I'm learning bass and lovin' it…

[ljguitar]

Hi all…checking in…

Chapter 2…
Played on Worship Team today, short set only 3 songs (in 3 keys). My gigging partner loaned my his MusicMan 5 string bass and I practiced all week long…diligently. Thought today would be a breeze.

After practicing with the 5 string all week, I thought "If I pursue bass want a 5 string". Not after today…

Under the pressure of performing in a band, I found myself dropping my fingers one string short (toward the bass side for the fret board). That doesn't work well when others are playing in a different key than notes being a string 'short' produces.

I realized (during the set) that during live performance, I'm better off sticking to the 4 string. My brain is oriented to the string names, note positions, scales etc based on using a normally strung guitar.

I'll describe today as a series of 8-10 wake-up moments with my fretting finger one string away from where it should have been. Glad I discovered this about myself. Not that I couldn't retrain my brain, but at age 75 I don't need/intend to.

I'm a backup fill-in bass player (we have one other & he's the main bassist). Hopefully another legit bassist will show up and want to be on the team! Then I can be third string and cover acoustic, backing and lead (electric) or keys most of the time, and stick to bass for emergencies and for fun.

Just sharing my adventure…

[edward993]

That's cool ...good on you!

Playing bass is fun, once I get over the stress of it, lol!! And I am not anywhere near agood bassist, but try to "cover" with a fill here and there between the roots if I have to. It's hard because thinking like a bassist is not what this guitarist does! And forget about trying to sing playing bass ...those peeps just flat-out confound me!

Edward

[Steve DeRosa]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi all…
In addition to my acoustic, and electrics, I'm learning bass (in a safe environment). I'm learning as I fill in on the Worship Team at our church...

Been a church musician since 1967 - team member, hired gun, worship leader, co-director - and picked up bass in '77 when I needed it for a (non-church) recording project with an up-&-coming singer-songwriter...

Last four teams I've worked with - including my present twice-on-Sunday gig - it's been all bass...

Used a variety of instruments over the years: '67 Epiphone Rivoli semi-hollow, '80s Ibanez RB650, '90 Pedulla P/J, '94 Guild B4-E acoustic-electric, early-2K's Ibanez SR405 5-string, and my current go-to '07 Gibson SG Faded; swapped in a Hipshot bridge on the latter - gets all the punch and definition of the Pedulla with the advantages of a short-scale, and when that fist-sized neck pickup kicks in I don't need that low B...

Present team is going through some transitions right now: got the voices, need the instrumental forces, so I'm not only holding down the low-end pulse but doing a lot of melodic fills - sort of a mashup of James Jamerson, post-Revolver McCartney, and John Stockfish (bassist on the UA-era Gordon Lightfoot albums) - as we rebuild...

Truth be told, I enjoy the change: I get enough guitar-playing time working with two local choral groups, and I've always found it sharpens my sense of timing when I'm at it for the long haul...

Originally Posted by edward993

...Playing bass is fun, once I get over the stress of it...And I am not anywhere near a good bassist, but try to "cover" with a fill here and there between the roots if I have to. It's hard because thinking like a bassist is not what this guitarist does! And forget about trying to sing playing bass...those peeps just flat-out confound me!

Don't stress: as long as you can get back to the root from wherever you are and keep a steady pulse, 90+% of the audience won't notice - I covered a lot of mistakes that way in the early stages...

Maybe it's just me, but when I first started singing and playing guitar as a kid I learned how to play lead lines underneath my vocals - I was only peripherally aware of what goes on in a recording session back then, and nobody told me that most of those tasty solos were overdubbed later and/or done by studio musicians. In my instance it was a case of the old proverb, "if you think you can you can, until somebody tells you that you can't": nobody told me I couldn't play Louie Shelton's Spanish-flavored solo on the Monkees' "Valleri" while singing, so I simply worked at it until I could (which garnered me some grudging cred among the little snots at the private high school I attended) - don't ask me to do it now, though - but unless it's something you've done all your life, my advice at this stage of the game would be to just go with the flow, listen to the music, and enjoy the ride...

[edward993]

Good advice, thanks!

Not to hijack Larry's thread but coming into retirement soon, I have two distinct goals: improve the singing and teach myself piano. Heck, maybe I should add "play bass and sing" while I'm at it!

