Bass Players Need to Stop Doing This NOW!
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- Bass players, we have a problem, and I made this video to see if anything can be done about it. But I'm going to need your help.
Share this video all over the bass world and let's see if we can make a change together.
Thank you.
#basslessons #bass #lesson
And the congregation intoned: "Fuck Yeah!" (oops!)😂😂😂
Hey y'all, I heard Rich live with Rudresh Mahanthappa, Rudy Royston, and Rez Abbasi at Blues Alley in DC about, oh...19 or 20 years ago?
Straight fire. It's a cherished musical memory; it STILL gives me goose bumps. Rudy and Rich grooved hard and just smiled at each other all night as they served up heaping portions of groove dopesauce. Everyone sounded great! And I got to chat with Rich. He's just as down-to-earth
and humble in-person as he is in these videos.
This message is so important and so simple!
Love what you do and do what you love. Love yourselves and love each other. Rich and the commenters here seem to be about THAT, so thanks to ALL of you.
To Rich, in my best Denzel Washington voice(dark shades on, cup of coffee lifted): "My man!"😎
I tell people all the time, “I mean, they put all these notes here on the bass, so I may as well play them.” Keep on keepin’ on, Rich ❤
You, sir, are exactly right!
You’re truly a saint amongst musicians, Rich.
You’re the person that inspired me to play 6 string , and now I play them exclusively. There’s room in this world for any number of strings with no judgement, because our end goal is simply to use the instrument as a vessel for expression. Keep fighting the good fight, Rich 🫶🏼
This is all I'm saying, Chairman. Thank you very much, and I appreciate your very kind words. I'm honoured, brother. It truly means a lot!
The question I ask myself is: why someone would not play a six-string bass?, which is also the closest thing to the perfection. A 7-string bass, is the perfect instrument to study, not only the instrument, but the music in general. Whoever doesn't understand it, just has to take look at the circle of fifths and realize it... I did play the 4-string bass for a long time, until I knew the 7 string bass, unfortunately it's very heavy and not too practical, so went for the 6, which is the closest you can be to the heaven…
When they ask “Why do you play a six string?” Respond with “Because I can” Anything more than that is courtesy on your part which they really aren’t entitled to. Keep up the good work /Teaching Sir.
What if Billy Sheehan asks you?
Honestly I have never watched a bassist playing a 6 string bass on UA-cam or live and thought, "that ain't no bass."
You play bass, and you're a damn good one too!
Thank you very much. I appreciate the kind words. (And now I'm hungry. Is that the effect?)
@@richbrownbass LMAO! Yes it sure is. 👍🏼🥓🥓🥓
Exactly. It’s mind blowing.
I agree...4 string player here...working on learning 5 string. A 6 string bass is most definitely a bass!
Hey Rich! thank you for standing up for all us 6-string bassists, and thank you for being you! cheers!
100% Rich, we do need more encouragement and positivism in the bass community, we all have one goal and that's to express ourselves to the best of our abilities with this wonderful instrument, we are all on the same boat as you well said, keep on rocking 🙏
Also, getting tired of the "jaco only needed 4 strings" motto that some people seem to repeat on loop, there is only 1 Jaco and there is only 1 Rich Brown, the bass is our voice and we shouldn't limit it, we should have as many strings and notes as we need to express ourselves, no less.
Have those people ever heard of Felix Pastorius?
Funny, son of Jaco plays a six-string bass.
Jaco also ripped out the frets in his electric bass and epoxied the fretboard when he felt they were getting in the way of something he wanted to express. He didn't let other people's perception of what the instrument was dictate how he was going to play.
I will never forget the collective groan that went up when someine raised this point at the SBL clinic you did in London all those years ago. We had just heard you play the most beautiful music, on your bass, and that was all he could think of. We are all bassists.
Seeing the bass as an instrument and not a role to be played in music leads to these limited and limiting beliefs. It's a joy and inspiration to hear you sing down low and up high, thank you Rich!
I'm so glad someone like yourself is standing up and speaking out about this. Thank you for this video, Rich! Much love - Anthony
Many thanks, my man. Great to hear from you. Your channel is awesome! 🙏🏾
@@richbrownbass The feeling is mutual to say the least! Hope to see/hear you in person sometime soon!
