funky_numba

[quote name='icastle' post='1025401' date='Nov 16 2010, 01:18 AM']I just went through my tape collection and tried playing along with different tunes and different styles of music. Kept at it until I could do it without thinking or hurting I still learn new tunes exactly the same way today.[/quote] That's just the way I thought everyone did it. Time to look through my large collection of music to try out!! Think that's what I'll be doing thru the xmas hols off work!!

[quote name='risingson' post='1025372' date='Nov 16 2010, 12:12 AM']When I first started out I just played along to all my favourite records. The best thing you can do initially to is to practice using your ear to pick out bass lines and approximating what you hear onto your bass. It's all about familiarising yourself with your instrument, if you're using your ear to pick out bits of music and then playing what you hear, you will find learning things will come a lot quicker to you. What kind of music do you like to listen to?[/quote] Listen to lots of different music, but fav is Jazz Funk, Fusion, Swing, Soul,... Jamiroquia, Simply Red, Doobie Brothers, Steely Dan, George Benson, Mezzoforte, Brand New Heavies, Genesis, Average White Band, Various 70's, 80's music. How about you, Risingon, what music in your cd collection?

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1025373' date='Nov 16 2010, 12:12 AM']I first started learning by getting my fingers on both hands used to playing together..then i bought a book and CD and learned.. Above all that i learned my favorite CD's for years... i will say though there is nothing like a good teacher to set you on your way... your finger will ache but it wont be for long... i wish you luck on this wonderful journey bro...[/quote] Thanks bubinga5, really appreciate your encouragement!! Hopefully, I will find a tutor in the new year!! Got some additional help at home. My big sis is a wiz at piano/ keyboard (she's the only one that can read music), my little sis sings with a jazz band as well as being a singing teacher (her boyfriend is a sax player). We are all involved in stage musicals, however I've had a longing to play bass for many years!!!! Just hope to stick with my bass. Long road ahead and all that, but enjoying it so far despite the hard reading. By the way, what are your fav cd's? Not the whole list, just a sample? Thanks again!!! Paul.

[quote name='molan' post='1025326' date='Nov 15 2010, 11:23 PM']Do these class as jazz funk? If so then I like it [/quote] The First song I would class as Jazz Funk.. Mmm. Time to turn up the Bass!!!!

[quote name='bubinga5' post='1025379' date='Nov 16 2010, 12:27 AM']Barrie ive always said that MFSB track is amazing...i wouldnt call it Jazz Funk though..groove yes...IMHO.....the Lonnie track is though.... This IMHO is Jazz Funk.. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSPk7awDCd4&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSPk7awDCd4...feature=related[/url] Awsome stuff... this is pure new Jazz funk.. [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyv_kuLa0Ec"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gyv_kuLa0Ec[/url][/quote] Abs Stunning!!!! That Incognito numba is s**t hot!!!!! Yep, That to me is Jazz Funk!! Mmm.. mmm! Thanks for posting that, bubinga5.

Hi ppl, I'm just learning bass at the mo. Got some books etc. Can any of you tell me how you first started out learning to play bass? How many of you stuck to learning scales every other day? Just would like some advice to help me along. My fingers are aching, trying to learn exercises on how to place them over 4 frets at once!!!!!!!! This is gonna take me ages!!!! Thanks. Paul.

Hi all I'm a newbie to bass.. a few weeks so far. I recently bought a second hand 4-string bass (Wesley), put on new strings (Rotosound Swing 40-100). I'm having a problem with fret buzz... mainly with the E-string. When I slap the E-string it hits on most of the frets. Out of curiousity, I raised / lowered the saddles (yes, all of them.. oops), adjusted them back and forth, but this made no difference. I think that there is now too much action on the E-string and it's still buzzing. I had another thought.... the only way to solve this is to tighten the E-string, however that would make the string out of tune with the other strings. Can you guys please offer any help. I'm just guessing things at the moments. Many thanks!!!

