Of course not, because his course is the best!!!
1 Like
I was told as an absolute beginner on trumpet to only buy one and stick to it.
I owned 12, including a flugelhorn and a sousaphone.
I was told as an absolute beginner to sax to start on alto, I started on Baritone. Then I was told focus on baritone only before ‘doubling’ on tenor, sop, alto, etc. I play them all.
I don’t think it’s about being a beginner, its about what you want to do on your journey, and as @PamPurrs said, how you are wired.
I am an engineer who goes deep into things. I took everything apart I could find as a kid. I like to explore an area of interest widely rather than deeply. I have a guy who works for me who is an excellent guitarist. He keeps it very simple, just bought his second guitar after playing since high school. He also is an engineer with no desire to tinker or take things apart or learn how to set up his bass.
Everyone is different, thank goodness, the world would suck if it was filled with just a bunch of mes or yous.
3 Likes
Just a nit-picky clarification here - 3rd fret on the G is A#/Bb, and 7th fret on the B is F#/Gb… Carry on. 
.
1 Like
G sharp is not real
lol that’s not nit-picky, I messed it up. Thanks for catching it.
2 Likes
When it comes to just playing songs, i find there’s not a lot of difference between a 4 and 5 string. When it comes to improvising, i find they’re more like 2 totally different instruments.
1 Like
@Celticstar Hey man. Absolute beginner here. I’m in my 40s and never played an instrument before. I started the course with a 4 string I picked up cheap just to see if it clicked, and I had zero experience before starting B2B. I’m about 2/3 through right now and click it has. I just picked up a 5 string because I like down tuned metal subgenres and wanted to be able to play BEAD and other down- or drop- tuned songs. I have actually found the 5 string to be easier to play, and haven’t had much trouble muting the B. I’ve been going through the lessons using the B string as a thumb rest, but then will mess around with adding the B string as well. That low string adds a lot, to my ear. I’m learning the songs I want to play via tab, and I’m having a blast.
That’s not to say that I disagree with KISS on principle, or Josh’s advice that a 4 string is generally a better tool for a beginner to learn on. That advise is probably right for most people. But I’m very happy with the 5 string and glad that I didn’t let the prevailing wisdom deter me from doing what I wanted.
Hope that helps. Take care.
4 Likes
I would look at every exercise and basically do it as written, and if possible, use the 5th string to do it an octave lower as well. Got me used to the extra string pretty quickly
2 Likes
It’s important to know the “why” you want to play a 5 string too. If your favorite bassist plays a 5 string and you want to play their songs, you should probably just go with a 5. I can’t play a lot of songs by 311 without one so I had to get one.
Yes
This is something someone else here also mentioned, and this is something I can’t wrap my head around: How can it be easier to play?
It might depending on your muting style. I mostly use my thumb and found little problems. If you rely on most of your fingers you might find it difficult. That’s my theory.
Playing on a 5 or 6 is more different than harder. You have a wider, flatter fretboard, narrower string spacing. Muting is different.
Picking up a 6 forced me to change how I position my thumb on the back of the neck, how I fret notes, and change to a floating thumb technique for muting. All of which improved my playing on a 4.
If I started on a 5, I would have learned this out the gate. I think it’s easier to learn on a 5 than start on a 4 and relearn for a 5
And some songs are easier to play on a 5. You don’t have to tune the bass down for Feel Good Inc or similar songs, like any Stevie Ray Vaughn
If the band you want to play uses a 5, don’t be afraid to start out on one
1 Like
For me, it was because I wanted a 5-string.
That’s an excellent reason!
@Malyngo Closer string spacing is part of it. The other thing in my case is my 4 string needs a setup; the E string knocks against the first fret wire very easily unless I’m very gentle with it. The local place said they would take a month to do a setup. So I needed to get something else to play either way. I have some strings on the way and the plan is to learn to do a setup on the 4 while I play the 5.
@Malyngo If you want a cheap simple fix for an E string that touches the first fret, loosen the string and put a tiny piece of paper in the nuts slot. Retune and play.
1 Like
Cool, thanks man. I’ll try it.
@Paul_9207 Yeah man for sure. It looks like P-Nut does play a 5 string, but none of the 311 tabs I looked at actually use 5 strings, they are either BEAD or EADg. (I only looked at a handful of tabs on songsterr.) I find that interesting–most of the guys in bands I dig actually use downtuned 4 strings, and I haven’t come across a tab yet that actually has notes on all 5 strings. But the 5 is nice for versatility and I’m enjoying it.
There are definitely ways to get around not having a five string, even if the original song uses all five of the strings. I tried BEAD tuning on one of my four strings, but I prefer to have a the five string instead.
Yeah same. I kinda regret selling my 5. It was so easy to play on BEAD or EADG.
String spacing was no problem at all and for pick it was even easier. Oh well, maybe my next bass when I culled a bit 