Wow! Digging the Mutual Admiration Society here! You two would be perfect for a duo, like Victor Wooten and Steve Bailey did a couple of years ago! Just sayin'!
I've been in love with 6-string ever since I saw the cover photo of Patitucci's debut album with his Ken Smith. I bought my first 6-banger in 1996 and in 2012, I finally purchased my dream bass: a Ken Smith 6-string.
One of the greatest players I've heard played a 7 string Conklin. He was always playing solid bass serving the role of harmonic foundation and has fantastic time. Sure he could do other stuff outside of the common bass roles and did it well but I never heard him sacrifice the bass-line. I love him as a bass player and as a good human. Locally he's known as that guy who plays the 7 string bass. I just call him a fantastic bassist.
I started playing a six in at a blues gig in 98 and it was my main instrument in my most successful musical endeavor through the 2000's
I have always played bass no matter what instrument I was using. Upright, electric, tuba and keyboard bass. Bass is about what we play and how we fit into the music, not the instrument we happen to be using. The focus should be on the musical sound not the visual object.
BTW I just found your channel I love it.
Honestly I love the tone basses get on the higher frets and strings, even when you're intruding into pitches guitars are typically in. There's just something much cleaner and fuller than your typical guitar can manage, and I guess that comes down to string thickness, scale and pickups.
I could not agree more. Some basses really sing in the upper register. I love it.
@@richbrownbassbass chords sounds way more Warmer and my wife loves it when i do them. She even bought me a custom 7 string Fanned Fretted to encourage me to play music again. I explained all the in comment section on my own post.
I have been a guitar player since 1998. I play a Spanish guitar, a few 6-string electric guitars too, a Venezuelan cuatro, and bought an 8-string electric guitar around 2018. I find the extra 2 strings have opened up new doors on how I compose and play music. I have been interested in recent years in playing the bass guitar. The bassist in our band died of cancer about two years ago and I really miss his playing the bass. I can’t imagine how extra bass strings will hinder the bass player. The bass player adapts and finds their own original groove. It can only get better. I have heard about muting issues while playing a 5-string bass, but you just have to put the work to adapt to the instrument you’re playing to control the issues. More power to you for playing a 5 or 6-string bass. I was thinking about getting a 4-string fretless bass, but your video is inspiring me to get a 5 or 6-string fretless bass. Thanks for this video.
This video really means the world to me, Rich. I play and have almost exclusively played a 6-string bass, and the reason I sorta fell into this was due to a necessity, I feel. The church I attend and play worship on had lost a good portion of our team and what used to be a 7-10 piece band was now 3-4 on a *good* day. I found having the wider range found in a 6-string versus a 4-string - anything from helping to add color while also keeping the low end through tapping and chord shapes - really helped fill the void left by no longer having Keys, horns, etc.
While I know I could have stayed on a 4-string, it just felt really limiting when it came to the styles and feeling of sounds we were able to create if we were essentially your proto-power trio/quartet setup. I can't tell you how disheartening, truly, it feels to constantly read online and see others say I was somehow desecrating the craft or position of a bass player in a band - I'm sure you already know what it is like without me having to harp on about it, I just wanted to thank you and tell you how much this meant.
That's a good reason. It could be very misleading to people aspired to pick up the instrument. I think people that play the 6 string bass misunderstand when people say that. You're a professional musician who's grown to apply mentally, physically and theoretically.. it's not the norm. You're unique and special by right. That's like me being a pianist and doing the same thing. I would play the bass, piano, synth, everything all at once to fill up void. That's not piano playing, that's understanding multiple instruments musically, and mentally, physically applying on the keyboard by theory.
I've used my 6 in a worship setting as well. I was fortunate to have WLs that trusted me to have the discipline to do what was needed and still have fun playing an extended range when we stretched out.
Hey man, you keep doing you. You are a profound and exquisite professional musician. I have never used a six-string, as I only own four-string basses. I would very much like to use a six-string at some point. Both are perfectly capable of serving what the Bass was meant to function and then some. Bass is Bass, whether it'd be one string, or 24 in some more interesting settings haha. Cheers.
Thank you very much, and well said, my friend!
@@richbrownbass Thanks man so much. Bass can make music in any case if you really immerse yourself in it. Cheers again.
