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I picked up my first (Fender Jazz) bass several weeks ago. I'm having a lot of trouble going back and forth from bass to regular six string guitar.

 

Does it get any easier to go back and forth or should I stick to just one or the other?

 

I thought about spending one week with one and the next with another. It seems I lose something if I stay away from one too long.

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Guest Farnsbarns

apply the concept of kaizen.

 

 

The magnitude of incorrectness is mind boggling. Even their description of the meaning is wrong, let alone a total and complete misunderstanding of the philosophy of Kaizen.

 

I've spent a fair amount of time practicing kaizen in both life and business. Business being the original application of the philosophy.

 

The Japanese business leaders used it to drive positive rebuilding of economy after the war.

 

I don't dislike the thinking in the video but it bears as much resemblance to kaizen as a brick does to a giraffe.

 

And in case anyone cares, very rarely in a Japanese word is one syllable emphasised so it's pronounced with no emphasis.

 

Kai-Zen, not kaizun as the man in the video pronounced it.

 

Also, it's not going to help you switch from one instrument to another by practising for 1 minute a day, or exercising or anything else of the that ilk. I'd suggest that real kaizen will work better actually, remove all unnecessary barriers to success, which could mean only practising for a minute a day but if having to put more than a minute a day into something is a barrier to success than playing a musical instrument probably isn't for you.

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Guest Farnsbarns

Same. I'm becoming fabulously humble

 

I'm not sure that humble really features, unless not being humble was a barrier to success previously. It's one of those eastern things that the west want to define, to create a formula for, we seem to need instructions. Not many eastern philosophies work like that. Interesting because they love a bit of ceremony and tradition. The idea is to make yourself free from instructions, methodology, processes and focus on what stands in front of your goals. Removal of negative outcomes for failure from a management perspective features a lot in that basis. Attach a carrot to the stick and stop using it for hitting, metaphorically speaking.

 

Any way, sorry, I've hijacked that. Back to the fellas problem, changing between instruments. My dad reconned you needed to stop playing the first while you learn the second, then, when the time seems right, pick the first one up again.

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I have a couple of basses (for recording). I find no serious problem changing from one to another

(though I don’t consider myself a bassist). A couple of minutes is all it takes really.

 

The only thing that can throw me is this:

As a guitarist (playing melody), I play across the beat as the mood takes me. You can’t do that with bass. You have to be right on the beat. A bassist buddy of mine actually watches the drummers foot so he can synch in perfectly.

 

So when practicing bass, I suggest playing along to music, a drum m/c or a metronome. Keeping the bassline simple will help stop straying from the beat.

When you nail it, a bassists groove feels great!

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The only "Bass" I own, is a Squier Bass VI! It's "short scale," as well. As primarily a guitar player,

I feel (personally) like a short scale bass is easier to transition to. But, that's just Me! I love

the SG basses, for the same reason. With the Squier Bass VI, the string gauge is lighter, as well,

which is a bit easier (again, for me) to transition to. But, with practice and determination, one can

get "used to," Bass of any scale, and string number and gauge, really. Bass, is a different mind set,

IMHO. While I'm still no "bass player," I've found playing a bit of bass, to be a LOT of Fun, and a

real learning experience, as well. [thumbup]

 

 

 

CB

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All good advice, methinks.

 

Being a guitar player, switching to bass, it has been harder to get used to playing wider fret spacing and spacing between strings. A five fret distance is an easy stretch on guitar, while a four fret stretch is hard for me on bass. I find myself tensing up to the point of teeth grinding and facial contortions related to that tension. [biggrin] Playing tightly on the beat has often been a problem for me, so I think I'll play more with a metronome and play to other music. Finger style has never been much of a problem on guitar, but getting used to playing alternately between index and middle fingers has become a new challenge, and where to rest my thumb and muting is different. Also, getting used to the concept that the first string is not an E-string has taken a mental adjustment, since my orientation has always started from either the top down or the bottom up.

 

And bass strings are not where they are supposed to be. Switching back to a regular guitar is like going to a miniature instrument and playing through a telescope. Funny really. Frets aren't where they are supposed to be.

 

OTOH, playing the guitar and knowing the fretboard has made sounding melodic much easier on bass... a huge positive there. I feel like when I get my technique down, I'll be where I want to be. I'm not happy with how I'm playing, but I am with what I'm playing.

 

I think I'll just alternate days for a while. As someone said, practice, practice, practice.

 

Thanks for the input.

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I picked up my first (Fender Jazz) bass several weeks ago. I'm having a lot of trouble going back and forth from bass to regular six string guitar.

