How to not COMPLETELY SUCK on bass guitar.
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- Опубліковано 8 вер 2014
- Bass Guitar - all important to a great sound, yet overlooked and seen as unworthy in many rock & metal bands. Here's how to avoid the mistakes that so many others make.
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The viewers asked for it, so here it is! A basic primer on not being utterly useless on bass guitar. Butthurt alert: If you have a crappy bassist, they won't like this video. However, they probably need to see it. Badly :) - Комедії
How the hell am I supposed to boil the strings? There's no way I can fit this entire bass into that pot of water.
Brucey well if ya' find a pot of water big enough don't forget to plug in your Bass first! electricity rules!.. ; )
Not sure if you're just making fun of bass players or just a stereotypical bass player.
You kidding. 😲😲😲
Tee hee you said the pot
lol this comment needs way more attention
Instructions unclear, boiled bass strings with spaghetti, ate both
I agree with this. Do we have to add sauce and meatballs to it too?
+ThePcGamer shit sounds romantic now haha
+Mason DeVoe also a glass of pino noir. You can choose between Alfredo and tomato sauce, but NEVER use tomato sauce with flatwound strings, it tastes awful.
Save your flatwound for a nice Alfredo or Shrimp Scampi. Halfwound can go with either, but a nice pink Vodka sauce works perfectly
Tyler Brown Exactly! And tapewound strings taste good with pesto sauce. Groundwound strings only go well with butter and garlic, otherwise they taste like TRASH. And steels? They just taste like shit no matter what.
Bassist: "What kind of strings do you like?"
Phil Chen: "I like my 68 La Bella flats".
Bassist: "They still make 68 Classics?"
Phil Chen: "No, man, I put them on my P-bass in 1968 and I haven't changed them in 52 years".
@jon scott Let's not forget Phil's idol, James Jamerson. He also never changed his 62 P-bass strings. He said, "The dirt keeps the Funk". That's why Phil still hasn't changed the 52-110 guage LaBella flats on his 62 P-bass and why he keeps a piece of foam under the strings. It's partly because he loves the sound and partly because he keeps the bass that way as a kind of playable shrine to Jamerson. These days, that bass never leaves Phil's home.
I mostly just like to bring up Phil Chen's name because he seems like such a sweet, funny likable guy and he's a very good bass player. I liked his work on Jeff Beck's Blow By Blow album. Phil actually used his J bass on that one.
My friend from my high school days is a huge Doors fan. She knows Phil Chen and Robby Krieger. She and her son have hung out with them. Her son is a Pro bass player in LA. He's in a big U2 tribute band. Her son has hung out with with Phil many times. They both said he's a super nice dude. He deserves more recognition than his sideman reputation receives.
Although he probably is the most famous Chinese -Jamaican bassist in the world. Ha ha!
@jon scott one name : Steve Harris. he uses rotosound flat wound strings in a heavy gauge (.50 , .75, .95, .110) and they don't sound thin , wooden ,a or dead , at all. of course steve changes his strings every day rather touring or recording. but the idea that flat wounds can't sound brite and have good attack is just wrong.
GLEN! Hi, I play fretless, never learned to play a fretted instrument. I find round wound strings sound to scratchy and hiss on the slides...you know, the stuff you complain about. I've never gone into a studio unprepared ( I even bring a drum key!). I'm sober and have good technique. I've been playing/learning bass for over 30 years. But for me it's flat wounds or find another guy. I do agree with fresh strings helping tone and boiling them, as well as most of your other points in other videos. I find your satire of stereotypes funny and accurate, but must say... Not all us bass players are the bane of the band and would like to be acknowledged and maybe included in your stereotypes too.
Thomastik jazz are Killaaar 😎🤙🏼👽✨
@@DenverStarkeyIf I could afford to change Roto flats as soon as they lose the zing, I absolutely would. That flatwound zing is an amazing tone.
I do think bass should be a little louder than it is most of the time. Not louder or as loud as the guitars or drums, but just loud enough so you could hear it better.
also, I don't understand how some people don't like to practice. Why the fuck did you learn an instrument if you can't be bothered to play it?
The base should be the same volume level as the drums, so you can match the level of the bass drum
Sodrikas Listen to more metal. Bass is always louder than guitars.
For some reason American bands tend to cut off the bass from the mix or just leave the higher frequencies and bury the low end behind the stupidly massive guitars, happened with And Justice, happened with Persistence of Time, happened with Human, happened with The American Way. European bands tend to be far more forgiving in that respect.
Not louder than the guitars? Sir, Spinal Tap would like a word...
If Ben Franklin was a metalhead.
Loool
Thank you jesus.
Or Peter from Family Guy.
word....
B.Franks was a badass, though.
I swear to god this guy looks like lord gaben with really long hair
ozzy did all that and more. but he did not play bass. and he probably had the same problems every band has with the bass player. i guess that is why he hired robert trujullo. unortunatley for ozzy, metallica set an aim for a mexican bass player.
Instead of gifting you with vidya, he gifts you with something more important, SACRED ROCK N ROLL KNOWLEDGE
Metal Gaben
No it doesn't........ OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!
HE DOES holy shit lmfao
Boiling thing is actually true he’s right. Just found your vids today man. Dedicated bassist and loved everything you said here. Don’t hate us all! Real bassists are nodding their heads and smiling with ya man. Great work. Got yourself a real new subscriber, can’t wait to see what else lies in the future!
poppomatic64 knows whats up
Agreed completely.
Yep, I was smiling and nodding the whole time. :D
a good long time bassist friend of mine told me he boiled his strings..at the time I thought he was nuts, but he never had any issues and saved a ton of $$ on strings
I was looking at my new tattoo. What’d he say?
