I am struggling with memorizing the song forms in the lessons and doing fret jumps with my left hand. I’m in module 12 right now and I feel like I can’t play anything anymore. Having trouble getting songs even on the slow workout.
I’m not sure what to practice to get better that this, or if I should be sticking on lessons and workouts longer, or keep moving to get through the course. I can tell I’ve improved when I go back and try some of the earlier tracks in the course, though still can’t do some of them at full speed.
The big issues I’m having is will Pretty Pink Ribbon, Papa’s got a Brand New Bag, and the octave disco track. I can’t seem to keep up with them. I get lost in the song form or just can’t seem to fret fast enough for even the slow workouts.
One thing that might help is downloading the tabs from the course extras and play it without the video, just do it at your own speed so you can get it into your fingers. Seeing all of the bars at once can also be helpful - sometimes I kept getting surprised by the first bar after a jump between screens on the videos.
When the video was going too fast for me, my mistakes would pile up too fast to keep track of. The thing I tried to do is have it slow enough so that when I made a mistake I could notice right away, figure out exactly what my mistake was, work on the correction, and then move on to whatever the next mistake I had. Sometimes this involved slowing down the slow workout to 0.75x or something.
Back when I took the course, I just slogged through the slap lesson and did the workouts. I sucked mightily, but I got through them.
I have tried slapping every now and then, to little or no avail.
But an interesting thing has happened. I just randomly tried slapping recently - with no plan or forethought - and I just…did it.
I actually pre-envisioned how effortlessly Josh and Mark Smith slap, with no apparent tension or even power behind their thumb strikes. And it worked. I bounced my thumb on any string at the sweet spot just past the end of the fingerboard, and all notes sounded loud and clear. I’m absolutely no Wooten, Flea, Josh or Mark Smith, but I can slap, and that’s a thing.
I guess sometimes it helps to just stop thinking and get out of your own way.
I have been playing stuff at home for over a year and I have finally been able to sign up for your course. i struggle with one or two flying fingers and also staying in an alternate rhythm when plucking notes that aren’t the same for a bar or two.
If I have to play a note on one string and then one or two notes on a different string, the alternating plucking goes completely wrong and I find I just use whatever finger feels easiest to use. Its like my brain cant concentrate on both at the same time as the minute I try to check i am alternating my fingers, I mess up the song. There are parts of songs where I play 2 bars of 8th notes or 16th notes in one note and then one or two bars of another note and i can alternate fine.
Does anyone else find this really hard ?
Just keep at it. Alternate plucking is actually not a whole lot different than putting one foot in front of the other when you walk.
Toddlers have a hell of time with that…until they don’t. Just go slow, like, stupid slow. If you do that, and look at your plucking fingers as you do it, it will come. Just keep at it.
Alternate plucking is definitely the “proper” technique and it should eventually become second nature. I don’t generally think about my plucking hand at all when I play. That being said there’s plenty of times when alternate plucking just isn’t useful. I use the raking technique very often which just feels so much more natural to me. I also have a hard time reaching the G string with my index finger so most of the time I hit all my G string notes with my middle finger, sometimes this means repeating index finger…I am often amused when I watch my cover videos cause it’s usually the only time I can actually pay attention to my plucking hand and I notice all sorts of interesting plucking patterns.
my best advice would be try not to think about your plucking hand and just play whatever feels natural and comfortable for you. Eventually you’ll start playing songs that force you to alternate
Repeating a finger, using the index finger to reach the G string, starting on the “wrong” finger in an alternating pattern, raking, and more, are all legit and sometimes routine ways to play certain lines, phrases, or complete songs.
But straight alternate plucking is arguably the foundation for these techniques and the discipline it teaches is worth learning and practicing, assuming it’s physically possible.
Really he only ever used one finger? That makes more sense considering he was coming from a traditional standup bass, but still very interesting. I’ve seen Geddy Lee play a lot of pretty ridiculous stuff with one finger as well but for the average person I’d think it very difficult to play quickly with just one.
Jamerson is a bass legend. He created amazingly complex and creative bass lines that have been studied by most of the most accomplished players in the world. And, yep, he played primarily with one finger.
I can’t use my middle finger. Whether it’s old age, arthritis, the fact that I have a trigger finger condition that hand or something else who knows? I tell my finger to pluck and it doesn’t always do it. It’s just not reliable.
So I work around it. I use one finger, adjust basslines to fit my style, or use a pick when that doesn’t work. I don’t find it difficult at all.
Before I embraced it, I tried to follow all the advice here on working through it, I was very discouraged. And a bad bass player. I got to the point where I figured I should either quit. Or ignore the advice and say eff it and just play the way I can. I said eff it.
Most likely the op in this case just needs to practice it. But if he is one of those rare birds who can’t make, I was really discouraged by Josh in B2B and how he hammered how two finger plucking. I thought there was something with me. And there is. And that’s okay. Eff it.
So I am just offering encouragement. Keep playing your best. It will work itself out.
this! Music, imo, is all about enjoyment and self expression and everyone has their style to doing things - are there “best practices” to reduce extra movement etc? Sure. Is that the only way? Nope.
So I was watching this video yesterday and I don’t really have small hands, but I really have a short pinky, it’s like 2cm shorter than my ring finger!! Seriously, how is that even possible?!
Anyway it struggles me because of that I always have like that crow fingers when playing. And feels like it’s slowing me down.
Most of the time I’m playing riffs or songs I learned with my lessons. But maybe I have to focus more on technique…
anything is possible
this! Music, imo, is all about enjoyment and self expression and everyone has their style to doing things - are there “best practices” to reduce extra movement etc? Sure. Is that the only way? Nope.