30 years here. It opened so many doors musically for me, but I’ve heard it 1000 times. It’s ridiculous. Great message.
You're right. We're all bass players. Peace and love !
Beautiful words of wisdom. Keep up the brilliant work.
Thank you, Mick. I'll do my best, brother.
I don't play a 6 string because I can barely play 4 😂 well said, sir. bassists unite ✊
I LOVE this message, partly for what it says about bass, mostly because it can be said about ANYTHING. Stop the hate, or the mudslinging, or disrespect, whatever. Be kind. I adore your beautiful spirit, Rich. God bless.
100% agree!
Seeing your playing especially has really inspired me to venture out into the 6-string bass world, and I couldn’t be more excited. Many thanks to you and for what you do for the bass community!
I sold my 6 string but kept the Stingray 4, the Corvette 5 fretless and my trusted Yamaha BB435.
When it comes to public displays. NOTHING compares to my Tuba. 🙂
The Tuba has immense dynamic range, modulation options and the best of it all:
I can play that thing in the woods or on a mountain. No further amplification needed.
Thank you for your exercises, they helped me a lot and keep me inspired!
I'll be revisiting and looking for the explanations . Just keep in mind that reasons and opinions are not the same. Love what you do Rich.
Totally agree and on a similar note, I'm tired of hearing that you can't play bass with a pick. I play with my fingers and a pick, depending on which works best for me on a particular tune.
Hey Rich, I’m a natural singing drummer who started playing bass.
I have some cool Fender Jazz and Precision basses.
I admire you and anyone else that can play with more strings.
I would never knock anyone for playing a 6 string.
I know a lot of bassists and I think you’re really cool.
Rich, I would take it as a compliment in that you're doing something beyond the realms of what is normally expected of the instrument.
I think that the same thing was said back in the 1950's, with the introduction of the ELECTRIC Fender Precision Bass. I bought my first Precision Bass in 1962. I was 15. By then it was pretty well accepted by at least the genres of Country, Rock, Rhythm and Blues. I love to see someone just kill it on a 6 string bass. In ways, I am jealous, because I have all that I can do to conquer just 4 strings after 62 yer of plucking those 4 strings Pesonally I have never thought much about what is and isn't a bass. I have been humbled by another old man playing a one string bass made from an old wash tub, a broom handle, and one gut string. Damn, he made that thing sing in a way that did not seem possible. You gotta play what talks to you or what you have, no atter how many strings it has. Thanks for sharing with all of us.
Greetings Rich! Well said on the 6 string bass. I have a four string that I’m actually trading in for a 5 string. Reason; I can’t play comfortably some songs that I like on the 4. For ergonomic reasons and being a minimalist I’m moving to a five. See you at 6 string soon. Thanks for clearing the path. Bass is bass. I will do my part in encouraging 6 string players not to be shunned. FYI I have played bass for 8 months only and I can see a myriad of benefits for playing more than four. 6 is great for chords as well. Blaze on!
Thanks for all you do for bass players of all kinds!
I play a 6 and 7 string bass.keep doing your best at what you want to play and you will make it.thank you for your gift of sharing your knowledge of music.
I really don't want to play a 6-string - I almost certainly couldn't. But I've never thought it wasn't a bass, just different. Keep on truckin', Rich - fantastic work, whatever your instrument.
Dude, the six string is a monster of a bass. It truly intimidates me so I stick with the five string. I never judged bass players on what type of basses they played. I always saw it as a matter of your playing style. Six string cats have an amazing style as well as talent (not taking away from four and five strings). Don’t let it bug you when people criticize, it’s easier to criticize things versus learning to develop an appreciation for something different, thought it’s really not that different. I dig your videos, I’ve played for years without learning and real fundamentals and I’ve gained so much from watching your videos. So keep doing your thing and focus only on those with broader mindsets.
Love this video! I have a 4 string P bass, a 5 string active and a beautiful 6 string active and i love all equally but they give me different inspiration because of the uniqueness of the feel and flavour of what they allow..........I say play as many basses as you can, expand your horizons and open your minds, God knows the world could do with more of that ;)
Haha! What the heck? I'm in Toronto playing a gig at Meridian Hall and I was thinking about hitting you up for a bass lesson while I'm here, and it turns out that you're back in my home playing there! Hopefully I'll be able to catch one of your shows and have a great tour!