After you've learned all of that, learn to play bass keying off of the drummer's rhythms rather than simply following the rhythm of the guitar players. Succeeding in that will make your band 1000% better and more interesting to hear.
Drummers like it when bass players just lock into their beat (and keep it simple most of the time), and so do audiences, ultimately. The temptation is to get too busy and try and show off - I know because I do it all the time 😁.
@@vooveks u must be a badass with lots of tattoos
Drummers and Bassists are supposed to get into a feedback loop with each other. It's the rest of the band who should be following our rythym
But then fill the gaps in the melody. Bridge the harmonies. Get the drums to talk to the guitar and vocals. That’s the real trick.
As a former bass teacher (Fucked the nerves on my hand, had to give up) heres what I used to suggest to bassists.
1) Get a drum machine or metronome, and practice with it constantly. The drum machine will never go out of time, so any sloppyness is on you. But dont use it live, because drum machines have no dynamics. They are fucking neat for song writing however.
2) When you are in a band, practice regularly with just you and the drummer until you can get your brains to think alike and you can anticipate each other. Become the one instrument.
3) Learn your scales and arpegios! A bassist needs to know his music theory more than anyone else in a band other than a keyboards guy or brass guy. Not because your going to do leadbreaks (dont do leadbreaks, thats the guitarists job, unless your fucking amazing in which case why are you reading this?), but beacause it teaches you how you how to identify the notes that'll sound good vs the notes that'll sound arse, and it'll help you identify why the guitarist chord choices are working, or not working. Study study study, read wikipedia music theory , learn jazz theory (Seriously, those guys change keys every damn bar, even if you hate it, learning how it works will make you a better musician), and most of all practice! BUT
4) Keep it simple. This one took me 20 years to realise, but 90% of the time your better serving the band by just hugging the drums on the root note and only adding flourishes when the *song* calls for it.
Do this, and you'll sound fucking amazing, eventually.
Shayne O'Neill I found this really helpful fanks 🦆
Thank you
This guy is the main reason I started criticising my bass playing and started taking it more seriously. Since then, I have improved astronomically. Thanks, Glenn!
+UnholyEternity Thankyou!
Wait, you can type on your keyboard? Can you read as well? You did not start out on bass bro
I started off on vocals, but vocalists are a dime a dozen, and I'd rather not be the frontman. I do backup vocals.
+OFCnoChill Sorry it took a guy belittling an instrument to make you a better player. You'd probably be twice as good if you had someone telling you that bass may have a different role, but is equally as important. Rather than "Bass backs the drums and guitar, and fuck you if you play a note outside of unison with the guitar or on any note that doesn't have the kick drum"
It's a vicious circle.
People are so used to crappy bass players that when someone actually plays anything else than the root of the chords or unison with the guitar, they just think it sounds weird and tell them to stick to the basic stuff instead.
Therefore, there's no reason for bass players to improve their skills, because no one will ever let them use them anyway.
That's why I stopped playing. Playing 3 notes over and over gets kinda boring when you've known how to play double-handed tapping techniques for ten years.
Please stop yelling at me
Go practice and I will!
Then git gud.
@@SpectreSoundStudios Well, that's some motivation right there.
Because some people DON'T FUCKING GET IT otherwise.
I like him yelling, it takes me back to when I was in band class in school.
(a little bass player whining, but not the type of whining you would think of)
It sucks being a reliable one. I'm playing in two bands on bass, and i'm also doing a tech guy job for band mates. Some issues for example:
- "how to connect a cabinet into a tube amp ( and i'm too lazy to read a fucking manual)"
- "how to plug my stompboxes in my midi switch system (which i don't know how to use either because i'm too lazy to read a fucking manual)"
- "how to plug a Line 6 POD in my tube amp (yep, it's real)"
- "how to use digital mixer for a lot of cash that i bought (and i'm too lazy to read a fucking manual)" (this one actually goes for the drummer)
- "how to transpose my heavy as fuck riffs onto acoustic guitar for acoustic gig (aka. what chords to we play here?)"
- "my Pod is not working beacuse i switched cables (and i haven't noticed it)"
- "how to connect metronome and mixer aux to my headphones?"
- "how to render rehearsal mix and put in on google drive?"
And who's there to save the day? The bass player, how fucked is that? I want to be a useless cunt, life is probably easier that way. Cheers from Poland, love your show.
Happened to me too. I stopped answering the phone when I knew my friends are at the studio. This way they had to learn it themselves. And guess what, those who *really* wanted did.
Polaczek
I feel you
Playing in bands, wether just recording jams, or playing on stage, no one knows what a manual is.
Polaczek cebulaczek, eh?
@@SpywareVA No kurła :D Polaczek :D 4 lata temu ten komentarz pisałem, teraz się zmieniło, teraz mam jeden skład na stałe (covery Ratm), ja i bębniarz i gitarzysta ogarniamy audio (każdy albo ma małe studio albo robi przody), więc nie ma tego typu problemów :D
@@tomekdudzic 4 lata, prawda
Ale też mam teraz podobny problemy
I'm a bass player and find this hilarious.
Haha, same here. The only bassists who get offended by this video are the bassists that act how he describes...
+Conky oh god it's fucking Conky. You win the best UA-cam username award.
Exactly!
same
Fuckin A right, I'm a bass player who exhibits none of those qualities but I've known plenty that fit his descriptions to a T.
"Bass should never be aproached as guitar but lower", unless you're Lemmy.
Sam Maguire but you’re not Lemmy.
Nobody can be Lemmy.
