LOL.
So i canāt really diagnose anything over my phone, but your technique looks pretty good. Are you maybe fretting hard because youāre counting and trying to stay in time? I do that, i still do that now learning new stuff. I donāt know that is whatās going on- but when i get this i try to play it as lightly as i can. It can be a challenge.
But all in all, it looks good! Keep going!
Thats probably whatās going on. When playing I could kinda feel that Iām fretting too hard but thereās stuff like rhythm and strict alternating in the mix as you mentioned.
I will note this for the next practice, appreciate ya!
Nice job. That sounds pretty good. And donāt worry about the face. Sometimes I look like Iām staring into the toilet trying to figure out if I ate corn earlier too when I play. I get a bit more animated and make less ādumb faceā when Iām comfortable with a song and can play it more relaxed. I practiced āBillie Jeanā all while I was completing the course too. Try dropping the F# and octave on the opening note (2nd fret E string as opposed to 4th fret on the D string) and lemme know what you think. I think it sounds sweet. Well done.
My girl says i look like a scared squirrel when Iām playing and concentrating. Youāre probably good.![]()
itās your bass face , wear it with pride! ![]()
Update! I got my bass back in a week, good as new! While I got used to the 5 string a bit, itās not quite for me yet. AND I got through Billie Jean on medium!
Congrats on tackling the dreaded BJ, Jenn!
Iāve committed it to memory (through practise) , so occasionally when I first pick up my bass I will run through it. I am improving slowly, and I know I will get it one day.
I agree that is meant as a challenge to come back to, and not meant to frustrate us or act as a hurdle. I now see it as a fun tune to work on and master
I hit this lesson yesterday and BJ definitely tripped me up. Thankfully I read much of the comments below the lesson video and discovered that we can slow the āslowā lesson down to 0.5 and 0.75 so I worked on those until I got them down and after many (many, many) time through, I was finally able to complete BJ on slow at 1.0x speed. After that I was able to jump into medium and not make too many mistakes. Iāll move onto the next lesson and keep coming back to this until I can master it without mistakes. Thankful for all the good advice on here to keep me from getting too frustrated ![]()
Good on you! Youāll get there. Keep making noise!
Oh gawd Billie ā¦
Not only this one is tricky and asks for not only precision and timing⦠but I also had to decide to do the course on my new Ibby MS⦠because I thought it would be a good way to get familiarized with this bass⦠I am getting properly slapped.
Might eventually try to do it on the MM and come back at a later date.
BJ has a tendency to spank the new suitors. Just keep at it, slowly. Then walk away and work on next lessons. With patience and slow practice, youāll get there.
Semi managed Billie Jean on the 4 string bass / slow workout⦠but not without mistakes⦠lots of practice needed for thisā¦
Mistakes are just opportunities to improve. Isolate those rough spots, one by one, until you can nail them at as slow a tempo as it takes ā even if itās at a single fretted note at a time, if necessary. Concentrate on playing with slow, clean technique and youāll get the whole piece down with practice. You got this. ![]()
I moved onwards to reduce frustration a bit and took as a challenge to fret it a couple of times a day⦠even if it is a note per second.
Daughter also heard me practice yesterday so she got interested⦠might be a chance to explain to her while doing ![]()
@MikeC. Is right here. Thatās good advice. Move on, keep making progress. Billie Jean is a stretch lesson. Itās one of those white whale things-until it isnātā¦
What i mean is youāll find youāve leveled up. Youāll just be playing and realize āoh, i can do something i couldnāt beforeā and it happens without you noticing.
Itās Very easy to get frustrated here, but i trust that if you keep playing you will get it.
Turn it up, keep playing. No one gets it in one.
Exactly thatā¦.happened to me too ![]()
Same, still canāt quite pull it off on fast but medium is now easy vs when I started I had to take the slow workout and slow it down even further!