JeSuisSkeleton Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 My bass teacher has me on this new practice routine, which is going well so far, but! I'm having trouble sticking to the scales practice. He said I should have 20 mins a day "technique" practice, which means scales, modes, fingering etc. I can certainly see the benefits, but there's only so much of playing up and down a scale over one octave, two octaves, one string, in thirds etc. It gets old, fast. I'm too easily distracted from it at the moment. Does anyone have any tips for making it more interesting? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZMech Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 (edited) Have you tried playing through them in multiple ways, e.g. up four notes at a time. So in C that'd be C D E F, D E F G, E F G A, F G A B, G A B C, and then back down again. Other things can be go up the scale in third, so C E, D F, E G etc. and then do that for different interval gaps in each mode. Then if that's not enough variations, you can do it across one two three or four strings, and if it's double bass/fretless with different fingerings. Still not riveting stuff, but at least gives some change from just standard scales. Edit: just remembered another one i've been trying, which is to stick on a jazz standard e.g. Misty, and try to play the arpeggio of each chord in time with it. Sounded fairly easy but is suprisingly hard. Edited February 27, 2011 by Zach Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 You could try the Bottesini Method for double bass.. all the studies actually have strong melodies so pleasant to play, but the more you get into the book the more you recognise what particular aspect of technique that study is concentrating on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purpleblob Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 (edited) I assume you're playing up and down the whole neck, which isn't neccesarily super interesting but adds the variation to ensure you keep focused, another way of practising is - do you have a looper or some back recording device to record a chords some form of rhythm, for example play a A major chord and then practise playing the related scales, modes and arps over the top ? EDIT: Sorry just re-read you comment so sounds like you are practising all over the neck, so possibly try practising over a rhythm of a single (or more chords). Edited February 27, 2011 by purpleblob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JakeBrownBass Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Are you playing on a 5 string or 4 string?? It's just that i know some really good exercise if your on a 5 string. Also, have you practiced playing just a single octave scale starting on different fingers. So many players learn the major scale by starting on their second finger and then get stuck in that pattern for ever. For example, take note of the fingerings, especially on the 3rd one. [attachment=73418:Screen_s...16.42.03.png] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 +1 on all of above. I also split the scales practice time (say fives minutes at at time) with learning or playing a new/well rehearsed bass line. It keeps interest etc. I truly think that if it's not fun, then it will not stay in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doddy Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Are you just playing them by running patterns,or do you actually know what you are playing and how the notes work together? Don't look at scales as technique practice. Learn the notes that are involved and play them all over the fingerboard and over every available octave. If you are just running patterns then you will get nothing out of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_5 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 I went through a similar thing a while ago. I made it more interesting by making myself play each note in different position going up and coming down. Also ascending and descending in 4ths (GABC, ABCD, BCDE etc). I took it further by adding in some RH techniques too, to keep all my piggies wriggling. Now I'm awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blademan_98 Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1143596' date='Feb 27 2011, 05:46 PM']Are you just playing them by running patterns,or do you actually know what you are playing and how the notes work together? Don't look at scales as technique practice. Learn the notes that are involved and play them all over the fingerboard and over every available octave. If you are just running patterns then you will get nothing out of them.[/quote] That's great advice. My bass tutor has got me to do this and it really helps! I now think about the notes and where I can go from there. I still use patterns but within the context of knowing the notes I am playing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeSuisSkeleton Posted February 28, 2011 Author Share Posted February 28, 2011 [quote name='Doddy' post='1143596' date='Feb 27 2011, 05:46 PM']Are you just playing them by running patterns,or do you actually know what you are playing and how the notes work together? Don't look at scales as technique practice. Learn the notes that are involved and play them all over the fingerboard and over every available octave. If you are just running patterns then you will get nothing out of them.[/quote] [quote name='Blademan_98' post='1143696' date='Feb 27 2011, 07:07 PM']That's great advice. My bass tutor has got me to do this and it really helps! I now think about the notes and where I can go from there. I still use patterns but within the context of knowing the notes I am playing.[/quote] Yeah, I'm doing this. I used to just learn the patterns but obviously you just get locked into that shape. I'm running scales from the root, up to octaves in different fingerings so I can learn as much as possible re: improvising from different places. I'm also going down to the bottom of the range on the bass in a particular scale, so for CMaj I'm going C, B, A, G, F, E then back up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Play against a metronome on 2 and 4 and get youself into 'the zone' listening to every minute string buzz, friction noise and little nicks and nocks that contribute to the formation of each note. You need to do this because, if you don't, it will come backa bnd bite you on the ar*e for the rest of your career. Endless repetition is the source of all advanced technique. Learn to love the simplicity of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OliverBlackman Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 learn the intervals that make up a scale and then find songs that use these scales. Such as a lot of funk stuff like good time use a Dorian scale. Then you can really see how these boring scales can be used to make something much more interesting. Once you know what scale that bassline/ riff uses then improvise with the line and find your own way of using the scales to make something you enjoy playing. After all if its not fun your not going to want to do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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