| > | | | | positioned correctly. Make sure your hand and fingers |
| Get an intro to fretboard freedom on bass guitar. With | | | | are perpendicular to the bass neck and press the |
| the proper fretting hand setup, it's much easier to play | | | | strings down with the same part of your fingertips that |
| bass. Play bass parts you thought you couldn't before. | | | | you type on a computer keyboard with. |
| Unlock your own potential and don't let bad bass | | | | On bass guitar any four frets in a row are called a |
| technique rob you of the fun you can be having! | | | | 'position'. From the first fret to the fourth fret is a |
| Do you ever find yourself stuck in one spot on the | | | | position. From the fifth fret to the eighth fret is a |
| bass neck when jamming with friends or bandmates? | | | | position.Try to get used to the feel of having one finger |
| Ever wonder how to break out and be able to play | | | | per fret for four frets to cover a 'position'. Start |
| notes all over the bass? Here I explain three steps you | | | | someplace easy like the fifth or seventh fret.Practice |
| can take toward fretboard freedom. Follow these | | | | playing all four of those notes in a row all the way up |
| steps and you will be instantly on your way to playing | | | | the strings (in one position) and back down. Play slowly |
| some blazing bass! | | | | at first to develop a nice strong and even tone. |
| 1.Thumb placement is important | | | | At times you won't really need to cover all four notes. |
| Thumb placement is no small detail, but something of | | | | In this case you can cover only three frets instead of |
| critical importance if you want to be a good bass | | | | four - like from the fifth to the seventh frets. This |
| player. In order to make playing the bass much easier | | | | would be more like a traditional upright bass technique |
| on yourself it's important to keep the thumb of your | | | | where they don't call four notes in a row a 'position'. It |
| fretting hand in the right spot. Keeping your hand setup | | | | creates sort of a box shape which contains useful and |
| properly makes it much easier to play your bass lines, | | | | important notes. It's an easy way to handle minor keys |
| scales and chords, and also begin to develop fast | | | | and pentatonic based songs. |
| single note runs. | | | | 3. Practice one and two octave scales to start. |
| When you go to play your bass, don't grip the neck like | | | | One of the real tricks to learning the bass fretboard is |
| you would a chin up bar or a baseball bat. Your palm | | | | in memorization of scale patterns. It's really not that |
| (ideally) should not touching the back of the neck. | | | | hard, but it does take practice to gain muscle memory |
| The proper position for the thumb of the fretting hand | | | | (but you get it pretty quickly). |
| in the middle of the back of the neck opposite the | | | | Start with one octave Major and minor scales, |
| index or middle fingers. It's best not to have your | | | | ascending and descending (in one position). It's best to |
| thumb peeking over or wrapped around. | | | | practice these witha metronome click, but that's up to |
| There are times when it's more comfortable to wrap | | | | you. You want to be getting a nice even tone. |
| your thumb around the bass neck if you're pedaling | | | | Next you would move on to the same scales in two |
| one note for a while. That's perfectly acceptable. But if | | | | octaves. This is obviously more challenging, and it will |
| you are trying to play something with more than one | | | | really help you to see the fretboard in a bigger |
| note involved, you'll probably find it much easier to play | | | | perspective. |
| with your thumb properly positioned. | | | | If you practice these three steps, you should begin to |
| You just plain can't spread your hand out very far with | | | | develop some good fretboard agility within a few |
| your thumb wrapped around the neck of the bass. | | | | weeks. Also, when playing with band, you will begin to |
| With your thumb in the right spot you can cover much | | | | see the other notes of the chord the guitar player (for |
| more fretboard real estate! | | | | instance) is playing more clearly. Then it's matter of |
| 2. Finger position | | | | connecting the dots. |
| It's important to keep the fingers of your left hand | | | | |