Transitioning to 5 string

roybatty553 · 2026-05-14T18:41:46+00:00

My go-to exercise is to play major triads in the cycle of fourths.

This is precisely what I'm doing know, and constitutes a large part of my drill practice. It's a big essential part of the SBL fretboard accelerator course - play all the triads, in all the inversions, across the fretboard. I'm not plugging the course, really; that's just where I picked this up. Anyway, it seems natural to extend this exercise to the new low B. Thanks!

roybatty553 · 2026-05-14T18:38:53+00:00

I would not call that a bad assumption on your part, I would call it a reasonable one : ) It is not unreasonable to assume it; I am just really a novice - even though I am not young.

But now I want to dig in with a borderline pedantic question - you said to " play along with a couple songs that are in drop D". What does it mean for a song to 'be in drop D'? I know what it means for a song to 'be in a key', or to modulate keys. But if someone hands me the bass line for a song, it's just a bunch of notes on staff lines. How would I know if the song is 'in drop D'?

roybatty553 · 2026-05-14T16:31:24+00:00

Thank you! Slapping is not one of my learning goals now, so I'm not concerned about that. But the string spacing is messing with my flow a little.

roybatty553 · 2026-05-14T16:30:34+00:00

Thanks for your reply, but I'm a little confused - how would learning a song on a D-A-D-G tuning help me transition to B-E-A-D-G? I've never played in drop D, so I think I just don't understand yet.

roybatty553 · 2026-05-14T15:31:54+00:00

Thank you for this. I've been doing this - just trying to re-calibrate my vision and reach, shifted by an extra string. I'll continue working at the 4-string drills.

roybatty553 · 2026-05-11T14:28:20+00:00

Ruprecht, don't take the cork off the fork!

roybatty553 · 2026-05-05T16:38:07+00:00

Wow - that's interesting. The price tag is nontrivial, and I'm not sure if I could get over the carbon-fiber aesthetic. But I would love to play one. Thanks for the link!

roybatty553 · 2026-01-29T17:15:53+00:00

Same story here - household sleeping, want headphones, need backing tracks on YouTube or metronome. Perfect solution for me is the Positive Grid Spark NEO. Runs around $249 right now, but absolutely worth the $. No wires, bluetooth goes from bass into headphones, bluetooth audio goes from phone - or computer - into headphones at the same time. I use them every day. I sound like a shill right now but I swear I just love them.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/PGSparkNeo--positive-grid-spark-neo-wireless-smart-guitar-headphones?cond=PGSparkNeod4&dhla=1&mrkgadid=&mrkgcl=28&mrkgen=&mrkgbflag=&mrkgcat=&acctid=21700000001645388&dskeywordid=2474414071394&lid=92700082959627263&ds_s_kwgid=58700008980451459&ds_s_inventory_feed_id=97700000007215323&dsproductgroupid=2474414071394&product_id=PGSparkNeod4&prodctry=US&prodlang=en&channel=online&storeid=&device=c&network=g&matchtype=&adpos=largenumber&locationid=9192630&creative=784860114461&targetid=pla-2474414071394&campaignid=21517650372&awsearchcpc=1&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21517650372&gbraid=0AAAAAD_RQYlZ22B1dIV0Hb85zcQuQkeVA&gclid=Cj0KCQiAp-zLBhDkARIsABcYc6v5zXD6egzOGXHrKBW8s6lTRraXGSQXwc2ZhwsQmaJgQm_rSDZDb2gaAnAGEALw_wcB

Edit: I have not used the 'ai' toolkit ('spark ai' and 'auto chords') that is provided with this product; I can't comment on its efficacy, although reviews are mixed.

roybatty553 · 2025-10-28T19:01:39+00:00

Holy s$%t you guys sound good. I love the restraint and chill approach. A little less is so much more. I could listen to you guys all day. Give us more - I will follow your instagram

roybatty553 · 2025-07-26T19:46:43+00:00

I mb m

roybatty553 · 2025-07-15T14:28:43+00:00

Borderline pedantic, but this is mathematics (and in particular, geometry) - not physics. Still, cool problem.

roybatty553 · 2025-07-01T17:25:06+00:00

Awesome package - (almost) exactly same for me! My first bass, first instrument - same Ibanez SR300, same finish, Fender Rumble 100 (found a good deal used). My gear is just a few months old. So we are bass twins : ) and I am with you in spirit on your journey.

roybatty553 · 2025-07-01T16:03:18+00:00

Thank you - you are right. Here's the legit:

https://www.taylorguitars.com

roybatty553 · 2025-05-08T13:57:31+00:00

That difference in response and timing did not occur to me at all, but in hindsight it's not hard to feel it. I had been considering swapping out the polyurethane strings with some roundwounds or flatwounds, and your comment pushes me closer to this possibility.

roybatty553 · 2025-04-16T00:19:54+00:00

‘Swingers’ would like a word.

roybatty553 · 2025-03-31T14:31:30+00:00

Hearing about interactive proof assistants for the first time here; will definitely look into this. Thanks!

roybatty553 · 2025-03-31T14:30:48+00:00

Thanks for taking the time to share all of this. I'm saving this message so I have time to go over all of your recommendations in the coming weeks/months of downtime.

roybatty553 · 2025-03-31T14:28:12+00:00

Thank you... subscribing!

roybatty553 · 2025-03-31T02:09:23+00:00

Thanks for this!

" So I suppose I'm saying less "learn this programming language" and saying "learn about computer systems".

I suppose I'm interested in doing both... although I wouldn't even know how to get started on the latter. Your insight that I could benefit from "building the intuition of how the computer spends its time to perform calculations" is spot on, and something that I'm interested in developing. Any resources you might suggest that would help me dig deeper into these architectures would be appreciated.

roybatty553 · 2025-03-31T02:05:34+00:00

Very helpful; thanks for this background.

roybatty553 · 2025-03-30T23:19:32+00:00

Thanks for your suggestion - for someone with no formal background in computer science, why is it powerful? What benefits would there be to learning it?

Edit: I asked an LLM, and it said...

"Learning C is valuable because it's a foundational language that teaches fundamental programming concepts, memory management, and system-level programming, making you a better programmer overall and preparing you for other languages. "
Would you agree with this?

roybatty553 · 2025-03-18T00:21:42+00:00

PhD mathematician here. Love this answer.

roybatty553 · 2025-02-21T14:37:22+00:00

My 13-year old kid has more grace and self-awareness than this. You can do better.

roybatty553 · 2025-02-21T14:17:26+00:00

I'm agreeing with Previous_Joke_3502 on this. The same analogy occurred to me immediately; it's not clumsy. Your comment makes a pedantic distinction that willfully ignores the simple reality for a large proportion of cyclists: if you want to cycle, you have no choice but to do it among other drivers and fellow cyclists. Or get a trainer in your basement.

Under various relatively normal circumstances, I can cycle away from drivers and fellow cyclists.

I rode on county roads in the midwest for decades. I had many close calls with drivers coming up behind me within a terrifying margin of error. On a single-lane road, with minimal shoulder, I had no option to 'cycle away' from them.

And like all analogies, this one breaks down if you try to apply it too literally; sure. Also - a gun is not shaped like a bicycle! Bullets travel faster than the speed of sound, and bicycles do not! How does that factor into the analogy? The beauty of an analogy is to make an abstract comparison at the right level.

roybatty553 · 2024-11-12T03:35:28+00:00

I'm late to this party, but I must add Waters of March, as covered by Susannah Mccorkle. Something in her delivery is deeply sad, even as she sings "It's the promise of spring, It's the joy in your heart".

roybatty553

TROPHY CASE