Techniques you struggle with

[ChunkyMunky]

[quote name='tedmanzie' timestamp='1432236032' post='2779634']
The one I definitely struggle with constantly is the technique of knowing what note to play.
[/quote]

Learn jazz and you'll be flying!

[Rumple]

[quote name='Old Man Riva' timestamp='1432243954' post='2779743']

I really struggled using a pick so now I pick with no pick! I use my first finger and thumb as though I'm holding a pick but pick the notes with my nail for the downstroke and fleshy/end part of my finger for the upstroke.

Works really well and feels more 'connected' to the fretboard than if using a pick.


[/quote]

That's the only way I can do it if on a rare occasion I need a pick tone.

[Old Man Riva]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432246026' post='2779764']
I find I play my acoustic 6 string like that whenever I'm not fingerpicking.[/quote]
Again, same here. Can't get on with a pick for either guitar or bass so if I'm having a bit of a strum it's the thumb/forefinger combination.

[quote name='Rumple' timestamp='1432277304' post='2779868']
That's the only way I can do it if on a rare occasion I need a pick tone.[/quote]
More by luck than design I think I've developed a few fairly odd/unique habits over the years - probably due to not being able to do a number of things other players could do in the way that other players could do them!

This double-thumbing malarkey does leave me bewildered, mind.

Edited May 22, 2015 by Old Man Riva

[ras52]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432246026' post='2779764']
I find I play my acoustic 6 string like that whenever I'm not fingerpicking. Still use a pick on the bass though.
[/quote]

Me too... haven't tried it on bass though. Yet....

[Spoombung]

All of the above.

[Beer of the Bass]

This is a silly one: it took me years to be able to play continual 16th note fingerstyle lines, not because of anything to do with my hands but because I would find myself breathing in a 16th note rhythm and feeling dizzy after a minute or two! I still have to focus quite hard on not doing that.

[Dad3353]

Incidentally, we often see '16th notes', or '8th notes'; should these not be semi-quavers and quavers..? 8ths and 16ths would only be true if referred to 4/4 time; the equivalent for 3/4 would be 12th and 6th notes, no..? Is this just another Americanism taking over..? In French, a quaver is a 'croche', a semiquaver a 'double croche', then follows 'triple croche' and 'quadruple croche' etc, whatever the time signature, none of this Yankee stuff.

[Beer of the Bass]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1432291622' post='2780052']
Incidentally, we often see '16th notes', or '8th notes'; should these not be semi-quavers and quavers..? 8ths and 16ths would only be true if referred to 4/4 time; the equivalent for 3/4 would be 12th and 6th notes, no..? Is this just another Americanism taking over..? In French, a quaver is a 'croche', a semiquaver a 'double croche', then follows 'triple croche' and 'quadruple croche' etc, whatever the time signature, none of this Yankee stuff.
[/quote]

Perhaps, but the sort of line I'm talking about tends to be in 4/4 and often in musical genres which originated in the US, so why not use that language to describe it?

[ChunkyMunky]

Trying to learn an Afro-Caribbean style line for a Jazz jam. I still sound like Boris Johnson on bass!

[xgsjx]

Just had a look at what I do. I hold my index finger between my thumb & middle finger as if I were holding a pick made out of my index finger.

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1432291622' post='2780052']
Incidentally, we often see '16th notes', or '8th notes'; should these not be semi-quavers and quavers..? 8ths and 16ths would only be true if referred to 4/4 time; the equivalent for 3/4 would be 12th and 6th notes, no..? Is this just another Americanism taking over..? In French, a quaver is a 'croche', a semiquaver a 'double croche', then follows 'triple croche' and 'quadruple croche' etc, whatever the time signature, none of this Yankee stuff.
[/quote]
It should be, but there's many musicians who may be very good musicians, but have poor musical terminology.

[ambient]

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1432291622' post='2780052']
Incidentally, we often see '16th notes', or '8th notes'; should these not be semi-quavers and quavers..? 8ths and 16ths would only be true if referred to 4/4 time; the equivalent for 3/4 would be 12th and 6th notes, no..? Is this just another Americanism taking over..? In French, a quaver is a 'croche', a semiquaver a 'double croche', then follows 'triple croche' and 'quadruple croche' etc, whatever the time signature, none of this Yankee stuff.
[/quote]

I don't like the terms 8th and 16th's either.

I prefer quavers and crotchets, on my degree we were taught both.

I'm guessing it all relates back to 4/4 time, otherwise known as common time. If you have a piece in 5/4, then a 'whole note' still only equals 4 beats, so for a 'whole' note throughout a bar you have to use a whole note and a crotchet or quarter tied together.

Edited May 22, 2015 by ambient

[ras52]

I'm torn. I usual speak of crotchets etc. but in this case I have to confess that speaking of 1/4 etc is much clearer: they do what they say on the tin!

*walks off grumbling about American cultural imperialism while begrudgingly admitting that their way is probably better*

[Dad3353]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1432301612' post='2780215']
I don't like the terms 8th and 16th's either.

I prefer quavers and crotchets, on my degree we were taught both.

I'm guessing it all relates back to 4/4 time, otherwise known as common time. If you have a piece in 5/4, then a 'whole note' still only equals 4 beats, so for a 'whole' note throughout a bar you have to use a [s]whole note[/s] semibreve and a crotchet or quarter tied together.
[/quote]

Fixed.