@@jacobturner6646 Except for Lemmy.
Or Burton
I boiled my bass but it doesn’t work anymore, help
R I C E
N O I C E
You're supposed to unplug your cable first.
I feel like I’m the only one who thinks practicing is actually really fun and relaxing
Nah man, it's the best part of my day most of the time
Bruh honestly not practicing your instrument kinda beats the purpose
its all that keeps me alive
I don't practice I play
Exactly what I do and everyone should if they don't feel like practicing
"The murderers of music..." I wonder whether we could get through the entire alphabet using this scheme?The annihilators of arpeggiosThe bludgeoners of breakdownsThe crucifiers of choruses...
dickheads of duets?
+Jelley Peanuts The Fucktards of Frets?
The guillotine on the neck of good music.
+Blacksheep Music gunk of grunge, hell raisers of hair metal, idiots of interludes, jackasses of jazz, killers of kickdrums, losers of looping, murderers of music.
The nihilists of notations.
as a bassist, i can totally agree with everything in this video.
I was expecting some relentless bashing rant video, but now i understand that when you bash bassists, you just mean the shitty ones. perfect clarification, definitely subscribing dude.
Thanks! All I want to see is bass players get their shit together!
+SpectreSoundStudios 100% get it. As yet another bass player, too many of my peers come to the studio with 0 knowledge of the song and I end up as, in your words, "the reliable one." Thank you for putting this up.
+SpectreSoundStudios That is a great clarification to all sh.thead bass players. You explained the issues with the bassists that caused our f.cked up reputation. As a bassist I also totally agree with you. Thanks from Bulgaria!
+SpectreSoundStudios As a bassist, there are alot of lazy ones. The ones who get angry at you about it, are probably the ones who need to work on some things.
Of course I don't matter at all, I know this. I can still put it my worthless 2 cents though!
From being a guy who genuinely loved being a bass player for so many years, when learning the guitar to improve my writing knowledge I found you can get cool sounds by swapping the techniques you would use on each.
Facts, I learned guitar in middle school and after I got good I picked up bass pretty quick as a later teen. I feel like coming from a guitarists perspective gave me nuance on how to approach my playing on bass, and after playing bass for a while it did the same vice versa to my guitar technique
Lol, when you say "Geezer Butler" you a show a clip with Iommi in spotlight.
Although, it's hard to find good old footage from Geezer, because the guy's more camera shy than anyone I knew in my life
How to not completely suck at bass: Learn how to play drums, learn the circle of fifths, combine the two. Done.
(Edit: also listen to more than just metal to find inspiration. There's nothing worse than a bass player that can't play anything besides metal.)
EEEEEEEEEEEE, is the sign of a metal bassist ;) I started with AC/DC then moved on to Arctic Monkeys and Tame Impala and gradually got more complicated as time went on, practice is key
Every bassist should be required to learn jazz
Michael Layton Indeed, just practice with a metronome, you can even download some app for that, but most people don't do that because they think they just need to download some tab for guitar pro and then they become musicians
Prophetic Fish ABSOLUTELY! It doesn't matter what genre of music your band plays, you can play a jazz grove over almost anything and it will fit.
Bakesale59 while i don't completely agree, i definitely don't disagree.. a good.. no, perfect sense of time is key to playing bass. its like the guy in the video stated.. its the foundation. Bass essentially locks everything in. Even the flashy guys, i.e Vic Wooten, Marcus Miller, Steve Bailey, etc.. they stay locked in even when playing leads. I do agree with all the guy stated, but theres definitely a lot more as well..
Truth be told, the same criticism can be applied to *_ANY_* sucky member of a band.
1. If your singer is some tone deaf, long haired gremlin or ape who can't hit a specific note if their life depended on it, instead of actually toning up his own voice and actually _"singing"_ resorts to "imitating" his favorite singers, is overly concerned with his "look" instead of his singing and can't remember the lyrics to your own material - you're gonna sound like crap.
2. If your guitarist is some ego maniac who keeps all the knobs on 11 cause he wants to be the loudest on stage, can't remember how to play songs you've all been playing for years, is too busy worrying about which chicks aren't wearing underwear in the front row instead of learning how to operate his own gear and doesn't listen to anyone but himself - you're gonna sound like crap.
3. If your drummer has the time keeping ability of a brick, sounds like a chugging, backfiring Ford Pinto in it's last death throes and bashes cymbals endlessly cause he thinks it the "Rawwwk and Grrrrroll!" thing to do - you're gonna sound like crap.
Everyone needs to practice together and get as tight and well versed in their material to the point that playing those songs is second nature. Same with changing guitar strings or drum heads - if you can't do that on the fly... Also, if you can't get along and leave your differences (ego, work problems, personal problems etc. etc.) at the door long enough to record your own stuff, forget it.
Last, if one, most or all members in a band don't have the ability to be open to experimentation, to be creative or accept constructive criticism or suggestions, you might as well pack it in. When a band is set on only doing things one way and won't even *_consider the possibility_* that there might be a better way or approach that might make them, their material or both sound better, that stifles creativity and once *_that's_* gone, it's over.
(P.S. Everything I have listed here I have seen myself or experienced firsthand)
You sir, are absolutely right.
ecept youre not likely to keep a bad singer, but bassist arent easy to find, every idiot thinks they can sing. and theres only so much you can do with a crappy voice.
yep
Of course but it's more common place for a bassist in a good band to suck and have zero input in the writing process.
Where is that proof? I'm a bassist and I'm starting a band. Not trying to bitch just wanting to see some proof.
"BASS is the FOUND-ation!"
Preach it, Brother!
