Coilte

Good information regarding healthy hands and bass playing on this site : [url="http://chriskeuken.nl/health/repetitive-strain-injury-and-focal-dystonia.html"]http://chriskeuken.nl/health/repetitive-strain-injury-and-focal-dystonia.html[/url]

[quote name='Lynottfan' timestamp='1364594370' post='2028743'] There is also the simple fact that you may be over doing it, 5 hours a day is a lot of playing [/quote] +1. Regularity is as important as the actual amount of time spent on a particular practice session. Quite apart from the physical aspect, the brain can kind of "switch off" after about an hour or so of being bombarded with information. So sometimes, long sessions at a go, can be counter productive. If you want to put in that amount of time per day, make sure to take regular breaks. Do gentle stretches after each session, and again before you start the next one. Make sure you are "fueled up" for these marathon sessions with a good meal and be sure you are well hydrated. As has already been mentioned, make sure your technique is up to par, i.e. both wrists as straight as possible, and play with a light touch.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1364547399' post='2027899'] for something liek 36 years ive always used rotosound swing bass steels so yesterday i bought my first set of nickels arent they lovely [/quote] Congratulations !!!...........next stop........FLATS !!

[quote name='danthevan' timestamp='1364484500' post='2027128'] Different band member, but fair point! [/quote] IMO, casual, unnecessary talk can and should be left until between songs or the interval. All other music related communication can be done as I suggested earlier. The situation "andyonbass" mentions, can be both awkward and annoying.

[quote name='danthevan' timestamp='1364483024' post='2027098'] It's not musically related chat, it's more "Look at the t*t's on that" sort of thing. Yes or no answers i can do, just.......... ! [/quote] If people cant remember the chord structure of a song, but have the time to look, ask and comment on female members of the audience, then they need to decide what should take priority.

[quote name='danthevan' timestamp='1364482919' post='2027097'] It's mainly on one song. He's been playing it for 3 years, I've been with them a year and im shouting out the chords in the solo to him. 5 different chords, 4 then 4, same as a verse, but every gig he looks at me as if it's the first time we've ever played it! [/quote] There is always one song that trips us up. All the more reason for him to write out the structure and have it close by, for reference. It is not fair for him to be relying on you to tell him each time. Once or twice...maybe, but no more.

If someone asks me a question, I have no problem replying while playing, provided it is brief. However,there should be no need for talk within the band, once a song commences. There are subtle ways to communicate like eye contact and nods of the head etc. As for your rhythm guitarist, get him to write out the song structures, and keep them beside him. It is up to each person to play (literally) their part.

[quote name='howdenspur' timestamp='1364392922' post='2025808'] ~+1 This. You can also buy a finger strengther aimed at climbers I think which will help. [/quote] Sorry, but I disagree here. Finger strengthening gadgets, are not necessary IMO. A minimal amount of strength is required to fret a string. This strength is in us all from a very young age. Stamina and dexterity are what's required and these are completely different from strength. Here is what Gary Willis has to say on finger strength. [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoHEqQzbGAc[/media]

IMO, while there are good You Tube clips out there, as you say, most of them are not structured. For twelve pounds, I think investing in the "Hal Leonard Bass Method" book (see link below) would be money well invested, as would getting a teacher (even better). [url="http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAL-LEONARD-BASS-METHOD-COMPLETE-EDITION-BOOK-CD-/380137973573"]http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HAL-LEONARD-BASS-METHOD-COMPLETE-EDITION-BOOK-CD-/380137973573[/url] Having said the above, some good sites to check out, while not exactly structured would be : [url="http://scottsbasslessons.com/online-video-bass-lessons"]http://scottsbasslessons.com/online-video-bass-lessons[/url] [url="http://www.playbassnow.com"]www.playbassnow.com[/url]

[quote name='barkin' timestamp='1364295819' post='2024389'] Unles the piece absolutely needs it, I don't stick rigidly to one finger per fret. eg if a passage only needs me to use frets 3/4/5 I'll maybe use fingers 1/2/4. Yes - I'm a lazy so-and-so... [/quote] No, you are not being lazy IMO, but practical. As was mentioned in the clip I posted earlier, the OFPF is a great technique, but NOT a rule. Everyone's physical make up is different, so there is not a one-size-fits-all technique.

[quote name='TheBear' timestamp='1364238438' post='2023699'] Quick follow up : I am following your advices, and it does payoff ! I'm far from good yet, but the progression is "visible" so to speak. I found a band in between.. so going in the right direction. I'll have a look to the dummies book. can;t hurt [/quote] Glad you are noticing some progress. This will give you the incentive to keep at it.

