sense of timing.

 If it becomes easy you can slow down the metronome to half the speed but play at double the speed. You count and play 1-2-3-4, 1-2-3-4, but the metronome click only on 1 and 3.

When this becomes easy, try to have the beat come on the second and fourth beat of your playing. You count and play 1-2-3-4, etc., while the metronome click only on beat 2 and 4. The metronome will now in effect simulate the snare drum in almost any popular western music form. This is such an important element and it’s how you learn to play bass guitar with good time and rhythm.

Just remember: There are no hard and fast rules. You don’t learn to play bass guitar from A to B like you would in a maths course. You learn by experience, by doing, and the more you do the more you will learn, and in your subconscious mind you will grow musically.

Here’s a couple of sites you might like:

Bass Guitar Advice – 5 Tips For Beginners – … do them you will see much better results. Before you know it you’re be playing in a band, jamming with friends and becoming a great bass player. Peace, Love and Rock n Roll,. Tom Boyd. Tags: Bass Guitar Advice, Beginner Bass Guitar …

Beginner Bass Guitar Lessons – Looking for beginner bass guitar lessons? Then you will be delighted to know that you can now get lessons for beginners online. This allows you to learn quickly.

Good right hand technique is so crucial to good bass playing. You need to be able to play strong and hard and convey a good rhythmic feel. It’s perhaps more important to focus on this when you learn to play bass guitar than on the left hand technique.

Basically you have two main techniques: Using your fingers or using a pick. OK, some might object, and I agree – slapping and popping is also used a lot, however, slapping is still something that is relatively specialised to particular styles of music, while picking or fingering can be used in most other styles.

Ok, so you want to learn to play bass guitar, what do you do? I suggest that you have a good think about the music styles you’re into and determine if pick or fingers are most commonplace, then you go ahead and try it out. If it works wonders for you, then continue using that technique. If not, then try the other.

Here’s how to practice the two techniques. Get hold of a metronome or a drum machine to keep time with (absolutely essential, I’m telling you) and start playing in time with the clicks. You can have the clicks on every beat (1 – 2 – 3 – 4) or on the upbeat (2 and 4 – the best way, as it simulates the snare drum) and simply play steady notes. You should change keys and strings of course, and preferably follow a chord progression.

This sound simple and easy, and it is, of course, but if you do this regularly and gradually increase the speed to a level that is comfortable yet challenging, you will become a solid player.

Always alternate the fingers and practise up and down strokes with the pick.

If you figure that you rather play with a pick than using fingers, the following is a good thing: Try to play on each beat using only down strokes. Guitarists do this a lot and the feel and attitude you get is very important in punk rock context.

Also try to dampen the strings with the palm of your right hand, making a more percussive sound.

These are a few important things to consider when you learn to play bass guitar, so practise well and cheerio!

Here’s a few more articles:

Learn Bass Guitar – Learn Bass Guitar. Bass guitars are very similar in principle to electric guitars, but have less, fatter strings which are often tuned to the same pitch of a double bass. This enables them to make sounds at relatively frequencies. …

Want to Learn Bass Guitar? – If you are interested in acquiring a new talent and you have decided to learn bass guitar, there are several ways you can do achieve this. Bass guitar is one of the most amazing instruments there are in the instrument world, …

Want to Learn Bass Guitar Chords – If you wish to learn bass guitar chords, here are several things you should carefully consider before starting on that road. First thing’s first, however: you have to make sure that you want to put all the time and energy needed for …