7 String Bass Patterns You Need to Know

1. Hello,
   I bought a Conklin GT7 str bass virtually viii mo ago, and I don't really use it. I tin physically play it (except slap- as well narrow string spacing), just I don't actually know what to play with it. I don't like two hand tapping, so I don't actually do that. I tend to stay on the bass side, or simply play psuedo-chords and melody on the tiptop three strings. I can't actually integrate the 2 sides. Skipping too many strings but sounds weird. Does anyone really play totally beyond the board? If you have one, what kind of music do you play on it? Do you play more than tune or rhythm parts or both? JT, help!

   Thank you,
   RS

5. 

   john turner You don't desire to do that. Trust me. Staff Member

   hey RS

   i hear ya near tapping, i don't practice that either - actually used to practise it much more on my 4's, dorsum in the day, but i oasis't tapped annihilation in probably 10 years.

   one of the techniques that i use adequately ofttimes is to comp out chords with the higher strings equally i pluck bass lines with the lower ones. this is something that i have been developing all the time, and am however learning - there is a broad range of possibilities. i apply my right hand thumb on the lower strings and my index,middle and ring fingers on the higher ones. in general, i play my basses a lot like a classical guitar.

   another affair to detect, which you have already, is the fact that the higher strings accept a thinner tonality than the lower ones. ofttimes i find that i actually play runs and such every bit if i were nevertheless playing a four, significant i will go upwards the cervix as opposed to going to the thinner strings, to keep the tone even when i desire to play higher notes. you lot're right in that the college strings seem to be trickier to integrate, but i looked at that equally a way that i could aggrandize my role in the rhythm section. instead of figuring a manner that i could simply do what a four string role player would practice, just higher, i looked at the higher strings equally tools to change the way i played, and the way i looked at the bass part, not just in frequency simply also the concept of added structure to a vocal. the tonality of the college strings became a tool to utilize, as opposed to an obstacle to compensate for or overcome.

   recollect, higher frequency ostinato playing tin can be just as rhythmically structured and provide simply as much foundation to a vocal as low frequency parts, when they are written properly. many classical composers, bach specially, were adept at this - mind to bach's organ toccatas and fugues, the "bass" and the "treble" sides merchandise roles throughout the pieces, lending feel and power to sections purely through their office reversal - treble side providing structure and bass side providing melody. the traditional part of "bass" is not ane of frequency lone, but too one of composition.

   i oft utilise the college strings equally a way to lend my bass parts more power, by playing sections on the higher strings when one of the 2 guitarists in my band are playing lower bass-range rhythm parts. and then when i change to playing a bass part on the lower strings - Pow - there is a palpable surge of intensity. once again, many of the parts that i am playing in the college register are nonetheless providing the bass function, in that they provide structure and framework, just they are not in the bass frequency range.

   the i thing i that i did that worked for me when i went to seven was to put away the 4s. i found that when i started thinking "7" as opposed to thinking "4 + actress strings" i was able to visualize what i wanted to do more easily, and likewise conceptualize the instrument on information technology's own claim, as opposed to budgeted it from the indicate of view of how it differed or was the same as a 4 string.

   another matter to consider is that if you don't like the extra high strings, yous tin string the instrument F#-B-Eastward-A-D-Yard-C, although then you would probably need to rethink your rig to get the best performance out of the low F# - most bass rigs don't cut it that depression.

   still, though, the best bet for really finding what's going on with the 7 and growing with the instrument, in my experience, is to put the 4's and v'due south abroad, and dive in. information technology may be frustrating at first, simply you will develop yourself as a role player more than than you ever have before.

   i gauge the way i look at it, the 7 (and greater) is really a dissimilar instrument than the four, a superset of the 4, where everything that i could practice on the 4 i tin can do on the 7, simply with many techniques and styles of playing that are alien to the 4 string added in.

   good luck, and hope that helps.