Edward

[Matthew Sarad]

When the bassist in my jam band, The George Michael Experience, decided to play Tele in the Slim the Drifter and the Lonely Hearts band, he asked me to play bass.
I had to learn to listen to the bass drum and not over play.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi all…
In addition to my acoustic, and electrics, I'm learning bass (in a safe environment). I'm learning as I fill in on the Worship Team at our church.

I already know the notes (same fingerboard layout), On the 4 string I'm tuning it to dropped D on the bottom, and the 5 string…B on the bottom.

What I'm doing is a lot of listening to and copying of the styles of solid bassists. At age 75 I'm not shooting for being a Jazz solo bassists, just a solid better than average player.

My gigging partner is a bassist, and he loaned my his Music Man 5 string, and I own a mid-1980s 4 string AriaProII which was our son's (both active).

My amp modeler (Valeton) has bass patches in it which I altered a set to my liking. I've had to back off on the volume of the patches since all my electrics are passive out and both basses are active. The output volume has to be trimmed by about 20db.

It's going well so far, and I'm enjoying the 'solo note' aspects so far, but plan by summer's end to delve into 'double stops' (parallel 3rds, 6ths, 10ths) and triads.

Loving the ability to play up the neck as much or more than I do on my Strat/Tele, and the dive back to that low B string (3 octaves lower).

Just my happy addition post for the day.

Welcome to the Bassist's Club of the World.

Originally Posted by dilver

It’s fun but Bass is HARD.

Funny, I came to playing bass naturally, over 53 years ago. The first song I learned was "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)", great starter song.

Originally Posted by stephenT

...as Bootsy will remind us, it's all about the One.

Also, pay attention to Aston Barrett.

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

And you need to develop an even touch, so you can play gently and let the amp do the work.

Setting up a bass with low action and playing with a light touch (letting the amp and/or the sound guru in your church take care of the volume needs) will reap all kinds of rewards.

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi all…checking in…

Chapter 2…
Played on Worship Team today, short set only 3 songs (in 3 keys). My gigging partner loaned my his MusicMan 5 string bass and I practiced all week long…diligently. Thought today would be a breeze.

After practicing with the 5 string all week, I thought "If I pursue bass want a 5 string". Not after today…

Under the pressure of performing in a band, I found myself dropping my fingers one string short (toward the bass side for the fret board). That doesn't work well when others are playing in a different key than notes being a string 'short' produces.

I realized (during the set) that during live performance, I'm better off sticking to the 4 string. My brain is oriented to the string names, note positions, scales etc based on using a normally strung guitar.

I'll describe today as a series of 8-10 wake-up moments with my fretting finger one string away from where it should have been. Glad I discovered this about myself. Not that I couldn't retrain my brain, but at age 75 I don't need/intend to.

I'm a backup fill-in bass player (we have one other & he's the main bassist). Hopefully another legit bassist will show up and want to be on the team! Then I can be third string and cover acoustic, backing and lead (electric) or keys most of the time, and stick to bass for emergencies and for fun.

Just sharing my adventure…

5-string bass? Your guitars have more strings than that. It does take time to get used to having a lower string, so don't necessarily give up on it so soon. That B string comes in very handy in church music, IIRC (think about what Bach had on hand, er, foot. for his church music). If needed, consider the B string as a very long thumb rest and slowly incorporate the string's notes into the music as your brain adjusts to it.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Welcome to the Bassist's Club of the World.

Funny, I came to playing bass naturally, over 53 years ago. The first song I learned was "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)", great starter song.

Also, pay attention to Aston Barrett.


Setting up a bass with low action and playing with a light touch (letting the amp and/or the sound guru in your church take care of the volume needs) will reap all kinds of rewards.

5-string bass? Your guitars have more strings than that. It does take time to get used to having a lower string, so don't necessarily give up on it so soon. That B string comes in very handy in church music, IIRC (think about what Bach had on hand, er, foot. for his church music). If needed, consider the B string as a very long thumb rest and slowly incorporate the string's notes into the music as your brain adjusts to it.

Before you know it you'll be thinking of getting a fretless bass as they have nothing to fret about.

I have a small collection of 4- and 5-string basses (to add to my 6- and 12-string guitars).

Your Aria , if it is the model I'm thinking about, is an excellent bass, as is your friend's Stingray.