The Gordon Ramsey of the music world, love your vids brother. Btw, you motivated me to be a bass player who doesn't suck. Thanks
Ramsey's a twat. Glenn is so much more than he'll ever be.
I think one of the biggest reasons why so many bass players aren't motivated is because bass usually just ends up in the mix as some kind of pseudo ambient background noise. Most bass players aren't given any chance to do anything other than strum boring root notes. As a bass player, I like to hear what's going on with everything, not just guitar and drums. When you listen to most modern metal albums, bass is just kind of there, with anything potentially exciting just getting drowned out in the mix.
Kind of a chicken or egg problem, good bassists write interesting parts for themselves because they know how to do so, because they bothered to learn.
Guy V
Problem is bassists are in high demand, while guitarists are a dime a dozen, so it's natural for guitarists who don't get picked to try bass (at least, that's a sign of lucidity, lol) and it's natural for bands to end up with whichever bass player's left.
The bassist we have at the moment is a marginally more proficient guitarist than I, but he seriously lacks inspiration, his guitar style does not suit the band at all, and I'm a better bassist than he is, because he's lazy. Yay. Oh, did I mention I'm a better drummer than our drummer, too ? --_-- But he tries, at least, and is happy with his position.
Guy V
I play to have fun, but it's funnier when everyone can play reasonably, and playing with oneself can get boring ^^ It's not like I have a huge flock to select from anyway, _especially_ where bass is concerned, which is my point.
The guys you're referring to are the bassists he's talking about. If you can play, are creative enough to play something interesting, your band will want you to stand out in the mix.
You're listening to the wrong mixes.
My band's first manager was an absolute dumb fuck. he said our first concert was in a month and we are still a little rusty, so why not making a "How to NOT COMPLETELY SUCK at being a band manager"?
+Metal Guitar Player good idea
Would love to see that. Some people need help with gray rolls of tape.......
Yeah please about these dumb asses also
+SpectreSoundStudios wow... senpai notices hin but not anyone else!
iamjakt
well said.
Ryan Martinie from Mudvayne is a hell of a great bass player and he was the reason I started playing bass after almost 10 years of playing guitar. Its been 12 years since I touched a bass for the first time.
Been playing bass for almost 20 years. Agree with everything. Muting is a huge technique not talked about much. Great video! 🤘🏻
Because no one teaches that. Most bass teachers come from a different background where you play with far less attack. Plus, for metal, we tend to overuse the heavy E and A strings which obviously create the most vibrations.
I'm as thin as a stick and am a bassist.
Same here, 6'2" but only 150 pounds.
Hit the gym
I'm about 120 and I have tiny hands. But I'm only 17, and I go to the Gym about 3 times a week.
5'3", about 120 pounds, ten years of musical experience. Why do you even fucking bother, dude?
ummm theres something called protein, and you should get that fixed ASAP
'...pick hand...'
'...PICK hand...'
'...P I C K hand...'
*TRIGGERED*
+Matt & Ben's Best Bits get some therapy for that!
you rather call it finger hand?
Also it is quite common for bass players to use a pick depending on what you're playing and how you want it to sound like. I play with a pick, I'm also not a really good player yet (that is part of why I don't go into any studios)
Gabriel Marineau Plante I just call it right hand technique or whatever else
You can always smell when a guitarist that has no fucking clue about the instrument. It's always some back and fourth of talking about some dull foundation followed by admiration of some bass bit that is just a copy of a guitar lick. The guy making the video just screams this kind of crap with his video selections of "good bassist". He literally picks songs where butler,harris, etc are really out of bounds of their good bass work.
Matthew Williamson shush
Just wanted to say thanks for the tips, about three years ago i looked up bass playing tips and this video came up, it TOTALY changed the way i look at my role in a band and on my own playing.
My band got a new bassist last spring, and he’s awesome! He is just starting out but is very dedicated. He tries to show up, messages me all the time, and has massively improved!
hello. I play bass and I enjoy practicing. I'm not a proffesional by any means but love playing my bass and hearing the rich low sounds.
am I endangered
+marrionet allenvisuer Not endangered but you have the right attitude, it's all about the love of music.
These days i just play on my own, i download free drum backing tracks, lay down some bass grooves on a looping pedal, and play guitar over the top. I enjoy it and that's all that matters to me, i can sit for 6-7 hours at a time doing that and just get lost in the vibe.
+Jhoane Audrey No of course not.
You know, there was this day when I came home from school a bit tired after having a hard maths exam, and as usual I let it all "evaporate" while I put on some good music (it was actually jazz that particular time). I had reassured the fact that I really enjoyed that sole musician who nobody cares about but I knew that he was a very important part of the band since it's pretty much the bridge between the rythm and the song's "story" (harmony, theme, etc), and I loved that deep sound and the amount of "singing" that you could do on that instrument, unparalleled to any other fretted string instrument.
So I got up off of my lazy ass and bought an electric bass. Since it was active I asked my dad for an old subwoofer and connected it to a stereo and did a little bit of soldering to output the sound to the subwoofer.
Now, each day I come home from school after a hard day, I'll always be happy that I can sit alone with my bass and sing it all out with those yummy low notes. One of the most beautiful sensations I've experienced in my life, and probably one that many people will never understand, so it's good that we keep this little secret for ourselves.
With this being said (and congratulations for reaching this part of my comment), go ahead and play forever. Play the bass. Hear the low notes and feel them extracting all the living soul out of your body. Convert all that into those warm low tones that we love.
+Jhoane Audrey You are like the rare tigers the monks care for in tibet and the govt wants to shut down the monks so they are trying to move to an island. Oh and the govt forced them to stop taking in new tigers, so they currently cant breed.