Yes.. God I love Jazz Funk!!! Are there any decent bands around that play Jazz Funk? Any of you guys in a JF band that would like to show off your skills with a vid from one of your gigs? Go on!!!!!!! Please!!!!

On another note... how do I get my bass to have a much brighter and hard funky sound? Change the pickups? Change my new Rotosound Swing Strings to Jazz ones or Ernie Ball Super Slinkys? I'm a kinda newbie to this malarky!! Thanks. Paul.

I don't have a problem with the notes. Done all the musical theory stuff already from a singing point of view, so I have a good grasp of the theory of music. I just want to learn to play bass from a bass point of view. For example, what string should I strum, what fingers should I use on my left hand to hold down the strings, should I use one string as opposed to another string to produce the same note. Is it just a personal preference? I'm finding it hard work at times!! The other night I tried to play bass along to a fav song on a cd but some of the bass notes sounded even lower than my own bass could do. It's driving me nuts!!! Do I have to keep retuning my bass every time I play a different song in order to fit the note range? How do you guys prepare before practicing on a fav song??? Thanks for your input!! Paul.

I will be making a concerted effort to learn some of the scales so I can get my damn fingers to stretch further across the frets and want to try and commit to memory so I know what the fret is to the notes shown on the music. Think I will be hunting down a tutor very soon if I can find a good one in Glasgow/ East Kilbride that won't charge me a small fortune. Any recommendations out there?? I agree with you GustOo. I've had a practice at playing along to a couple of bars on some fav songs. It's hard work but made a bit easier with that Best Practice 'slowing down' app that Musky so kindly pointed out to me. Discovered something else new. Quite often, the open strings vibrate after I pluck a closed string and I don't get such a clean sound. When I listen to music, I never hear any of that. Does that mean that if I'm playing a song, I always have to mute the open strings so that I only hear the string being plucked.. if you know what I mean?? Thanks Paul.

[quote name='Bloodaxe' post='1015962' date='Nov 8 2010, 06:16 AM']Greetings, what did you end up with? Yammy or something else? Not all online tabs are dodgy, some of them are just plain wrong. Nevertheless there's more than a few that are pretty close/spot on, it's just a question of trial & error. To decide which is what you need two things... a tab reader & a pair of ears. A couple of good free tab progs are [url="http://tuxguitar.herac.com.ar/"]Tux Guitar[/url] and [url="http://www.power-tab.net/guitar.php"]Powertab[/url] (of the two I reckon Tux is the better one). If you want to splash out, then [url="http://www.guitar-pro.com/en/index.php"]GuitarPro[/url] isn't bank-breakingly expensive. For downloading tabs, I tend to use [url="http://www.911tabs.com/"]911 Tabs[/url] as that site searches loads of others as well. Generally if it ain't there, it don't exist. So... what do you do if you can't find a tab? Well... you could post up a request in the Theory & Technique part of Basschat. If anyone has it, there's a sporting chance they'll post it up or provide a link for it. Talkbass has a similar forum (called "Tablature" oddly enough) & is another good resource. That's one option. Another one (& in my opinion the better one) is to use your ears & figure it out for yourself. I suspect I'm right in believing that the vast majority of players here started out playing using exactly that method & many (me included) continue to do so. It works. Alright, it doesn't give the 'instant' result that having the tab (or the sheet music) does, but it's better for you in the long run... trust me. Arm yourself with a few scales (Major, Minor & Pentatonic), get used to playing them all over the neck & you'll be astonished at how things will start to click into place. Learn the names of the notes - don't say/think "1st fret on the second-thickest string", say "B-flat". If you have to transpose a tune into a different key, that'll help. Knowing the note names and your basic scales also unlocks a whole shedload of tunes. It's not a 5-minute job though. In fact, learning [i]never[/i] stops. It can become rather addictive tbh. To answer your other question, YES. It's always a good idea to check your tuning before each practice session as it can & will drift - especially with new strings. You'll also find that recorded music isn't always tuned to the standard (A = 440Hz), it can often be a semitone down (Bon Scott era AC/DC, early Black Sabbath, & Thin Lizzy to name a few), or even a quarter-tone off (try The Small Faces for this). Then there's the Death/Grind/Sludge/Math/Nu-core metal lot who'll tune to all sorts of weird & wonderful "standards". Probably best not to go [i]there[/i] just yet. If you can afford it, seek out a decent teacher in your area (preferably one that specialises in Bass) - that 'forced' regime can work wonders. If you can't, or don't have time, have a nose around [url="http://www.studybass.com/"]StudyBass.com[/url], & investigate the stickied posts in the aforementioned Theory & Technique bit of Basschat and also over on TalkBass (two sub-forums there - 'Technique' and 'General Instruction') That Frank Stallone number... '80s or what? Anyway... it seems to be in the key of Cm and the little run is a partial Cm downscale (but starting on the F)*. Over to you, you should be able to get this without resorting to tabs. Seriously, it's not that hard (but it's a good one to kick off with for a number of reasons). Pete. [size=1]*Theory is my weakest suit, so I fully expect to get pulled up on this [/size][/quote] Hi Pete, Thanks for you massive contribution!! You have given me plenty food for thought. Yes it's becoming addictive.. trying to learn all the jargon, forever googling for information. Find it much more enjoyable than when I was trying to learn piano or even acoustic guitar. I have a good ear for picking up music lines but the problem is trying to get my fingers to walk the frets and pluck the correct strings. Scales... ooh scary stuff!! I got a book from my local library.. Serious Electric Bass by Joel Di Bartolo. It's FULL of different kind of scales.. Mixolydian, Locrian, Dorian, Ionian... yuk!!! Seems a bit too heavy for a beginner like me. Think I will need to get a tutor to help with the basics first!!! The bass I got is a Wesley, don't know the model. That song, Far From Over.. is very fast on the original cd. Need to find some way to slow the song down while keeping the same pitch so I can try and pick up the notes. Lots of work to do... Oh I checked out that 911tabs site. Love it!! Thanks again, Pete.

