L3F1 MUSIC

String Bass

Learning to Play Bass Guitar

A bass guitar is a four-stringed instrument that usually accompanies a lead guitar. Some bass guitars have additional strings adding up to a 5 or 6 strings. Bass guitars have lower tones. An electric bass guitar is plugged into an amplifier for a better sound experience.

In learning to play bass guitar, you have to know that this is played by plucking the strings with your finger or your thumb. Plucking refers to the action of pulling or tugging the string. The more experienced guitar players usually use a "pick" in plucking. For beginners like you, it's okay to use your fingers. Some bassist even use "slapping" in playing a tune to add that percussive effect to it. Fretting is also done and as well as the "mute technique."

Another thing to note when you are learning to play bass guitar is that bass guitars have different notes than a standard guitar, basically because of the structure of the bass guitar itself (4-stringed). A bass guitar only plays one note at a time and no chords. When learning to play bass guitar, be familiar with the following notes: A,A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#. Take note that B and E has no sharp equivalents. As you move higher on the fret board, notes increase in value therefore you simply have to move up or down to find the note you are trying to play, going down you get to play flat notes while moving up means sharps.

Assuming you're a right handed person holding the bass guitar, the guitar neck would be on your left side. Using a chromatic scale, the top string would be the E-string.

• The E-string is composed of the following notes in ascending order: E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E.
• The following string is the A-string A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A
• Next is the D-string composed of: D, D#, E, F, F#, G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D.
• Last one is the G-string with  G, G#, A, A#, B, C, C#, D, D#, E, F, F#, G.

In doing the flats, just do this in reverse order and change the sharps to flats.

About the Author

Are you ready to discover the secrets on learningto play bass guitar ? Visit http://www.GuitarSuccess.com today and pick up a free eBook on how to play the guitar like a pro!

Where can I buy a good 6 string Bass Guitar?

I want to buy a good 6 string bass guitar. What are any good brands?

I recommend online-guitar-store, where you can find 6 string bass guitars and a lot of other well made guitars. I bought several guitars from them and the guitars performed great! And guitars here are affordable, much value for money!!!

String Bass
Jean Baudin - Legend of Zelda Theme

Dean Acou/Elec Bass Cutaway 5 string $402.77 Dean Acou/Elec Bass Cutaway 5 string Dean Acou/Elec Bass Cutaway 5 string Description: EABC5 Dean Acou/Elec Bass - Cutaway - 5 string The Dean Cutaway EAB 5-String Bass Guitar is a full-sized instrument with 32" scale that produces a deeper, fuller tone than bass guitars costing much more. Select spruce top; mahogany back, sides, and neck; rosewood fingerboard; and die-cast chrome tuners. Cosmetic touches include an abalone soundhole inlay and multi-ply binding. Dean Acou/Elec Bass Cutaway 5 string Features: Acoustic - Electric Bass Select Spruce Top 32" scale 1-5/8" nut width Chrome die-cast tuners Dean preamp Mahogany back, sides, and neck Rosewood fingerboard Abalone soundhole inlay Multi-ply binding Get your Dean Acou/Elec Bass Cutaway 5 string today!

Dean Playmate EO9 Bass 5 String $279 Dean Playmate EO9 Bass 5 String Dean Playmate EO9 Bass 5 String Description: E09 5 CBK Dean EO9 Bass - 5-String in Black The Dean Playmate Is The Perfect Guitar starter for the beginning guitar player. Dean Playmate EO9 Bass 5 String Features: 5-String Bolt-on Construction Chrome Hardware Die Cast Tuners 1 Soap Bar Pickup Basswood Body Maple Neck Rosewood Fingerboard Dot Inlays 22 Frets Get your Dean Playmate EO9 Bass 5 String today!

Dunlop Roadpro Bass String Winder $4.95 Dunlop's new Stringwinders make replacing strings quick and easy. The special fastaction steel axle enables smooth rotation--eliminating any unstable wobbling. Its tough construction and comfortable grip--with an extra hidden storage compartment inside--make this an essential tool for any player's gig bag. The Dunlop Roadpro Bass String Winder features a wider joint to accommodate the larger tuning pegs found on bass guitars.

Concerto for Double Bass and String Orchestra. $115.71 There is an insufficient amount of music written for the double bass. While nearly all of the great composers have written countless volumes of music with parts for the double bass, few pieces showcase the double bassist in the role of soloist. Joseph Haydn allegedly wrote a concerto for the double bass among his early days as vicekapellmeister for the Esterhazy court, but it has been lost. Mozart and Beethoven neglected the instrument as have countless others. While concertos do exist for the double bass, the number pales in comparison to the vast number of pieces written for the violin, violoncello, and piano, and virtually none of them were written by the canonic composers of western music.This dissertation is a concerto for double bass and string orchestra. The size of the accompanying string orchestra can be either 14 first violins, 12 second violins, 10 violas, 8 violoncellos, and 6 double basses, or 5 first violins, 4 second violins, 3 violas, 2 violoncellos, and 1 double bass. It is in three movements that last approximately 25 minutes total, and employs tonal gravity around three primary centers: C, Ab, and E. The concerto was composed between July 2009 and March 2010. Author: Plummer, Bren Andenson Binding Type: Paperback Number of Pages: 188 Publication Date: 2011/09/30 Language: English Dimensions: 9.69 x 7.44 x 0.40 inches