***** I suddenly started feeling sad
gtheskater DONT! The tigers are beautiful and its great the monks had chose to spend their lives doing it. Im jealous of the monks.
*"THE EXECUTIONERS OF ENJOYMENT, THE MURDERS OF MUSIC"*
These reasons right here are why I started playing bass haha.
I remember the first time I've watched this,I haven't started playing bass and when I did, I've kept your advices in my head. I want to thank you for helping me,I can't explain how grateful I am for your advices
To be fair, I can't change the strings on my piano. I can't even tune it :)
The reason bass got a bad rap is honestly because of the emergence of rock bands. It's true. A group of friends get together and the two of them can play. One of them thinks he can sing and the 4th guy? Well the 4th guy gets handed a bass. Bass guitar, in any other genre of music is taken very seriously. Unfortunately in rock and roll the bassist is usually the odd man out. Bass guitar is not only important it's essential. Bass controls the groove of the song. Bass can control the melody and or the harmony. Bass controls the tempo with the drums. The bass player can "push" the tempo or play a bit "lazy" to create dynamic tension in the music. I love bass as an instrument. I think it's essential for your bass player to be competent. I'm a guitar player and I do play bass on occasion and I find it a very demanding instrument when it's played correctly. For all you weekend warriors who grab a bass because you think it's easier than guitar and you want to joint a band. Hahaha good luck.
As a bassist myself,I subscribed after this vid!He is the very first guy I ever heard praising Ian Hill-when I was doing so,I was always getting the ''who the hell is that?'' stares.And for the guys out there that the're ''language sensitive''-learn how to stay calm,quiet,make the distinction between general and personal remarks and listen to what is said and not how it is said-I learned a lot this way!
Me too
Ian is a god of holding shit together
As someone who use to play bass in high school. Thanks Glenn for giving me more insight of bass. Cheers from Edmonton
Just found your channel - very informative and entertaining.
I would also like to thank you for inspiring me to practice playing my bass more!
I guess this guy didn't know that Periphery's bass player played bass, guitar, and produced their entire last album. He also did the same on an album they just finished tracking.
Are you really thinking that he is going to name EVERY good basist?
Misha can write well for every instrument in his band.
I guess you didn't know Periphery is shit.
vape zilla Guess you don't know shit. :D
NeZversTutorials
Yeah, because Djent is good right.
I've been playing bass for 23 years and everything this man says here is true, ESPECIALLY the part about not approaching the bass like a "guitar with 4 strings", and the bit about knowing your shit before you enter the studio. By the time you get into the studio you should know the material so well that you are almost sick of it.
The sound engineer can't make shitty playing sound good....as they say "shit in, shit out"
I still get pissed off when some people call me a guitar player. THIS IS A FUCKING DOUBLE-BASS, YOU ILLITERATE SHITHEADS!
Unless you're Lemmy or Entwistle and invent a whole new technique, a bass should be played like a bass. Root & Fifth is a start, then start adding others, then learn chords, scales, fills... Practice.
Alexey Polevoy I know right.
me: *playing bass*
person: Wow, are you a guitarist?
me: *TRIGGERED* Really
@@alexeypolevoybass how can somebody see this guy with a giant violin and think hes a guitarist
@@cursedcliff7562, an electric bass is still an electric version of double bass, so it doesn't matter if you see a guy with a “giant violin” or with a “long guitar with slightly bigger body and fat strings”. This is the same thing.
I love your way of teaching and sharing. Your humour and personality are bang on for my sensibilty. You are very well spoken. Thank you Glenn. Your experience in the real world of recording shines through. And you make me laugh.
Always find my self coming back to these vids for laughs and entertainment. Cheers Glenn!
This guy actually looks like Ben Franklin holy shit
Kolot He really does xD
The founding father of metal?
you can change the strings!!!???!!!
+matt sez learn something everyday haha
$20 is too much
I love how he goes from angry yelling to chill advice in a second.
Thanks Glenn, every now and again I'll rewatch this video to see how I'm stacking up. It's full of great advice and understandable frustration. I play bass I'm a band, but I also play other instruments and produce as well.
I'd like to offer some of my own advice as well for bassists out there, try writing a few songs of your own, not just on bass, but for the whole band (at least chord progressions, bass, drums, lyrics, rough vocals, etc), it'll force you to think about the role of individual pieces of your band, and how you can come together as a team. Yes, do it even if they're terrible.
Then bring it to practice, fumble your way through an explanation on how to play the song, and witness the utter chaos from your band completely fucking up your vision in ways you didn't think were possible (at first), then get frustrated every week by the same dude who clearly didn't give a shit about practicing his part. But if you're lucky you'll witness the magic of collaboration, and your song will end up better than you thought it would be.
You'll get a MUCH better idea about your role in the band, and you'll be empathetic towards Glenn's frustration. You'll wonder why people don't practice their parts, or learn how to communicate via music theory.
"The instant rockstar button doesn't exist!"
"How'd you become a rockstar?"
".........muffin button"
Ha. I got it
T F S R E F E R E N C E ? ? ? ?
Want your bass strings to last longer? Try washing your nasty fucking hands BEFORE you pick up the bass.
Just stumbled on to your channel and I love it. I'm a bass player (jazz, funk, R&B) that's been working for a long time and I agree with everything you say. Great stuff
+Kere Amohau thanks!
I'm a bass player, And I've gleaned an endless amount of information and knowledge from your videos. I'll admit, I SUCKED, as I was literally fumbling over the darn instrument at the start.
