Whether you have a musical bone in your body or not, being your own teacher on how to play the bass guitar is not impossible since a lot of musicians are self-trained. It is a challenge that requires patience and determination. To help out, here are the reminders before learning to produce music with this stringed instrument.
In playing the bass guitar, one should always take one lesson at a time. Bass playing requires repetition and there's no sense in hurrying the learning process, one should feel the notes through his soul and through his heart and become one with the bass guitar.
If your strings ever break mysteriously at the bridge, check your saddles. If there are any string "bite" marks, snags or burrs on the saddles, it means that they are wearing down your strings and the constant vibration of the strings makes the burrs act like little saws on the windings of the string. Eventually the core gives in - and POW, there goes a string - and possibly an eyeball.
Make sure you learn all the most common scales. The scales you should learn are the major scale, minor scale, melodic minor, harmonic minor, pentatonic, blues, and minor blues. These are all really common and should prepare you for just about any situation. I have also a few tips for gigs:
Save the beer for in between setlists. Drink water if you're thirsty. If someone offers you a beer just before a setlist, just set it to the side and save it for the next break. Water drinking musicians onstage just look more professional than beer-drinking ones.
NEVER SING if you feel uncomfortable about it. NEVER HARMONIZE if you're not sure what notes to hit with the lead singer. Avoid "falsetto vocals" if at all possible. Falsetto only belongs when you are driving in the car, ALONE, and with your favorite CD playing
Unfortunately, it turns out to be harder than it looks. Here's why: The muscles that move your hands and fingers across the neck and strings are rarely used for other tasks. The fine motor skills needed to play a stringed instrument require that the small muscles of the hands be strengthened. So when you take up the bass, you're like a baby learning to walk: Not only do you have no idea of what you're doing, you don't even have the muscles to do it.
Feel the beat, playing the bass guitar differs primarily from playing a regular guitar because it entails an emphasis on the beat of the music. One can compare the bass guitar into a drum or percussion set that is made into a guitar. Beats are very important in playing bass guitar because this type of guitar gives depth and timing to any song.
In playing the bass guitar, one should always take one lesson at a time. Bass playing requires repetition and there's no sense in hurrying the learning process, one should feel the notes through his soul and through his heart and become one with the bass guitar.
If your strings ever break mysteriously at the bridge, check your saddles. If there are any string "bite" marks, snags or burrs on the saddles, it means that they are wearing down your strings and the constant vibration of the strings makes the burrs act like little saws on the windings of the string. Eventually the core gives in - and POW, there goes a string - and possibly an eyeball.
Make sure you learn all the most common scales. The scales you should learn are the major scale, minor scale, melodic minor, harmonic minor, pentatonic, blues, and minor blues. These are all really common and should prepare you for just about any situation. I have also a few tips for gigs:
Save the beer for in between setlists. Drink water if you're thirsty. If someone offers you a beer just before a setlist, just set it to the side and save it for the next break. Water drinking musicians onstage just look more professional than beer-drinking ones.
NEVER SING if you feel uncomfortable about it. NEVER HARMONIZE if you're not sure what notes to hit with the lead singer. Avoid "falsetto vocals" if at all possible. Falsetto only belongs when you are driving in the car, ALONE, and with your favorite CD playing
Unfortunately, it turns out to be harder than it looks. Here's why: The muscles that move your hands and fingers across the neck and strings are rarely used for other tasks. The fine motor skills needed to play a stringed instrument require that the small muscles of the hands be strengthened. So when you take up the bass, you're like a baby learning to walk: Not only do you have no idea of what you're doing, you don't even have the muscles to do it.
Feel the beat, playing the bass guitar differs primarily from playing a regular guitar because it entails an emphasis on the beat of the music. One can compare the bass guitar into a drum or percussion set that is made into a guitar. Beats are very important in playing bass guitar because this type of guitar gives depth and timing to any song.
About the Author:
All the underground, ninja stealth tactics for online bass lessons can be yours! Check out this free website online bass guitar lessons before they try to shut it down.
No comments:
Post a Comment