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Bass Playing

Jynxer	Date: August 8, 2004 @ 7:55 PM Hey, I have been playing bass guitar for a little bit now and im starting to develop my own style..now, im just wondering what sort of tips you guys can give me to be able to play really fast, like what techniques you use, pick/fingers ect. thanks!
jsklbrd	Date: August 13, 2004 @ 12:30 AM scales are a great way to practice speed. if you are familiar with scales great if not learn the all. practice intervallically in 3rds 4ts 5ths whatever when you get that down ascending and descending practice the scales hybridally ascending in 4ths and descending in 5ths or really whatever you prefer. also get into adam nitti www.adamnitti.com vic wooten billy sheehan Jaco pastorious john myung... you can really learn alot from these guys, but learn how to think when practicing be your own teacher.
100thmonk	Date: September 22, 2004 @ 1:57 PM if your working on electric have a look at sweeping scales from classical guitar. it involves some 5 fret reaches which take time and patience to develop without injuring oneself, but the payoff is huge. also, you can work with each hand separately. i.e. first finger your scales with the left hand.(using the circle of 4ths or fifths is the most common, but it is also quite good to try working on circles of major and minor thirds.) work so that you can get notes from just placing your fingers on the frets. and get them up to a decent speed with the metronome(if you don't have one get one, cuz it will end up being your responsibility to make sure everyone, is in time) then work on your alternate fingering or picking technique(three plucks per string will force you to smooth out the difficulties of alternate pizzicato or pick styles) all you need to do is play the open strings starting with the e string and moving to the next after three alternate strokes,etc. going up to the g string and then back down to the e string trust me, work on not doubling up on one finger or picking twice in one direction, unless your trying to achieve a tonal effect. then when both are coming along quite nicely you can put them together and you'll find they've improved but will need coordination work. in practice it is advisable to try stuff and iron out the the difficulties. good luck, and remember that you are a bass player, and that the role of the bass from a players perspective is not going to worry as much about your speed as it will about your accuracy and time keeping and reading skill. good luck

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