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pantsfish posted:Pinky stuff The pinky is a bastard, and needs a lot more work than the other three fingers. My pinky behaved pretty much the same way you described when I first started playing too. What will help is to very slowly move through 4 note per string patterns - not scales, just fret four consecutive notes. Start by just fretting each note at the same time, so you're just holding the string down with all four fingers, each of which is resting on a separate fret. Then start running patterns (1 is index finger, two is middle finger, etc): 1234, 2341, 3412, etc. Move these patterns across the strings slowly, paying close attention to what each finger is doing. When you mess up, don't get frustrated (this will make you tighten/change your grip and added tension is BAD), just fix the error. Telling your hand out loud 'no, not that way, THIS way' is corny, but will actually help you fix mistakes faster. Just makes these exercises part of your early practice/warm-up routine. Eventually you will build pinky dexterity and you'll find that your accuracy and fluidity will improve. I recommend making it an integral part of your warm-up for two reasons: One, since it's part of your warm-up, you'll do it. And two, if you don't already, it will be incentive to warm up, which you should be doing, drat it. I'm a big proponent of warming up before you play, ever since I damaged my fretting hand with bad tendonitis a couple years ago (frustration + anger + no warm-up = permanent hand damage:(). Of course, even people that DO warm-up tend to go overboard with it. Your warm-up should be short, no more than ten minutes, and it should be the very last thing you do before you play. You can't 'warm up' then go have a beer, take a piss, and chat with your friends before you get on stage. Do all that stuff FIRST, then warm up for a minute or two (or ten!). Warming up before any lengthy practice session is also advised. Getting into the habit of your warm-up being the very first thing you do when you pick up your instrument every time is a very, very good thing.
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Nov 21, 2008 01:44
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pantsfish posted:How did you get tendonitis if you don't mind my asking? Was it a stupid stunt or a gradual thing? It was one day of being stupid. gently caress, not even a day, like two hours. A bit of background: I am not the best musician in the world, but I used to be horrible. Like those terrible middle/highschoolers that put up videos of themselves 'totally rocking a Nirvana tune' horrible. I, of course, thought I was hot poo poo because a band full of just as terrible musicians told me I was. So what did I do? That's right, I applied to, and somehow got into, a music school. Thank christ I did, but that's another story. Cut to the end of my first quarter in the Atlanta Institute of Music's bass program - I am still terrible, possibly worse than when I got there because I have had to unlearn all the bad habits I had and start from the ground up rebuilding my technique. I'm also having trouble in reading class, loving up royally in Jazz Performance, and not doing so hot in Styles either. Now I am studying for my first round of finals, and I'm having a bitch of a time with whatever our Styles final was. I'm playing it in a way that I don't know is bad for my hand, but is. I'm also getting frustrated, which is making me tighten my grip, which is increasing the tension in my wrist, and raising my blood pressure. I continue this way for the next hour and a half or so until classes start. I start to think to myself 'hey, my hand hurts. A lot!' but I soldier on through my scales final (one of the classes I actually aced) and whatever else, then head home. Next morning I wake up and my hand doesn't hurt anymore, but my ring finger and pinky won't move. I decide, since I have finals, drat it, that I need to practice anyway. This doesn't end well. I get my bass, start to work my way through the Rock Performance tune for that night, and as soon as my ring finger starts to press on the string my entire arm lights on fire. It's kind of like lightning shooting out from your wrist, and finding every point in your hand that is capable of feeling pain, then shocking it. And then it happens to the rest of your arm. And then it repeats. Every time your heart beats. It was the second most painful experience of my life, but ultimately wins because Appendicitis can be cured by going to the hospital and having the drat thing taken out, whereas you are forced to endure inflamed tendons. Well, since I still had like three days worth of finals to play, I ended up playing what I could with two fingers on my fretting hand, and anything I couldn't I had to resort to two-hand tapping, which was interesting. I did manage to tap my entire way through the last Jazz tune (along with my solo, which was as bad as usual, but TAPPED!  ). I ended up seeing a doctor and the whole bit, but there's really nothing to be done about Tendonitis besides take a lot of Advil (Ibuprofen is a great anti-inflammatory) and just rest the hand. Fortunately, we had a long break, so I was able to just not play for almost a month. And even then, when I came back to it, the hand was really weak. I was informed by the doctor that there would be some permanent damage and that, even now, I am at an increased risk for getting Tondonitis again. So I talked to my instructors, and worked up a good warm-up routine, and just worked on taking my second quarter slow, and loving up for different reasons (I still can't read worth a poo poo, which is ironic because I was an english major in college and can read english, french, and fumble my way through spanish and some german - music is a different beast, though). I even ended up getting rid of one of my favorite basses ever (I miss my Afterburner) because the 37" scale on the B string was starting to cause me some pain. I don't use my 35" Mike Lull very often for the same reason, but I CANNOT get rid of that bass - it was one of those 'walk into a shop and your perfect bass is sitting there' kind of things, I doubt I could have that sort of luck twice. I've actually got a pair of 32" scale basses on order from Carl Thompson, although I'll probably only use the fretless because I recently stumbled upon the most awesome fretted bass ever. I'm starting to derail myself but the point is: the injury was bad enough that it has affected my gear choices, and things I previously could have used and enjoyed are now closed off to me because of my hand. I'm glad you're warming up before playing, it will be a very good habit to be in for the rest of your playing life, and probably go a long way towards preventing the kind of stupid poo poo most of us musicians do to ourselves. Running your hands under warm water one or two minutes before playing also helps (although washing then immediately playing is bad if you use rough strings, like stainless steels, because you need a minute or two for your hands to produce more natural oils), and stretching your fingers a bit is also beneficial. I think the most important part is just to always be loose - a lot of people build up a lot of tension in their hands for different reasons. Either they get 'really into it', they get frustrated, nervous, or they're thinking about something else that's creating that response. Whatever the reason, it's bad. Loose and fluid is the goal. Even if you don't improve from a purely technical standpoint, you can be a much better player just from learning how to loosen up and stay loose. Loose, loose, loose. But not sloppy, drat it - they're different.
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Nov 21, 2008 08:29
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Jan posted:I'll get back to practicing 4-fret spreads without shifting, but I'm not sure I can pull that off with any amount of practice. Looseness, regimented practice, and positive thinking will do a million and one things for your fretting technique, seriously. Another fun thing to do while going back to basics: Watching your plucking hand to see if you're alternating fingers smoothly (unless you play with a pick, but there's plenty to work on with that, too). Just remember to practice amplified as often as possible, there's so much random noise that can sneak into your playing that you won't be aware of if you just practice unplugged. Hell, I'm aware of all that poo poo, and it all snuck back into my playing after practicing unplugged for so long (I hate my practice amp so much that I just don't bother with it anymore, I really need a new one). Just remember to not be all doom and gloom about technique/ability/whatever - that's often a bigger hinderence than actualy physical issues. Think positive, you CAN do ____. I did not mean to write that much in reply to that. IntoTheNihil posted:string suggestions for a 6 string I don't know if you're a fan of stainless steels or not, but Ken Smith's Rock Masters light gauge steels are pretty nice, as are Carvin's light gauge steels. The Carvins do start sort of rough, but they calm down a bit after a little playing time. The Smiths are nice and smooth. What I really wish is for Sadowski to start getting whoever makes his strings to produce 6 string sets - Sadowski Steels are the very best strings ever. If you're into Nickel strings, You might try to track down someone that carries Curt Mangan strings, they're the best nickels on the market, as far as I'm concerned. They only offer medium gauge six string packs, but 30-130 is a pretty solid string set, and not too hard on the hands, even if you're used to 28-120 or the like. You might also try Pedulla's signature string sets, but I found them to be very short lived, unlike the Mangans, which last longer than some stainless steel strings. The Pedullas do sound good though, and I'd recommend them more for a fretless bass than a fretted, as they'd last longer. Ken Smith Bass Burner nickels could be a good choice, too. Of course, if you're hoping to just waltz into a Guitar Center and find any of these, you're poo poo out of luck, unless you live near a GC that actually stocks fancy things like Pedullas and Smiths, but if you do, you probably live near a real bass store like The Atlanta Bass Gallery, or Bass Specialties, or even Bass Central. Incidentally, if you decide to try the Smith or Pedulla strings, do call Jim at the Atlanta Bass Gallery, he's a really cool dude, and essentially the most bad rear end man alive, for a couple of reasons.
