Are you serious about wanting to improve you bass guitar playing? If you are, then one of the most productive things you can do is work on your scales. It has even been said that the level of your scale playing pretty much determines the level of your bass playing overall! I have designed these exercises to help you to develop a more accurate sense of rhythm and to improve the speed and agility of your bass guitar scales.
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.
With your thumb in position as described under the Hand Positioning section strike the low E string with the middle knuckle of your thumb and hit it pretty hard to get that classic “thump’ sound and then immediately release.
The lst note of the exercise will be the first notes of the sixteenth note exercise. Another important thing to develop in bass playing is the strength of both hand’s fingers. The bass guitar is a sturdy and solid musical instrument, strength is needed to play it.
It combines the plucking of the bottom notes with the percussive hits that the palm makes when it slaps the strings against the fingerboard. Slap bass is a very percussive style. It’s invention (on electric bass) has been credited to Larry Graham, of funk bands Sly& the Family Stone and Graham Central Station, allegedly improvising on an occasion when their band was left without a drummer! Slap bass is a must for the musicians who use spectacular and popular funk slap techniques which demands specific snappy attacks.
This means that in the future you may feel the benefits from experiencing some different styles of playing bass guitar in your development period. This means that bass lessons can be invaluable at any stage of your playing career as there is always time to learn new skills and styles. People should always try to evolve and develop new skills and even their musical preferences can change over time.
Use your left thumb as a pivot, keeping your elbow out from your body so that it can swing back and forth freely. Curve the fingers of your left hand out over the neck to reach notes on the thicker strings; as your thumb pivots. Play the notes on the thinner strings with your fingers flattened more against the neck, your elbow pulled back, and your left thumb standing almost out straight from the neck