Watching your videos quickly inspired me to learn so much more about KNOWING my instrument, and my position as a Bassist.
Timing, Muting, Theory, Technique, Scales, Tone, Chords, Shapes, Arpeggios, and Modes; from Focused, Daily, Goal-Centered PRACTICE! Thanks for the great advice and awesome content!
Sincerely,
A Grateful Bassist.
So to be a good bassist play because you love to play, not for any other reason?
Thats the only reason you should learn any instrument.... Well, that and to get girls
Sam Calin If you play to get girls, bass guitar wouldn't be recommended ;)
Macellarius666
Girls (99%) don't know the difference between bass and guitar! ;)
Mark Evans got a lot of girls
Macellarius666 I just recently picked up a banjo. Will that at least get me hillbilly girls?
So Gabe Newell is now a metalhead?
You are a god
You had me going off at beginning of vid. Was gonna let ya have it. But then you got serious,and you have great advice,one being muting open strings that vibrate on their own. So, Great advice all around. 1000 thumbs up.
I love your channel brother! keep on going!
I haven't had my confidence shaken about learning bass until now.
You know he is right. You can't suck at bass and not drag everyone else down.
Fuck that...fuck...THAT. You keep playing until you fucking hate the sound of your bass...then you play it some more...put it down and go back the next day and do it all again.
Don't ever give up on advice from a fat angry American...listen to your favorite bass guitarists and get hard and get heavy. Practice hard..play harder.
@@roddygogo7772 hell yeah dude
@@roddygogo7772 What fat angry American?
@@roddygogo7772 *canadian
hahaha I'm one of those cheap bastards who change strings every 3 years.
Please, change it now
Me too, but since I started to really play again I do it every two months or so.
I'm not laying down tracks or playing gigs at the moment. Changing strings is a waste of money.
Same here. I can get more than 2 months' life out of a pack of DR Lo-Riders tho.
I change to Rotosounds every 3 months
You're funny as hell, and knowledgeable. Instant liking 😂
What about David Ellefson? He's probably my favorite bassist of all time
this video actually taught me to mute the E string, didnt realise how much it bleeds
Ben Lawrence sometimes they need to ring lol
If you play the right way with your fingers, then you should have no problem muting the low strings while by using your palm. And when playing the low strings keep you playing fingers lay across the strings gently.
I do a lot of tapping on my bass. I mute it by tying a sock on the lower ends.
Even if you don't play metal, this video is still full of awesome information that transcends any genre of music.
As a bass player, simplicity, reliability and groove is what makes us cool and gets us the gigs.
To expand on this concept of tension and release, the bass is the key to compositional excellence. The bassist, having the lowest voice, holds the fundamental tone, has control over every inversion, and is consequentially the focal point of any great piece of music, even though the guitarist gets the solo and the singer gets the girl. Our choices in the bass line is what makes or breaks the tune.
The mood of any note is relative to its fundamental tone. The stability and clarity (tension and release) of any musical phrase is relative to the choices made in the bass voice. I say let the singer have the girl and let the guitarist have the solo because the bass player gets the music.
A sharp mind on the bass not only fills out the sound and groove, but is a necessary part of contrapuntal clarity. (Beethoven ain't shit without a bassline). As bassists, our goal should be to make the rest of our band sound great and promote musical clarity. If your band is a house, a bass player is the foundation that keeps it upright.
In short, great bass playing is 5% physical and 95% mental.
Note 1: There are probably 1,000 great guitarists for every 1 smart bassist. We are always in high demand.
Note 2: If you play bass and shred circles around your guitarist, you might still be a shitty bassist.
That's quite possibly the most intelligent thing I've ever read written by a bassist!
Haha. Thanks. I appreciate it. I actually enjoy you ripping on bassists, by the way. Every musician needs a good humbling every once in a while.
true words :)
Not sure i've got the melodic skillz for 'compositional excellence' but I think I agree with all that :)
Best video you've done yet. Much better when you just chat with your normal calm vibe, too imho
Hey Glenn....Hi from Australia...just subscribed to the channel. I'm nearly 60 and learning the Bass. I can change my strings, setup my axe and adjust the action etc (thanks to my local music store's help and advice). I'm sure I will prove the exception to your rule when it comes to bass players. We all know us older guys learn better than cocky young guns! LoL Love the Channel and peace to you and all the contributors in the community!
I'm a guitarist and bassist and I'm not cocky or big headed. I play what I need to play and rehearse until I nail a song. I'm not gonna say I'm amazing but I can keep a good rythm since I started music playing drums.
I love how bass sounds, it's probably one of my favourite instruments.
I just need a band...
Right there with ya man. It's super hard to find a band sometimes.
So absolutely true! In my former band our bass player never fuckin learned the songs. He had to have a sheet of paper in front of him when we played. I was like "why don't you just learn the songs? It's not even hard to feel when a riff will change either". He never did. Plus he failed to mute his strings so many times it would just come out these horrible sounds of his bass. And when he played "fast" it sounded like a roof collapsing. Metronome dude!
That's because most "players" are only "Bedroom-players", only playing along MP3s, without practicing so, when comes to the real job, they suck like shit.
By the way, nice job on the DooM remakes! It would be great partecipating in your covers/videos (I'm a bass player, real one :D )
Old but gold, every time i need encourangement i go back to this vid
Love me a good rant! Keep them coming. Cheers.
Bass creating tension when needed...Rime of the Ancient Mariner's middle section, anyone?
Bam! Someone give this dude a medal!
Fragonborn Entertainment or the bass solo to stinkfist by tool
Definitely ! Master Steve Harris *.*
you can take these points and apply them to any member of the band, not just the bassist...
