Your best 5-string tip

[Mickeyboro]

Transitioning from 4 to 5. Give me, please, one handy tip to help me accomplish this. 
 

Thanks!

[chris_b]

1. Buy the best 5er you can find.

 

2. Put your 4 string bass away and don't touch it until you are fluent in 5.

 

Sorry. Can't count.

[Acebassmusic]

Put your 4 string basses to one side for 6 months and dont touch them. Only focus on the 5 string techniques.

Learn to play across the neck more than along the neck.

Practice your muting technique.

Go slow to start with and make sure you play cleanly

 

You asked for 1 tip, I gave you 4....what does that say about a bass player who obviously can't count! 🤣🤣

[franzbassist]

In addition to the above, if you play fingerstyle try and get into the habit of resting your pinky on the B string when you aren't playing it.  It's a good way to eliminate unwanted string vibration.

[lemmywinks]

If you don't like the string spacing then try something else with a wider/narrower spacing. I went through a ton of 5ers before I realised 18mm+ is what I need. I'm not fussy with a 4 but it makes a lot of difference with the extra string(s) IMO.

 

Practice floating thumb technique or your own adaptation of it, particularly if you're playing passages above the bottom two strings (heresey I know).

 

As already said play your 5 exclusively for a while, it won't take long to adapt but going back and forth early on might increase the chances of hitting the wrong string at a gig.

[chris_b]

IMO muting issues are over stated and shouldn't be a concern.

 

We all learnt how to mute 4 strings from scratch. Adding an extra string is easy.

[jonnybass]

You asked for one but its get one get one free day here so:

 

String crossing exercises are worth practicing. 

 

If you are finding the feel of the low b difficult, try different types of strings. As an example I have been using fives on and off since '93, but I cant get on with taper core strings.  Just never used any that felt right to me.

 

Jonny

[paul_5]

Not so much a technique tip, but I wasn’t aware of how much string noise I was generating until I started practicing through headphones. No amp-sim, no reverb, just a headphone amp. It highlights technique issues REALLY quickly!!

[Baloney Balderdash]

Notice that you got 3 octaves available of the same note, skipping a string and going 2 frets forward downwards, or backward upwards.

 

Like this for instance:

 

--------------5----------------

-------------------------------

---------3---------3----------

-------------------------------

----1--------------------1-----

 

This might seem rather basic and obvious, but non the less really helpful to keep in mind to help you orientate on the fretboard, and to me that actually makes it an easier task than on a 4 string, and makes it easy to copy patterns of for instance scales across the fretboard.

 

Overall practicing intervals, getting familiar with both the sound of them and the patterns they form on the fretboard, is a really good idea, regardless of if you play 4 or 5 string bass.

 

Personally I just think 5 strings makes it easier cause more patterns will mirror each other like that, and it is worth to remind yourself of that.

 

 

Edited June 30 by Baloney Balderdash

[Baloney Balderdash]

On 24/06/2024 at 16:48, lemmywinks said:

If you don't like the string spacing then try something else with a wider/narrower spacing. I went through a ton of 5ers before I realised 18mm+ is what I need. I'm not fussy with a 4 but it makes a lot of difference with the extra string(s) IMO.

 

Practice floating thumb technique or your own adaptation of it, particularly if you're playing passages above the bottom two strings (heresey I know).

 

As already said play your 5 exclusively for a while, it won't take long to adapt but going back and forth early on might increase the chances of hitting the wrong string at a gig.

+1 to floating thumb technique, gives you more freedom and flexibility in your plucking hand, and not least it is the absolutely most effective way to mute strings you don't play.

 

That said, even to start with, I had no issues going back and forth between my 4 string, standard 19mm string spacing, bass, and then my 5 string, 16.5mm string spacing, bass.

 

Guitar and Bass VI however, every time I play those, which doesn't happen too often, my fingers will stumble over the strings on both my fretting and plucking hand because of the narrow string spacing until I've played it a while and gotten used to it.

 

But we are all different, what might not be an issue for me might for you, and the other way around. 

 

Edited June 29 by Baloney Balderdash

[TKenrick]

I couldn't limit myself to just one tip, apologies.

 

1. Try as many 5-string basses as you can before you buy - I've owned several and it's taken a very long time to settle on a neck shape/profile that feels comfortable for me, and a lot of basses (even expensive ones) feel like a 4-string bass with a low B crammed in there for good measure.

 

2. Sadly there are still musicians out there who will be prejudiced against you for showing up to a gig with a 5-string bass. Yes, they are idiots but they still exist, so get ready for the inevitable "why has your bass got so many strings?" conversations.

[SamIAm]

Like others, I cannot restrict it to just the one.  What I found really useful was moving from fixed thumb to floating thumb (Tho I realise that many 4 string players use floating thumb), getting my head/fingers around practicing slightly revised patterns to play across the neck in any given position (rather than having to play up/down the neck) and leaving my 4 string alone.