[ras52]

[quote name='ambient' timestamp='1432301612' post='2780215']
If you have a piece in 5/4, then a 'whole note' still only equals 4 beats, so for a 'whole' note throughout a bar you have to use a whole note and a crotchet or quarter tied together.
[/quote]

You don't have to... and (getting OT) I'd argue that it's usually better not to. Typically 5/4 is (3+2)/4 or (2+3)/4, so it packs in more information about the music to tie a dotted and an undotted minim/half-note.

[ambient]

[quote name='ras52' timestamp='1432305701' post='2780277']
You don't have to... and (getting OT) I'd argue that it's usually better not to. Typically 5/4 is (3+2)/4 or (2+3)/4, so it packs in more information about the music to tie a dotted and an undotted minim/half-note.
[/quote]

I was using the whole note and crotchet as an example of the oddness of calling them whole notes, when they aren't in a bar of 5/4

Edited May 22, 2015 by ambient

[lowhand_mike]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432245507' post='2779758']
Here's a good example of double thumbing in a song.

[media]http://youtu.be/L0fyYBXVaCU[/media]
[/quote]
if i even had a smidge of his talent i'd be happy, les is a true god.

i can just about slap but dont use it much, i think one song in our set uses it though there is a lenny kravitz song we are learning that uses it too,
i cant tap for toffee and definately don't need to but that along with soloing would be nice even just for the show off bit during the band intro at the end of our set, drummer gets introduced and goes nuts, lead gets introduced and goes crazy i get introduced and just keep playing the same bass line i was playing through the other 2 solos, classy
so yeah i cant solo either and my music theory is sketchy at best, wish i had more time to practice

[Telebass]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1432195527' post='2778989']
Reggae is easy; play less and never go above the fourth fret.

What is interesting is that almost all of the above posts reference difficulties with techniques that are practically useless

Fopr instance, I don't slap particularly well and double thumbing is weak. The reason for this is primarily that, whilst the techniques in question undoubtedly turn heads, I DON'T LIKE THE MUSIC THAT IS PLAYED USING THEM AND NEVER PLAY THE MUSIC THAT IS PLAYED USING THEM. So, in short, the techniques are of no real use to me. Hence, I do not practice them, hence, I am not very good at them.

When I was a fledgling bass player, I learned lots of the required party pieces that use odd techniques (5G by Jeff Berlin, Schooldays by Stanley Clarke, Motherlode by Berlin, Country Music by Stu Hamm etc). I also learned to play Pat Metheny's 'Are You Going With Me' as a two-handed extravaganza. As I moved on, however, I realised that these techniques are pretty much peripheral to the world of music making. I suspect the above list of 'difficulties' reflects that fact that most of the things we have 'difficulties' with are not bass playing but party tricks.
[/quote]
Absolutely this.

[mcnach]

[quote name='Beer of the Bass' timestamp='1432290565' post='2780032']
This is a silly one: it took me years to be able to play continual 16th note fingerstyle lines, not because of anything to do with my hands but because I would find myself breathing in a 16th note rhythm and feeling dizzy after a minute or two! I still have to focus quite hard on not doing that.
[/quote]

Ha! Next time I see you playing bass I'm going to pay attention

I don't change my breathing, but it used to be that if I was learning something that I found difficult and needed to focus... I'd forget to blink.
It took me a while to notice. At first I just noticed my eyes felt dry and itchy after practicing bass... I wear contact lenses. Then one day a friend pointed out at my fixed expression and how I didn't even blink...
Now I blink.

[JTUK]

[quote name='Bilbo' timestamp='1432195527' post='2778989']
Reggae is easy; play less and never go above the fourth fret.

What is interesting is that almost all of the above posts reference difficulties with techniques that are practically useless

Fopr instance, I don't slap particularly well and double thumbing is weak. The reason for this is primarily that, whilst the techniques in question undoubtedly turn heads, I DON'T LIKE THE MUSIC THAT IS PLAYED USING THEM AND NEVER PLAY THE MUSIC THAT IS PLAYED USING THEM. So, in short, the techniques are of no real use to me. Hence, I do not practice them, hence, I am not very good at them.

When I was a fledgling bass player, I learned lots of the required party pieces that use odd techniques (5G by Jeff Berlin, Schooldays by Stanley Clarke, Motherlode by Berlin, Country Music by Stu Hamm etc). I also learned to play Pat Metheny's 'Are You Going With Me' as a two-handed extravaganza. As I moved on, however, I realised that these techniques are pretty much peripheral to the world of music making. I suspect the above list of 'difficulties' reflects that fact that most of the things we have 'difficulties' with are not bass playing but party tricks.
[/quote]

Not really.... if I've spent time on them, they'll go in somewhere, sometime. The trick is to know when and where, IMO..

[tauzero]

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1432246026' post='2779764'] I find I play my acoustic 6 string like that whenever I'm not fingerpicking. Still use a pick on the bass though. [/quote]

If I've just picked up the guitar for a strum for some reason, I use my nail, if I'm playing guitar at a gig then I use a plectrum. I find a pick a slightly clumsy tool for guitar.

[xgsjx]

[quote name='tauzero' timestamp='1432491655' post='2782013']
If I've just picked up the guitar for a strum for some reason, I use my nail, if I'm playing guitar at a gig then I use a plectrum. I find a pick a slightly clumsy tool for guitar.


[/quote]
Good point. Literally!

[wishface]

[quote name='anaxcrosswords' timestamp='1432127347' post='2778383']
Do you have technique bugbears?
[/quote]

Geddy Lee's strumming thing.