What are you struggling with?

I am so guilty of this, it’s not even funny. Yet, it wasn’t obvious to me until you said it out loud.

Damn.

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Thanks, and don’t worry, I am going to stick with it so I must be getting something out of it! :laughing:

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@NipperDog I think an interesting life is in part achieved by giving lots of different things a try.
I’ve tried various different sports and hobbies. Some I’ve stuck with and most have fallen to the wayside.
I think it’s ok to say to yourself ‘I tried it and it wasn’t for me’
Wouldn’t it be really boring if we all liked the same thing.
I love playing bass, I feel lucky to have found it, but there’s no way I’d be playing the 2-3 hours a day I’m currently practicing if it felt like work.

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Yeah, as stated
a couple reasons I said hound dog are
1 - most people here know it, or have access to a thread about it
2 - it is all Chord tone triads for the most part so you can play different shapes along with single finger fretting

But I also pointed out any 12 bar blues will do, because you can find them in many different keys, so you can play along to more than just the one and expand your vocabulary.

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You can play the Hound Dog shape in many keys. And you can mix up the beats to get different sound. Something you can explore

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Fantastic news. I know you can do it. :+1: :+1: :+1:

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Of course you can. I used it as an example because it was the most recent song I did this with, and because many here have learned the song for the 50 song challenge.
Things you can do are limitless, nobody should get hung up on one song.

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Yup. Just pointing it out to others. Learn the shape, then move it around the fretboard. Change the beats up.

I was at my in person lesson Monday, and my teacher gave me some syncopated patterns that are commonly used. I was just chugging on one and got bored with it, so I just took the syncopated pattern and used the Hound Dog shape, and we be jammin. Even threw in some half tone steps like Geezer does.

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Then you know it was some good jamming

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This week, my struggle seems to be plucking hand speed while changing strings. The cover I am working on has a couple of runs that are two notes per string, then move down, etc. played really fast. I just can’t seem to get it–I get hung up in the transition/string cross. I am ok slowing it down to .75 speed, but as soon as I bring it up to 100% I get flub flubs. Same problem with a fast triplet pattern early in the song that crosses strings. I can play both just fine with a pick, so its not a problem with innate sense of rhythm or my fretting hand–solely a plucking issue.

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Are you ramping up slowly?
Another trick I do sometimes is actually try to go faster (1.1-1.2x). Then back down to 100%, sometimes seems easier.

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Fretting hand - my wrist is bent, badly and likes to go back to bent. It feels more comfortable but I know it isn’t good. I also bend my wrist at times to hit notes Vs fretting. My fingers tend to go too flat and ‘muddy’ by using all pads less tips.
When I try to straighten the wrist and get my fingers more “neutral position” as well, I get pain quickly and it actually distracts me from playing well.

Plucking hand, again wrist/hand is bent over the bass and I “scratch” Vs rake my fingers across a string. My thumb is getting really sore quickly. So I try moving hand and moving thumb out towards headstock a bit and again can’t play long. I think both hands are tense trying to “fix” things.

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As you know I’m just a fellow beginner, so take all of this with a grain of salt. The last thing I want is to set myself as a positive example when it comes to playing bass… But anyway:

I’d argue that if the “correct” position hurts, then it is not the correct position (for you). People’s bodies are different, what works for one might not work for another.

I’ve just had a look at your latest cover (All Star). I don’t know where that lies on your wrist-straightness scale, but looks a lot straighter than mine for example. If anything, I’d say that it’s too straight, and you’re pushing your palm towards the back of the neck. (And that might also be the reason why your fingers feel too flat.)

Maybe you could try and play around with the strap length and/or neck angle a bit and see if it makes a difference. (Shortening the strap length was a game changer for me.)

Your plucking hand looked fine to me in that video, but if you feel that it’s bent too much, then you could try playing around with the strap length again, and lower the bass a bit.

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I like to play guitar and piano but that’s usually because i dont want to work as hard as i need to on the bass stuff :smiley:

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Ok. Confession time. I’m on module 12, lesson 1. And I’ve been there since last August. August of 2020! 13 months! But I’m also playing bass about 3-4 hours a week?!

I was exactly where you were at @NipperDog - feeling like lessons/practice were a chore and not fun. I switched exclusively to learning and playing songs this past year. Songs I love. Songs I turn up loud and embarrass my kids if I hear them on the car radio. Some days I don’t even make an attempt to learn anything new - I just rock out on stuff I already know. I turn it up and I don’t care if I mess stuff up. I’m almost certainly learning bad habits/technique I’ll have to correct down the road someday - but I don’t care. And I’ve been inadvertently learning despite myself.

Green Day, The Ramones, The Kinks and Weezer made my right hand so much quicker. Huey Lewis and Sting are making me stretch the left hand and learn patterns. Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” and Croce’s “Time in a Bottle” help me with sustain (keeping my fretting hand off the D and G). Cheap Trick’s “I want you to want me” is just chugging while moving around the neck and makes me have a stupid grin on my face the whole damn song! The Killers “Mr. Brightside” is so stereotyped as a song that “gets white people turnt” - but I don’t care. It is So. Much. Fun.

I play Bill Withers “Ain’t No Sunshine” and I really want to add “Just the two of Us” - but I need to learn slap and pop for that and I never got there in B2B - so I think I’m just about ready to dive back in and pick up where I left off in the course. Only now I have specific goals and I’m having a ball!

Maybe this isn’t great advice for everyone, but if you need to stop B2B - then pause - and go find something that puts the bass in your hands and a stupid grin on your face! It is fun. I promise. Go find your songs!

(If you want to know how I find songs and play along - PM me!)

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Life

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Thanks Ken, what you’re suggesting makes a lot of sense to me and I’m gonna give it a shot on a couple of the songs I really like.

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On a more positive note @NipperDog one thing that I’ve been using to help me is a very simple groove to practice. I found that when I was struggling with something / getting frustrated I’d put on the drum loop on my Zoom B1 choose some odd effect like ‘80’s synth’ and groove away for 10 minutes. Just to remind me that none of this is important.
Here’s a fun couple of easy grooves that I learned and still use now. Hope this helps.

If you want to loop the groove section and work on your timing I use Endless Loop. Just drag the timer sliders to the point on the video you want to loop. Click on the link to take you right to the first loop that I’ve queued up for you.

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Yes. This for sure is what I’m trying to correct. And your right this does make my fingers flatter.

Yes I’ve been dropping them all bit by bit as well. I think standing will help this too. I e been trying to “float” my arm as an option but that kills my shoulder.

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I love synth bass stuff! There’s a good SBL video on that if you didn’t see the video i shared before.

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