Bass Guitar Tips and Advice

Today I want to tell you some of the simplest electric bass guitar infomation I've found so far. I’ve managed to narrow it down into just 5 tips that will give you a big boost in your playing ability.

One or two of them could seem rather simple but are often easy to forget. It might be tempting to try to jump past many of the basics of studying bass. This is sometimes a huge error and can really reducde your progress in the long term.

1. Tune your bass guitar

This initial tip is easy however sometimes overlooked. The very first thing that you should do every single time you pick up your bass is tune it. The quickest and best way to do this is plugging in an electric bass tuner.

2. Always warm up

Once you have spent a few minutes tuning your bass guitar you must always warm up. This can help to make sure your hands ready to begin practising. Making sure your hands are warmed up will help you to avoid finger injuries and strains from playing. It also gives your hands chances to stretch and get use to practicing again before you leap into the intense part of your daily practise.

3. Learn the notes of the bass fretboard

Memorizing the frets of the bass fretboard is something you should take a few moments investing the time to study. Not many players, even experienced bassists who have played for ages still don’t learn the notes of their bass. So take the time to learn it.

4. Learning to play songs

It is a great idea to choose a easy peice of music and begin studying it even if you’re a total beginner. Just begin with something easy and slow it down into smaller parts. Sometimes novice bassists musicians delay studying music until after a few months and concentrate on bass chords, scales and theory. I recommend that after you know the basic bass guitar proficiency of playing and fretting notes you are read to begin your first song.

5. Have a bass routine

Planning out a bass practise routine is the one thing that turned my bass playing around. Once I had a consistent routine of what to do each day my bass guitar skills developed drastically. If you still pick up your bass and just play about on it, it’s properly the reason you are not expriencing the progression you would like to have. Having a bass schedule is some of the top bass guitar advice I can tell you.

I hope you have found this bass guitar advice helpful. I believe if you put each 5 of these steps in your practise and take the time to do them you will see much better results.

Bass Guitar Warm Up Exercises Video

This video contains some really good bass warm up exercises that I think you will find useful. Warming up before you play is an important part of playing bass. If you just rush straight into a song then you my find that your hands with quickly begin aching.

Stretching and performing exercises will ensure that your hands are ready before you begin. They will also help to increase the strength in your hands.

History Of The Electric Bass Guitar

Today I came across this really interesting article which explains the history of the electric bass guitar. It's not something I knew much about before now and if discovering how bass guitars were in the past then this bass article is well worth a read.

The Birth of the Electric Bass Guitar

The electric bass guitar is fairly easily identifiable because the overall shape is quite different to the standard electric guitar. An electric bass guitar usually has a body which is much larger in size than a standard electric guitar, and the neck is often much longer, with the scale length used for the frets much larger too. The overall size of an electric bass guitar is the most obvious distinguishing feature that makes it easy to spot, but of course its extra size can cause trouble for beginners. If you are looking at buying an electric guitar, and are considering the bass version, then it will be important to try out one such example first. The physical size may, in some cases, prohibit effective use, and a standard sized guitar may prove to be a more suitable alternative.

An electric bass guitar usually has four strings which are tuned to the same pitch as the double bass, or in some cases the strings are simply tuned to be one octave lower than the lowest four strings of a standard guitar.

For the last fifty years, the electric bass guitar has been the instrument of choice for producing the bass notes in most popular music, causing a dramatic decline in the popularity of the double bass for such music. The electric bass guitar has proven to be a very popular instrument, not only for use within popular music, but as an instrument in itself, often used for solo performances. In particular, jazz, funk and rock styles often feature an electric bass guitar solo, or prominent performance within a piece.

It was actually back in the 1930s that the electric bass guitar was born, with Paul Tutmarc's invention - originally referred to as a fiddle. It comprised of four bass strings, had a body and a fret board - and was played horizontally. Named an electronic bass fiddle it proved to be very popular, and because its manner of playing was more similar to that of a guitar, it meant that it was easier to pick up by guitarists than a fiddle would have been for them.

