Hello everyone! I have a question for the bassists. I have been playing bass for about three weeks now, can play a few bass lines and I am learing the Beach Boys "Fun Fun Fun" as my first song to play all the way through. My bass teacher says to practice up down strumming for the song, which I have practiced like crazy and can't seem to get a correct feel, but when I just down strum the song, I play it perfectly. The music I want to play is just pure rock 'n' roll and maybe some punk. (no metal, rap, pop, etc.) Any suggestions on how to practice. This is driving me crazy trying to figure this out! Thanks!

Hey JBG,

I am no music teacher what so ever. When I was in my teen years I played in a garage band and we all learned to play our instruments better by playing along with an album. Put a CD on that you really like turn up the bass without distorting it and play along. Try (Smoke on the Water) Deep Purple Distinctive bass and not to hard. Although I do think this method works best for a drummer

PS every garage band in the 70's learned this song first.

Good Luck

I never ever strummed my bass during a song.

It's just too messy.

Maybe it's some kind of cool technique but you really don't need it.

Not at all.

Not never.

Tell that to your music teacher and ask him to teach you something relevant.

Yeah, ask your teacher what's the best way to practice this. That's his job.

And I have never heard of bass strumming. If it exists, I guess it is an advanced technique, not for someone who is just starting out.

Professional bass player since 1986. Degree in music in 1992. Music teacher since 1997. In my experience through a huge variety of music, it's very rare and few and far between when you will find yourself strumming on a bass. I wonder if the wrong term is being used here. Are you actually strumming across multiple strings with one stroke of your hand/wrist or are you learning with a pick and trying to master picking up and down strokes on one string (alternate picking)? I can't for the life of me think of how the bass line to Fun Fun Fun should be strummed and will have to go back and listen to it just to check my memory.

As far as how to practice, I break it down into thirds for my students (and even myself sometimes!). 1/3 of your time on technique, 1/3 of your time preparing for your lesson & 1/3 of your time just playing what you love and want to play.

That being said, for the first two years I played, I didn't think about "technique" at all. I turned on my cassette player or radio and played along with everything I heard. Many great players have learned by doing this and nothing else. Practicing some technique (which I did endlessly later on) will help you to develop good physical habits, control and discipline as well as avoid some bad habits which could develop and be hard to undo later.

Bottom Line: Play! Find albums/songs/downloads/whatever that you enjoy and put them on auto-repeat. Based on your user name and the styles of music you mentioned, I highly recommend finding a Chuck Berry Greatest Hits album or two (I use his 2 Disc Anthology to teach from regularly) and listening to the variations on the same theme that were put in to many of Chuck's records. Add a bit of Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Bill Haley, Ike & Tina Turner and you're going to have a master class on how to play rock & roll bass. Huey Lewis & The News also had a cover album (Four Chords & Several Years Ago) which has some good examples of rock & roll bass playing.

Here's wishing you the best!

Peace,
Mr DJA

Thanks mr_dja! Please forgive me, alternate picking is what I was trying to come up with the term for. Beginner here. lol I can play the song doing just down strokes, but mess up like hell when trying to master alternate picking. I know some punk bassists down even use alternate picking. This is all very new to me and I a million times thank you for your advice!

Gravity Boy ..we agree!!! a first!! lol...Never done it in 42 years of bass playing..not something a simple rock and roller needs in his armoury in my opinion..best advice from mr dga..follow that and you can't go wrong..well you can..but thats the fun of learning

You're very welcome JBG... I only hope it helps! Now that I know the specific question/problem, I'd suggest some very simple technique drills where your left hand (I'm assuming your right hand is doing the picking) does little or nothing.

The simplist one I use with my students is to have them do what I refer to as "the four minute drill". For one minute per string, play nothing but the string open (no fret hand involved) at a confortable speed. You're looking for nothing but control of your right hand at this point so speed can come later. Listen to the sound of the note as you play them. Attempt to make each note sound exactly the same. This will work for playing with a pick, one finger, two fingers, three fingers, thumb, thumb + fingers, etc. The key is, when you're trying to focus on one hand's technique, don't let the other hand be a distraction. As you get more and more comfortable, find a simple pattern that you can apply to the left hand so you don't have to sit and listen to one note for minuets on end. With a bit more comfort, you'll be able to expand the exercize over multiple strings either open or with the left hand playing patterns. Regardless, focus on controling your hand/fingers. Keep a steady tempo and tone. Remember, it's not about speed at this point, it's about control. Once you've got control, speed will be easy to develop. The same is not necessarilly true the other way around!

