Project Du Jour: Learn to Play Bass

Gandalfe

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
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It turns out the jazz ensemble in the community band my wife and I play in needs a bass player. The group isn’t very accomplished (yet) and in four years they have never been able to attract a bass player. So the trumpet player, asst. director has been playing the bass part. Me thinks I see the beginning of a very nice project for myself, learning to play bass guitar. Now in my first week the hardest thing is learning to play in bass clef. I wrote this blog post in my blog that is mostly for me. But I bet there are others who picked up another instrument to play during the pandemic. I can't be the only one.

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Project Du Jour: Learn to Play Bass

It turns out the jazz ensemble in the community band my wife and I play in needs a bass player. The group isn’t very accomplished (yet) and in four years they have never been able to attract …
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Note, I did try to pick up the UKE in 2016. But that was just for me so it didn't go very far. I wrote about that here in case you've been thinking about that.
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Summer uke Project ~ Take One

“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…” ~ Susan Polis Schutz Some years ago I was called upon to recommend a ukulele for some cute girls from my sister Deb’s in-law side …
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So, translation is you need an Eb contrabass sax?

One of the nice folks on this forum sent me a 12-string guitar, several years ago, I really wanted to learn how to play it, but I never got around to it. I also attempted to play a wide variety of wind controllers over the years, but I never fully got "into" them.

I think I played a bass line on a (electronic) keyboard for a band practice session or two and that was about it. I also lack bass-clef reading skillz.
 
Those Fender flats are OK strings, I have a set on my precision and they do just fine, but the best flats are by Thomastik - Jazz Flats. They are the go to string for clean light action and THE fretless tone - kind of the otto link of basses. If you want a brighter sound without the string noise, try Labella tapewound strings. I have used all 3 varieties and they are fantastic. They sound broken in from day one and the tone stays like that for years if you don't tear the snot out of them with bad technique. I just played a show on 14 year old black labella tapes and they still sound wonderful. I tried all the other brands ($$$) and they are lifeless and generally muddy sounding, and those are the strings that gave tapewound strings a bad reputation.

Your amp may be a bit under powered. I wouldn't walk into a big band with less than 500 watts and a quality speaker cabinet. If you are playing upright a lower wattage would be fine as upright feeds back like crazy when hooked up to a loud amp unless you have some buxx invested in taming feedback, Bass needs some power to balance out against all that brass without farting out. I have a custom made (no longer made due to toxic chemicals used in assembly) cab driven by just under 1000 watts. It is incredibly light, clean and can be brutally loud if I so desire, but the tone is heavenly from a whisper up to hearing damage levels. It is light enough that it can easily be carried one handed over any distance you might need to carry it. Fender makes some lightweight gear that is priced very nicely, but I just can't get by the tone of it. I had to (laziness) use one for a rehearsal amp for this show I just did and I never found a tone I could be happy with.

Don't go cheap on your amp. A crappy amp makes a great instrument sound crappy at best, but a well setup cheap bass through a great amp sounds pretty good.


Final suggestion - GET A FIVE STRING NOW!!

Since you aren't used to anything, start with a 5 string bass, as they are like Low A baritones. Yeah you can get by without a low A, but those low notes are why you are playing the bass. More and more charts are calling for lower notes and If you aren't used to that extra string it WILL mess you up. I know a number of good bassists that can't do 5 strings.
 
I played bass for a couple of years during the psychedelic era, when saxes were out of fashion.

I had already learned enough as I was in a guitar band, and the guys taught me rhythm guitar and bass so that when we covered a Beatles or similar group song, we could cover the parts.

It's a fun instrument to play.

I had a Fender Precision Bass with Flat-wound strings, and I left the 'ashtray' over the bridge on along with the foam mute. But that was the style to play back then.

Of course, that wasn't reading music. It was learning where the notes are on the fretboard, and from each root position knowing where the intervals were in relation to the root.

Notes ♫
 
What a wonderful opportunity. I applaud you for immediately jumping in with both feet and total passion. You sound thrilled. Have fun.
 
I seem to remember that GAS originally stood for "Guitar Acquisition Syndrome" and the sax community changed the "G" to "Gear." We've gone full circle. Time to close up shop :p.
 
It's been a slow slog so far. The nice thing is that most of the music has the chord name above the staff so I can always default to the root, 3rd, and 5th as I move forward. Gotta say, the biggest hit for me is reading in bass clef. I remember struggling with that when trying to read piano music back in my high school daze.
 
Gandalfe said:
It's been a slow slog so far. The nice thing is that most of the music has the chord name above the staff so I can always default to the root, 3rd, and 5th as I move forward. Gotta say, the biggest hit for me is reading in bass clef. I remember struggling with that when trying to read piano music back in my high school daze.
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This is a perfect opportunity to learn to read bass clef. That’s something I never quite picked up on however I definitely could do the root, third, fifth on the keyboard.
I struggled with the bass clef when a youngster. It’s challenging.
 
