Tips for playing bass

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi George!

First of all, great job with that “Hush” cover. I think the video is a little bit out of sync but the audio sounds super tight. You have a good feel and nailed those syncopated parts.
I’ll send it to Dad too and will ask him to leave some feedback (he’s the bass man here) but I’ll try to give some helpful thoughts too.

Being mainly a guitarist, the first thing I noticed was you using only down strokes on the picking hand which made me feel a little stressed haha. I guess it’s less uncommon with bassists but I feel like you could make it easier on yourself by practising using the “up” stroke to your advantage as well. It would look a bit more relaxed plus you’ll be able to squeeze in twice as many notes in the same amount of hand movement that way 😛

Other than that, I can’t think of anything negative to say about the video! Like I said, you seem to have a good feel for the music. Keep practising, try making it a daily habit and set up some kind of structure and way to measure progress and keep having fun with it. Try songs that seem way out of your league and then break them down bit for bit starting super slow. Before you know it you’ll be playing things you never thought possible.

But it seems like you know what you’re doing and we wish you all the best for your bass journey. “Stay groovy” never seemed more appropriate ;-D

[Jung Roe]

Wow, thanks Lisa!  I always love when you and Mona talk about your craft, and any advice and insight you share about your music and playing is extremely valuable to all of us.  Some golden nuggets of advice.  A lot of your advice here certainly apply for me and my piano aspirations as well.

Warmest of regards, Jung

[Rudolf Wagner]

I don’t have much to add to Lisa’s comment. Your left hand technique is one that when you practice a lot offers you great musical opportunities. Some bass players like to keep their fingers flat on the fretboard which gives them better damping opportunities and a more ergonomic looking style (Take a look at Paul McCartney and wonder endlessly about how he can play such melodic and distinct bass lines with this technique).

You are using your fingers more like a piano player (rounded) which gives you more flexibility when playing difficult parts. The downside is that this is more difficult and you can’t cheat as much as with the first technique. But you obviously seem to have mastered it, so it opens up a whole lot of opportunities with hammer-on and pull-off techniques.

P.S.: I really had to laugh when I saw the video and the camera going out of focus all the time. That was one of our biggest problems when recording live concerts: To find cameras where the camera optics don’t go ballistic when they get hit by bass waves. Must mean you played really loud 😉

[George Paine]

Thanks for the advice from both you & Lisa.  I think I started playing the way I did because of the size of the fret board.  I went from a normal sized Austin electric guitar to the Fender Squier bass which was quite a size difference.  I was wondering why my camera was doing that.  I didn’t realize what was causing it, but now that I think about it, it usually does that with louder songs especially louder bass lines.  Also I wanted to ask something else.  I learned a song on bass & I want to record a video to show my friends online my progress, but it’s just the bass so I feel like it’s missing something without the rest of the song.  The song is Cockamamie Business by George Harrison.  The bass line was played by Jeff Lynne & I love playing it.  Whenever I’m bored I grab my bass & the first thing that comes to mind is that song.  Do you have any advice on how to record a video with the song still sounding complete?  I know the lyrics but I don’t know if I can sing them & play bass at the same time.

[Howard]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts here George. I can’t remember previously hearing ‘Cockamamie Business’ by George Harrison, but have now looked at a Youtube video of this. Very interesting lyrics and I can see why you are interested in the base lines.

[George Paine]

I love collecting music & when I got to George Harrison, I got hooked on that song.  Cockamamie Business is my favorite of his solo songs & Something is my favorite of his Beatles songs.  It was released in 1989 on the Best of Dark Horse album along with Poor Little Girl.  Both songs include Jeff Lynne on bass.  The bass line is very easy to play in my opinion.  The only part I can’t get quite right is the last few notes.  Everything else I got.