9. Thanks for the aid. But let me inquire you this- how practice yous melody your bass? Secondly,what kind of band are you in- rock, jazz, fusion? What is the instrumentation? I tend to be more of melody oriented bass thespian, and so the loftier strings don't bother me. When I write something I want to play on it, I just tin't do both parts at the aforementioned time. Practice you have any recordings of your playing? How much did that doubleneck cost yous? (just curious, you don't have to answer that one if you don't want to).

   Cheers again,
   RS

13. I started playing bass guitar in the 1950's. Back then it was so new that most people only tried to play it like an upright bass. Side by side twelvemonth volition be the 50th aniversory of this instrument and at present we have virtuoso players. This is your take chances to be at the begining of something new. Invent means to play this instrument information technology is but a few years old.

26. 

    john turner You don't desire to practise that. Trust me. Staff Member

    oh, btw, i transpose that rondo in a small an octave lower for most of information technology, and 2 octaves lower for parts. it gets the bespeak across.

    also, some parts of this are insanely difficult without playing open strings, which i am not doing. this piece alone is something that i will spend years on mastering, simply e'er since i started learning it, i accept been able to notice how i have grown as a role player.

    [Edited by john turner on ten-21-2000 at 01:10 AM]

30. Why there isn't a club for the 7-string bass?

    My bass instructor unremarkably plays a vii-string.
    He is unremarkably playing with fingerstyle chords, arpeggios, two-handed tapping, just likewise playing with regular finger-picking way too.

    I think you can use this kind of basses in music where the bass plays not but the bass role, but also a filling role and some solo.

    Some videos of my teacher playing his 7-cord handmade XU Bass:
    

34. When I had my 7 string i used information technology in cover bands.. I would play keyboard parts on information technology, I would learn guitar solos and play them at times.... and I would use it to play harmony lines with my guitarist...

    We used to play Detroit Stone City by Osculation.... and I would play the 1st harmony guitar line of the solo...

    I sold it way back in 2002...

38. Have you ever tried a MIDI-capable bass?

42. i play a six string as my chief bass and i rape the unabridged fretboard constantly. i would immagine i'd play the same on a 7..or maybe at that point its turning into a pianoforte on a strap rather than a less limited bass..

51. 

    Ed Goode Jersey to Georgia Supporting Member

    John has been playing 7's for a long time, and while his information has always been very helpful to me, the quote to a higher place is probably the about helpful piece of advice I e'er got when I first started playing 7+ strings .....

    Many players look at the bass as a 4 "plus some extra strings" rather than doing what JT always suggests, which is to look at the bass equally a whole unit rather than 4 + 3 (or 4) strings. I found that my manus positioning changed, my plucking mode changed, my thought procedure when working through chords changed, basically everything I did on a 4 or 5 was cast off to the side and new approaches were taken.

    I'm not a big soloist or classical player, I don't exercise a bunch of tapping ..... I accept actually just continued to be the bassist in the ring, simply at present I tin can provide a lot more color to the overall tonal pallette of the grouping. I play in primarily trio settings and with the use of a looper (and a very time-efficient drummer ) I'grand able to play chords supporting the guitarist or doubling certain licks within the tune. I've been slowly (very slowly ) working a MIDI into the mix which provides fifty-fifty greater options.

    BTW, I tune in standard 4ths ... BEADGCF for vii'due south, F#BEADGCF for 8's .....

    Merely JT is right on the money with his experienced advice ... accommodate your thinking and use the total potential of the instrument .....

    Attempt here .... www.extendedrangebassist.com

55. 

    john turner You don't want to practise that. Trust me. Staff Member

59. John's reply is right on the money!!!

    I play a six string now and never touch my four anymore every bit I experience information technology is a whole new ball game!

    Neat communication Mr. Turner!!

63. I'm thinking most having my four bronzed and then I can hang it from the mirror of my Thunderbird!

    Spin

67. Here are some related products that TB members are talking almost. Clicking on a product will take yous to TB's partner, Primary, where you can find links to TB discussions nigh these products.

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Source: https://www.talkbass.com/threads/how-do-you-play-7-string-bass.7322/

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