When it comes to music and instruments it's like different color flowers wouldn't the world be boring if there were only one color flower it's the same for instruments since i have been on here i have been seriously on going back to a six string i feel that i have been missing a lot thank you so much for sharing with us and there are many judgemental people out there they are closed minded and they play the same way I am 75 and have been playing since i was 14 and i an still hungry to learn.
Keep the faith and just smile Your student Joe
Love you so much, and thank you for honouring my first album with your unbelievable talent. Miss you
Miss you too, Sharon. It’s been a minute! I hope you’re doing very well. 🙏🏾❤️
Thank you Master Brown..This is awsome and so true....
Rich, thank you for this video. We have five senses to help us understand something. We so often are quick to make judgements with and listen with our eyes. While we do not need to taste or smell an instrument to understand it, why are we so quick to judge something from what it looks like or where it is made? We do the same with people and other surroundings. I must confess that I am shamefully guilty of this myself and am working to improve on it. If we listened more to just the music from the instrument and appreciated the musician, where the real music comes from, more there would be less animosity towards those playing different style instruments or musical styles. There is not only a lesson about music here, but also about life in general. To quote Victor Wooten, "You bought 20-24 frets. Use them."
In situations like this, I wish people would either keep their mouths shut or keep their minds open. I play a 4 string Fender Jazz, like many people around the world do. Honestly, 4 strings are confusing enough! I can't imagine playing a 5 or 6 string. But I would never talk sh-t or talk down to someone because they play one. Yeah, Jaco only had 4 strings. Big deal. How boring would it be if everyone only played a 4 string and never tried something different. Most of the time when I go into a music shop I'll pick up a 5 or 6 string just to play around with it and see how it feels and sounds. Maybe someday I'll get one. For now 4 strings are plenty, but again I would never give someone a hard time just because they play a 5/6 string. Great video, Rich. Keep up the great work!
I love my 6 strings and I use them for almost everything, from 'tradional' playing in bands to more melodic synthy stuff that I write by myself. I do feel that sometimes the parts I write aren't "bass parts", and like anything else that can be the right or wrong thing for the music depending on context. The wonderful thing about the 6-string bass is that opens up these different ways of serving the music. And hey, compared to a standard 4-string bass, a 6-string also has MORE bass thanks to the low B!
Be as you are and play what you want, you are working for those who wants to improve his playing
Amen 🙏🙌 these disparaging comments come from fear, from not understanding and from a place where not being able or comfortable to do something gives a perceived license to demean it. Like many of the other comments have said, the entire range of the bass is amazing & gorgeous, from the singing vocal qualities of the upper registers to the thunderous body shaking low registers, and everything in between. I don’t think you hear many of the same comments with other instruments when they push the boundaries of the possible. If it serves the music, it’s good. And yes, we’re all bass players standing up for each other 💪🙌
I was always envious of people who could become proficient on the 6. I picked up my first one about 4 months ago, in part because of RB. It’s a challenge but rewarding too.
I'd honestly love to have the mastery to be able to play such a fine and grand instrument as a 6 string bass. Serious props, haters gonna hate and that's all it is. No worries. I'm so glad I found this channel!
So very well said, Rich! Exploration and evolution is essential and amazing in every artistic endeavour and you exemplify the very best of that spirit!
the "purest" thing never really bothered me too much. bunch of snobs anyway. i get what you're saying. folks just need to chill and enjoy the music! i started with drums in the 70s (to expensive back then) went to guitar. then to bass. back and fourth for years. well, i lost the end of my middle finger (string hand) so went from my strat back to bass. (i just want to play) man! i forget how much fun this is! and the power is just amazing. folks ask if i get bored! ARE YOU KIDDING! lol. i explain it as "you my not notice the bass, but you definitely now when it's not there!" really enjoy your vids. thanks for helping us. you make a big impact! jam on cuz! be safe.
They say that it's not a bass, but... they are still want to play with you? That makes sense :) Thank you for your videos. You're doing a a great job!
I love my six string so much I never play my four strings. It sounds so much richer I literally don't want to put it down. There are things I can do with the six that you just can't do with the four. The chords but you can play on the six are beautiful and impossible to play on the four string. I found you because I was searching 6-string bass players and I'm so glad I did. You are an inspiration I love your music I love your voice. Keep it up brother thank you so much for everything you do for the bass community!