[quote name='funky_numba' post='1015932' date='Nov 8 2010, 01:19 AM']Hi all, I've just recently taken up bass... about a week ago!! Bought a second hand bass guitar and amp in pretty good nick, instruction video etc, etc. Upgraded the strings. I'm looking for some help on finding free tablatures for songs but there are too many dodgy sites on the net. To save time, can any of you guys point me to some decent sites to get free A-Z list of songs for bass tablature? I was on youtube last night and watched a guy playing an amazing bass cover of Far from Over.. an instrumental by Frank Stallone. Do you any of you know where I could get a tablature for that particular song? All help and advice much appreciated to a total newbie. A big thanks to all you ppl at this fantastic site!!!!!! [/quote] Hi again, I meant to add a further question to this post.. Now that my bass is tuned correctly as per my electronic tuner.. if I want to play along to online videos on Youtube and the likes, will I need to retune my bass each time to get the correct pitch to each song? Thanks again!

Hi all, I've just recently taken up bass... about a week ago!! Bought a second hand bass guitar and amp in pretty good nick, instruction video etc, etc. Upgraded the strings. I'm looking for some help on finding free tablatures for songs but there are too many dodgy sites on the net. To save time, can any of you guys point me to some decent sites to get free A-Z list of songs for bass tablature? I was on youtube last night and watched a guy playing an amazing bass cover of Far from Over.. an instrumental by Frank Stallone. Do you any of you know where I could get a tablature for that particular song? All help and advice much appreciated to a total newbie. A big thanks to all you ppl at this fantastic site!!!!!!

