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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jun 9, 2017 12:27:11 GMT -7
About 8 years ago I bought a bass and learned it pretty quickly, and had a great gig playing bass in a power trio for 3 years. The band broke up and the bass went into its case. Fast forward to now, and I started standing in on bass for our praise & worship band at church. All is great until a couple of weeks ago when I decided to buy a 5 string bass. Thought it would be a piece of cake to go from 4 to 5...boy was I wrong. I love the sound but I can't wrap my head around not having my bottom string an E. For whatever reason, that big ol B string completely throws my mental compass into circles. I get lost on the fretboard. It's frustrating. 50+ years of guitar playing has made an impression that's not easy to shake.
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Post by j4gitr (John) on Jun 9, 2017 14:16:54 GMT -7
Right with you on that. Picked up a buddy's five stringer to see how it felt. I handed it back to him after about 5 minutes. I too couldn't transition to the B on the bottom. Hang in there it will probably come in time.
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Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2017 14:45:03 GMT -7
Your mental compass is right on. Loose the 5. Go back to playing bass!
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Post by premiumplus (Dave) on Jun 9, 2017 15:17:16 GMT -7
Your mental compass is right on. Loose the 5. Go back to playing bass! You can't believe how close I am to doing just that, and leave the pedal tones to the keyboards.
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Post by walt on Jun 9, 2017 15:20:10 GMT -7
+1 million.As I have yapped previously here,Geddy Lee,McCartney,James Jamerson,Lemmy,Carol Kaye,Bruce Foxton etc,did amazing musical things with 4 strings.For the most part in E. The only time a bass has more than 4 strings it's a Bass VI
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Post by John on Jun 10, 2017 5:37:19 GMT -7
In my old classic rock band, my bass player has been playing 4 strings since the early 70's.
but I sold him my 5 string jazz. He kept flubbing up on it. I told him it would be my belief that anything he had previously learned on a 4 string...he would have trouble playing on the 5 string.
but anything he learned new on the 5....he would be alright. After a few weeks, he said I was right.
15 years ago when I was playing bass in a Soul R&B band, I got the 5 string jazz...and learned on that. So for me, playing a 4 string seems a bit limited. I'm always thinking I'll miss that low B string.
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Post by sharkboy on Jun 11, 2017 6:15:43 GMT -7
The advantage I have for learning a 5 is that I wasn't all that hot on a 4. The good news is that it is the same interval as the other strings and to remember that it isn't going to give me an E there. I like being able to get a little deeper occasionally.
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Post by The Bad Poodle Experience on Feb 4, 2019 18:01:46 GMT -7
zombie thread resurrection...
ever had that experience of being so lost because you didn't know the chords to the song so you tried to follow the bass player.... and you didn't realize he had a 5th string. Gets me everytime! argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by John on Feb 6, 2019 4:59:41 GMT -7
zombie thread resurrection... ever had that experience of being so lost because you didn't know the chords to the song so you tried to follow the bass player.... and you didn't realize he had a 5th string. Gets me everytime! argh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the same situation: In said lost mode....the bass player's 1st finger is covering several strings (like a bar chord)...and you don't know which string is being plucked. Quickly guess!
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Post by Christopher on Feb 6, 2019 10:02:10 GMT -7
I swapped my 5 for a hollowbody 4 bc I got tired of the low B interrupting my groove. I've played a four since I picked up guitar and don't feel the low B works for me. Nowadays it's four all the way.
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