Only nit I have to pick is why not compare apples to apples? Dunlop makes nylon picks that cost less than Rombos.
I get the personal preference thing @Malyngo
But the ‘superior German engineering thing’ is a stretch for an injection molded plastic pic 
I think I need to apologies. It wasn’t my intention to come over as an elitist bragging about german engineering.
I just like the Rombo picks, where they are from doesn’t matter to me. To me, they are just better than other picks I have tried.
I guess it came across as elitist crap. I am sorry.
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I’m not upset @Malyngo in the least.
I’m happy you found a pick you like. I really am.
I prefer Indian teak for the Tonewood properties in my pick 
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Tonewood freak. 
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The Dunlop Ultex picks are awesome, my favorites.
There’s nothing wrong with the Rombos, I just don’t think they have any advantage either. It’s very much a personal preference thing.
Really to be technical most people probably get the most control from your favorite pick, @faydout - a mid-thickness jazz style.
I have some adorable ones that look like onigiri!
They’re triangle and thicker than I like so I don’t use them lol
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oh cool!
I’ve improved my pick game lately. I’ve been jamming “no excuses” by Alice In Chains. It’s a super simple song to play, so it takes little effort and you can focus on your pick action. Also, maybe the pick you are using is too thick or too thin? I recently got a slightly thinner pick (0.97) than what I have at home and that made a big difference. It feels way more natural with the upstrokes and alternate strokes. Gives me a bit warmer sound too.
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I’ve plateaued a bit in B2B and am switching gears a little. I have started a sight reading course and the first step in that course is basically don’t suck at bass. Meaning:
1) be able to keep time with foot tap, etc
2) Commit each note on the stave to muscle memory and also being able to hear when you screwed up and fix it/stay on track without looking at the fret board.
I get why this isn’t in B2B (or at least not yet) its a lot of boring drills and, since I don’t even want to look at tabs until I get this down, not much space to actually play anything fun. Any suggestions for real songs where I would only be playing on the first 5 frets of the E string (or E and A strings)
I’m finding it challenging to consistently make the shift from F to A, with good positioning within the fret, but I guess I know this is just a matter of drilling it a bunch more.
It’s interesting to me that in Josh’s “Money Notes” he is playing A on an open string rather than on the 5th fret of E… I think the advantages of doing it fretted is that you have to think less about muting, the sharps and flats end up inside the range that you have already committed to muscle memory, and after the first 5 notes its just the C Major scale… which seems like another pattern worth committing to muscle memory.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but playing notes on open strings instead doesn’t seem to have advantage except being a little easier to memorize/execute than using fretted notes.
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The tone of the A string is different than the E and is preferable to some. YMMV
Where people play notes is all about choices, and there aren’t a lot of right and wrong answers
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There are many advantages to playing open strings for various genres. Many bass legends such as James Jameson, Duck Dunn and many more – plus every upright bassist ever – routinely have used open strings in their lines.
The biggest advantages are the smooth harmonic voicings and fluid dexterity that playing open strings makes possible. Walking bass lines in the first six frets position make routine use of open strings.
That said, not every genre typically uses open strings. For example, many rock bass lines rely on riff patterns and/or repeated notes (chugging) played on fretted notes.
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Yeah - the open A (and particularly in the money notes video) is to keep things located in one stable location in the low area of the neck.
When you’re reading, it’s great to try and play everything closed (fretted) and move things around.
I got a lot of good practice in my sight reading books by moving all the C major reading exercises up the neck to the 8th fret of the E string.
Things like that.
I prefer closed positions, because it keeps things more related to scale fingerings and fingering relationships that will work in all keys and in other places on the neck - while the open string only works in one area.
Though - there are plenty of songs that are only playable with open strings, so it’s important to pay attention to how the line works/sounds and try and make the best fingering choice.
…so, basically just a +1 to @MikeC 's comment there.
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I’m struggling with something silly, I think. I have a PJ bass and I’m not sure where I should play based on the pickups. So far I rest my thumb on the front pickup but that forces me to play directly over it. I have seen other people playing on YouTube and some play before the first pickup (no thumb rest) or they’re resting on the back pickup and play in between the front and back one. I don’t know if playing directly over a pickup is the right way. Is it a personal preference thing or is there some kind of rule about this?
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there isn’t really a right way however where you play can affect the tone. play closer to the neck and get a warmer tone, play at the bridge and get a little extra sound from the J pickup. i personally prefer playing around the P pickup most of the time but may move forward or back if i want a slightly different sound
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Thanks! I’m going to play around a bit and see what feels good to to my wrist and which sound I like best.
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@faydout & @Paul_9207 thanks for the memorization tip on taking a section at a time and looping it over and over until it sticks. I’ve been doing just that and it’s really paying off! I am starting to see repeated patterns listening to the notes instead of just focusing on where they are played. This is getting addictive!
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Hi, Thanks for asking!
I am new to bass and reading music. I am trying to get the rhythm/ beat to Too Sweet -Hozier. I can’t replicate the the beat or sound. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks
If you’ve gone through B2B already, try drawing out Josh’s beat ruler on a dry erase board and working through that for the rhythm. I’m not sure what you’re using for notes but if you don’t know songsterr, here’s the tab for that Hozier song.
Too Sweet (bass) Bass Tab by Hozier | Songsterr Tabs with Rhythm
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Thanks, I am using a different Songster version. I have not gone through B2B yet. Thanks for the suggestion!
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