[quote name='Ian Savage' post='1012762' date='Nov 4 2010, 11:52 PM']Strewth again, you're chucking yourself in at the deep end! Fair play to you though... Good good, as long as the amp works for the time being who gives a crap. Slap a picture on here if you really want to know the pickup type - doesn't really make a difference as long as they work. Wesley is a Chinese-manufactured cheap-as-chips brand, so don't expect miracles... Right then. If the strings are hitting the MIDDLE of the neck, I'd suspect that the truss rod is over-tight, and loosening it a bit WON'T do your bass any damage, so it's worth a go. If the rod adjuster's at the headstock end, slacken off the strings a bit and give it a half-turn anti-clockwise; then get it back up to pitch and see if the strings still hit the frets. You can by all means raise the action from the bridge end (on a pedantic note, you'll actually be raising the saddles), but go too far with this with the truss rod not right and you'll just end up with a bass that's unplayable (can be sorted, certainly, but in the short term unplayable ). Cheap secondhand guitars/basses are almost always problematic, but since they're almost invariably built around Leo Fender's 60 year-old designs (Gawd bless the man ) they can usually be made at least playable as long as the manufacturing isn't total crap. It's just a case of getting someone who knows what they're doing; BassChat is an invaluable resource and you might even find someone versed in guitar tech-ing close to you who'd do the job for you while you watch and learn for the price of a few beers (which would, in my experience, be considerably less than you'd pay to some music shops who don't really know what they're doing and hence won't let you watch them work). I'm in South Staffs/West Midlands, and would certainly have a look at it over a four-pack of your providing if that's anywhere near you You'll find there's an 'optimum' position for pickups, which you'll only find through experimentation with a given bass; too close to the strings and the pickups' magnets start to affect how the strings vibrate (and, more practically, the pickups get in the way of the strings' vibrations), too far away and the bass starts to sound 'weedy' as the pups aren't getting enough action. They certainly can greatly change the character of the bass, although I'd live with it for a good few months after a set-up before spending the money on good pickups; a set of Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios in a Wesley bass strikes me a turd-polishing, but if a bass totally suits you feel-wise but just doesn't sound right better pickups are a major step. Not knowing exactly what kind of bass you have, that's hard to answer; generally for rock music people will go for a Precision or MusicMan style pickup, for all-round versatility they'll have a Precision pickup plus a Jazz pickup, and for jazz they'll use, well, Jazz pickups, but that really means nothing. The routing on your bass will have the biggest influence on what pickups you can use without major woodwork, and people have been known to play metal with Jazz pickups and country with a Precision; there's no hard-and-fast rules, get used to the bass first. No worries, we were all there once![/quote] Hi Ian, Thanks for your comprehensive advice!!! I didn't realise how much fun there was to be had, trying to learn all about playing the bass as opposed to other instruments. I was thinking about going for lessons but don't know if I should go for one-2-one lessons or class lessons. How did you learn to play bass? Did you teach yourself or get lessons?

Hi Guys, I managed to upload pics of my bass, thanks for the help with that!! It's not a great looking, sparkly, all singing and dancing bass but it's a start. I went to Guitar Guitar this aft and bought an absolute beginners book and dvd plus some electronic tuner thingie. Now I need a LOT of patience, a few beers to help me along, OH... and going by the pics in the book, a massive rubber left hand, to stretch on the frets... how the hell do I do that?? Anyways, thanks again for all your input!!!! Massively appreciated!!

I took a few photos of my bass but I have no idea how to add/ paste the images to my messages. When i try to add an image to my message I get asked for a URL (http) input. What's that all about? Can't I just simply paste the image???

Hi Guys, I FINALLY got a bass and amp. Only cost me £50 for the two items. Bought second hand from a friend at work. The bass is in very good nick (it's about 4 years old). The amp is good and does fine for now. Wesley Bass Guitar (don't know the make). There are 2 pickups.. single-coil type I think (can't tell if they are humbuckers). Starfire TEC20B 40 watt practice amp. I think the bass needs a fair bit of fine-tuning, as I believe it's had a lot of use in the past. Being a newbie, I don't know how to 'fine-tune' the bass. I'm so confused by all the mechanics of a bass. The strings buzz at times when I play them. The strings sometimes hit off the frets in the middle of the bass. To stop the buzzing and the strings hitting frets, should I : 1. Raise the bridges at the bottom to increase the space between the strings and the fretboard? 2. Tighten the strings 3. Adjust the Truss-rod. (I don't want to end up busting my bass with this). I would really appreciate if any of you guys could offer some help with this please. Did any of you have the same problem when you bought a second hand bass? On another note.. 1. What does raising and lowering the pickups do to the sound? 2. Would replacing the pickups give me a completely different sound? 3. Are there different pickups for different kinds of music i.e. would one particular pickup be better for Jazz while another type for rock music? So sorry for the long-winded message. I just need to get my head round this whole new world. Many thanks for all your ideas/suggestions, etc, etc.

