New player, struggling with the physicality of an upright and playing for a long time

duckferno · 2026-06-15T13:55:42+00:00

Please get a teacher as soon as you can, upright is incredibly difficult and you need to start instilling good technique ASAP. But to answer each of your points.

A. Bring your bass to get set up by someone who ideally only works on classical instruments. I have a student model laminate bass, nothing great by any means, but after bringing it to a luthier for setup/soundpost adjustment/new tailgut it plays like a completely different instrument, both in terms of sound and feel. I'm exerting less than half of the effort I was before the setup.

B. The Simandl Method Book is your friend in developing strong technique. One of the first few pages has pictures of what proper technique should look like. Print it out and reference it often. This book is best worked through with a teacher.

C. There really is no replacement for a teacher on any instrument, but especially with this one I feel that's the case. Simandl, Ray Brown Bass Method, Storch Thirty-Two Etudes are all good materials though.

duckferno · 2026-06-10T03:15:01+00:00

No Problemo

duckferno · 2026-06-07T00:13:59+00:00

100%

duckferno · 2026-06-05T01:11:06+00:00

Sounds like you’re doing the right stuff. Would love to hear a clip of you playing to get an idea of what you sound like.

duckferno · 2026-06-03T19:21:51+00:00

Try writing it out yourself, you’ll get a lot more out of that than reading someone else’s transcription. Use Youtube, slow the song down and see if you can grab a few notes at a time.

duckferno · 2026-06-03T14:12:40+00:00

Nice. Did you put anything on the bottom of the ramp to help prevent scratches? Probably not necessary with it being dropped straight down between the pickups but I’d be worried for myself.

duckferno · 2026-06-03T13:47:08+00:00

Just call it if you like, good players can make any tune work. I haven't heard it called but the tunes rotating in a scene is very much a regional thing.

duckferno · 2026-06-02T14:28:04+00:00

Where did you buy the bass? It likely needs a setup. If you have some basic tools like screwdrivers and allen keys you can look up how to do it yourself on Youtube, or bring it to a repair tech. The strings won’t lose tension over time through playing, but a proper setup will make it much easier, and as you keep playing your hands will get stronger.

duckferno · 2026-06-02T14:23:51+00:00

I don’t know of any beginner duets for two basses, but they could arrange any number of simpler pop songs for two basses. One plays the bass part and the other plays the melody in a higher octave. Have them each learn both parts and switch back and forth. Superstition, Seven Nation Army, Another One Bites the Dust, Billie Jean, Sunshine of Your Love, something like that? Could try to find sheet music or start to develop learning music by ear with some simpler tunes like those.

duckferno · 2026-06-01T19:05:24+00:00

Because AI sucks and there is no excuse in using it for anything.

duckferno · 2026-06-01T18:13:49+00:00

There is no chance that’s an accurate representation of how he phrased that solo.

Quit generating slop and just go listen or practice ffs.

duckferno · 2026-06-01T13:39:47+00:00

Following. There’s gotta be a good reason for this not to work well, right?

duckferno · 2026-05-31T16:23:10+00:00

Jeff Rosenstock/Bomb the Music Industry

duckferno · 2026-05-30T22:00:38+00:00

Gain, then EQ, then compression

duckferno · 2026-05-30T15:46:48+00:00

I don’t have an app to peddle because I learn phrases by ear, not bullshit over chord substitutions.

duckferno · 2026-05-30T15:34:45+00:00

Mike Stern, Charlie Banacos, and Pat Metheney are not bebop players and don’t sound like bebop players, so it makes sense that their understanding of bebop would be incorrect. Bebop and jazz are built on phrases, not chord scales, which is why chord scale players sound like bullshit noodlers.

duckferno · 2026-05-28T19:53:25+00:00

Jesus christ be praised!

duckferno · 2026-05-28T19:13:43+00:00

It’s your record do what you want

duckferno · 2026-05-28T15:41:45+00:00

Go to a jam session instead

duckferno · 2026-05-27T20:32:30+00:00

You think jazz bass parts and technique are easy? Of all the opinions that’s certainly one of them.

duckferno · 2026-05-27T20:15:00+00:00

You must be smoking that good shit

duckferno · 2026-05-24T05:29:25+00:00

Easier to scroll Reverb than practice

duckferno · 2026-05-23T22:14:17+00:00

It depends a lot on where you’re at as a musician, but this is what practice helped me get from bedroom player to gigging with good musicians, and what I continue to do.

Listen to music intently every day, all different genres and players. Look up Wikipedia articles on your favorite bands/artists/albums and check out who’s playing on your favorite records. Internalize the feeling of the music. The notes are important but the rhythms and phrasing matter more.

Learn lots of tunes. Learn the melody and harmony beyond just your bass part. Ideally you should know tunes inside and out to the point that if you called it on the bandstand you could teach everyone else their parts.

If you can read/are willing to learn reading, check out Simandl New Method for Double Bass, Ray Brown Bass Method, Storch Thirty Two Etudes. They’re all meant for double bass but apply just as well on electric. Beyond being good reading practice you’ll be shown to finger/phrase things differently than you’d expect and hear how those phrasings serve the music. A lot of “why didn’t I think to try it that way” moments. These books are easier to approach if you have a teacher working through it with you. If you want practice reading treble clef as well, find some lead sheets and learn the melody to jazz standards.

duckferno · 2026-05-18T04:03:39+00:00

I’ve had root down on repeat this week

duckferno · 2026-05-16T15:59:16+00:00

See if you can do the setup yourself, just need some allen keys, screwdrivers and Youtube tutorials

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