 

Does it get any easier to go back and forth or should I stick to just one or the other?

 

 

Just wondering is the adjustment you are talking about physical or mental?

 

The physical part will come with time - fret spacing and such.

 

I find the harder adjustment to be thinking like a bass player. Bass parts (good ones) are very different than guitar parts (unless you are just pumping out quarter notes). You gotta think differently.

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Just wondering is the adjustment you are talking about physical or mental?

 

The physical part will come with time - fret spacing and such.

 

I find the harder adjustment to be thinking like a bass player. Bass parts (good ones) are very different than guitar parts (unless you are just pumping out quarter notes). You gotta think differently.

 

Yeah, I definitely get that. But getting it and doing it are two different thinks... things I still need to figure out. The good thing is that I know scales and I know the fretboard. As with any chord, the 1s, 3s, 7s, and extensions/alterations are the important notes. I'm told the bass player is responsible for the 1s and 5s and whatever else he wants to accent, including walking lines with passing notes and ninths and flatted fifths. Jaco said that the bass player must learn the song melody on the bass in order to work around that, particularly in solos, and I expect bass riffs can be just as important to a song as guitar riffs.

 

But there are times in a song... glorious times... when the bass player can hit a note that has such a pure, harmonious, blissful sound on the bottom end. Those are the notes I'll be looking for.

 

Any other suggestions as to how a bass player should be thinking are welcome.

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I love playing bass.. Its lots of fun in a different way to the 6 string guitar...

 

Have you thought that maybe you need a bass with a different neck profile? I only have a Squire p bass (which I put some SD pups in) but its so awesome and easy to play I always have fun with it and have no problems going between that and one of my guitars.

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I had been playing guitar for two years when I took up playing bass. Since I'm tall (6'6"), have long arms and big hands, picking up a long-scale bass (34") was not difficult from a physical standpoint. Where I did have a challenge was that at the time, I played guitar only with a pick, but because of the string spacing on the bass, I had problems playing bass with a pick. (I eventually learned to play guitar fingerstyle.). I played bass fingerstyle exclusively for about eight years until I played bass in a band that had a few songs on the set list that were too fast to play fingerstyle. So I then had incentive to work on playing bass with a pick so now I can play both ways.

 

I have never had much difficulty physically switching back and forth between guitar and bass other than adjusting my midset for the way each is played in a musical environment. Having purchased a 7 string guitar a couple of years ago and becoming comfortable navigating my way around a low B string, I plan to eventually take up a 5 or 6 string bass.

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Since I'm tall (6'6"), have long arms and big hands, picking up a long-scale bass (34") was not difficult from a physical standpoint.

 

Even at 5' 7" I'm fine with the 34" scale until it comes time to tune that d@mn G string. [biggrin]

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I'm a decent bass player, even though I only ever play a borrowed bass out of necessity these days when I record solo stuff. So I don't practice anymore.

 

Two different yet related disciplines, in my book. And it... Well, it's SUPPOSED to depend on what genre of music you play. Dave Mustaine once famously said, further endearing himself to the music world in general and bass players in particular, that "playing bass is one step up from the kazoo", but even in his genre, that's so not true (he was on heroin at the time). You don't have to play along with the guitar. Find notes to match. So what if it's thrash metal and at 200 bpm.

 

One of the reasons why I don't ascribe to said kazoo saying is that good bass playing requires a very good understanding of music. You need to understand the roots of root notes.

 

As for the physical part... It's obviously different, but no need to pick one over the other. You decide the ratio.

 

I'm a guitar player at heart, and it's my focus these days, but becoming a decent bass player helps songwriting.

 

I came up with three different bass parts to a chorus the other week, and they altered the chorus no end, even at a very low volume in the mix. Like three different songs.

 

Ideally, every guitar player should probably start out on bass. Not gonna happen, but still :D

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Keep practicing switching back and forth and it will become natural. I started playing bass a year ago after 30 years of guitar. Playing both is easy now. If I can play a 34" scale bass with my little girly man hands, anybody can!

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I don't find I have issues going from guitar to bass besides wanting to solo on the bass. My primary bass to play is a 2015 SG Standard short scale bass though I have a couple of standard scales as well.

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Any other suggestions as to how a bass player should be thinking are welcome.

 

In order to be a bass player, you must first think like a bass player.

 

I'd listen to some bass playing and figure out why they are playing that way. I've been doing this lately on Sirius. I started with 40's music and am moving my way through the decades. I think when you focus on the bass playing you will get a better understanding of what it means to play bass (or guitar or whatever instrument).

 

Then, throw out everything you just learned and play bass.

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