Fret buzz as a beginner

[Stub Mandrel]

13 minutes ago, lvrossem said:

The issue persists when I don't put the finger right on the fret but slightly behind it, so I suppose it's the way I let it go. The concern may stem from the fact that beginner courses don't seem to address this

 

You are lifting off far too slowly. You  need to be more positive. The finger position makes it worse.

 

Any bass would buzz lifting the string slowly like that. 

 

I just tried three different basses - roundwounds, flatwounds and nylon tapewounds. I could get all three to buzz far worse than that by lifting slowly, and to sound cleanly with a positive lift.

 

So sorry, it's 100% technique - keep practicing. 

[Geek99]

They don’t. Try what @Stub Mandrel says above 

all will become clear - this is just a phase. All of this will be second nature in the very near future - I promise that

 

No one is born able to play bass guitar just like no one is able to drive instantly 

Edited 18 hours ago by Geek99

[tauzero]

6 hours ago, Hellzero said:

If it's a double action truss rod.

 

Whether it's single or double action. Hold a spanner pointing to the left and then rotate it 180 degrees clockwise. Return it to the left and rotate it 180 degrees anticlockwise. What are the two finishing positions?

[Si600]

Out of curiosity, looking at where @lvrossem is placing his fingers, where is the "correct" place to put them?

 

I have always played using the middle of the gap between the fretwire, so over the dot.  It works for me and has done for the last 35 years () so I'm not changing now.

[Geek99]

Just put your fingers right behind the fret rather than on it, and practice using as little pressure as possible with your right** hand to press the string - a light touch when playing will tire your hand less. The idea is that the string is held down just enough that it vibrates between the metal fret and the metal saddle at the other end. 
 

 

** since you’re a leftie 

[Geek99]

39 minutes ago, Si600 said:

Out of curiosity, looking at where @lvrossem is placing his fingers, where is the "correct" place to put them?

 

I have always played using the middle of the gap between the fretwire, so over the dot.  It works for me and has done for the last 35 years () so I'm not changing now.

I agree that styles differ but Let’s just keep it simple, he’s watching lots of beginner vids, they’ll all say “just behind the fret”. 

[Stub Mandrel]

His issue is not fretting the notes, it's releasing them too slowly.

[RonC]

As i said before, just take lessons...

Video's on YT are nice but they will never correct you which increases the chance that you'll learn the wrong techniques. Besides that, there are lot of crap lessons on YT too.. 

And when you've finally learned the "wrong/bad" techniques you'll get stuck someday. Its harder (and takes more time) to "unlearn" bad techniques then to learn the good ones rightaway.. 

Succes! 

[Hellzero]

9 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Whether it's single or double action. Hold a spanner pointing to the left and then rotate it 180 degrees clockwise. Return it to the left and rotate it 180 degrees anticlockwise. What are the two finishing positions?

Exactly the same, but in the first try, you'll have tightened the truss rod and in the second you'll have untightened it, or the opposite if it's a left thread.

 

In my first message to the OP, I wrote "unscrewing" instead of anything else to release the tension on the truss rod, as, to me, for a beginner, it was the most obvious explanation.

 

But I know some people don't know in which direction to go to screw or unscrew, then they should let a professional do the job...

[lvrossem]

2 hours ago, RonC said:

As i said before, just take lessons...

Video's on YT are nice but they will never correct you which increases the chance that you'll learn the wrong techniques. Besides that, there are lot of crap lessons on YT too.. 

And when you've finally learned the "wrong/bad" techniques you'll get stuck someday. Its harder (and takes more time) to "unlearn" bad techniques then to learn the good ones rightaway.. 

Succes! 

It's Scott's Bass Lessons, but yes, the guy's not gonna correct me in real time

[RonC]

1 hour ago, lvrossem said:

It's Scott's Bass Lessons, but yes, the guy's not gonna correct me in real time

Scott's bass lessons is very good, you'll learn a lot there but if i were you I just would take a couple of lessons to start up from a good teacher.

When i started on bass there wasn't internet and I started with a bad teacher.. I took lessons for half a year before i realised this teacher wasn't very good.. 

So i found another teacher and it seemed i had learned a lot the wrong way. Do I had to unlearn that and learn good techniques. 

So to learn more efficient, find yourself a teacher (at least for the beginning) and just continue with Scotts bass lessons.

Have fun, keep on practicing and good luck!! :) 

[Stub Mandrel]

My view of bass teaching is jaundiced by my experience several years ago.

 

"I've been playing for decades but I want to tidy up my technique."

 

 "Lets focus on learning the fretboard."

 

🙄

[Geek99]

8 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

His issue is not fretting the notes, it's releasing them too slowly.

Ok but he is clearly on top of the fret. 

@lvrossem hold the note down for as long as you want it to sound / it sounds naturally before dying and then release it faster. I keep my finger on it a moment longer to stop it ringing. 

 

Edited 29 minutes ago by Geek99

[Stub Mandrel]

1 hour ago, Geek99 said:

Ok but he is clearly on top of the fret. 

@lvrossem hold the note down for as long as you want it to sound / it sounds naturally before buying and then release it faster. I keep my finger on it a moment longer to stop it ringing. 

 

 

I agree, that makes it worse but it isn't the root cause.

[Geek99]

2 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

 

I agree, that makes it worse but it isn't the root cause.

I get that. One small step at a time 

[ghostwheel]

Just my two pennies. 

In one of his videos, Billy Sheehan said he would spend some time every day just noodling around on an unplugged bass, learning something new about the instrument, technique, etc. every time he does. I've been following his advice since as much as I can.  I think it works. It doesn’t matter how good (or bad, in my case) one is at playing the bass, or understanding what exactly they do. It may well be just playing four notes per string or the like. I reckon, it’s a good way to get a feeling of the instrument. I'm sorry if it doesn’t sound very understandable. 

Another thing is to learn how little of pressure one needs to do with their fretting hand. Someday, I started to play some passages like Tony Franklin (it wasn’t my intention, it just happened somehow), with the thumb of the fretting hand under the neck. It might be considered as a bad technique, but it helped me.