+Texa$Rigged yes
That's what he did...
this video totally gives me motivation to learn more
after 6 months now i can finally understand what he says, thank you sir, now i can understand most of english vlogs and conversations
Thanks, because of you i decided to change my strings before my gig in two days, oh my god it made the greatest difference and i can't wait to play my next gig (my gigs are just school gigs for assignments), also as i started bass late last year i have had more respect for bass, and i was put on bass because i could play it. And now because of you i have been practicing and changing strings. Thank you.
The whole muting thing also applies to guitar players. As cleverly put by Guthrie Govan:
"Not you only you have to play one or more strings, you also have to not play the others."
I bet his girlfriend ran out of him with a bass player, what's the true reason of this anger.
Николай Коршунов #close
I liked because i want it to be 60 and i have ocd.
He's married.
Николай Коршунов 20+ years of people not knowing what the Hell they're doing!
Years of experience running a music recording studio and literally having that once a week. Also, everybody knows bass players don't get girls.
Great video! All great points well made. If I may add one thing.. being tight means starting AND stopping bass notes at the right time. Subscribed👍
Great video...very well expressed! It's amazing who many people are so clueless about the importantance of the bass guitar and its musical function within a song. The whole tension and resolution thing is a great point as well...the bass guitarist is responsible for most of it within a given song yet a lot of so-called bass players don't even know what the hell musical tension and resolution is. They just pluck along with whatever chord the guitar is playing. If your bass player sucks, no one else in the band can make up for what he/she lacks it's that simple. Anyway, sorry to rant...again, great video guy!!
Play this at half speed and you get a drunken Glenn Fricker
It sounds stoned to me 🤣🤣🤣
That basic formula of guitarist's root notes + rhythm "in the pocket" with the drums.... I hate that shit. When I see a bassist doing it, I lose respect. But a good bass line is a melodic counterpoint. Generally speaking, no matter the genre, a good bass line is behind the hook of every legendary song. See the Offspring - Gone Away. The Police - Every Breath You Take. SOAD - Chop Suey. The Cranberries - Zombie. RHCP - Under the bridge. Sublime - Santeria. Muse - Hysteria. Etc.
+Ersan Seer Some epic songs you picked here- learned 5 of them in my first two years of playing.
+Gabriel Hole-Jones Starting with the best baselines is a courageous - and great - way to learn. :) I learned piano by learning LA Valse D Amelie from day 1. Took me 2 months but when I could play it without mistake it was magical.
+Ersan Seer Isn't "Every breath you take" bassline, basically the root notes of the guitar chords?
+Șefu' cu Caterincă You might be right... I wrote my comment fast and was going off memory. :) I think the bassline in that song acted as a counterpoint to the vocals.
Ersan Seer I won't mean that was a bad choice on the song. In some cases, simply going with the root notes of the guitar chords fits perfectly. Even more with those kind of chords
Thanks for the info ...great stuff!!
"FOR FUCKS SAKE, YOU HAVE ALL YOUR ABILITIES. DO SOMETHING! BE SOMETHING!! FUCKING PRACTICE!!!" Probably the most motivational thing I've heard in a while.
0:51 Instead of putting the shitty guitar player on bass, we put him on guitar and just let him improve.
that's what i did on time in a band. AND WE SUCKED
Bar Goldstein That's a shame.
Our guitarist has been improving alot :D
but i'm not giving up ;)
Bar Goldstein Good!
Absolutely. Your bass position should be filled by a bassist.... a person who taken particular measures to master the bass instrument and is passionate about playing bass and doing that well. Not a shitty guitar player who feels less important and butthurt because his buds made him bass instead.
Being a 20 year bass vet. I have one thing to say you. Fuck yeah! I'm sick of numb nuts playing bass like guitardist. Bassist who want to step out of a support role need to learn techniques, counter melodies, harmony, and it's totally different from guitar. I've recorded a bassist that literally slid his finger from one random fret to a higher random fret as a back up to a chorus. It wasn't in any kind of time, or key. So I found one that was close and reengineered it then slapped it over the other choruses. Good luck if they ever do that live. Play a shifty bassists track solo and say, is that what you wanted it to sound like? Lol
Great post man!
I've watched a couple videos of yours, and this is by far my favorite,I'm subscribing bass-ed on this one alone. I was asked to play bass for my friends band when I was 15.i bought a bass and havent looked back l.im strictly a bassist,only play guitar and drums occasionally.ive never been turned down from any band I've tried out for I'm the 17 years I've been playing, including an iron maiden cover band.
Keep up the great videos.
5 years ago, I saw this video for the first time, and it really... upset me? Pissed me off? It kind of put a sour taste in my mouth for wanting to become a bass player. Cut to now, 2022, and I genuenly feel like I'm the best I've ever been at my craft. I play every day, I take care of my instrument, I buy new strings for it every quarter, and I've even been able to help other fellow musicians out by sending them to your channel. The techniques, the skills and general knowledge I gained from watching you has not only made me a better musician, but also a better mixer and engeneer. (Although that's probably not saying much since I'm just editing and recording in my bedroom)
Tl;Dr: Glen, you were right about everything, and showing me the TRUTH about being a bass player has made me far better than I ever imagined I could be. Same goes for mixing and mastering instruments.
Cheers, thanks and Fuck You, Glen!
Could always hang an acorn on a string to distract the bassist while the guitar player records all the bass parts.
lmao!
Reminds me how Chuck Schuldiner recorded the bass on Leprosy and Spiritual Healing because Terry Butler just couldn't do it, haha. I gotta admit being a great guitarist will make you a more than decent bassist, while being a good bassist will not make you a decent guitarist...
