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Some very simple advice: learn arpeggios. They are the foundation for some of the best Bass songs. Of course you could just play root notes of chords, but where's the fun in that?
I know they are considered deeply uncool and I'm sure I will get shouted down and mocked for suggesting this but you could do a hell of a lot worse than checking out Geddy Lee of Rush - quite simply, one of the greatest ever bassists (IMO at least).
I recently saw them live at LG arena and the fact that they are still going strong after 30+ years and with the level of musicianship that he consistently displays - awe inspiring.
Dude, the guy doesn't need virtuosos to model himself after >.< Just pick some 4/4 songs from different styles and jam around. You'll figure it out quick enough.
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:Dude, the guy doesn't need virtuosos to model himself after >.< Just pick some 4/4 songs from different styles and jam around. You'll figure it out quick enough.
+1
Playing simple stuff first is the best way to learn. That's what most people fail to realize...it takes a long time to get that good
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:Dude, the guy doesn't need virtuosos to model himself after >.< Just pick some 4/4 songs from different styles and jam around. You'll figure it out quick enough.
+1
Playing simple stuff first is the best way to learn. That's what most people fail to realize...it takes a long time to get that good
I'm actually going to disagree with the latter. Anyone can get good fairly quickly as it becomes natural. Telling yourself it's going to take a long time will most definitely make it take longer though.
Cannerus_The_Unbearable wrote:Dude, the guy doesn't need virtuosos to model himself after >.< Just pick some 4/4 songs from different styles and jam around. You'll figure it out quick enough.
+1
Playing simple stuff first is the best way to learn. That's what most people fail to realize...it takes a long time to get that good
I'm actually going to disagree with the latter. Anyone can get good fairly quickly as it becomes natural. Telling yourself it's going to take a long time will most definitely make it take longer though.
Ah, that came out poorly - You can't pick up an instrument and start playing like the best; it takes time/practice
KingCracker wrote:Im tellin ya, Clutch, learn their bass lines and youll enjoy rocking the feth out
I saw them at a fesitval a few weeks ago , loved them , bought a t-shirt before they had finished there first song. i plan to learn some of there stuff.
Red corsairs -2000 points Empire army -2000 points Cygnar-15pts
As a bassist/guitarist who thrives on thrash metal, I would recommend a pick if you're going to be playing at actual thrash speeds. A good song to learn to thrash to on a bass or guitar (essentially the same, just ditching the power chords for notes) would be "Black Magic" by Slayer. It's an awesome song and although it's fast, it's not that technical. For finger excersises, arpeggios are great, but you may want to start out with some basic scales, like the chromatic.
Here are some links:
Black Magic Guitar Tab Just play the lowest notes written, when playing this song on the bass. And keep in mind that bottom line of the tab represent the lowest E string on your bass (low in terms of sound not "position"). Not meaning to undermind you, I just don't really know where you stand in terms of your playing ability/familiarity with tabs.
This is generally the G scale I play around with to warm up my fingers.
E --------------------------------3-5-6
B -------------------------3-4-6-------
G ------------------2-3-5--------------
D --------------3-5---------------------
A -------3-5-6-------------------------
E 3-5-6--------------------------------
There are more elaborate scales, for sure. And this one isn't necessarily the best for all four fingers, but I play enough that I don't really need the "finger excersise" from this scale as much as just getting my left hand loosened up, but it never hurts to warm up a little.
KingCracker wrote:Im tellin ya, Clutch, learn their bass lines and youll enjoy rocking the feth out
I saw them at a fesitval a few weeks ago , loved them , bought a t-shirt before they had finished there first song. i plan to learn some of there stuff.
Yea Ive seen them live a couple times locally and just love them. Best part is, the bass lines are normally easy to figure out and play and sound great.
Death From Above 1979 is really great practice if you're looking to learn how to play with a pick. It'll give you a really good foundation in basic scales and standard tuning (every note they hit is solid gold), and you'll be able to jam very easily with the same notes that you learn from playing their songs once you get a feel for it. It's also all great music for teaching you the basics of rhythm and timing in 4/4.
It's all really fun to play, it all sounds great (not quite as good if you don't have an overdrive pedal to work with, but great nonetheless), and it will make you feel proud of yourself when you're finally able to get a song down. DFA will show you just how powerful the bass guitar can manage to be, even when you keep things simple. You may have to play their material at half speed until you get some of it down, as the number of upstrokes you'll have to pull off may be a bit frustrating to a novice, but there are only a couple songs by them which may be past your skill level for now (if you keep practicing).
Flidais wrote:Protest the hero or the human abstract would be good for whipping those fingers into shape
Protest the Hero is not a good thing to start learning on. Arif does some completely insane stuff, I've seen very few bassists as good as him, probably one of the best bassists I've ever seen. Their stuff is really really fun to learn though once you've got some skills. Starting out learning to finger pick with all the fingers on your picking hand will just leave you frustrated.
Finger and pick styles are completely different and both have entirely different applications, they're both important to know and master. There are a lot of good things that you can do with a pick that you cannot do with your fingers and vice versa.
Somebody's already said it, but I'll back it: the best place to start is picking a song that is just a little bit out of reach for your skill level and spending the time learning that. It will teach you some new tricks and techniques and strengthen the muscles you need to play bass, plus develop muscle memory. After mastering that, do the same thing again with something a little more difficult.
Playing with other musicians is definitely the best way to get better at an instrument, especially if they're a little better than you. It will force you to do things out of your comfort zone and you'll learn a lot.
Death From Above is certainly a cool place to start, awesome bass lines, not too difficult, really really fun to play, and sounds awesome.
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