Luna PAZ 5 String Bass – Black $599 Luna PAZ 5 String Bass - Black Features: Laser Henna pickguard Neck Style: Bolt on Maple Fret board: Rosewood Body: Mahogany Tuners: Vintage Chrome Pickups: Vintage P Style Hardware: Chrome Scale: 34" Nut: 1 5/8" Finish: Black Gloss Weight: 8 lbs Case option: HS-LB Get Your Luna PAZ 5 String Bass - Black Today!

Indian Slap Bass a new genre Funk

Slap Bass-The evolution

Many changes occurred in making and playing the instrument Bass Guitar during the last century. Slapping the bass is considered to have begun in the 1920s on the Double Bass. On double bass it refers to the technique which is a more vigorous version of pizzicato, where the strings are plucked so hard that when released it bounces off the finger board, making a distinctive sound. A percussive sound is also made by smacking the strings with all four fingers of the right han

On electric bass guitar

"Slap bass" is referred to percussive playing technique in electric bass as well, that the style sounds and looks percussive rather than the usual fingering of notes. Slap bass is more technically called "slaps" and "pops". In the slaps, the bassist uses the bone of the thumb joint to strike the lower strings near the base of the guitar's neck. In the pops, the bassist uses the index and middle fingers of the plucking hand to snap the higher-pitched strings away from the body of the bass, causing them to bounce off the fret board; this produces a prominent buzzing tone with a sharp attack and more high-frequency vibrations than in plucked bass.

Innovations

Double Bass player, Bill Johnson is considered by many as the father of slap bass. The methods developed by Larry Graham followed by Louis Johnson are nowadays practiced by a majority of electric bass players around the globe. Some bassists use fingers instead of the thumb to do slapping. Abraham Laboriel, Sr. developed a technique of using the thumb to pop the strings while his other four fingers slap the strings. Bassist Victor Wooten uses a double thumb technique, where he slaps the string when the thumb goes downward and pops when it goes upward. This gives him extra speed to play to sound it like a drum roll on the bass guitar. Tony Levin created a similar drumming sound by using a hard surface on the fingers to strike the strings which was named Funk Fingers. Funk Fingers are kind of small drum sticks strapped to fingers. To get a metal slap tone, bassists usually use their nails to hit the strings. Doug Wimbish also plays slaps with his fingers other than thumb.

Some of the double and electric bass players who are notable in slapping the bass are Bill Johnson, Pops Foster, Wellman Braud, Chester Zardis. Milt Hinton, Kim Nekroman, Scott Owen, Alcide Pavageau, Lee Rocker, Amy LaVere, Bootsy Collins, Stanley Clarke, Jonas Hellborg, Marcus Miller, Stuart Hamn, Les Claypool, Mark King, Kai Eckhardt, Mike Gordon, Flea, Fieldy, Brian Bromberg, Gustavo Dal Farra and the list goes on and on. A close watch of these bass players reveals that each and everyone has very distinctive styles. Similarly, every musician whether he is professional or amateur has his distinctive methods and techniques hidden inside. What matters is to develop it with proper training and self motivation.

Applications

Since the acceptance of electric bass guitar in Jazz Music and subsequent revised applications of the technique since 1940's, slap bass has been increasingly attracting music lovers all over the World. When funk music became more popular, slap bass has been subjected to various experimental playing techniques. Slapping is applied in most of the music genres since the 1960's especially in funk, disco, jazz, pop and world music fusion

During the changes in the music of the West, fusion music was silently having its own innovations. One of the inevitable instruments of India for fusion music has been Tabla. Bass players succeeded in blending the slap bass with Indian percussion instruments due to the similarity in the slap tones and sound of tabla. Jonas Hellborg and Kai Eckhardt adapted a different approach to the slap to blend it with Indian Classical music.

Tabla style slap technique.

The Indian Tabla style technique was innovated by Bass Player, Jayen Varma. Even from the beginning of his bass playing career in 1986 the tabla/mridangam style technique was more convenient for him than the usual slap method. May be because he had some training in the Indian percussion instrument mridangam, application of this technique on the strings was easy for him. In the early 1990s, when he could not get a slap tone due to inefficient pick ups and guitars available at that time, he was forced to use hard plastic pipe pieces on the fore finger and middle finger to get the tone while playing like a tabla. That was a success as far as tones were concerned, but the playability was comparatively poor. In those days the music genres he used to play in bands did not require slap bass, so he had to keep that idea aside after experimenting for few years. In the early days he did not have enough access to the world outside India, but in one of the videos of the great Abraham Laboriel he heard him say that what is important is the sound that is produced and not necessarily how the bass is played.  Those words lit the fire inside him; therefore he decided to move ahead with this unconventional style.  Later on he was encouraged by the words of some of the greatest names in the bass world; Bootsy Collins, Jeff Berlin, Victor Wooten, Stuvart Hamn, James LoMenzo, Marcus Miller, Michael Henderson, Regi Wooten, David Pastorius, Kai Eckhardt, Phil Powell and many known and unknown bass players.