[quote name='Musky' post='1010323' date='Nov 3 2010, 07:37 AM']It sounds like your bass is in need of a good set up. It might just need the strings raising, but could well need the relief (the amount of bow in the neck) adjusting as well. There's a good guide to setting up a bass [url="http://garywillis.com/pages/bass/bassmanual/setupmanual.html"]here[/url], but there are plenty of others on the net as well. Actually Joe's suggestion is a good one. There are plenty of BC members in Glasgow. [/quote] Hi Musky, Thanks for the valuable info. I don't want to do anything to my bass that may damage it. Loved the link you posted. It gave me far more info than I managed to google in the past week or so. Best regards. Paul.

[quote name='Circle_of_Fifths' post='1010282' date='Nov 3 2010, 03:43 AM']This is one of those times when I think I should say that you need to make a personal friend of a bass player. You've got a lot to learn - and it's all fun and very rewarding - but you really need someone to show you all the things you asked for on a one-on-one basis. Not that I can do you any good in that realm as I am in the US - far to the left coast in California - but I am sure on that tiny little island - if you actually are in the UK - you could prolly walk down the street and find someone who is a member of this site pretty quick. The things you ask - and believe me that none of them are individually hard to help with - it's just that you sound like you are at ground zero and need some help. Any volunteers? Are you on that island somewhere? Bring beer - that helps a lot. Make sure it's cold.[/quote] Hi Joe, Thanks for your honest remarks and yeh, you're right, i'm at ground zero with bass guitars. Didn't know they would be so different from acoustic guitars. How wrong I was!!!!! Maybe i've been landed with a real duffer of a bass. Yuk!!! Don't think so tho. Think it's been used a lot and needs a major fine tuning. I tried all four strings earlier on and they all seem to buzz and when I 'slapped' the strings, they all hit against the frets near the middle. I tried an ibanez precision bass at a local shop the other day and I as far as I remember, there was no problem with the strings hitting the frets when I slapped the strings. The sound that was produced was very clean, crisp and no buzz. Don't know if that was because of the make of the bass or whatever. I'm confused about the stuff re the trussrod and the bridge. I did notice that there is an awful lot of play with all the strings. Maybe they are too loose and need tightened up to lessen the buzz, however I'm just guessing here. Like you said, I think I may need to meet up with another bass player to point me in the right direction. Free beerz.. now that's a good idea. Can any of you please help? I'm just outside Glasgow.. in East Kilbride to be more precise. Many thanks!!!!! and same goes for you too, Joe!!!!

Hi Guys, I finally got my very first bass and amp today and it only cost me £50 for the two items (second hand of course). I've got a Wesley (Jaguar) Bass Guitar (about 5 years old) and a Starfire TEC20B 20 Watt Bass Amp. I think the bass has two humbucker pickups and 3 control knobs. I don't know if that's good or bad. Had a quick tryout just to make sure it worked. It worked!!! However, there is some buzzing from some or all of the strings. For example, when I strum the lowest sounding string, it hits off the frets in the middle. Don't know whether I should raise the bridge thingy to heighten the string(s). Should I raise the pickups? What things would I need to do to bring the bass back to perfect working order? I was thinking of replacing the strings but I don't know whether to get Roundwound or Flatwound and what gauge. I heard that if the strings are too thick, it might add too much tension to bass neck. I'm totally lost. Want to learn to the bass mainly to practice Soul, Funk, Jazz but will try anything decent (Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, blah, blah) to get me up and running. Obviously need to learn all the basics first. Hard work awaits me!! Can any of you please give me some help/ advice for this newbie. Many, many thanks!!!