[quote name='neepheid' timestamp='1364287271' post='2024229'] keep at it. [/quote] ...and you could do yourself serious injury. Using OFPF on the lower (1-5) frets can be too much of a reach for some people. As EssentialTension says, use the third and fourth fingers together on these frets, and use the thumb as a pivot to move the fingers to where you want them. Check out these clips : [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXkxu_7Tn48"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXkxu_7Tn48[/url] [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y57-2eaTBwc"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y57-2eaTBwc[/url]

[quote name='Grant' timestamp='1363867001' post='2018580'] I'm also hoping that they will retain their fundemental tone longer than roundwounds [/quote] You can bet that they will. I am talking about flats generally, as I'm not familiar with the Status Hotwires. I have read on other forums where people have had the same set of flats on their bass for......thirty years, and claim that the tone is still good. I would not go that far myself, but I think you can get the message. Glad you are happy with them.

[quote name='steve-bbb' timestamp='1363789339' post='2017641'] [/quote] I doubt if either the bassist in question or the groupie, filmed the "event".

[quote name='Coilte' timestamp='1363733466' post='2016888'] Sorry guys. Could not upload the image. [/quote] Eventually managed to do so. [url="http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=263188&d=1335104758"]http://www.talkbass.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=263188&d=1335104758[/url]

[quote name='Stuart Clayton' timestamp='1363730335' post='2016841'] you'll only ever get these books through Bassline Publishing. Stuart [/quote] Is it possible to get it without having to register and create a password ? At this stage, I have a phone-book-like list of passwords, which I have created any time I wanted to purchase something. About 80% of these, I have not used a second time. One site I buy from does not require registration or passwords. I can just pay with Pay Pal. Also, when I feed in my location information on your site, it does not quote me a shipping price.

Again, sorry for not being able to upload the picture. Being a bit of a dinosaur, my computer skills are not what they could be. Basically it was a picture of a cut out article in some USA music magazine, where a 27 year old groupie girl was disgusted, when she discovered the next morning, that she had been sleeping with the bassist, and not (in her words).... " a more important member of the band" !! She went on to say..."this wont happen again.... sure I can find anyone in town who is as important as a bass player"

See post #18.

Once you are enjoying what you do and are having fun, do labels really matter ?

You could practice clapping to a metronome, set to different beats. While you might not have a use for it now, familiarising yourself with bass clef notation, i.e. how and where each note is on the stave, key signatures etc., would be time well spent IMO. Spend five to ten minutes every day (regularity is the best way) should produce good progress. When you dont have the bass to hand, you could read up on these (and lots of other things ) on : [url="http://www.studybass.com"]www.studybass.com[/url] Best of luck with it.

[quote name='Bigjas' timestamp='1363094778' post='2008287'] This is a long way from when I used to sit at a tape deck, starting and stopping and rewinding songs to work them out Jas [/quote] Yeah, been there, did that !

Really useful site. Thanks for giving us the heads up on it.

[quote name='TheBear' timestamp='1362328063' post='1998420'] I did really start yesterday & today (could not really bass before) and I have been busy today with (re)learning the fretboard, as well as back to basic in Studybass AND Hector's advice. I feel somehow ashame on how bad I really am and I did not realize so far how lacky I was in real solid bases. Anyway, all your advices are good and well-employed and I will one day become a bassist. [/quote] No need to feel ashamed. We all need to learn something. No one knows it all. I'm sure you are better than you give yourself credit for. One more piece of advice FWIW. It concerns the learning process itself. Hector touched on it earlier. I'd recommend learning for say an hour at a time, then take a break and come back to it. If you overload the brain with too much information at one time, it kind of switches off. Regularity is better than cramming in say, four hours at week ends, then not doing anything for four or five days.

[url="http://www.studybass.com/lessons/common-bass-patterns/"]http://www.studybass...-bass-patterns/[/url] The above site is a great all round one for bass. As you are just starting out, my advice is to start at the very beginning and work your way through the lessons. This way each lesson builds on the information you have learned in the previous ones, so there are no gaps in the learning process. In the above link I picked out the section that deals with basic chord patterns. In the exercise diagrams, if you put the mouse arrow over the notes, it gives the sound of that note, plus the fingering. Another good series of lessons are Dave Marks "Walking Bass " ones (see link below). Before you delve into these, it would be best to go through the first few lessons on "Study Bass" first. [url="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dave+marks+walking+bass+lesson+01&oq=dave+marks+wa&gs_l=youtube.1.0.0l2.5745.19218.0.21598.15.13.1.1.1.0.497.1678.7j5j4-1.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.zAVxtFV-vs8"]http://www.youtube.c...c.1.zAVxtFV-vs8[/url]

In Folsom Prison Blues, as in a lot of C/W songs the bass generally plays the root and five, like in this link : [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJA5umCU-k8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJA5umCU-k8[/url]