Bass Guitar FAQ's

Like any other instrument, the bass benefits from constant practice. The more you practise, the faster you’ll improve. It is critical that you practise at least every day, no matter how long the session is. Even a quick 5-minute season is enough for your mind and body to acclimate to new concepts and master old ones. But the most ideal should be at least 30 minutes every day, to allow time for muscle memory to solidify and your mind to be more acclimated to the thought and feel of playing.

It depends, but with regular lessons or constant self-instruction and practice, you can play the simplest songs in only a few weeks. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. There is a chasm of difference between good and great bass players, and you’ll only be considered great if you have a certain level of proficiency and musicianship on the instrument. You can only achieve that if you practise constantly for several years. There are some genres that require more work, however, like jazz, due to their complexity.

A lot of bass players around the world, especially several of the best ones, swear by playing with only their fingers. In fact, they even say that playing bass with a pick is inconvenient and downright disrespectful to the craft. Though it is important to remember that plucking with your fingers is the universally accepted method, since it allows for more versatility than holding a pick and plucking one string at a time. The best thing about playing with your fingers is the bassier, fuller tone compared to the thinner, metallic tone of using a pick. 

Bass slapping is a technique very popular in funk. In truth, it’s a very unique (and amazing way) of hitting the strings instead of plucking them. You literally slap the bass strings with your thumb which gives the bass a “funkier”, sort of percussive sound, for the lack of a better term. Like any other bass playing technique, however, this requires a lot of work and mastery to get right. So if you want to learn how to slap bass, get to practising! 

Slap pop is a technique which involves slapping (like the previous one we talked about) the strings with your thumb instead of plucking them, then making them “pop” with your other fingers. You do the popping thing by putting your finger underneath the string, pulling it outward, then letting it snap back to place, which creates a popping sound. You can do this by combining your arm and wrist in a smooth rotation to produce the effect. It’s a hard technique to master, and definitely not for beginners to try until they’ve mastered all the basics down!