Hi guys, I'm just starting bass and have a very long road ahead of me to learning bass!! I have been watching some great musicians on youtube so I'm looking for some inspiration... i.e. FREE tablature of well known songs from the likes of Simply Red, Earth Wind and Fire, Jamiroquai. Additionally, some decent websites to learn all the basics. Can any of you guys please point me in the right direction? Many thanks to all.

Hi all, I've been trying to get some idea as to what bass to buy as a 'first bass' for a beginner. I've already posted on this site and had great guidance from all members who replied. Today, I went to a local music shop, near Glasgow, had a look around, chatted to a few punters there who were bass players. Later on, a very helpful shop assisant gave me a chance to to try out a stunning looking bass, an Ibanez SR 300 Red Sparkle. It sounded amazing, and in physical terms, it 'fitted' me better and felt better that other basses I tried out a few weeks ago in another shop. The asking price for that bass guitar was about £250, however, I have been advised by a number of ppl to start small, buy second hand and work my way up, which seems to be the standard way. Have any of you guys tried the Ibanez SR 300? Is it worth investing or should I go cheap, second hand and practice the skill first? I'd really appreciate any help, advice, etc. Many thanks.

[quote name='4StringFortress' post='991907' date='Oct 18 2010, 07:04 AM']Not yet iv used it in a few jam sessions though and I loved it, I had it on for 3 hours straight and it was comfortable and not too heavy. Its the kinda bass that when you turn up to jam sessions the others do comment on what a cool bass it looks (especially if you can get your hands on a metallic orange one!). Its sound and tone no matter what style of music I play it seems to slip in nicely from funk and jazz too heavy metal, also sounds very good when slapping. When it comes too being able to stretch im not sure coz I don't know how big your hands are but I learnt on a P-bass with a proper precision neck (basically very fat and chunky) and at the start I wasn't able to stretch and I struggled for a couple of weeks but the more I tried the better I got and now I can stretch my hands easily. So I wouldn't worry if you cant do it straight away it will come with practice and hand exercises. When it comes to playing it the BB414 the neck is very comfy and isn't chunky at all. It similar to the neck on my RBX374 which is a jazz neck. Its just generally a joy to play and I wouldn't trade it for anything at all. I hope this has helped feel free to ask any more questions or PM me if you like =].[/quote] Hi there, I'm still on my quest to find that first bass. Still would love a BB414 mmmm. A friend in the work informed me that her brother is a keen musician who has a collection of instruments.. keyboards, electric guitars, bass guitars.. She told me that he was selling a bass that he started off with. It's a 'Wesley' bass. I don't know what model or colour it is. I do know that is has only one pickup in the centre of the body. I was sent an image of the bass that looks similar to the one he is selling. His has only two centre pickups, doesn’t have the one nearest the bridge, the one in the picture is a fender. [url="http://uk.mg40.mail.yahoo.com/ya/download?mid=1%5f218808%5fANoKDNkAAHMnTMBgtw7vBlv48Pw&pid=2&fid=Inbox&inline=1"]Wesley Bass[/url] He is also selling a 'Stagg' beginners amp. I have no idea what that is like. I was offered the bass and amp for £50. A superb price but would like some idea what the bass might sound like. Is one pickup good for starters or should I still opt for one with 2 pickups? Please help if you can.!! Thanks very much,

[quote name='4StringFortress' post='983726' date='Oct 10 2010, 08:17 PM']If you pick the right bass you can use it for most styles and yes depending on the strings will change the sound of your bass. Also depending on the amp you use and also if you use any effects that will also change the sound of your bass.[/quote] I have listened to the BB414 on youtube (limited amount of videos tho) and I love the sound it produces. Have you used your 414 for gigs? Is it worth considering? Will my hands/ fingers need stretched to the limit in order to play it properly?