How to practice

"Indian Slap Bass" is playing the Bass Guitar just like the Indian classical percussion instruments Tabla, Mridangam or Kanjira.  This is a very simple method because strings are hit like two drum sticks: The index finger acts like one stick and the middle and ring fingers held close together form the other stick. The exercise to begin is hitting the last string with fore finger (F) first and then with the other two fingers, middle and ring (MR). To be precise, the right hand fingering is F-MR-F-MR | F-MR-F-MR for 1-2-3-4 | 1-2-3-4.  Later the playing is reversed to MR-F-MR-F | MR-F-MR-F.  Subsequently it is practiced on other strings.  The same exercise is also practiced on more than one string by slapping alternately.  The player can choose his/her convenient position of left hand fingers on the fretboard. In the beginning it is always better to hold the strings half muted with left hand fingers. The sound created when the string is hit with MR fingers is slightly different from the sound created by F finger.  The strings which are not aimed to hit may also ring in the beginning.  But when it is practiced for few months, the hitting will be controlled.  It is therefore better to begin this on a four string bass, because the gap between the strings is higher than other bass guitars having more strings.  Many different methods/exercises can be worked out to get playability and to avoid the problems caused by crossing the strings, fingers and notes.  Any method is difficult in the beginning and the result is also not apparent immediately. But those who practice persistently will succeed in the application of any difficult technique.  It does not matter how an instrument is played, it only matters how it sounds.

Jayen Varma's mission

Indian Slap Bass blends perfectly not only with funk, jazz or rock, but with many other genres including heavy metal.  Since the right hand fingers can distinctly produce clear 16th notes on the same string, it goes well with metal music when the high frequencies are cut with equalizers. It can also be blended beautifully with Indian classical music.  He is sure that the next generation of musicians will find the potential in its application in future music to come.

He has been experimenting and promoting this method single handedly for years. He is happy that it has many fans across the World. Many young bassists are learning it. He is sure that if someone practices this technique for one year, he will be able to do it well.

His intention is to popularize ‘Indian Slap Bass' across the World. There are so many good bass players in India. But the majority of people still have to become familiar with the instrument Bass Guitar, which makes his task challenging. So his task also includes popularization of bass guitar in India among the masses.

Article courtesy http://www.jayenvarma.net/?page_id=8

Video Link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_hAFabslho

 

About the Author

Bass Guitar School.

Musical Instruments Placemat $4.99 Music Placemat shows a lot of information: Instruments grouped in major categories (brass, woodwin, percussion, string); notes(whole,half,quarter, etc.), piano keys, etc., and much more. WOW!! Please see picture. Learning Placemats. Study on one side and practice on the other. Use erasable markers on reverse side. Washable for fun and practice. 12" x 17.5".......

Orchestra Activity Placemat $7.99 Learn about the different musical instruments in an orchestra and explore musical notes and rhythm. Tot Talk's double sided, educational placemats are thick and high quality. Use washable markers, and wipe clean with wet paper towels, or wash with warm water and dish soap for bacteria free learning. For extra fun, give your child a spray bottle, and they can spray it, and wash off their work a...

Back Away String Bass Music Mug by CafePress $15.00 Back Away From The String Bass And Nobody Gets Hurt Did you ever have to protect your instrument from careless hands, even if they meant well? This tells them how protective you are Music . About our Mug: The perfect size for your favorite morning beverage or late night brew. Large, easy-grip handle. Treat yourself or give as a gift to someone special. Measures 3.75 tall, 3 diameter. Dishwasher an...

Fender Presents: Getting Started on Acoustic Guitar -- A Guide for Beginners $12.18 Over 3 hours long with 50 interactive lessons. Covers tuning, essential chords and scales, music reference, practice tips, rhythm techniques, play-along tracks with a band, 3-D fretboard graphics, instrument care, and more. Includes 5 languages: English, French, Spanish, Japanese, and German. Hosted by Keith Wyatt of the Musicians Institute....

Learn Bass Guitar In 8 Weeks $15.25 THIS STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO THAT CAN GET YOU PLAYING BASS IN JUST 8 WEEKS. THIS IS A REALISTIC WAY TO LEARN THE BASS. A great gift that can last a lifetime. This video will help you learn to play bass guitar without having any prior lessons or experience at all. Jason has been an instructor in Phoenix, Arizona for many years years now and has seen what works and what doesn't. This DVD will guide you t...

String Bass