Peace,
Mr DJA

Another tip: Don't wear shorts on stage. It doesn't look good

The only bassist I've heard strumming chords was Sandman (RIP) of the great Morphine. He even used a slide! But the bass had only two strings ...

C

Actually I don't think I alternate pick on the bass (I do on guitar).

It's just downstrokes (fast ones sometimes).

I always use a pick, I used to do the James Jamerson single finger "hook" years ago.

Never walked my fingers.

Macca and Bill style for me.

With just downstrokes :-)

Quote
GumbootCloggeroo
Another tip: Don't wear shorts on stage. It doesn't look good

Oops! Please forgive my violation last weekend! Although I would generally agree, I think there should be an exemption/exception if it's a patio show on the waterfront

Quote
liddas
The only bassist I've heard strumming chords was Sandman (RIP) of the great Morphine. He even used a slide! But the bass had only two strings ...

C

I'm not at all familiar with Morphine but was/am a HUGE fan of Mark's earilier band Treat Her Right where he played "Low Guitar". Can you offer any advise where I could/should start listening to Morphine?


Peace,
Mr DJA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2012-06-06 19:05 by mr_dja.

Never put your bass in a toaster.

mr_dja

I would start with the first, "good", which is great. Love that album!

Second, go hunt for some live recordings. There are plenty excellent recordings in the usual torrent sites.

If that clicks something, I think that the whole official catalog is 4 discs plus the usual postumous collection of b-sides and rarities.

C

JBG playing along w/ CDs is great ear training I recommend the first two Dire Straits CDs some simple stuff there, also those Live Licks Guitar Vids/DVDs for Guitar Players are sometimes great for playing along with because there’s no vocals & the Bass line is simple but still serves the song also,, YOUTUBE! Tons of free help on youtube besides Bass help/info there are Guitar players just playing alone showing you songs that you can jam with also if you hear a song that you may not even like but think you can play give it a go it can only help & give you confidence,
Cheers

OK.. I talk rubbish... I do alternate pick on the bass... as I discovered tonight.

I just don't normally think about it.

Quote
liddas
The only bassist I've heard strumming chords was Sandman (RIP) of the great Morphine. He even used a slide! But the bass had only two strings ...

C

Check out John Lennon's first solo album, Plastic Ono Band. That's Klaus Vormann strumming bass chords on the track Hold On. He even provides a visual demo on the Classic Albums DVD series for the album--index finger strumming upward, occasionally brushing all four strings.

Play along with the first few Ramones albums. Doesn't take a virtuoso to do it, but it's perfect for what I think you're trying to do. If you want a little bit more of a challenge, try some Clash albums too. Still punk, but with some reggae/ska thrown in. Paul Simonon's a pretty underrated bassist. World beating? No, but underrated. Try some early Pretenders stuff too, like their first 2-3 albums. Some simple, but great bass playing on there.

But above all, play! It's the best way.

Do what your teacher is asking. It's hard now but when you master the basics like this it will make life easier later on. Bad habits are hard to break. Good luck

Thank you everyone for all the great advice! I think I'm starting to get the hang of it!

You see? One day later and you're almost ready for the next challenge!

When someone asked Paul McCartney what kind of bass strings he used he said "round, shiny ones".

Kind of a strange thing for a teacher to spring on you. I wouldn't say it's an unnecessary skill as some really good bass players have done some strumming, Peter Hook of Joy Division/New Order used to strum quite a bit, as well as Les Claypool of Primus who does some amazing things strumming his bass. So it's not unheard of, but it's kind of a niche style of playing that seems strange for a teacher to be teaching a new player.

As for a good way to practice, I agree with what many others have said, play along with a CD. In this day and age (or even when I started playing back in the early to mid 90's) there is a wealth of tablature and tools available on the net. Not all tabs are right, but they usually serve as a pretty good jumping off point and you can hopefully figure out the rest. Look at the music, listen to the music, experiment, and you'll be getting the hang of it.

Does John Entwhistle strum on Magic Bus ( Live at Leeds ) ?

Is it too early to jam with other people who are beginners?

Nobody strums a bass like Lemmy! He plays power chords on the damn thing.



\

Lemmy was in that video?

I was too distracted to notice.

Taking a stab at The Darkness "Growing On Me." What is a good Stones song to first learn to play?