Bass discussion (Branch from "Music Career in Japan")

[SceptileMaster]

Don't let people put you off playing bass if you want. Guitar players that think guitarists are better bass players than bassists can't know what they're talking about. It's all because of rock taking over and screwing bass and guitar playing up. I don't have anything against rock because good rock music is as good as good any music but you can't learn anything from it and it very simple. Proper bass players can swing things, fill out the song with an appropriate bottom end, improvise walking bass lines and all the things. You don't learn anything from sticking to root notes of whatever chord the guitar player is playing.

Real bass playing it very different from guitar playing and don't anyone put you down for either playing bass or wanting to play bass. This coming from someone who is primarily a guitar player... guitar is not more important than bass and bass is not more important than guitar. The only thing similar between the two is the construction and the technique, they both have different uses.

[HinataUchiha]

ok, definitely bass lessons. i'll work on it. what, would you say, is the best way to learn? going to music classes, learning off the web, having a friend personally teach you, ect.

[SceptileMaster]

Well some of the most important things that lots of people do when they start and is detrimental to them is the following:

* Not using their ears. Musics an art based on sound so this seems obvious but it causes problems. You should learn songs by ear and be able to tune your instrument by ear. Looking at tabs or a tuner is detrimental to your true ability. It all this that stops you from hearing what you want to play then playing it... how you to do the ears you ask... well the next bullet point will explain.

* Learn your major scale. Everything in music comes from the major scale. The idea is you learn to hear what we call intervals. An interval is basically a distance in sound between two different notes. Do interval training (there is software to help this out there if you want assistance so then you can hear the difference between all 12 intervals). The idea being since all songs are made of intervals, then anything you hear on a song or in your head you can play instantly. Beats tab eh? Even if you can just remember the song in your head because you can hear intervals you can just play it instanly, no having to learn or practise songs and you can jam with anyone easily and have far more creative freedom.

* Learn chord construction... even for a bass player this is important as you'll likely to have to play real chord following basslines sometime.

Apart from that do the usual like timing practise and stuff. Playing along to records is a good way to get your technique up and apart from that keep at it. Follow this advice hopefully you should avoid all the stuff that limits a lot of modern players such as not being able to tune their guitar without looking at a needle inside a little box, or having to resort to being spoonfed how to play the simplest of things because they can't work out stuff by ear,

I hope this helps.

[HinataUchiha]

wow.....a lot......of.......big words........lol i can figure it out(eventually) thanks a bunch!

[MMM]

Originally Posted by HinataUchiha

wow.....a lot......of.......big words........lol i can figure it out(eventually) thanks a bunch!

Those weren't big words, it was simply more than a 10 word explanation.

[Kenpachi11]

Originally Posted by SceptileMaster

Well some of the most important things that lots of people do when they start and is detrimental to them is the following:

* Not using their ears. Musics an art based on sound so this seems obvious but it causes problems. You should learn songs by ear and be able to tune your instrument by ear. Looking at tabs or a tuner is detrimental to your true ability. It all this that stops you from hearing what you want to play then playing it... how you to do the ears you ask... well the next bullet point will explain.

* Learn your major scale. Everything in music comes from the major scale. The idea is you learn to hear what we call intervals. An interval is basically a distance in sound between two different notes. Do interval training (there is software to help this out there if you want assistance so then you can hear the difference between all 12 intervals). The idea being since all songs are made of intervals, then anything you hear on a song or in your head you can play instantly. Beats tab eh? Even if you can just remember the song in your head because you can hear intervals you can just play it instanly, no having to learn or practise songs and you can jam with anyone easily and have far more creative freedom.

* Learn chord construction... even for a bass player this is important as you'll likely to have to play real chord following basslines sometime.

Apart from that do the usual like timing practise and stuff. Playing along to records is a good way to get your technique up and apart from that keep at it. Follow this advice hopefully you should avoid all the stuff that limits a lot of modern players such as not being able to tune their guitar without looking at a needle inside a little box, or having to resort to being spoonfed how to play the simplest of things because they can't work out stuff by ear,

I hope this helps.

sometime how i can hear the bass in a song is i just make the sound of a bass in my head and keep making it until i can hear the bass in the song.

[HinataUchiha]

Originally Posted by MMM

Those weren't big words, it was simply more than a 10 word explanation.

oh, sorry. what i meant to say is that some of those words aren't in my vocabulary. I have absolutely no music experience, and barely any music knowledge. I plan to enroll in music lessons next semester because i don't even know how to read music (pathetic) but i'm willing to learn.

[SceptileMaster]

It's okay I don't expect people who are just starting to know what all the words mean but if the music lessons are any good you learn what they mean from them.

[HinataUchiha]

thanks a bunch! i'll look it up asap.

[Yuusuke]

Originally Posted by HinataUchiha

thanks a bunch! i'll look it up asap.

Trust me bass is awesome!
get a hofner X_X