ACoolStupidDog
Being a good bassist is like being good at tying your shoes. :)
SpectreSoundStudios Oh, come on, that was cheap :C haha. When I think "good" bassist I think Justin Chancellor or Cliff, not your regular clueless bassist.
***** For every guitarist who says they can just pick up a bass and be good at it, if that's true then I would encourage them to do so! Quit guitar and play bass full time. Good guitarists are a dime a dozen, and good bassists are few and far between. Bass has more power to influence a song, even if it's felt rather than heard audibly. You'll have much more impact on the world of metal (and any other music) playing bass, and it will be easy too! It's really a no-brainer.
I've been watching some of your videos talking shit about bass players like me. And personally, what I want to say is: Thank you. This type of information should be shared to all bass players both old and new. And thanks to you, I am also using your tips in my bass playing and I told my bass teacher some of the information you said and he said all you said is correct. Ignore those ignorant self-superior whiny bass babies. They just can't handle the truth that they suck at music.
1:15 Les Claypool
This video actually really helped me when starting on bass guitar :D
When people choose bass because they can't do guitar they tend to be a lot worse, I chose bass because I like jazz
Rickstery I tried guitar when I was younger, but I wasn't into it. Five years later and now I'm leaning Bass, and I love it.
I chose bass because it's badass! And everyone picks up a guitar first. Open your mind. Everyone in the band can't play guitar, even G3 has drums and bass.
*Y A L I K E J A Z Z*
I picked up the bass because I suck at guitar and it turned out that I am more confident with the bass and now I am able to do things that I couldn't imagine
horhepancho you want some cool tricks try playing with triads in the high end. Major and minor cords ring out great with a pick anywhere beyond the 7th fret. Volume swells give it a nice touch. You can get a wah effect if you bend past the nut while holding a note. If you can't get a handle on slap muting try double slapping using your thumb and pinky in a rocking motion. This requires accuracy. You can alternate your index and middle fingers on the up and down stroke to get a consistent tremolo. Just offset your fingers. Find A everywhere and you will learn the fretboard in no time. Guitar technique applies to bass. Learn some guitar chords. They never learn and you need to be able to speak their language. Playing with your hand inverted looks cool and isn't that hard unless the music is. You can stretch really far that way and it looks cool with a tap. Speaking of tapping, if you are playing slap and want to add something to your style try tapping in the string at the edge of the fretboard or over a pickup like you are playing an arcade game. It has a nice ping sound that adds punch to any note and can be done as fast as possible or slow as you need, but it's difficult to stay accurate on a 6 string. If you have not tried one, go look for an 8 string. Chords sound great. Every note is in octaves because of the duality of having bass and guitar strings. Distortion is awesome on one, and you can build a wall of sound with one instrument. You can completely replace the rhythm guitar and still play like a bassist.
That was freaking awesome !!! Great job on the video & the tips as well !!
Thanks! More on the way.... :)
Man... I am a new subscriber. Love your shit. Funny as well as true.
Just bought my first bass. I am a guitar player who needs to play bass to record my music. Thanks for the video, it was very useful
I KNEW your first reference would be Steve Harris. I'm totally with you, man. Love this video. Always musical. Very blunt and obvious, but always needing a good reminder... And I very much appreciate that this can be applied to a bass player in any genre, not strictly metal. Good on you, brother!
agreed!
Also shoutouts to Geddy Lee(Rush), John Myung(Dream Theater), Eddie Jackson(Queensryche)!!!
On the example that you gave with the song, I could truly hear the difference, even on my scrappy phone speakers
I really like when drummers and bassists work together and the bassist does a line that follows a drum fill. Steve DiGiorgio and Sean Reinert did that a lot on Death's Human. That happens when you get a talented bassist and a drummer that knows how to count together. There's a reason why that album is so respected.
There are 4 people in my band who can play bass.... and also me..... the bassist.
but seriously though, in my local scene, I'm the only one who's actually a bassist, and not just the 3rd best guitarist. There's such a logjam of guitarists around here, it took me 3 years to find a band.
The sad thing is, most of the bands prefer it that way because the guitarists are just dicks who want the bassist to blindly follow whatever shit they wrote.
plausible.
Unless you can actually write contributing bass lines, yeah you should stick to the guitar work
Tim suselbeek I always try and follow the drummer. The sounds are distinct enough that we stand out from eachother but I'm following a different pattern to the guitar so I'm audible from that too.
That's so true lol. Me and my friends are forming a band, but since I'm the shittiest guitar player I'm switching to bass.
Don't, generally bass is tougher to play, you will need a far reach to be a good bass player, and you'll have to build stamina and strength in your right hand. If you're counted as the "shitty" guitarist, just practice more and tell them to find an ACTUAL bassist who just plays bass :)
Thanks for the advice , I'll see if we can find a bassist, I've heard that's hard though. Anyways if I do end up a bass player ik how to not completley suck on it. Lol
Jake plays Don't play bass if you want to play guitar, practice until you're better than the other guy. Bass is great fun though, even if it's not for everyone
XBlueM0ndayX exactly my point
Jake plays Shitty guitar players make shitty bass players.
I hope to record bass with you one day and show you there are some solid bassists out there.
Heay Glenn. I'm a bass player and I really want to thank you for making this video. When I first started playing and saw this video it made me really butt hurt, but now that a few years have passed I can point at this and laugh because I was the stereotype that you hate. Your words are harsh and honest and I wish there were more content providers like you that don't get strangled by corporate. Thank you for being the honest asshole and keep up the good work. ❤️