I, too, have problems with the bass clef. Especially when I haven't done it in a long time. I can read it, but I can't sight-read it.

3rds, 5ths and the other intervals are easy on the bass because the strings are all tuned to the same interval (4th up or 5th down) to each other. The guitar poses the challenge of the B-string, which is a 3rd above its neighbor, the G-string. But since that reads in the treble clef, it makes reading the music easier.

The piano/organ/synth keyboard is nice because it's visual, the woodwinds are nice because you don't look at your fingers, and the guitar/bass are nice because when it's time to transpose, the fingering is the same.

Every instrument has its gifts and its challenges.

Insights and incites by Notes ♫
 
I double on bassoon (& make my own reeds) so bass clef is familiar.

Electric Bass: When Covid shut gigging down I figured that I would start playing my daughter's electric bass...for something different to do.
Major scale: 2,4 1,2,4 1,3,4 (using the same frets starting on the low string/next higher string/next higher string).
I played it about an hour a day from April (when Covid hit) through (last) December.
(It was my therapy for gig-withdrawl lol.)
I could probably play a gig (not a jazz gig) by Demeber but when the vaccine started rolling out, I put it away.

At this point my callous' are gone....
 
Bass in a pop/rock/blues/funk band is largely pattern based with embellishments. It's important to listen to the drummer because you need to work as a team.

I did learn that while you must play the groove with the drummer, if you play slightly (and I mean very slightly) ahead of the beat the notes of the bass predominate, and slightly behind (and I mean very slightly) brings out the attack of the bass drum. This depends on the song and your personal taste.

Pick or finger again depends on the song. I prefer fingers but will do pick if I need the thinner attack.

I like a long scale neck like a Fender P or J bass, but I've heard some wonderful playing on the shorter Gibson scale basses too.

Every instrument is an adventure, and if I live to be 200 I'd still have new, exciting things to learn.

Notes ♫
 
Still banging away at it. Gonna sit in with the group soon. I am NOT ready. Oh, and I will have my first in person lesson this week.

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Oh sweet! I bet you are so happy to have your first lesson and what your teacher said makes perfect sense. Play the instrument you like best ! You’ll play more and learn faster.
 
I was new playing guitar as a mid teen when my buds and I decided to start a band. Lots of guitars but no on to play bass so I volunteered. I found a Hofner (Beatle bass) that had had the sunbirst scrapped off and beautifully coated with a clear thin coating ??? It was all I ever played (not a reader unfortunately) Then I sold all my instruments (including a trumpet, Martin 00-18 guitar, Stratocaster sob) to pay for my next addiction flying. Long story moved to a small town friends encouraged me to start playing again, bought a Peavy Foundation FL Fretless (round wound strings) etc etc LOL and played it a bit. The fretless is amazing. I love it. Then lately I started playing at a local Twelve Tribes gatherings on a double bass... again, amazing. I picked up clarinet after being totally inspired by one of the PPL there who plays at the gatherings. I also bought a cello to improve my bowing on the double bass.

All this to say "once you tried fretless, ain't no goin back". I agree with the poster who suggested a 5 string.

I do not read although I know the theory. Learning reading on the clarinet is complicated to me because it's not straight forward like a bass. I continue to try to learn it. Playing by ear for me is a blast but I can see that obviously playing with an orchestra requires reading.
 
Learn your scales. I gigged in a band with a decent bassist, at least he seemed decent. He played mostly from chord charts and did a nice job, but one time we did a Sinatra number that ended with a descending one octave D scale. He never did manage to hit a scale. Really stank up a nice chart.

(did I mention to get a 5 string now before you have habits?)
 
I agree with Carl, scales and add arpeggios. Like any instrument, when they are under your fingers you will play better, but especially on bass, a lot of what bass players play centers on scales and arpeggios.

The bassist in the band I was in who taught me called them 'broken chord runs', I guess that's bassist talk, or at least his. For arpeggios. 1, 3, 5, 6 and b7 and variations of that are the stock-in-trade for rock bass, blues and boogie-woogie jazz. You can get a lot of songs out with those intervals.

During the psychedelic era, when nobody wanted to hear saxophones, I made a living playing bass. It was fun.

I never played bass in an orchestra or ensemble where I had to read bass clef and play bass, always small pop music groups. Sometimes fake or real book chart, so I knew what the chords were, but that's about it, so your situation might be different.

I can read bass clef and if I were to get a gig where I needed to read to play bass, some woodshedding would be in order.

I can read simple songs on the guitar, so I know where the notes are, but they write guitar in treble clef.

I've never owned a 5-string bass, so I can't comment on that. If I were to get serious and make bass my first instrument, I'd probably investigate that.

Notes ♫
 
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