Warm up exercise

If you are planning to play in a gig or practice for a longer duration, you can start off by doing some simple warm up exercise.

There are probably hundred of exercises for warm up, but today I'm going to introduce the spider scale. Most people will know it as chromatic scales.

On a 4 string bass starting from the E string.
Postion your left hand on the fretboard. One finger per fret and for right hand just play normal alternate fingering.
Start from the first fret, F(fore) F#(middle) G(ring) G#(pinky) than move to the A string and press the Bb B C C#.
Do the same fingering pattern for the D and G string.
Reverse the pattern. On the G string, B(pinky) Bb(ring) A(middle) Ab(fore) to D string and all the way back to the E string.

Now start from the 2nd fret on the E string and repeat what you have done. Once you reach the 12th fret your fingers should be warmed up.

You do not have to do it very fast. Start slow and build up the speed. Objective is to stretch your fingers and also get a clear tone. Speed is not the objective of this exercise, but eventually it will help you play fast.

Have fun and explore other patterns. As usual, you can also practice your slapping with the chromatic scale.

Cheers

Ghost notes

Hi,

A simple ghost notes exercise to help you "feel" the groove.

Ghost notes are produce when you place your left hand lightly on the fretboard of and pluck with your right hand. Try to place your left hand in between the frets and not on the fret if not you will get the harmonics out.

Now try playing the G major scale as followed where "x" is the ghost note.

GxGGx AxAAx BxBBx CxCCx DxDDx ExEEx F#xF#F#x GxGGx. Simple?
you can also try slapping the exercise if you want.

You can also imagine the "x" to be like the snare drum. and the note to be the bass drum(ask your drummer friend if you are not sure which is the snare).

Try the above pattern on different scales and experiment other patterns.

Have fun!

Cheers,

Ben