I can’t even lift a bass at the moment!! Just had a pacemaker fitted. Hope to get back to bass playing in a few weeks time.
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This is the kind of line where I would try and instead of playing D1, would play A6, and E6 in place of A1, and then everything is in the 4th and 6th fret and that’s not tiring at all.
Again instead of E5 one could try an open A and see if that tone works. Tabs are suggestions, sometimes by moving a note to another string playing a song can be simplified.
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Well today might be the day. My arm was hurting last night while I slept, but seems pretty good today while working, my new Boss Waza Air Bass came in yesterday and it’s charged, and tonight I might pickup a bass and play a little and see. I haven’t touched a bass for weeks.
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Creativity. I know the scales pretty good now but when i play with a drum track I can’t put anything together that sounds good
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Lots and lots of active listening to music you like will help with:
- Hearing lines with riffs that interest you
- Learning all or parts of those riffs
- Basing your own riffs, then lines, on the ones that inspire you
After this process, which will take time and effort, you can expand your horizons by listening to music outside of your usual faves, to get even more inspiration/creativity cooking. Good luck.
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This may help, if you know the scales you’re halfway home. If you hit the root at one and add notes in the same scale they will work. But always hit the root at one.
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After some research and experimentation, I think this is the ticket for me, combined with the bass body rotating to be more on my side and resting more on my hip rather than my belly.
It’s super comfortable for me, my wrist is more or less straight rather then bent, fingers are curved, and it allows me to play with a light touch and little thumb pressure, even with OFPF. I can play for longer and still not get sore. I’ll call it a win.
I was heavily influenced by the Adam Neely recommendations for this, along with a few other sources. Thanks for getting me to look in the right direction @joergkutter !
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So good to hear, @fennario - and awesome that you did the deep dive and not just chose to “ignore” the problem 
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I said earlier that I was struggling with reading music, but there’s something else as well I forgot to mention:
I keep doing that weird thing where I press my left thumb against the neck, and it ends up feeling super achy and uncomfortable after every session.
I tried some of the fixes Josh recommended in the comments of one of the B2B lessons, but I’ve always gotta make sure cuz I’ve done it so many times where it’s almost hardwired.
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Same here, when I catch myself doing it I’ll fold my thumb in so the knuckle and thumbnail are resting against the back. It doesn’t stop me from death gripping on it’s own but it does make me more aware of that thumb and I’m better at relaxing it.
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If you feel like you’re pressing too hard with your left hand, using both your thumb and fingers is a good way to start with ghost notes. Then, gradually increase the pressure until you hear a sound. If you grip as close to the fret as possible, you won’t need to apply much pressure. Simply place your thumb on the back of the neck for support. Do not press with your thumb , as there are no strings on the back of the neck. 
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This is super normal and something I still do having played for 2 years. For me, this happens when I’m learning something new. My brain is so focused on just getting the notes right that I find myself fretting WAY too hard, which also means my thumb is slamming into the neck.
It’s just something you have to catch yourself doing. When I do, I’ll take my thumb off the neck entirely and try to play whatever piece I’m playing. You might be surprised that you don’t really have to touch the neck with the thumb at all to fret notes. Just try to breathe, slow it down, and play gently. If you aren’t already, you should be monitoring yourself on headphones or an amp. Less is often more. Hope that helps!
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Great advice, thanks for sharing!
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Just discovered that the same goes for the pick. I tried to play a fast bridge that I haven’t played before with a pick, and found that I was about to compress it into a diamond! This is not something my hand appreciated. I guess when we’re unsure about something, we need to be even more aware of our technique.
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I have just started Module 13. I’m on the first lesson still and have to fret the 12th fret on the E String.
I have a problem , I barely get a note sound. Mostly the sound of the string hitting the frets.
I have a Mustang bass and the string is so taught when fretted on the 12th fret that I only get percussive sound .
Do you have any advice please ?
Does having a short scale bass make it harder to learn slap ?
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No.
Sounds like your bass needs a set-up. The string should not be taut simply because you’re fretting on the 12th fret. My non-expert guess is that you have way too much bow in your neck… A pic of you fretting the 12th fret and how the string looks along the neck may help…
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I did have to checked over a week or two ago, just to see if it was still all ok. It was given an “all ok”…here’s a photo though.
17103663521512098310709556155598|663x500
well it’ s finally happened. yesterday i was doing something very light, and something popped in my wrist accompanied by excruciating pain. Maybe now I can get it fixed, but no bass for me in the foreseeable future
Well I can’t hit ‘like’ on that but just to say, i feel for you and hope all turns out well 
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Hope this photo is helpful for the difficulty I have in getting a note when fretting the 12th fret , using slap technique.
