Of Iraq and Bass Guitars

[Brasel]

So for those of you who don't know, I've been home for about a week now, and I'll be leaving to go back to Baghdad in another. During my time in Iraq, I've been practicing my bass guitar skills on...well, an Acoustic guitar. Much different, I know. I'd just been doing the basic finger plucking on the first two strings to simulate a bass as much as I could. Then I bought some Iraqi brand bass at a bazaar on post. The strings were all messed up so I couldn't play it, but now I have new strings to take back with me to restring it. I'm playing my good ole American Fender Bass right now. Feels really good. The thing is: I'm learning this on my own, no lessons, no advice, nothing. Thats a really cool accomplishment, especially when you find that you can play songs such as Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls, and Weezer's Only in Dreams and make them sound just like they're supposed to.

I don't know if Belderan or Dechipher play bass, or if anyone else on AGN might, but anyone have any tips for me? I've been doing chromatic scale excersizes to build my finger dexterity, but I'm having problems using my pinky finger. I'm not really sure if you use that or not when playing bass. I know you do when you play standard six string guitar but...

[SixTen]

I rarely use my pinky finger when I play bass. It's too weak to really hold the strings down all the way for longer than a quick note or two so I try to avoid it. The only advice I can give is to keep playing, as soon as you lose the feeling in your fingertips you'll be able to play for longer periods of time.

Also, if you play more towards the pickup you get a nice mellow sound, and it gets mellower the further up towards the neck you get, whereas if you pluck real close to the bridge (I think thats what it's called, the part where the strings come out) you get a harder, funkier type of sound.

[Beldaran]

Yeah I play bass. Bass rules.

First, practice jamming on this Little Blues Scale (http://www.cyberfretbass.com/scales/blues/index.php). Blues scales are great for little runs and walks in the middle of your playing. However, make sure you learn it in All The Positions (http://www.angelfire.com/id/bass/minorpentatonic.html). The way this works is, start a note... say, "G". Then play the scale in all positions starting from that note. That's how you play "in the key of G". You can make up some cool stuff this way. There are Lots of Different Scales (http://www.angelfire.com/id/bass/). If you feel like it, learn them all! You will have a large repetoire of musical ideas to draw from.

Also, the biggest thing you can do (and it sounds like you're already doing it) is learn your favorite songs on bass. Emulation is the best way to learn how to play, at first. Also, find bass players who are considered "virtuosos" like Stu Hamm, Jaco Pastorius, and Billy Sheehan. Learn some of their more complicated stuff when you get the time/skills. It will make you a better musician.

Practice is your best weapon. Just practice every day, even if it's just for a few minutes. You'll get good a lot faster and if you make a practice schedule, you won't be tempted to just stop playing for a week whenever you get bored.

Good luck! Bass rules and there aren't enough good bass players.