How to Get Started Playing Bass

Video Transcript

"Okay, the bass guitar. What I was just doing there was just a little improvisation in A . And what I was using to play the bass, in that little piece there, was a flat pick. It's a bit thin, this pick I was just using, it's really- it's a matter of personal preference, but you want to use a stiff heavier pick to play the bass, you'll get a better sound. And of course, now and days, there's every kind of bass under the sun, from a four string, up to a twelve string, and everything in between. So you probably want to start out with something like a four string, that's was the way the bass guitar started. But here's a regular four string bass, this is a Fender jazz bass. Okay, it has a tone control at the bottom, and it has two separate volume controls for your two pick ups. This pick up will give you more of a bassy sound, whereas this pick up gives you a little more of a nasaly, little more of a trebley sound. As we're showing you the pick style, I have the bass guitar slung quite low if you'll notice, and it looks probably very natural, a lot of players play the bass guitar in a low setting like this. But you want to have it up a little bit high, because you want to see what you're doing and you want to be in control, you're in much more in control when you have the guitar up at this height. A basic way of playing the bass guitar is with your fingers. Now of course you'll think right away of that slap pop technique. And you use the thumb to slap, and then your popping with your index finger. And you're basically, you're pulling up, you're placing your index finger underneath, popping; slapping, your striking the string with this part of your thumb, right here. And you want to do it- the best results with the slap, with the thumb, tend to be right down at the end of the neck. So the best way to play with your fingers, is to alternate between your index and your middle finger. So, that's a good thing to practice, your alternating between your index and middle finger. And one of the good first exercises you'd want to do would be something like this, which just alternates your index and your middle finger, and you're playing just a chromatic scale. Of course, as you progress, you will use your third finger most definitely, and you'll be able to play all sorts of different types of syncopated things."