Open strings: Yay or nay, with reasons.

[EssentialTension]

On 22/12/2017 at 12:17, EliasMooseblaster said:

That would require you to find a guitarist who'll voluntarily play in Eb - a very rare breed, in my experience!

Maybe some limited rock guitarists have that attitude but in jazz, soul, and other genres, flat keys including Eb are definitely much more common and any guitarist worth his or her salt would be expected to play them without question. It's only a matter of learning your chords and scales properly.

Edited December 23, 2017 by EssentialTension
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[Dan Dare]

On ‎22‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 12:17, EliasMooseblaster said:

That would require you to find a guitarist who'll voluntarily play in Eb - a very rare breed, in my experience!

Buy 'em a capo for Christmas.

[CameronJ]

As has been said, there’s a time and a place for everything. As a loose rule I do tend to try and play fretted notes wherever possible and this is made easier by owning a 5 string bass...but there are definitely certain songs/basslines which require open strings purely for ease of playing them. I do notice and appreciate the tonal differences between an open string and its fretted equivalent but again, there is a time and place for both, context dependent.

[drTStingray]

I don't actively avoid using them and for some songs they're essential - however for those of us who've developed a playing style which automatically incorporates fretting hand muting, it's certainly more difficult to mute an open string than a fretted one for me.

As has previously been mentioned double bass players often use open strings, and particularly to link from one note to another from different areas of the fretboard - having observed double bass players doing this I nicked the technique years ago and use it regularly. Jamerson used the effect regularly - and was of course, also a double bass player - a particular example is the bass break in I Was Made To Love Her - goes from F second octave to open A chromatically to C. 

As for use open strings as a part of bass parts - I guess if you're aiming to avoid going above fret 5 then you would have to - I personally find this approach a little confusing - so I Want You Back played in frets 1 to 5 using open strings is entirely possible - but much easier and far more intuitive for me played slightly higher up the fretboard. 

As for playing rock songs - they are often in E or A - those in E almost always require open strings (although I'd prefer to play A at 5th fret to have more control) - Superstition played in the wrong key does require open E (although on a normally tuned 4 string it can't include the lead in D note which happens every so often).  

 

[DJpullchord]

Why is it harder to mute an open string? 

[drTStingray]

34 minutes ago, DJpullchord said:

Why is it harder to mute an open string? 

If you're muting with your fretting hand, you won't be fretting an open string so will need to move your hand additionally to do it - also easily possible to introduce a harmonic unintentionally dependent whereabouts your fretting hand is. You can overcome this by palm muting the whole part but this is not always practical and might produce a different sound anyway.

For me, muting techniques are a necessary and complex part of playing bass. 

[Skybone]

You need to use all the tools available to do your job, and if that means using open strings, then so be it. Don't see a problem with it myself.

[josie]

Two comments (some repetition from above):

The sustain / drone from an open string can be very effective in the right place. One of my band's originals switches between a frantic scurrying verse and a slow, waves-sloshing chorus on E - G - A where the open E and A (and slide from E to G) on the bass are essential to ground the switches of mood.

The second comment is more about learning - it's easy (as both my teachers have told me, and they're right) to be afraid of the open strings and so get drawn further and further up the neck. Spend time on minor and minor pentatonic scales using the open strings, get comfortable with that, and you'll have more ready options when you're learning a new song or jamming, and it will be more natural to use the lower notes, which is what bass is about after all innit :-)

[EliasMooseblaster]

On 22/12/2017 at 18:09, mikel said:

I can sympathise. I used to play guitar and Eb is a very difficult key to play in. I know every musician should know everything about every aspect of their instrument, but most of us are semi pro or fun players so give people a break.

 

On 23/12/2017 at 16:33, EssentialTension said:

Maybe some limited rock guitarists have that attitude but in jazz, soul, and other genres, flat keys including Eb are definitely much more common and any guitarist worth his or her salt would be expected to play them without question. It's only a matter of learning your chords and scales properly.

I should probably add that my original post was a little tongue-in-cheek, and usually stems from being at blues jams and seeing a few guitarists' faces visibly fall when the singer says that he or she would like to do a song in Eb or F (and a few who blanch whenever any brass-friendly key is called)! To give some rock guitarists the benefit of the doubt, though: it is a much more heavily guitar-oriented genre, and there will be a lot of songs where something will sound a bit weird if you have to shift a distinctive riff or driving power chords seven-and-a-half tones further up the neck.

[louisthebass]

I used to be one of those people who were taught to use fretted notes as much as humanly possible, but as the years have progressed have found open strings in bass parts just as agreeable - if it was good enough for Jamerson, it's good enough for me (not that I'm anywhere near his league).

[EssentialTension]

46 minutes ago, EliasMooseblaster said:

 

I should probably add that my original post was a little tongue-in-cheek, and usually stems from being at blues jams and seeing a few guitarists' faces visibly fall when the singer says that he or she would like to do a song in Eb or F (and a few who blanch whenever any brass-friendly key is called)! To give some rock guitarists the benefit of the doubt, though: it is a much more heavily guitar-oriented genre, and there will be a lot of songs where something will sound a bit weird if you have to shift a distinctive riff or driving power chords seven-and-a-half tones further up the neck.

I should probably add that I meant no criticism of you and I did know it was tongue-in-cheek.

[Delberthot]

I'm completely self taught and sometimes feel that if I had received lessons then it may have limited my playing

I play open strings, mute with both hands, don't have a clue about scales & modes (I couldn't even tell you what one is) but I play what feels right within a song. If I want to show off by taking a drink of water during a song, or change a setting on my amp and have to play open strings to achieve this then that's what I do.

In my band we try to stick to the original keys so for Superstition I flick my detuner to D as it sounds dreadful starting on the 6th fret of the A string. It requires more movement than playing it in E or using a 5 string but it in itself creates an effect as I rush up and down the fretboard from fret 1 on the E to fret 6 on the A

Edited December 28, 2017 by Delberthot

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, Delberthot said:

as I rush up and down the fretboard from fret 1 on the E to fret 6 on the A

Have you tried rushing to the first fret of the 'D' string..? 

...

 

[Delberthot]

4 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

Have you tried rushing to the first fret of the 'D' string..? 

...

 

That would make it even more difficult to play the run