lowdowner

I always hold bass players with HUGE pedal boards in some awe. Partly because they look cool, but largely because I don't really know what they're 'for' and think that if you use them in gigs you must be special... 

But given that half the punters don't actually listen to what you're playing half the time, do they really have much effect?

Which pedal should I get first to wow the crowds?

Singer turning up 10 mins before gig starts and making a fuss over setting up their gear i.e. one mic stand...

Breaking a stick in the most important break of the set 

Someone coming up to you at the bar at the end of a gig and asking "So, have you seen this band before?" (yes, it's happened!)

Welcome home!

Just now, dontregartha said:

Random road closures after the gig when you just want to get home

been there - makes a 2am return home into a 4am return... annoys the hell out of the other half! 

3 minutes ago, lowdowner said:

Oi! I'm a drummer - we're not *all* stinky poo you know!

 

This site edited my 'S H I T E' to 'stinky poo!' - I've been censored!

On ‎07‎/‎04‎/‎2018 at 12:50, spectoremg said:

I'm not currently gigging and haven't done so for some time because you can guarantee that 1-7 will be at the rehearsal plus uk_lefty's great guitard who's a s..t singer and the inevitable rubbish drummer.

Oi! I'm a drummer - we're not *all* stinky poo you know!

My bass teacher today (yes, I decided to have lessons again, it's always 'a good thing') showed me a hybrid technique with some picking and then - while still holding the pick - using the ring and pinky for finger style playing. Looks and sounds very effective! 

49 minutes ago, dmccombe7 said:

Not sure if this might help but i downloaded it from somewhere to get a better understanding of chords.

If not just download and store for future reference

 

Jeff_Berlin_-_A_Comprehensive_Chord_Tone_System_for_Mastering_the_Bass_1987.pdf

thanks - looks useful, I'll take a look.

On ‎07‎/‎06‎/‎2018 at 08:22, TKenrick said:

Cheers for the shout out, @lowdown I was about to embark on some nauseating self-promotion!

hi @TKenrick - your site seems to be down (just saying 'pageok' and nothing else … are you having problems?

It seems that the consensus is that a pick provides a different tone (maybe easier to be more consistent?). A pick is harder, brighter, and with more attack. 

I've not really put much time into learning to play with a pick so I'm going to put some time into it and see what happens. 

8 hours ago, josie said:

Nothing to do with speed, but the difference in sound is clear. I've seen good bass players switch between pick and fingers between songs, or even mid-song,  to get the right tone or attack.

I can only play with a pick (right elbow RSI, limited use of my fingers) so I've explored that a bit and it's striking how much difference in sound one can get from different picks. Stone sounds different to wood sounds different to resin. Sharp sounds different to rounded sounds different to blunt. Atm I'm mostly using sharp hardwood with my electric fretted main squeeze, sharp stone with my flat-strung fretless, and blunt resin with my fretted acoustic.

And they're rather lovely things...

pretty things That's going to encourage me to try a few different ones out. Where are you finding them?

2 minutes ago, SH73 said:

But for me is mostly.... dang da da dang da da dang da da....

this thread has headed in an unexpected direction - very cool

Just now, BreadBin said:

Plonkety plonkety plonkety in my case!

nice triplet soundy-likey-thing

3 minutes ago, BreadBin said:

I have really tried to make 3 fingers work - I can't stop it sounding like triplets. I have wide hands so there is a significant difference in the tone across the 3 as well. 

Complicated isn't it? Who said bass playing was easy?

1 minute ago, Cato said:

I'd say it's easier to play fast with a pick because it requires less muscle conditioning.

But I suspect that someone who is first class at playing with their thumb and fingers and can hit notes on different strings almost simultaneously would actually be able to play certain phrases significantly faster than a pick player.

I don't think it's possible to do flameco roll, for example, with a pick.

'flamenco roll' - precisely!

2 minutes ago, T-Bay said:

Opposite for me, three finger fun for speed.

This is interesting - when learning the classical guitar, the 'rolling' of three fingers on a string can be very, very, fast (and consistent)… The pick *feels* different, but is it necessarily possible to play faster?

The funk-meister… 

Why do some people play bass with a pick? I can hear a difference with the tone (bright and hard with a pick and soft and funk-fantastic) but is it the case that you can play *faster* with a pick, or that you can't play faster per se. but it's *easier* to play faster with a pick?

What does the combined wisdom of the basseratti on here think?

5 minutes ago, NHM said:

The Rockbass exam series is good as it has a play=along CD and you can pitch your reading ability against a standard. Also the Hal Leonard 'Big Band Play-along' series is fun, again sheet music with a play-along CD.

Great link, thanks for that!

On ‎30‎/‎03‎/‎2018 at 17:32, wright/watt said:

Have recently just obtained a Vigier Passion11 in greenburst to go along with my Passion111 custom in funky orange (not sure what the colour is!!

though the bass is a funk machine!)

So comparison between the carbon neck and the 10/90 system on the go at the moment....Both a joy to play and a very happy bassist

That funky orange is fantastic. I have the same in natural flame maple which I love, but your orange one's a doozy!  viger_front.tiff

The upright music resources are a great idea - should have thought about that! Thanks

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

If you can already read the treble clef why do you need lessons specifically for the bass clef? Surely it's just a transposition exercise?

It's more to do with getting example sight reading exercise - so bass clef music for the bass with accompanying mp3s for example (to check that you're reading it right). With simple exercises/pieces through to more complex stuff. I don't need to learn how to read *music* but how to sight read the bass clef smoothly and accurately.

that's great, thanks

Does anyone have any recommendations for resources for becoming more familiar with musical notation and the bass clef in particular? I was to improve my bass clef sight reading and I'm finding that most resources include tabs with the clef notation and - apart from covering the tab up with masking tape each time! - i'm always distracted by the tab and then don't concentrate on the actual dots.

I want to become more familiar with playing from bass clef rather than tabs because I think it opens up some options with positioning and theory that you miss with tab (don't get me wrong, tab is *really* useful and I use it all of the time).

When I used to play a flute, because there was no tab available and everything was in standard music notation my treble clef sight reading became second nature and I never had to think about it much, but bass clef is becoming a challenge because it's just so easy to get by without it and rely on tabs or chord sheets.

I'm looking for theory and training books, resources for bass guitar music in bass clef notation (no tab), online bass clef sight reading courses, training software, or any other recommendations for becoming fluent with sight reading bass clef.

Have a Vigier Passion III with carbon reinforcements - great thing is, I can put any gauge strings on and not bother about truss rod adjustments etc. Love mine