Help with octaves please, thank you

[shoulderpet]

Hi

Have always found it tricky playing fast bass lines that have octave jumps, just cant get the speed up to do this without getting sloppy, am after some tips, thank you

[chris_b]

Pluck the lower note with your index finger, then pluck the high note with your middle finger. Start slowly and speed up.

[greghagger]

3 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Hi

Have always found it tricky playing fast bass lines that have octave jumps, just cant get the speed up to do this without getting sloppy, am after some tips, thank you

Hi, do you mean playing the octave pattern on two strings or jumping up to the octave higher on the same string? 

[shoulderpet]

2 hours ago, greghagger said:

Hi, do you mean playing the octave pattern on two strings or jumping up to the octave higher on the same string? 

Playing the octave pattern on two strings 

[shoulderpet]

5 hours ago, chris_b said:

Pluck the lower note with your index finger, then pluck the high note with your middle finger. Start slowly and speed up.

Thanks, will give this a try 

[greghagger]

9 hours ago, shoulderpet said:

Playing the octave pattern on two strings 

Ok.  Just checking but do you use 1 and 4 in fretting hand? 

[DanOwens]

Is the problem with your plucking hand or your fretting hand?

If its the plucking hand then I suggest doing exercises around string skipping. Put on a slow metronome and practice playing 8th notes in a variety of patterns. I'm a big fan of isolating the problems and working on them in isolation before integrating it into normal playing. 

So if it is just your plucking hand, put on a slow (gradually increasing) metronome and play 8th note patterns such as:

Moving top note: EAEDEGED

Moving bottom note: EGAGDGAG

Now there are a LOT of possible permutations, working in groups of 3 rather than 2, or eventually introducing the fretting hand (playing scales in 5ths or 6ths can be a great workout). The world is your oyster, but focus on what the problem is and isolate it to address it. 

Edited May 23, 2020 by DanOwens

[pete.young]

16 hours ago, chris_b said:

Pluck the lower note with your index finger, then pluck the high note with your middle finger. Start slowly and speed up.

Or, play the lower note with your thumb and pop the top one.