novice bassist

[Veritas]

I learned the basic notes on a 5-string bass guitar a few years ago for a church revival that I played for. Since then, I haven't touched bass up until a few months ago, where I started playing again.

My church's bass guitar is a 5-string Ibanez SR405. It gets the job done, but it's kind of hard to push down on the strings and get a decent sound. Also, some of the open strings vibrate when I play some notes, but I haven't really pinpointed down to any particular note.

Anyway, I know the notes, but don't know how to read sheet music for the bass clef yet. I've been playing trumpet from 6th grade until graduating high school, so I can read treble clef fluently.

How do I become a better bassist? I notice that I'm not plucking all the time in beat, nor do I always sound good. I want to pick up some style and play the notes at church with some enthusiasm instead of just plucking the same note for 4 beats.

Also, when I play bass with my index finger, the fingernail always hits the strings so it sounds like I'm using a pick. Any way around this?

[Abaddon]

about the buzz. there may be something wrong with the pick ups.

about bass clef. if you think of it like move the note down two spaces. so if it was a G in trebel clef it would be an B in bass clef and an F in treble clef would be a A in bass clef. every note is like that. it's in concert pitch though so that might make it confusing. or it might not.

and the easiest solutoin to your nails hitting the strings is to cut your nails and keep them short.

to get better all you need to do is start playing a lot. go online and find some tabs to any song you like and start playing it slowly until you have it up to speed

[BassTallica]

^^^^^^^^^^^

thats almost the same advice i would give ya

btw nice bass welcome to the ibanez family!!

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[Veritas]

thanks guys

I can't help it with the fingernails.. no matter how short I cut it, it still hits the bass. I usually play with my middle finger, but I'm finding that it's getting harder to play with just one finger, and it makes it sound weird when I play one note with all skin and the next note with a fingernail.

[BassTallica]

instead of hitting the string with the tip of yoru finger try using the bottom side of your finger

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[Abaddon]

the way that i finger pick works really nice for me and i never hit my nails even when they do get somewhat long. i'll try and explain it.

lay the soft part of your finger(on the farthest knuckle) on top of the string and push down until it pops out from under and try alternating your first and second finger.