I'm very glad and grateful that you found me, too. Thank you so much for your very kind words. It really does mean a lot to hear them. ❤️🙏🏾
You're welcome Rich. Curious as to what effect pedal you are using on Nguyen?
The world is full of self-righteous and self-proclaimed purists across the gamut of human culture and expression. We can all hold our own opinions and they are just that - opinions. In my opnion, you have the skill to create beautiful music and you are willing, able and kind enough to share that. Surely, we are united around the sound, the vibe, the feel of all that is low end! Hopefully, the detractors and haters will be outnumbered by the rest of us who are not hung up on counting strings. 🤗❤🎵
Amen! Thank you for that!
You are right! We make music, no matter what.
Its the lack of limitation that is so intimidating for many. This is true thruout this thing called life isn't it? Carry on Rich!
I am a guitarist and bassist. I've been playing guitar for 52 years, professionally for 43; playing bass for 45 years, professionally for 41 years. Since 1986, I've played a 5 string bass. Since 2007 or 2008, I have been using a 7 string (tuned BEADGBE) bass. I constantly get comments about my 7 string bass. Most times I say nothing and just do my job. If I'm asked why a 7 string? I simply say I've played guitar longer than I've played bass. Someone finally used their brain to create an instrument that I did not have to re-learn how to play or limit technique by the physical limitations of the instrument.
I have a 6 string bass and I love it, I also have 5 string basses too , and I wouldn't want it any other way .!!
Change is hard for people who are experts on what's right. Play on brother!
Another great video Rich! I routinely have people ask me about 5 and 6 string basses, and also hear their comments about 4 string basses being 'the only real bass' etc. It is difficult to explain the advantages of extended range basses to people when they cling to their staunch ideas and melancholy nostalgia for the past. I love to play a 4 string bass but not as much as I love the 5 and 6 string. You have my full support! Keep up the good work and positive messages!
Great video. Thanks Rich!
If I could learn the four strings as well as I like maybe I would move. I like hearing more involved bassists but I can't do it. I follow a guy who uses E to C on a five string. I don't know if I could that, however that may be easier.
Love all you do.
I’m really thankful for how simple, yet at times complex, playing bass has been for me. From my first P bass, to my 7 string fretless I’ve owned, all the way back to more 4 string P basses. I’m now into playing 5 string E-C strung basses. Life is beautiful, and I’m grateful how my bass journey has evolved over the years.
Yes! This totally validates my existence as 6 string guy! Hope it does for others as well! Thanks for the video Rich!!!
it's not a bass.... It's a SUPERBASS!! LOL. I gotta give credit where credit is due... I have no idea how you can change from a 4 to a 5 to a 6, without getting thrown off... I change from a 4 to a 5 and I need a GPS. OH and as far as the argument about it not being a bass, bass is a tone, Doesn't matter how many strings you play. Great video!
Thank you, Rich, this needs to be said! My guess is people are insecure. What matters is the music you make.
Nice. I can see you’re genuine. Subscribed.
Love this channel. The truth is the truth. "Hate is a weak emotion. a sign of failure"
As a recovering bassist (50+ years passed since the garage band) AND a fan of all things fusion, I LIVE above the fifth, and try not to screw-up chords, too! P Bass to Ibanez 6 string I'm loving arpeggios in the "alto-to-soprano" altitudes. Good on ya!
I WENT BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN 4 AND 5 STRING BASS. BUT EVERY TIME I TRIED A 4 STRING BASS I NEEDED THE LOWER RANGE OF A FIVE STRING. SO NOW MY GO TO BASS IS A 5 STRING BASS. MY BASS INSTRUCTOR TAUGHT ME THE RULES AND THEN SAID “YOU GET IT HOW YOU GET IT.” SO ROCK ON DUD 🤘🤘🤘🤘
First I like your videos. You’re a good teacher.
As far as bass. Who cares. It’s music! What you do with it is your music.
