Columns: How Tos, Advice & Lessons for Bass Players
Columns - Page 65
How and Why Woods Affect Your Bass Sound
Q: Experience and all instrument makers tell us that the choice of wood affects the sound of a bass. Of course we know and feel the difference of alder vs. ash bodies, ebony vs. rosewood vs. maple fingerboards, and so many other differences. But, do we know why exactly this affects the amplified sound? What we deal with are metal...
Left Hand Dexterity Drills on Three and Four Strings
After mastering the exercises on one and two strings, you will be ready to challenge yourself with some three-string exercise, like the ones below. Some Notes: These exercises can be done pizzicato or arco. If done pizzicato, I suggest beginning each pattern using the second finger of your right hand, followed by the first (i.e. 2-1) and alternating without exception....
Gigging Life: Elevating Your Game with the Right Musicians (or Vice Versa)
Q: I’ve found myself in somewhat of a middle-ground with my gigs. Some gigs I have are with much better musicians than me, and I find that I actually play better with these guys. But many more of my gigs are just your everyday bar gigs. I’m noticing that I just can’t play the same way when the musicians around...
Getting to Know Your Bass: How Many Strings Does It Take to Screw In A Lightbulb?
Ok, this column’s title is a bad joke (feel free to come up with you own punch line). In the past few columns of this “Getting To Know” series, we’ve examined a number of topics that relate to what your instrument can do, why you prefer it, and how that impacts your playing ability on the instrument. After discussing tone...
Getting the Same Swing Feel on Electric and Upright (or… Be Patient in Practice)
Q: I can’t get the same swing feel on electric as upright. Any advice? A: While I don’t play upright, this does present an opportunity to share a broader concept that may help you. Patience, padawan… patience (and focused practice). I’ve found with a vast majority of my students that whenever something is not “clicking”, you can break down the...
Left Hand Dexterity Drills on Two Strings
After you feel comfortable with the single string exercises from last time you may want to challenge yourself a bit more with the two string exercises below. Two String Left Hand Dexterity Drill Notes: These exercises can be done pizzicato or arco. If done pizzicato, I suggest beginning each pattern using the second finger of your right hand, followed by...
Triplets: A How To Guide to Timing and Practice
Q: Can you give me some exercises to play with a triplet feel? I’d also love a comparision of how the division is different from a binary feel. A: Simply put: A triplet is kind of like shifting the time where you can fit three notes in the space of two: A half-note triplet is when you fit three half...
Getting to Know Your Bass: How Your Bass’s Action Influences What You Can Do
Keeping up with Getting to Know Your Bass series, today we’ll take a look at the action of your bass and how that influences what you can play. While your action doesn’t necessarily impact your note choice, it certainly factors into the amount of force necessary to play the instrument and the techniques that you use while playing. Ultimately, you...
Climbing Out of that Rut: A Guide for Musicians
Q: I’ve been feeling like I’m stuck in a rut lately. Do you have any advice for how to climb out of this thing?? A: To start, I want to say that ruts can be a good thing, because they’re usually followed by a breakthrough. The trick is that you have to push your way through and never let it...
Single Position Left Hand Dexterity Drills for Bassists
Although scales, arpeggios and repertory are necessary for any musician’s development, etudes and exercises such as the ones below should also be part of any instrumentalist’s diet. Such exercises allow us to focus on a single aspect of technique. Single task left hand drills are essential if we desire to have true dexterity in the left hand fingers. There are...
Progressions: A Guide to Making Practice Productive and Fun
Q: I’m just now three weeks in to my bass lessons so I apologize for the “newb” question. Where can I go to find songs in a specific chord progression that I can play along with? For instance, I’ve learned 12 bar blues in G Major. Now I’m doing web searches to find tunes I can apply what I’ve learned....
Getting to Know Your Bass: All About the Neck
In part one of Getting to Know Your Bass, we discussed the importance of knowing what the tone knobs do on your instrument. Now, we’ll continue our discussion by learning about how your instrument’s neck influences where, what and how you play. We’ll begin with scale length and how it may impact your tone or musical choices. Then, we’ll get...