The bass guitar is a powerful musical instrument that must be handled confidently. The bass player can help drive the pulse, define the groove, change the chord, and if used improperly can weigh a band down with aural mud. Here are 5 tips for beginner bass players to help you play bass guitar better.

1) Learn how to mute bass strings

Guitar players often strum all six strings, but a bass player typically plays only one string at a time. As a beginner bass player, you’ll want to learn quickly how to play any string without allowing the neighboring string to make a sound. To accomplish this when you are playing a lick that includes more than one string, you’ll need to be able to mute the first string as you pluck the second. When you can mute bass strings appropriately, your bass playing becomes articulate and clean.

2) Play the space between notes

Playing bass isn’t only about the notes you play. It’s also about the space between bass notes. Use both notes and space to create rhythm. As you’re learning to play bass, start building a collection of rhythms that you can draw from confidently. When you’re playing with a drummer, pay special attention to the kick and the snare drum. Playing in time with the kick drum will give your bass notes some extra oomph and help the band sound tight. Leaving some space at the right time can help the snare sound punchy. Of course, there is no right way to play bass, and what your band plays is a matter of taste. Thinking creatively about the space between notes may reveal more options.

3) Be intentional with your groove

If you have a lot of ideas and try to play them all in one song, you probably won’t define a clear groove for the track. Do you want the audience jumping or just standing there? It’s good to practice different ideas, but when you’re playing a song with a band you’ll want to give your audience something to hold on to. The audience will react better to a consistent pulse. This will also help your bandmates play along with you. You might even drop out for a little bit to create some anticipation, and then bring your bass groove back in at the right moment. See if you can keep main groove going as you add subtle variations and fills.

4) Start with basic notes and focus on rhythm

Let’s say the chord progression is E A D A. What notes should you play? Beginner bass players might choose to play only the root notes of the chords. Even a seasoned bass player might choose to play only root notes for a song because they are the most stable notes in a chord. Root notes are the safest notes to play because whether the chord is major, minor, diminished, augmented… an A note will work on an A chord. When you’re playing live, play root notes and focus on rhythm. On your own time, work on your understanding of music theory so you can begin to explore other notes.

When you’re ready to expand beyond root notes, the next safest bass note to play is the perfect fifth because folk, pop, and rock music uses mostly major and minor chords where the fifth is always a perfect fifth…

5) Begin learning music theory

You may be able to get away with playing by ear, simply challenging yourself to hear the notes that work best for the song. This can work, and has worked, for successful musicians. A lot of musical ideas have come from people who didn’t know what they were doing. On the other hand, it can be a long road leading to frustration and not understanding why your music isn’t working. If you learn music theory, you will know how the song’s chord progression implies the key signature. This will tell you determine which scale will sound “right” for the song before you play a single note.

In our example above, the E A D A chord progression features an A chord. If we understand music theory, we would know that A is functioning as the IV chord in the key of E. If we wanted to perform a walking bass line on the A chord, instead of playing the A Major scale, we would play the E Major scale (a.k.a., the A Lydian scale).

If you’re looking for a great bass guitar lessons package, eMedia Bass Method is a fantastic course for beginner bass players to learn to play bass guitar. Not only does it include a step-by-step course using popular songs, but it also has a music theory section that provides information on intervals and scales you will need to know. When you’re ready to explore music theory, check out eMedia Music Theory Tutor.

 

Photo by Sam Moghadam on Unsplash.