 

Sam x

Edited June 29 by SamIAm

[TheGreek]

One tip?? Listen to the people who recommend the floating thumb technique....

[Baloney Balderdash]

1 hour ago, TKenrick said:

I couldn't limit myself to just one tip, apologies.

 

1. Try as many 5-string basses as you can before you buy - I've owned several and it's taken a very long time to settle on a neck shape/profile that feels comfortable for me, and a lot of basses (even expensive ones) feel like a 4-string bass with a low B crammed in there for good measure.

 

2. Sadly there are still musicians out there who will be prejudiced against you for showing up to a gig with a 5-string bass. Yes, they are idiots but they still exist, so get ready for the inevitable "why has your bass got so many strings?" conversations.

Just tell them it's safety precaution in case a string should break, you'll have a spare one ready available, without having to use time on first removing the broken string, then installing a new one. 

 

Edited June 29 by Baloney Balderdash

[itu]

On 28/06/2024 at 17:31, Baloney Balderdash said:

Like this for instance:

 

--------------6----------------

-------------------------------

---------3---------3----------

-------------------------------

----1--------------------1-----

 

Should that 6 be 5, otherwise I do agree that the reach within few frets is substantial.

 

1 hour ago, TKenrick said:

...and a lot of basses (even expensive ones) feel like a 4-string bass with a low B crammed in there for good measure.

One of the worst experiences for me was the MM5. 4 is a good one but very different from 5.

 

One single tip? Play. Play as long as the bass feels familiar in your hands. I learn slowly: for me it took around 6 months.

[tauzero]

Find the most comfortable neck that you can.

 

Bonus tips:

Experiment with alternative fingering positions

Stick with the 5

 

Everybody will have different approaches - mine is that I base fingering around the 5th fret. That's not to say I don't go below or above it though, it's just the "home" position.

[Baloney Balderdash]

8 hours ago, itu said:

 

Should that 6 be 5, otherwise I do agree that the reach within few frets is substantial.

It should, thanks for noticing and correcting me! 

[SamIAm]

6 hours ago, tauzero said:

I base fingering around the 5th fret. That's not to say I don't go below or above it though, it's just the "home" position.

💡 bing!  I like this idea, I'd never considered that is is sorta like having a 5er with a high C ... but with easy access to lower notes.

 

Sam x

[lozkerr]

On 30/06/2024 at 01:04, tauzero said:

Everybody will have different approaches - mine is that I base fingering around the 5th fret. That's not to say I don't go below or above it though, it's just the "home" position.

That's exactly what I do. It feels completely natural and works a treat as I know I have all the notes I'm likely to need within easy reach both above and below the home position.

[lozkerr]

As the OP asked for a tip, here's how I did it - I spent a while repositioning all the starting points for scales on the B string and playing two octaves across the fretboard for each one. It got a bit harder as I headed up towards the dusty end as my fingers tended to bunch up, and starting on the open B string used a slightly different fingering pattern but once I'd cracked that, the rest was easy. I then learnt a few new songs that used the new fingering, so my muscle memory wouldn't get confused.

 

It took me just a couple of days to fully get the hang of it and I was playing confidently inside a week.

[chris_b]

Another tip. . . . there is no such thing as a 4 string song or bass part. 

 

A 5 string bass has exactly the same notes as a 4 but with extra finger placement options, and you have the flexibility of hitting a few lower notes if you feel like it.

[Baloney Balderdash]

7 minutes ago, chris_b said:

Another tip. . . . there is no such thing as a 4 string song or bass part. 

 

A 5 string bass has exactly the same notes as a 4 but with extra finger placement options, and you have the flexibility of hitting a few lower notes if you feel like it.

And remember the notes you feel like hitting are almost always the exact right ones!

 

This goes for both 5 and 4 string bass though.

 

Edited July 3 by Baloney Balderdash

[TheLowDown]

Treat the 5 string as a whole rather than as a 4 string with an added B string.  What I mean is, it's useful to understand how each of the 5 strings relate to each other in terms of intervals. This allows you to get a more flexible mind map of the fretboard.

 

 

Floating thumb is a must, and I think it's the best way however many strings are used. And to keep your thumb approximately on the centre of the back of the neck

Edited July 3 by TheLowDown

[tauzero]

Something else to bear in mind is that note timbre will change according to which string you use to play a note. The A on the 10th fret of the B string will sound different to the 5th fret of the E string and to the open A, partly because of the character of the string and partly because of where you're plucking it relative to the speaking length of the string - if you pluck in the same place then the higher you're fretting, the closer you'll be to the centre of the speaking length, hence the less harmonic content you'll get. If you're playing short notes it won't be particularly noticeable but it's worth keeping in mind and experimenting with on sustained notes.

[chris_b]

5 hours ago, TheLowDown said:

Floating thumb is a must. . . .

 

Floating thumb is an option not a requirement.