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Nov 25, 2008 04:59
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Kynetx posted:I have actually used a meter for measuring grip strength and I come out way in front of the average person and still can't use my pinky. gently caress it. I'm no Jaco, I don't need the worthless appendage to play. But... But... Ninth chords? Really, I don't think the pinky is quite as crucial to bass players in most settings - for every prog/jazz cat that uses all ten digits for untold craziness there's a couple thousand working players that could get by using one finger if they REALLY had to. If you start getting into chording, or intervalic playing with big jumps (major sixths, I'm looking at you), the pinky is a handy little sucker. It's all about priorities, I suppose. If you're a rootmashing punk rocker or a country back-up man, there's probably an awful lot you could work on instead of pinky finesse, but if you want to play Dream Theater tunes, I'd advise a lot of woodshedding for your fretting hand. Nothing says "I am capable of moving my fingers in a specific, ordered sequence" like Erotomania. I'm also a pretty firm believe that funk takes a drat good pinky. I sure as poo poo wouldn't get by without it.
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Nov 25, 2008 09:07
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Gorilla Salsa posted:when shopping for bass amps, I notice the vast majority of them are solid state. I assume that if tube amps made as much a difference in bass as they do guitars, then they would have more, but maybe I'm wrong. Any preference here in the bass thread regarding tube amps or solid state? Tubes, tubes, tubes, tubes, TUBES! Oh, except if you want reliability, sub-50hz definition, and something that isn't two feet wide and weighs 90 pounds. Still, the drawbacks pale in comparison to the sheer awesomeness that is the Sadowski SA200, Orange AD-200B and the Ampeg SVT, SVT Classic, and 80's Skunkwork SVT's. The thing about bass tube amps, as opposed to guitar tube amps is that to make bass audible and defined at similar volumes to guitar, you need multiple times the wattage. An 800-1000w solid state bass amp competes with a cranked 100w tube guitar amp. In tube amps, this calls for extra tubes, and extra hardware, extra space in the case, larger heatsinks, and all manner of other fun hardwood and metal bits that add up to a lot of weight. Not that tube guitar amps are especially light either (my Lonestar weighs a TON). The other thing about tube bass amps, and the reason you don't see them more often, besides costing many times what a comparable solid state amp does ("$2k for 300 watts? I got a 300w GK for $400"  ), is note definition. (WARNING: Possibly incorrect explanation ahead) Tube guitar amps are prized for thier natural break-up as their tubes can be saturated far beyond the 100w rating, which is why even a 15w tube amp can be earbleedingly loud. Following this same principle a 300w bass amp like an SVT is enough to fill a stadium with bass sound when it's cranked - but this will produce an almost John Entwhistle level of break-up (think Jack Bruce in Cream for a good 'pushed' tube amp tone). Most bass players don't want break-up. Most of us spend our entire careers putting together massive rigs, pushing our headroom into the sky with 1-3kw of power for ultimate clarity at any volume. A tube amp is this philosophy's antithesis. It is also a much more beautiful and natural sound to my ears.Of course, I'm talking about a tube power section. I'm not going to bother talking about 'hybrid' amps that use a tube pre-amp mated to a solid state power section. As far as I'm concerned they don't cut it for either camp. I want the pure crispness of my 1000w solid state amp, or I want to be blasting classic rock mojo out my speakers using 90 pounds of tubes. Personally, I just make sure my options are always open - my solid state amp is built into my speaker enclosure and my SVT rests on top of it, so I can simply swap three cables and switch at my whim. The biggest difference in sound between a solid state amp and a tube amp is the coloration of your bass' tone. If you want pure transparency and the tone coming from your bass is already the absolute perfect tone and must be heard unadulterated, a good solid state amp is exactly what you're after. A good tube amp will lather 'character' all over your tone, sneaking it into places you weren't aware that 'character' was even allowed to be. This can be good and bad. It can fool you into thinking you sound better than you do, when the amp is really just filling in a few cracks. See, much like good tube guitar amps, good tube bass amps will make a bad player sound quite a bit better, and a good player sound like a professional recording artist. Nashville session players do not need tube amps to make them sound amazing, they are purely by virtue of training/skill/environmental pressure - us Cali rockers? We need some help. Except guys like Jean Baudin, 'cause gently caress him for being so good. tl;dr: Solid state = cheap clean power, less tone coloration, lighter amps. Tubes = character, warmth, smooth break-up and a lot of other nebulous words that make tone-crafters salivate - they're also big and VERY HEAVY.
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Jan 4, 2009 08:20
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