Beginner bass guitar tips please

December 1, 2011 5:43 PM

Beginner bass guitar tips please

I have played classical guitar for a few years, but I remember what a massive difference getting a teacher had on my technique.

Ignoring my experience, foolish!, what tips would you give a beginner bass player, reluctant to get a teacher, to avoid trouble down the line?

Also what tuition books would you recommend? The small selection in my local shop seems to be either too simple or too advanced to my untrained eye.

One last thing, I am worried that learning bass clef will disrupt my fairly weak treble clef guitar reading. Should I be worried?

posted by choppyes to sports, hobbies, & recreation (7 answers total)

Start here?
posted by timsteil at 6:43 PM on December 1, 2011

What styles are you interested in playing? I have a music theory background and formal training on classical instruments, but I learned bass by playing along to Nirvana records, as I assume most people my age did.
posted by modernserf at 7:54 PM on December 1, 2011

I don't think learning to read bass is going to upset your treble reading, if anything it might just strengthen both. But if you need to stick to tablature for a while, that's okay too. (Or, you might find yourself some piano instruction and a cheap keyboard - it made a world of difference for me to be able to mostly sight-read both clefs with both hands.)

If you're reluctant to face a teacher for whatever reason, don't rule out YouTube and similar as a teacher-replacement. When I first learned bass, oh so many years ago, my mother helpfully bought me some John Entwistle instructional VHS tapes. I had no idea who he was and was terribly skeptical, but it did help.

I personally believe that there is no "trouble down the line" for bass. Learn however you learn. Fix your technique later when you understand the instrument. (Personally, I think bass is best learned by playing what you like *or whatever is good*, by whatever means, so long as you feel it in your booty where the funk lives. But I'm in no way a pro.)

But if your teacher aversion is simply pride, swallow it and find someone, even if it's just once a month. Very possibly one of the most useful life lessons I've ever had was as a 14-year-old 1985 pop/new wake junkie learning CCR and Zep from my burnout bass teacher.
posted by Lyn Never at 7:57 PM on December 1, 2011

I would echo the others that videos or books by bass players, like Entwistle or James Jamerson, are really helpful.

Think about what kind of bass playing you like and what you want to play, and then focus on that. Have fun! There are lots of different attitudes and methods. Pick vs. fingers is one thing. (I'm fingers, I sometimes regret not playing with a pick, but what was good enough for Entwistle and Bruce is good enough for me.) Youtube can be really good for this sort of thing.

I had lessons and I would recommend them for getting started. I probably never would have learned funk any other way. (Though Jaco was where I drew the line...)

I wouldn't worry about learning to read bass clef. If anything, it can help.
posted by kendrak at 8:17 PM on December 1, 2011

Groove.
Think of the bass as a drum kit with lots of notes.
Practice chord tones (which should come easy since you already know lots of chords.
Register at talkbass.com
posted by zephyr_words at 9:32 PM on December 1, 2011

I am worried that learning bass clef will disrupt my fairly weak treble clef guitar reading. Should I be worried?

No. If you learn systematically, it'll help your overall reading. Good readers don't translate written note into played note - they recognise shapes and patterns. Reading different clefs, learning to transpose, anything like that, will make you a stronger reader.

Some differences:

• Bass lines work differently. This is the problem most converting guitarists I've heard have. You need to be thinking harmonically first. Really good bass players can overlay this with melodic sensibilities, but try for melodic and a sense of line too early and you'll leave the whole harmonic basis of the overall sound floundering.
• Size. The strings are heavier, and harder to hold down successfully. I trained as a double bassist, with different left hand positions (spanning only the equivalent of two frets, rather than three, and never using the little finger independently), and that technique always did me OK. MAke sure your volume is set so you can play comfortably - too loud and you'll inhibit your technique trying to blend; too quiet and you'll really dig in and get some nasty blisters. Oh, and thinking about that, nice roundwound strings are quite a lot harder on those fingers. Get some good strings and play regularly (but not for too long) to toughen up.
• Sound. You can only really get into thinking bass when you sound like a bass player. It's all about blend, so you need to record and listen to yourself in context. The place of the bass in a mix varies with style, so compare your tone and blend to pros playing similar music

Really, it's all about practice, at the end of the day. have fun!
posted by monkey closet at 1:23 AM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]

For me the biggest differentiator between a good bass player and a bad one is the ability to play as little as possible, exactly on time. A bad bass player says "this baseline is boring". A good bass player realizes their levels of entertainment is not and should never be a consideration.
posted by dobie at 10:55 AM on December 2, 2011 [1 favorite]