Although Tutmarc's fiddle marked the dawn of the electric bass guitar, it took about twenty years for the idea to take hold, and be developed by Leo Fender before it became a popular instrument. Fender created the Precision Bass, and took the rough form of a Telecaster with a single coil pickup. With four steel strings the instrument became popular with many well known bands and groups of the fifties, and it was at this point that the bass guitar became popular worldwide.

Following closely behind Fender was Gibson, whose bass guitars were generally smaller then fender's, and incorporated a humbucker pickup rather than the single coils. Gibson's most famous creation was the Thunderbird with a 34 inch scale, and duel humbucking pickups located halfway between the neck of the guitar and the bridge - a more usual position.

Today, electric bass guitars can be bought in a range of styles and shapes, although still generally larger than the standard electric guitars. For complete flexibility, however, you could always consider a duel neck guitar - with one being a bass, and the other a standard six string guitar!

Victor Epand is an expert consultant for guitars, drums, keyboards, sheet music, guitar tab, and home theater audio. You can find the best marketplace at these sites for electric bass guitar, bass guitar, sheet music, guitar.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com

Torzal Twist Bass Guitar Review

A Bass with a twist!

Little Guitar Works have designed a bass guitar with a twist. I’m not talking about your usual gimmicks this guitar really does have a huge twist in it’s neck! 35 Degree’s to be exact 15 at the bridge and 20 at the nut. The strings on this instrument are still straight just the bridge leans one way and the nut leans the other.



Why have they does this?

They made it like this to make it easier and more comfortable to play. It also helps people with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (CTS), tendonitis, and other "overuse" injuries. It can be used by all players to lower the risk of these playing related problems.

The rotation in the neck minimizes how much your wrist twists while you play. The twist at the bridge is to ease the bending of your right wrist. They have also considered the shape of the bass to maximize comfort and playability. Such as how it balances on a strap or on your knee while sitting.

Cost : unknown - You have to have one custom made.

Website : http://www.littleguitarworks.com/


Tom Boyd

Red Hot Chili Peppers Snow Video

I thought this would be handy for anyone using my 'RHCP-Snow Bass Lesson'.

You can play along to this song to practise.

Happy Bassing





Tom Boyd

String Review - 'Flea Signature' Bass Boomers (45-105)

Yesterday I got a set of these strings. My Fiancée got them for me which was so nice of her!
I got home and put them straight on my bass. I had no choice of getting new strings as I had snapped my E string (even though I thought it was like impossible to brake a E string on a bass haha).

These string are amazing! The tone between these and my old strings is incredible. My old strings where over a year old though! But even when they were new they didn't sound like these. Currently they are a bit 'Tinny' and to bright for my liking but I'm sure after a few weeks they will be great. They also have like red string at the top where they wind round the tuners which I like alot.

I didn’t get these because they are Flea Signature strings. All though I am a huge Red Hot Chilli Peppers fan. I got them because I had tried the two other makes in the shop and wanted something new. They also happened to be the cheapest. But that’s also not why I got them.

Features:

• Nickel-plated steel wrap
• Stainless steel/nickel plate wrap on the low E for added power

Cost: £18.99 (could of properly got them cheaper online but I needed them quickly)

I will update you on how I get on with them soon. I’m sure once they lose there new string brightness and I get back to college next week and start using them all day long they will be a whole different animal.

Tom Boyd

Recomended Reading : Snow (RHCP) Lesson

Update 16/4/07 : Today I had chance to use these strings properly at rehearsal. They have defiantly settled down a bit now with the new string brightness fading a warmer tone taking its place.

Bass Links #2

Here are some more great Bass sites!

www.tunemybass.com - online tuner and a guide on how to string your bass.

www.wheatdesign.com/bassbook/ Bass lessons split into three 'books'

http://www.guitarnoise.com/bass.php Bass for beginners lessons

Hope you find these useful.

Tom Boyd