5 Tips That Will Make You a Better Bass Player

I remember once playing with a worship team at my last church. They were used to Root, 3rd, and 5th pretty much all the time from me. Once, just for fun, I threw in a couple of Perfect 4th Diads, a la Geddy Lee in "Dreamline" from the "Roll The Bones" album. I thought it sounded kinda cool, as did the drummer. The rest of the band, not so much. 😂😂😂

Great training session@

So bad acting in the second section - I am pretty sure you could catch the beat in time in all cases :-) Nice vid, thanks.

When I first started playing bass, I had an issue with open strings. For some reason it threw my concentration off. So now When I play, open strings are not in any of my curriculum.

Good info - I use a mute wrap for songs with open strings.

Tips on how to be the most boring bass player ever. And remember kids, never start with the 3rd of the 5th unlike Paul McCartney who is a woeful musician.

I followed the rules in this guide but got confused by which was which and got fired 😅

thanl you i learned soo much

From New York City? You really shouldn’t advertise that.

Her: Don't play just open string at gig

Me: EVERY METAL CHUG IN THE PAST 50 YEARS.

👍👍👍

If youre playing higher octave u gotta stay there.going down to the money zone only works in this instance if the guitar goes down as well.

Brand new base player here. I can't emphasize how down to earth and straight your points and teaching style are. Thank you so much!

Your a great bass player, great looking bass also! I agree, no open strings works well for the style demonstrated here, but growing up on James Jamerson who crossed over from upright, where your just waiting to bounce off those open strings...well

Thank You!

hm i am a metalhead and we play mostly 0000 0000 00 0 0 00000....so what to do else than play the open e

That is one cooleeo look bass 🎸

James Jamerson breaks all your rules. Nathan Watts.

Bass YT doesn't teach any of this. It's just dudes who have been playing for their whole life doing busy solos.

pros use open strings all to time to shift positions. Left hand muting gets rid of the problem in the beginning example.

Tip #1 should be (in my very humble opinion): Watch this video and listen to this bassist - she has a great deal of wisdom!
Brilliant. Sorry that it took me five years to find you… 🎸👨🏼‍⚕️🎸🫶✌️♾️. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇺🇸

What guitar is she playing?

Geddy Lee = busy bass player

I was a rubbish bass player as a kid one 80’s, and I made all of these mistakes. I wish I could have had this kind of advice back then!

I don't agree with your first tip at all. The easiest way is usually the best, and your leaving out muting. Also tip 4, if you're starting with a hammer on the root, you're technically not starting on the root. Also, walking quickly down to the root doesn't always start on an octave. The rest I agree with and teach my students as well. I've played with "lead bass" players before and I wanted to hit them in the head. And there is a time and place to play high on the neck. But it doesn't come around very often.

tip 3.
I think Flea always plays busy))) Especially when RHCP play live.

I like what I see and hear you’re a great artist teacher 🧑‍🏫 ❤❤❤

Thanks!

she's heard of Primus, right?

Wow. That was so informative. ❤

What is the bass she using

I have the same basscombo.

Absolute BotRot!!! Open strings are all good if you know how to mute. Looks like Lessonface is one to avoid.

My crusty old bass teacher told me this “The most worthless player in the room is a bass player that can’t keep time” Once when I asked him about “Slap” he said “I thought you wanted to be a bass player, but when you have perfect time I’ll show you bass slap” He never showed me slap but I have great time!

dumb

Then where do play a regular good old fashion “E”

"Never" use an open string? Umm, James Jamerson?

Yonit, you rock.

the rule 1 is for those who can't play at all. Muting with left hand and floating thumb are the perfect instruments

I realize these tips are aimed at begginer bass players and that even more experienced ones should always remember to not stray too far from these points.

But the emphasis given to these, as if they're hard and fast rules (DON'T DO THIS!!!), just helps to perpetuate the idea that bass is boring. Worse yet, we're there exclusively to perform a function. Might as well use a bass synthesizer on loop for that.

I believe the Picasso quote mentioned in another comment is spot on. Use these directions to avoid the common mistakes and being afflicted by the "4-stringed guitarist syndrome", but don't be afraid to break each one of them once you know better.

Music is expression. Some is more popular as with everything, but it can never be "wrong".

The problem is that all new bass players are influenced by the masters of the instrument who show off their chops all over the fretboard, thus they try to copy them, playing fast and multiple notes does not get the gigs, or session jobs. The importance is not the speed and quantity of notes that are played, it is the gaps between then that is important, the great players are session bassists who play what is required and when.

That all depends of how dynamic you want the note to be; furthermore, youbshoukd be able to mute the string according to the timing 9f the note.w

fantastic advice

thank you for the tips

Great teacher, competent, clear, direct and with a sense of humor.

It may sound cliché but less is definitely more. Excellent tips!

Idk why but im just annoyed she didnt even play the same thing for the first example 😂 It would have sounded better if the same notes were played just in different positions.

Tip 2 and 3 sound the same and can be summed up with "if you want to play leads, play lead guitar" but thats not entirely true. Tip 3 highlights this by ignoring bassists like Geezer Butler. (NIB or Faeries Wear Boots anybody?)

4th tip is solid. Especially so in Jazz situations where the other instruments may omit root notes.

Tip 5 eeeh, I guess I play too many classic rock and jazz songs cause this doesnt seem right with me. Especially doing Clapton "Change The World" where we start way up in the 20s 😅

Wow, are you using three fingers? Nice bass by the way.