I hate guitar pro :/ Don't ask me why but I hate it. I guess that's why I cannot find a rehearsal place, because since they downloaded guitar pro all the dumb rich kids can go and play crappy covers of Iron Maiden and the likes. I've got a decent drum machine on an old keyboard though

Anyone can play with tabs in front of their eyes. Guitar pro kids, please, screw that program and see what you really can or cannot do. All your favorite musicians never really had anything like that, but that didn't stop them. On the contrary...

I used to be a tab and guitar pro freak ( I just got someone to rip it for me ) after a while I just got sick of trying to find tabs of bands that are not mentioned on sites and started interpreting songs by myself. Yeah, dont depend on tabs too much, I made that mistake and when I tried learning chord theory and how scales worked I couldnt understand shit because I didnt know what notes were where.

But learning scales and chords really helps you understand how notes could sound and what sound can come from a certain interval...thats for sure!

Heh, since you mentioned chord theory and all that...

Jonathan Harnum - Basic Music Theory

It's an exceptional book, I think it has everything most of us will ever need for playing music (that if you don't want to be a violin virtuoso or something like that). It's really is more of an awsome afternoon read than a stiff manual. Highly recommended hehehe.

Edit: hehehe, i just found this amazing tone in my bass, plucking near the neck. It sounds so friggin evil

Uieeessss, last night I executed my first slap, me so happy . All this time i thought my bass was to rigid for slapping, I had to watch a slapping for idiots video to actually manage to do it.

Thats cool, I also didnt really understand the concept of slapping till someone showed me, I think thats how most people learn too...I need to improve my slapping, since I noticed I mostly play riffs/arpeggios and it would just be beneficial for me to expand my technique...

I used to slap by just taking the string with my thumb and pointer finger and slapping it down but I've been learning how to properly do it in the last couple of years...funny how the real way was easier than the way I was doing it...

Yeah to slap all you gotta do is strike a string with your thumb and then hook your first two fingers around a string below (normally the second one down) and pull off with those fingers, and that sorta makes a popping sound, thus the term "slap and pop."

Hi! I´m new here. I play bass for about 9 months, mostly Metallica´s stuff. My favorite songs to play are Master of Puppets, Seek and Destroy, Hallowed be thy Name........

Today I was playing the bass, and now my fingers in pain, because I haven't play the bass for a long time...

The joy of playing that motherfucker greatly outweights physical discomfort!!

Ok....finally, I restringed my bass today. With DR strings. The differrence is incredible, the sound is so clean and audible, not to mention bass slapping is so much easier then the bass strings I had before on the bass. It was expensive, but I decided to make my moneys worth.

Haha, I try and tell myself it's all in the fingers I ain't gonna be using anything other than basic fender roundwound for quite a while so I try not to think about how cool it would be to actually use quality strings once in a while

Happy you get the chance to do that! Crush 'em!

Can anyone recommend me some good songs for practicing bass slap? It doesn't have to be metal

Sing the songs you already know with slapping instead of normal fingering

I just picked up a bass a couple of day's ago, nothing special but it was what I was hoping for with the little cash I had. I ended up with a black Ibanez gsr190 soundgear for $150, it seems to do the job just fine. I wanted a bass because I wanted to try and speed up my recording process, and I figured that it would be good to know how to play bass just because, and to be more diverse and it will probably help with my overal rythem and timing as a guitarist and drum's.

I haven't really looked up tab's yet, just how to's but, I did look up some Mayhem and found "Funeral Fog" to be pretty easy, and I have yet to find the tab's for Mayhem's song "Slaughter Of Dream's", it has a really great bassline to it.

I don't think there are any tabs out there regarding the tracks on Chimera. But the bass is quite audible so give it yer best shot! (and remember to downtune a little).

I play bass and I must admit that I barely see anyone who plays bass. -.-
I don't know why but nobody seems to like this instrument.
I think this year it's know three years that I play. (Got it in December 2004, if I count right.) Three years of passion

Written by Author on 17.12.2007 at 18:35

I don't know why but nobody seems to like this instrument.

I guess that most people in and around metal circle don't really hear the fact that there's more to the bass guitar than eights with a pick. And you've got to be really tough to whitsdant playing just eights or subdivisions for the whole of your musical career .

I guess we have to accept to some extent that bass has been for a long time, a neglected instrument. I mean, alot of bands ignore the potential that a bass has, but recently I see its getting better and more exploited.

It is indeed a great instrument, it acts as a rythm instrument just as it can lead a musical passage. Such as the importance of the bass sound in other musical styles, even choir and classical music IMO.

Check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkkzzAjSxDs

I should get his record again

Wow, that guy is really creative!

I started practicing with a metronome and tape recorder recently while jamming and periodically switching scales and speeds. Its actually very useful, I would suggest the same to others because it helps you see what you need to improve. Not to mention, to help you see what you sound like...

