Transitioning to bass..

[phantom911]

Ive been playing guitar for about 5 years now, but im going to play bass in my friend's death metal band. Im trying to not just play like im playing guitar but on a bass. What are some good exercises to get my plucking hand up to speed (dont wanna rely on using a pick)

[TemjinStrife]

Do a Google search on "floating thumb technique." If you learn that way starting, it will help you LOADS down the line.

Also, it definitely helps to get used to two- and three-finger fingerstyle. Practice with a metronome a little bit each day, making sure the attack on each finger is as homogenous as possible. Practice gallops, stutters, and consistent notes. There are some excellent "spider" string skipping/fingerstyle exercises on Talkbass as well, search for those and play around with them.

Also, for death metal, don't be afraid to use a pick occasionally. I trade off fingerstyle and pick in my indie band between songs, and sometimes during songs depending on what sort of sound/vibe I'm going for. I'm still more accurate at high speeds or with complex rhythms with a pick, but I groove better, skip strings better, and can control note length (and have a deeper tone) with fingers.

[Bevo]

Josh has great advice.

I will add the simple advice, practice as much as you can.
Obvious yes but scales can only go so far, mixing up the music and playing something you don't know will make your brain work harder to memorize the strings and neck.

Once you know where your frets and strings are its smooth sailing..

[NickCormier]

I recently switched from guitar (5 years also, a 2 year music diploma on guitar too) to bass almost 100% in May, and now I pretty much consider myself a Bassist. I am selling off almost all my guitars. Bass is just that awesome.

Floating thumb definately took my playing to the next level, its just a pain in the ass at first but after afew months its worth it.

Death metal picking, is difficult, I dont know if I could do it right now.. In the one "tech metal" band I played a show for, I had to use a pick, it woulda been almost impossible for fingers, esp for me at that time (just a guitarist, playing bass).. But yeh, if you want to use your fingers that badly, get ready for hours apon hours of metronome work. Only way to get fast enough.

[phantom911]

Would you be able to go a little more in depth abouth the floating thumb technique'

[TemjinStrife]

Honestly, look it up yourself. There's no way I can explain it that is better than some of the page-long articles with how-to videos that are easily accessible.

[velvetkevorkian]

Here's an intro for the lazy

This is definitely THE technique to use, especially if you're using a bass with more than four strings IMO.

[MF_Kitten]

i just use a pick and play it like a monster sized guitar, kinda. other than that, i do standard fingerstyle and slapping. i'm not fast without the pick though :P

i started out on bass actually, mostly doing standard finger-style and slapping. then my bass teacher noticed i was better when i used a pick, and told me to ignore what the "standard" methods were, and just go with what made sense to me. i kinda like the picked bass sound better for stuff that demands clarity and precision. the brighter sound just makes more sense to me.

anyways, look up some videos of death metal bass players. i remember some good ones being posted here earlier...

death metal bassists that play fingerstyle often have their action extra low and use thinner strings, so they can play lighter and still have every note sound "hard". the lower action also lets the strings slap about a little more, and get a clunky attack that rings through very well. for triplets and stuff, i've seen players sneak in an extra finger, using three fingers. i tried it, and it's not too hard to learn.

if you plan on using your thumb for slapping or "thumb picking", then you should start getting that baby ready. when i knew i was getting a bass for my confirmation, i warmed up for months, just playing "thumb slap drums" on stuff. i was a huge korn fan, so i sat around listening to their music while slapping the table/desk with my thumb as if it was a bass string. i had the rhythm and durability down by the time i actually got the bass

so get those strings a bit lower, and maybe switch to thinner strings if you aren't going to tune it down. you should be able to get the notes loud as if you were playing it hard, when you're actually playing softer. this lets you go faster without wearing your arms out.

i could keep on stating the obvious, but i'll let you go on with it

[All_¥our_Bass]

+1 to light string and low action.
It's how my bass is set up. It's a 4 stringer tuned DGCF with a 90 75 60 40 stainless steel string set, played primarily pick style. It's bright, clanky, and easy to play, I love it.

[Longhair]

I found this to be very helpful:

Free Bass Guitar Lesson: Left Hand Technique