Learning Bass

[jaypro99]

Does anyone know the best way to learn the notes on the fretboard of a bass

[Geek99]

I use an app called “fret tester”

[PaulThePlug]

I got a sheet of little sticky 5mm letters of the bay... £1.10 used tweezers to stick em on up to the 12th. Neat Job?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1586-8-Small-Tiny-5mm-Alphabet-Upper-Lower-Letter-Number-Peel-Off-Stickers-Black-/174873768968?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0

 

[Geek99]

Possibly both, you can use fret tester when away from the bass

[TheGreek]

Learn the notes on the fattest string (E) and then learn the relationship of the notes on the other strings to the E.

 

A string is 5 frets down or 7 up

D string is 2 frets up

G string is 3 frets down

[BlueMoon]

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Boodang]

Many years ago, my first proper lessons were with Joe Hubbard. He had a warm up exercise which doubled for learning the fretboard;

Play all the E's - start with lowest, play them all on the E string then the A string  then the D string etc until you get to the highest, then go back down from highest to lowest. You should now have played every E on the neck.

Do the same for F, F#, G, G# etc.

Say the notes as you play them and when it's, for example, G#, say G# going up and Ab on the way down.

If you can use a metronome/ click start at a speed where you don't make mistakes then build it up.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Boodang

[Reggaebass]

Print yourself off lots of these and have them everywhere to refer to, it will soon be in your memory bank, you can also mark them up with a highlighter for scales etc 

[Boodang]

Another method! Slightly more complicated but works a treat once you get your head around it;

Start at C.

Play a major triad. 

Now go around the circle of 5ths, doesn't matter which direction, and play a major triad each time.

Say the root note each time you play it.

Do it again with minor triads.

Work out variations in how to play the triad patterns in different positions and do them.

Use a click track.

Now you not only know the notes on the fretboard but also associated triads.

[fretmeister]

1 note at a time while learning to read proper notation.

Do the full job, not just half of it.

[Boodang]

Another variation!! Playing exercises that just concentrate on note learning can be boring, so quite good to combine it with something that has a musical element;

Pick a note, now link all of them on the neck with a triad pattern. Try and make it musical, I find it helps if I play this with a drum track. 

Do the above exercise but with a chord progression, so now you have a bar or two with one triad before having to move over to another (there's plenty of apps that you can use to create chord progressions to play over and a great way to practice). I find by doing this I also come up with new bass lines.

Edited October 31, 2021 by Boodang

[TheLowDown]

To begin with, play and sing each note up each string in sharps and down each string in flats.  Do for each string. You need to associate the position of each note with the sound that you will eventually expect to hear before you play it.

 

Then put on a drum track or metronome and then play every C note on the fretboard before the 13th fret, going from one to the other for about 30 seconds to the drum track or metronome. Then do the same with G, D, A, E, B, F#, F, Bb, Eb, Ab, Db, G#. A#, D#, C# (the last 4 are the same as Ab, Bb, Eb, and Db, respectively).

 

Do the above every day until it becomes second nature.

Edited October 31, 2021 by TheLowDown