Learning to play Bass, suggestions wanted

[Turin39789]

Picked up a fender the other day, renting it for awhile. Some friends and I are starting up a band, they have all played before, bringing me along. Trouble is I have never played guitar/bass before, so i have a lot of catching up to do.

Any good songs to start off with at first, any general tips, anything constructive appreciated

Thanks

 

[MichaelD]

You need to learn the basics (no pun intended...) and build your hand/forearm strength first. Scales, major and minor, some basic blues progressions are the best way to start.

 

[Heisenberg]

Pick up a good instructional book and follow it to learn the correct mechanics. Learning the proper techniques the first time will save a lot of hassle in the future. I would also recommend learning to read music. I realize you can get tabs most of the time but reading real music is very helpful.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: Heisenberg
Pick up a good instructional book and follow it to learn the correct mechanics. Learning the proper techniques the first time will save a lot of hassle in the future.

Well-said. I did not do this when learning to play guitar years ago...it's probably why I'm only "decent" instead of good.

 

[Turin39789]

thanks for the tips, i need to go back and get a strap, will probaby grab a book then too, knew the guy at the store so he tossed in a video no charge, probably going to get around to it tommorrow

 

[JetBlack69]

What type of band? Rock? Punk? Blues?

Can you read bass cleff music? I can't, but I was also the bass player in a band. However, I could read guitar music though. I assume a 4 string bass. You can use a pick, but I think finger picking is much better, unless it is really fast punk or something. If you need to learn a song fast, look for some tabs online. Practice some major and minor scales and walking up and down one string. Hope this helps.

 

[Trader05]

When i started playing bass, i took almost 2 years of lessons, then it started boring me...but damn after a year i was getting good as hell! Started back up again playing last year and i lost most of it! The only tips i can give you is to do finger exercises, like assign a finger a fret, like 7,8,9,10 and switched up and down the strings.... then work your way up to 1,2,3,4, it's a stretch but it works to "know" your bass. and timing is an essence, i bought a metronome, used it a lot when i got it, it helped my timing with the drummer a lot!

 

[Turin39789]

the other guys are pretty punky, im more rounded in my music tastes, so we will probably focus on punk, some rock, and im going to be pushing like hell to get some blues in there. Just need to figure out how to play my harmonicca at the same time

 

[JetBlack69]

You could get a holder thing around your neck like Billy Joel. That would sound weird, a harmonica with punk....hmmmm......if you record it, put up an mp3.

 

[Turin39789]

lol, was thinking of the harmonicca on some blues tunes, id probably have to start hyperventilating before we played to be able to keep the harmonicca going with punk