Here’s Looking At You, Fretboard

[anaxcrosswords]

It may be an odd thing to obsess about, but the more I practice a bassline the more I’m tempted to add to what I’ve learned by taking my eyes off the neck and looking out front. It’s not always easy – for example moving from low G to the octave on the A string (without looking) is occasionally hit and miss.
I guess it’s something to perfect over time, but is it something you like to think about and work on, or are you already very comfortable with playing whatever lines you have to without watching your fingers? Or, on the other side, do you find you can’t play without watching the frets?

[discreet]

I don't always manage it, but I do try not to look at the fretboard at a gig too much, purely because regardless of how great you're playing is, there's nothing more boring for the audience than two or three guitar-type players all standing stock still and looking at their fretboards throughout the performance.

Not connecting with the audience is a mistake I feel... I don't mean you have to have eye-contact with every single audience member and gurn at them suggestively (though that has been known), it's more like you acknowledge their presence and at least try to appear like you're into what you're doing. Of course it's a lot easier if you actually ARE into it. Sometimes it's not the case - no matter how good your set, there's going to be at least one number in it you're not exactly 100% about...

Edited May 7, 2015 by discreet

[anaxcrosswords]

Precisely my motives, Discreet. I want to be looking at the audience although not seeking eye contact.

[cameltoe]

I've been playing in the same band for 7 years and still struggle to look out front. I need to see where my hands are!

[discreet]

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1431036956' post='2767298']
I need to see where my hands are!
[/quote]

That's right, put 'em where we can see 'em!

[LiamPodmore]

I manage to do that pretty often when i'm playing. I play through stuff that much it goes into muscle memory and most of it's pretty easy anyway. It makes for a much better show if there isn't 3 people staring at fretboards for the entire set. The problem comes when you're having a really boring gig and your mind wanders to what you're having for tea or something like that.

Liam

[HowieBass]

Regarding looking at the audience during a gig; I've just been thinking about how keyboard players are often positioned side on to the audience (so you can see all of them rather than just their upper torso above the instrument) and they seem to either look across to other band members or down at what they're playing (otherwise they'd have an awful crick in their neck by the end of the gig).

[ianrendall]

Putting a music stand in front of you will give you something else to look at.

[SubsonicSimpleton]

Practice in front of a mirror and only look at your reflection, you still get the visual guide when you are building the muscle memory, but it programs you to not turn your head to look at the fretboard, it is also a good way to monitor your general posture and relaxation.

[Les]

[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1431036194' post='2767288'] for example moving from low G to the octave on the A string (without looking) is occasionally hit and miss. [/quote]

Totally agree about looking out and connecting with your audience but for the above manoeuvre a glance to make sure it lands is perfectly acceptable.

In fact if you just looked out and NEVER looked at your bass I think you'd look a bit creepy

[BigRedX]

[quote name='SubsonicSimpleton' timestamp='1431052257' post='2767370']
Practice in front of a mirror and only look at your reflection, you still get the visual guide when you are building the muscle memory, but it programs you to not turn your head to look at the fretboard, it is also a good way to monitor your general posture and relaxation.
[/quote]

Didn't work for me at all. A previous band I was in used to rehearse in a place where one wall was a mirror. Great for making sure that our "stage moves" weren't cringe-worthy, but I found I was still watching my hands only in reflection. Come our first gig and I was back to mostly looking down to see what I was playing.

[FinnDave]

I spend most of my time at our gigs watching the guitarist, the drummer or the audience, rarely look at the fretboard. I've noticed that in quite a few pictures I seem to looking at it but in fact I am usually looking round to the catch the drummer's eye. When I do look at the neck it is more out of curiosity about what my fingers are up to as they often surprise me!

[bartelby]

Do vocals/backing vocals.
It's quite hard to look at your fretboard with a mic right in your face...

[FuNkShUi]

I try not to.
I practice playing without looking too.
All the hard parts and the easier parts.
In the house, its not a problem, i manage it quite easily.
But when gig time comes, i do end up looking at it for some parts.
I'm ok with that too, as i'd prefer to play the parts correct and have to look down every now and again.

[Roger2611]

trust yourself, you can do it, I like more than sitting in a very darkened room [s]watching porn[/s] I mean practicing our songs, if you can play it in the dark, you can do it on a low light stage and even look at the lovely audience if you have one and they are indeed lovely

[mikebass84]

I do try to look out into the crowd (if there's one) as much as I can but there are some parts of our set that I have to look at the fret board.

[tauzero]

I glance at the fretboard for position changes. I found LEDs were very useful for that.

I mainly play fretless. It's a lined fretless but I had the fret markers moved to being on the fret positions, as I don't use the lines and it's a lot easier to work out where I'm going to with the markers there than with them in the conventional position.

[blue]

[quote name='cameltoe' timestamp='1431036956' post='2767298']
I've been playing in the same band for 7 years and still struggle to look out front. I need to see where my hands are!
[/quote]

So do I, however when I'm singing it forces me to look into the crowd.

Blue

Edited May 10, 2015 by blue

[TimR]

There's always a balance to be had.

Sitting in a pit sight reading tends to sharpen your skills.

Good luck.

[inthedoghouse]

I occasionally look at the fingerboard just to check, especially if I've got a slightly more complicated part coming up. None of us want to find ourselves a semitone out for the sake of having a glance at the neck now and then.

But generally I tend to look out into the audience, which hopefully helps make a connection between you and them. More often than not there will be one or two people who make eye contact and smile, which is always good to see :-)

[jonnythenotes]

One thing that may help is to choose a song that you have not yet learnt, and therefore formed an ' I must look at the fretboard ' mindset, Start from scratch feeling your way to the correct notes. An example of this would be 'With Or Without You.' This just repeats the same pattern continually, so you have plenty of time to get it right. If you already have learnt this song, pick any straight forward blues 12 bar tune, and work on this. Once you have learnt it 'blind' so to speak, it will really help with the confidence and self belief thing. If you take away the visual side of learning a song, you have to rely on how the neck feels, and how far your hand is from your body, and it doesn't take long before this replaces the need to stare at your fretting hand. I think the best part of any gig is the grandstand view you have of what's going on in front of you with the audience, and I always (rightly or wrongly )think a bass player looks cooler, or more proficient if they know where their hand is, and just take an occasional glance to reaffirm this. Pick an easy song, turn the light off, and off ya go...