Saturday, October 20, 2007

5 Steps for beginners




Recently I was sharing with some friends how to improve their playing.

I figure that most people these days just want to play but not learn the theory.

One reason I feel that theory is important - You will know what notes you can and cannot play.

Below are 5 steps to give self taught beginners a kick start.

1) Memorise the fretboard - Start with the first 5 frets (all strings) and slowly move up.

2) Learn the Major Chords and Scales ( Major Chord = 135, Major scale = 221 2221)

3) Practice plucking the strings alternating with 2 fingers (right hand)

4) Practice with a metronome / drum machine ( Start with 1 note per click)

5) Choose a song that you love and hear how the bassist play (Ask a friend or teacher to guide you)

Techniques like slapping, popping, tapping, chords, harmonics and etc are to help produce music.Learning to apply the techniques to your music is the challenge.

Internet resources, videos and books are your friends.
We are constantly learning new stuffs so don't feel pressure if you need more time. Email me if you need any elaboration.

Cheers

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great tips "Memorise the fretboard" is so important. It always seems no one knows the it well enough.

benjso28 said...

There are methods to help remember the fretboard actually. E.g. the dots on the fretboards.

Anonymous said...

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Scott said...

Yeah, you have to learn the fretboard first! It is so important. I think it's easiest to learn the naturals first, 'cause then you can find the sharps or flats easy.

I like this site for bass guitar scales.

benjso28 said...

I would recommend that beginners to memorise at least the first 5 frets for all the strings.
Then slowly move up the frets