Yeah you are not the only one!
If you find some nice finger excersises let me know!
Awesome, thanks for confirming that. Idk why I was under the assumption that correct form was hovering just above your desired in fret in basically every situation.
I’ll start rethinking how I fret things, bet it makes a huge difference
You don’t need to keep your non-playing fingertips pressed fully down behind the corresponding frets. But keeping them in contact with the strings, however lightly, will prevent flying fingers and ensure that your fingers are ready to apply pressure to the string when it’s required. Make sense?
In other words, concentrate on keeping your fingertips touching the strings so you’re ready to play that finger’s note when it’s time to do so.
Ahhhhh okay now I see, it applies to muting too so I don’t need to worry about contact lower on the frets muting higher notes. This has been really helpful feels like I’ve connected a bunch of dots. Thanks guys, much love.
I seem to have hit a rut. I am almost done with the course, just past the thumb thumping modules. A couple of weeks has gone by without picking up my bass. I don’t know if I just need a break or what.
I am missing something here .
If you are ascending the fretboard on the same string you are continuing to shorten the length of the string so how is it possible to not move to a higher note?
And @MikeC had the best explanation for peventing flying fingers IMHO
This^^^
It happens to almost everyone at some point. Chances are, you might be experiencing a degree of bummed-ness that the course is coming to a close, and/or feeling uncertainty about what will happen once it does.
Give yourself a break. Many start the course over again and are surprised at how much more there is to learn with the perspective of a now non-total-newbie player. Others start learning the 50 First Songs. Just chill. You’ll hit on your next steps.
I hope this does not indicate you are losing interest. That would be a bad thing.
Be careful because the longer you wait the more you may need to relearn.
These days I play more acoustic guitar than anything else but I still play Bass to lay down a backing track groove at times.
I guess my question to you is WHY have you not picked up your Bass for a few weeks.
So when I’m saying ascending the fretboard, that would mean fretting in the order of 123, if I was descending I’d say 321. Descending and ascending in pitch basically. I’m not sure if that’s where the confusion was, I just didn’t realise that only the length of string between where your fretted note is and the bridge is, is where the sound is made.
Edit: i realise you probably know that but yeah basically I was probably making a mistake with what should seem like obvious physics
Thanks @MikeC and @Celticstar
I appreciate your kind words. Thanks for the encouragement.
I just do not like to see people losing interest in playing music.
You did not answer my question of WHY you have not picked up you bass.
I have to say that if I started with bass I may have lost interest because of the limitations of playing a song without a backing track or other musicians. With guitar, ukulele, and a few other instruments capable of playing chords, you can be a one man band so to speak.
Question - Do you play any other instruments?
I’m not sure that “limitations” of solo playing is the case with many bass players.
I suspect a majority will enjoy hearing themselves play. And playing along with a fave tune, or several, is a logical rite of passage for any player.
The fact is that our brains sometimes need time to process a body of knowledge. That sure has been the MO for me as I’ve learned a variety of instruments over the years.
Learning something new is almost always a sort of sprint fueled by passion. Once fundamentals have been introduced, the passion for playing remains as always, but the computer and body suit need time to assimilate the tsunami of info for the long haul. Anyway, that’s been my experience. Mileage, yada, yada, yada.
I’m on a break, about 10 days. Been dealing with physical ailments
Thinking about restarting the course with a pick
Maybe I haven’t picked up my bass in a couple weeks because the last module was extremely difficult for me. I speak of the thumb thumping lessons.
I play regular guitar.
I am doing B2B for pure enjoyment and I always enjoy learning new skills. That’s why I’m a little perplexed as to why I haven’t picked up my bass. I think it’s probably because I have been burning through the lessons at a pretty fast pace and I just needed a break.
Thanks for this! I really have to work on those flying fingers
That’s good to hear.
At least you have a fall back.
I guess playing 2-3 jams a week has kept my interest up over the years.
Problem with Bass is a lot of times 8-10 of us will get together to jam in a park somewhere and there is nowhere to plug in an amp.
Do you ever jam with others?
When I was younger I used to jam with others regularly with guitar. I got pretty good and at one point was even asked to join a band. Unfortunately with my time being taken up with full time work and school I didn’t have the time to devote to it.
As years went by and life happened my jamming friends went their separate ways. My wife and I moved to another town and that took me out of the loop musically. I did keep playing guitar on my own.
In my old age (58) I really got interested in playing bass through my love of Geezer Butler of Black Sabbath. I absolutely love the way he plays! In fact, just thinking of it encourages me. Haha.
Thanks for discussing all this with me!
Old age Wait until you’re 73.
I have always thought that playing with other like minded people helped keep the flame alive.
I live in a rural area with only one major city (population 200,000) close by.
Eight years ago there were zero jams in my area. I decided to try and rectify that.
I contacted all of the libraries within 30 miles (50 km) and arranged for free meeting spaces at each one. It was a lot of work but it paid off eventually.
Now you can jam almost every day of the week.
When the libraries saw the community interest they actually purchased instruments that you can check out just like books.
@Barney posted quite recently about how great it was to play with others. I am not sure if it was his first time at a jam or not but he seemed quite excited about it. Maybe he can comment on this.
So the bottom line here is maybe you could find other musicians to play/jam with in your area. Just a thought.