Very interesting to hear about this dilemma. Wow! I guess I have been in the dark. Didn't know this really existed. I play a 5-string bass fairly well. Tried my hand at a 6-string but became overwhelmed so I reverted back. I need to say that probably like most, I started on the 4-string and grew from there. I love hearing ALL the great bass players out there on 4, 5 or 6 string basses!!!! Doesn't matter! The BASS has evolved from being just in control of "the bottom". From the days of Jaco, Marcus, James Jamerson, Larry Graham just to name a few, the power of the bass has taken front and center and still commands the bottom!!!! Let's all love this instrument regardless of the amount of strings and love the talented fingers that touch them! God bless!!!
u da man Rich…my favourite music at the moment is you and the Jeremy Ledbetter trio and my man Liam Tillyer…so expressive and thoughtful and the tonal presentation of a 6 string bass can be second to none…i’ve also had buddies play them like guitars…haha…love the content…Bass United to love and Fonk!!
Great video Rich!
I can sum it all up in four words: Bass is a range.
If you have a string instrument that can play the bass-range then it is a string bass instrument.
Wikipedia: James Robert Haslip (born December 31, 1951) is an American bass guitarist... He plays a 6-string what? Bass LOL.
Thanks for telling it like it is!
One might argue that since the electric bass is a descendant of the contrabass, the only descendant of the gamba (or viol family; the bass viol having 7 strings - tuned in 5 fourths and a third between 3 and 4th strings) the six string electric is just as much a bass as any other.
Few weeks ago after 10 years of playing four string I bought a 5 and I immediately stop believing anything bad people said about it. I practice only on 5 string now. It add so much to my project, I feel fulfilled!
Do you hold down the bottom? Then it's a bass. Do you outline the chords? Then it's a bass. Do you bring the funk? Then it's a bass. Do you keep better time than the drummer? ha ha Then hello... It's a bass. Are you in the lowest frequency range in the mix? Well, you know what it is... It's a bass. Don't listen to them. They are jealous or stupid and there is no cure for that. Love your channel. Keep on keepin' on.
It's simply all the bass + some treble, it's like one and a half instrument in one, so there's literally zero downsides to it and many benefits, such as extended range (duh), more notes in one position for sight readers, many more possibilities for soloing, chordal playing and everything else.. I am still playing a 4 string, but I'm planning on buying a 6 string because I know it will open many more challenges, possibilities and ideas which will make me a better musician and that's what it's all about. So Rich, don't pay any attention to the negativity and keep doing your thing. Thank you.
Oh, and one more thing, check out Christian Galvez if you haven't already, the 6 string haters would probably have an aneurysm watching and listening to him :D
Subscribed. Great discussion
Hey Rich, thank you for the content of especially THIS vid! It's absolutely not a matter of what instrument or how many strings someone plays. Important is content! For me you're a master of that attitude. You master that fine line between too many or too less notes that are necessary for a song or a solo. And hate is an unfortunately a phenomenon of these days where people hide behind wall of social(!) media formats. I always wonder would they tell you the same if these people would sit with the addressed person in one room face to face? I don't think so. Respect is the magic word. Respect other people as you want to be respected. Rich, I support to 100% your position. Kind regards from Germany
I'm playing my 6 string in a Latin Jazz/world music/funk duo with my brilliant keyboard player friend because I need the added range in that environment. I switch between playing Bass , soloing and playing melodies.and guitar parts. My friend plays all the really difficult stuff, he puts the tracks together and without him I could not do anything that I do.
Yet whenever we have a gig I always have people come up to me who are impressed that I play a 6 string bass. I also sometimes play a 5er tuned E to C with a D-tuner. With that bass I don't get nearly the comments. So for me personally I don't have that negative response ever. It's just amusing and maybe a little embarrassing to me that one extra string will draw so much attention to me, when my friend really is the one who makes most of the music happen.
Best bass teacher on youtube, as well as a dope guy!
Awww thanks, Ben!
That is a beautiful bass🙌🔥
Hey dude
Just learnt about you through SBL.
You’re super cool and chill 😎
All the best
ofcourse is this bass..a nice bass..incredable sound & playing!
peter from rotterdam ( Holland)❤
Mann you are so inspiring. ❤️❤️❤️ Thanks a lot
Well said, brother...
