Playing bass is a seriously physical exercise. There is no time when one is not thinking about the fretting, the plucking, and the wearing of a giant instrument around one’s neck. It seems like holding on tight would be the right approach, hitting hard with the fingers, fretting the hell out of that neck.
As with so many things it turns out a light touch is the right touch.
I began in the fret business with a nylon-stringed classic, a full-depth cedar and spruce instrument with a wide fingerboard. When one is at the phase where holding strings down actually hurts, it’s difficult to play too hard, difficult but not impossible. I began to watch flamenco players and marveled at how they could very lightly beat the crap out of their instruments, somehow balancing force with deft feeling to produce impressive tone.
After switching to electric bass I played a lot and I played hard. For a young man nothing could be more normal and natural. If one plays in an ensemble of rock musicians, one can get used to not being able to hear oneself above the roar of guitars and drums. But this is a yellow flag.
I switched to the five string when my mates began playing the tuned-down metal and stoner drones that required access to a low E flat. Carrying two instruments (one std, one down-tuned) proved cumbersome. Switching instruments in mid-set was ridiculous. The five was the answer.
Not only was the low E flat available, the low D and low C rocked balls. I don’t believe the open B can be considered truly useful, but it’s there as well, not to be totally ignored. This was my hearty basement of loudness for many years and several rocking bands.
Eventually I needed to back off the gigging band scene with some seriously bad tinnitus. When the ringing didn’t diminish in between practices and performances there was no longer room for denial. I quit the band and laid back, laid low, started un-learning all those songs and tried to work on new stuff.
Eventually I noticed that I didn’t know the fifty-song set list all that well. We had been playing classic rock. There is a huge opportunity to engage the audience’s brain-player when they know the melody and all the words. I realized, as I fingered the tunes on my lonesome, that I had fudged over transitions and intros, outros and even some verses and choruses. Because, why not? It was all loud and I was told (and so believed) that the loudness mattered.
Playing by myself the fudging mattered in a big way. I wanted more accuracy. I needed more confidence that what I played was “correct” in reality, not just in appearance. I read the sheet music for “Immigrant Song” and felt enlightened and perplexed. What was the answer to this dilemma?
I signed up for an on-line lesson with a player of note, a person of some repute. I had a few weeks to prepare. I knew the instructor to be a four-string player. She had already cajoled me for playing the five. She cajoled in a good natured way but I didn’t wish to have a meaningless distraction during the lesson so I switch to a four string for the prep.
What I learned is that with four strings I had better command of the frets and strings. I could stop staring at my left hand night and day. I could mute without thinking much about it. I could wear the instrument around my neck without fantasizing about the thing deforming my spine. I could visualize all the notes in open position, the fifth position and started pasting in the grey area above eight. The thing seemed easier because it was suddenly easier.
I asked my teacher, “how to you avoid plucking too hard with the right hand”? She said something like, “turn up, tone down”, meaning use the power of the amp to get volume, not power of the muscles. Get better tone by playing easier.
I’m playing short, easy grooves now, only a few bars so I can visualize the notes, memorize the passage easily and not stare at my hand. This is a revelation and a serious infusion of joy to the practice routine! My next goal is to begin charting these small sections using crude but meaningful notation on blank sheets or staff paper. Writing my own parts!
I still love the five but I’m not sure I’ll gravitate back in that direction. I am in need of serious four-time, I need to hear the whole register of the four before heading back to the five. I believe we bass players are not making use of the entire register no matter how many strings.
Wish me luck!