Written by NECURATU on 17.12.2007 at 19:23

Written by Author on 17.12.2007 at 18:35

I don't know why but nobody seems to like this instrument.

I guess that most people in and around metal circle don't really hear the fact that there's more to the bass guitar than eights with a pick. And you've got to be really tough to whitsdant playing just eights or subdivisions for the whole of your musical career .

Hehe, that sounds like the truth.
I normally get to hear jokes like "A musician and a bassist meet each other." ^^ It's always funny ('cause I can laugh about myself), but sometimes you really get the intention that nobody who makes jokes acutally tried to play bass guitar. Sad, but true.
(But I don't mind. There are countless jokes about every instrument ^^)

Been playing for 4 years (simplistic bass player), got a Rogue 5 str (normal tuning BEADG) and have been practicing ever since.

Make sure you know your Larry Graham.

(And if you don't, for shame! Check him out.)

I have noticed a lot of people recommending learning Guitar Pro songs for beginners. Being honest, I would definitely stay away from that path, it makes you a very sloppy bassist. http://www.studybass.com is a site with great techniques for beginners. I personally recommend learning all of your techniques by play various scales up and down the neck and saying all of your notations out loud to really get them stuck in your head. You seriously don't learn much from staring at tabs, plus you can get in habit of bad technique.

i used to play bass in my band but i skipped to guitar.
i played a marshall dbs in combination with a ashdown 8x10", a gibson g3 bass and a big muff pi (and a bunch of other effects ).
i also have a marshall 3530 amp, a SWR workingman pro 2x12" and a marshall 7115 (i think) 1x15".

I play bass and sing in a band. I love bass but yea I switching slowly to guitar... thats getting more common these days, must be the love for the solo.
on bass I play metal but not speed metal I like strong or hidden complex bass lines. Can any one tell me witch is better picking or finger plucking.

Written by Arrwyn on 08.03.2008 at 17:22

I have noticed a lot of people recommending learning Guitar Pro songs for beginners. Being honest, I would definitely stay away from that path, it makes you a very sloppy bassist....

I generally agree, tabs in general is something I usually don't recommend for people to rely on. If you know your scales/chords and tempo variables then you really don't need that much more to know the key to how the song is being played. I haven't looked at tabs in ages and getting a song down on your own accord is a lot more challenging and helps train your ear. Sometimes tabs can be helpful though, for practicing left hand coordination... but not something that one should take for granted.

Written by GodlessOne on 08.03.2008 at 21:36

I play bass and sing in a band. I love bass but yea I switching slowly to guitar... thats getting more common these days, must be the love for the solo.
on bass I play metal but not speed metal I like strong or hidden complex bass lines. Can any one tell me witch is better picking or finger plucking.

Guitar being a lead instrument, it is IMO more prone to attraction by music enthusiasts, since that is probably one of the first things you hear in metal. I prefer plucking though, because I find the tone to be a lot thicker, especially if you are doing arpeggios/tremelo picking, I mean, picking can have its own positive qualities, in the end I think its just based on personal preference. I'm also starting to sing and play bass at the same time, it's pretty challenging though, building the coordination but overall I find it very satisfying to be able to add more to the music.

Written by Sunioj on 08.03.2008 at 23:03

Written by Arrwyn on 08.03.2008 at 17:22

I have noticed a lot of people recommending learning Guitar Pro songs for beginners. Being honest, I would definitely stay away from that path, it makes you a very sloppy bassist....

I generally agree, tabs in general is something I usually don't recommend for people to rely on. If you know your scales/chords and tempo variables then you really don't need that much more to know the key to how the song is being played. I haven't looked at tabs in ages and getting a song down on your own accord is a lot more challenging and helps train your ear. Sometimes tabs can be helpful though, for practicing left hand coordination... but not something that one should take for granted.

Written by GodlessOne on 08.03.2008 at 21:36

I play bass and sing in a band. I love bass but yea I switching slowly to guitar... thats getting more common these days, must be the love for the solo.
on bass I play metal but not speed metal I like strong or hidden complex bass lines. Can any one tell me witch is better picking or finger plucking.

Guitar being a lead instrument, it is IMO more prone to attraction by music enthusiasts, since that is probably one of the first things you hear in metal. I prefer plucking though, because I find the tone to be a lot thicker, especially if you are doing arpeggios/tremelo picking, I mean, picking can have its own positive qualities, in the end I think its just based on personal preference. I'm also starting to sing and play bass at the same time, it's pretty challenging though, building the coordination but overall I find it very satisfying to be able to add more to the music.

The whole vinyl tone when you use a pick just sends chills down my back. I definitely agree with the who finger plucking. In my opinion, you have so much more control of the bass when you do this because you can use various fingers to mute the strings as you play. I mean, sure, you can go AS fast as if you had a pick, but, if you can build up that kind of speed with just alternating your fingers, it's much more impressive.

Oh, and I also agree with singing and playing at the same time...it's challenging playing basically two melodies at once.

At least you people have a voice to start with . Congrats.