Thanks so much for saying what needed to be said Rich, it's much appreciated
Stop the hate : well said !! We have better things to do than that ,maybe trying to play some good music actually
Whatever number of strings , it is just a tool to express yourself 😊
I have watch some of your video which are very inspiring to learn new things on my instrument ,so thank you for taking the time to share . Good day !!
Bro I really like you and what you are doing allover the world imagine this coming from Burundi in Africa
I would like to see more beginners bass lessons with 5 and 6 string basses. I’ve only seen one guy teach it but it looks like that’s been many years ago. I’m retired so I just want to learn on what I would like to play. So some scale or walk through some songs made to high light the 5 and 6 string bass I would appreciate it. Last thing if there was more content of lessons for these basses it might slow people down with they are not basses. You can show ‘em better than you can tell em. Have a good day
Yup. I am 5 string player and I get that constantly. I am just so used to low B that I am not willing to change in a live setting. For studio, I have got '73 P bass. But live with everything going on without, 5 string P is by "nature"
This video is an analogy for many things beyond the number of strings on the instruments itself. Thank you, Rich Brown!
First up, thank you for your videos.
Two more strings are two more octaves😮. Thats so handy. 😊 Thats a nice way to go. A simulare sort of talk is with fx on bass too 🎉. I think as a minimalist you should not be minimalistic 😖 on the many ways of perspectives that are offered by music in general.
Njoy an be happy
Not to worry. I played 4 string bass for 50 years and picked up the six string in the last five years. Ironically it’s actually easier to play than the four string bass once you get past the intimidation which is what most of the people that badmouth it issue is, they’re either intimidated by it or stuck in some kind of traditionalist mode. So play on and above all lay down the grove no matter how many string you play. Thanks for sharing all you knowledge.
This is a great video, about something that HAD to be said. I personally gravitate towards extended range players because they do not seem to have that kind of small minded thinking when it comes to bass playing. Really loving the 6 string, to me it's just perfect and feels like "home". I get a lot of suspicious looks when reaching for it, mainly by other bass players. Most non-musicians don't really seem to know what a bass is anyway, they just care about the music that comes out of it. Let's just make music and stop arguing about gear so much. Much love to you Rich!
Exactly the same experience here.
Got my first six string in the late 90's - a Yamaha TRB JP first series - and since then, I've been hearing all this kind of $h#1t not just from bass players but from any kind of musicians, mostly harmony / melody players - guitarist (mostly), singers, horn players - especially if they feel that you are actually good or "better" than them - whatever that means - and maybe feel threatened by you as someone who could compete in their role and put them in shadow.
No matter your background or how musically and maturely you actually play and fit your bass role, some biased people are just gonna say something, even before actually hearing you for the first time playing a single note. Last time was a couple months ago from a jazz horn player, something like "Wow what a spaceship is that".
I truly believe that to step up and become the best musicians we can, we really need also to step up and become the best HUMAN we can.
If it’s a broomstick with a rubber band connected to a washtub, it’s a bass! My favorite bassist, Mark Sandman of Morphine, played a 4-string bass, but he just had the E & A strings in the middle position on the nut and left the D & G strings off. And he played it with a slide & pick! And yes, it’s still a bass!! Nuff said!
Thank you my friend
Great video Rich, I used to play a 6 strings bass a few years ago, but later I trasitioned to 5 string because I cannot handle the mutting techique, my hands are small for a big chunk of fretboard but hoping to coming back when I feel confident enough playing the 5 strings bass, the buzzing is quite annoying when you don't meant to do. In the end, self-expression is the goal of playing music.
Didn't people get flack for playing the newly invented piano (pianoforte) when the mainstream were playing the harpsichord (which had no dynamics) ? Didn't electric guitar meet resistance from certain people? Drummers got flack for switching from animal skin to plastic (mylar) drumheads. Didn't the newly invented saxophone face resistance in many circles? Didn't Bob Dylan face ugly resistance when he went from folk to plugged-in rock? The history of music is full of this resistance to change. You are free to completely ignore them. Thank you for being you, great teacher and spirit! You are once again invited to our house for dinner, and bring your 6 string.
Damn, you’re finally in my part of the country & I’m out of the country.
The esteemed Jim Vivian (UofT instructor) made a crack about me playing a 5-string a few years ago when I was on a gig with Florian Hoefner. "How many strings do you need?!" he exclaimed.
Such great bassists are often such toxic people.