Switching it up (bass to guitar)

[Jwar]

Hey all! I've been really, really trying to focus on the guitar about the last six months and I want to improve. I just started teaching my self chords, which I knew some of them but not a lot to be honest. Love playing chords but I have issues with some of them.

Here's my biggest issue with playing. My fingers fucking hurt because I push too damn hard. I've been trying to lighten up and I'm really struggling. I think it's because I'm so used to having to push those heavy ass bass strings. 25 years of that and maybe a year total of guitar through my life. So, I'm having issues. Any suggestions? Exercises??? Does anyone else have tips here?


Also, what are some good books to help me mix things up. I get stuck in the same chord progressions a lot, Any good Youtube channels or books you'd recommend? Trying to get better and better.

Thanks all!!!

[kosta]

I have info for you if you change that awful "Location", my guy. We're better than that!

[coldbrightsunlight]

Yeah that is... classy.


General exercises for finger dexterity: playing patterns up and down (best done to a metronome). For all exercises, start by playing at a speed where you can play the pattern super comfortably and in time, no matter how slow that is. You won't do much good if you start too fast so you're never getting it right and have to restart the exercise all the time.

e.g.
D-----------------1 2 3 4
A---------1 2 3 4
E 1 2 3 4...................etc. and move this sort of thing up and down the neck.

Pattern can be anything, this, 1423, 4321, scales/arpeggios. What it is doesn't really matter. Key point is using all your fingers and moving around to different positions, and getting faster and more fluid. I would hope this would help with putting too much pressure on with your fingers as this will be a lot easier if you're loose and playing without excessive effort. Definitely check out some videos if you're struggling with the posture and that side of things, though I don't know anyone specific sorry.


Same goes for chords. Find some progressions that might be tricky, either in songs you want to learn, from a book (I have a jazz book that has some hard changes it's very good for this) and do the same thing: start slow, slowly build up but only ever to where you can play the pattern properly.

I am not a teacher and far from an expert but these are the things I find helpful when I actually resolve to practice a bit every few years.

[Jwar]

I have info for you if you change that awful "Location", my guy. We're better than that!

Hah. Yea I can’t remember when I did that. In my defense, I most likely thought it was funny at the time. Meaning I don’t really have a defense.

[Dowi]

Besides that coldbrightsunlight said - which is absolutely true and useful - during the years i found this excersise to be very helpful: write a random scale/riff/melody/arpeggio that involves 2 or 3 different strings and then try to play it in different positions and on different octaves. This forces my brain to look at the same thing from different perspectives, and helps me having a better understanding of the fretboard and how i can move on it.

Re- fingers hurting: i don't know if using lighter strings could help you, maybe it's the contrary and you need heavy strings to have the same feeling of bass, and your hand automatically shifts to the right amount of pressing force

[voerking]

yeah, lighter strings are useful because they force you to have a lighter touch to play in tune.

[kosta]

I have info for you if you change that awful "Location", my guy. We're better than that!

Hah. Yea I can’t remember when I did that. In my defense, I most likely thought it was funny at the time. Meaning I don’t really have a defense.

One thing that has helped me a ton is learning which chords are available (traditionally) in each key. I copied a chart of them down manually at one point and began to see the relationships between major keys and minor keys. ("Wait what, the keys of Em and G major have the same chords???? Whooooooaaaaaaaa.") I never knew that every major key had a corresponding minor key before that!

A | F#m
A# | Gm
B | G#m
C | Am
C# | A#m
D | Bm
Eb | Cm
E | C#m
F | Dm
F# | Ebm
G | Em

Beginning to understand this helped me to be able to know which chords might sound "good" together (in a traditional sense) when I was trying to put together chord progressions, or even when I was trying to reverse engineer other people's songs by ear. This also helps to understand which notes might sound good for solo'ing or accenting on top top of chords for looper stuff or playing with other people.

I've also found it interesting and helpful to look at songs from a I-II-III-IV-V-VI-VII perspective. Like if a song uses the chords C, F, G, and Dm, that song is in the key of C and uses the I, IV, V, and II of C to build its chord changes. Once I can understand that, it's possible to transpose those changes into other keys which might be more comfortable to play or to sing along with.

So, if a song has this chord progression:

C-G-C-F
Dm-G-Am-C

That's in the key of C and is these positions:

I-V-I-IV
II-V-VI-I

If we wanted to do that in E, we'd just look for those positions in E, and voila:

E-B-E-A
Gm-B-C#m-E

Etc. etc.

This chart opened all of that up for me:



As far as the hand pain thing goes, maybe get lighter gauge strings, and see if your guitar is set up well? How is the string height at the first fret? If it's too high, maybe the nut slots could be lowered. How are the frets? Are they level enough to get nice smooth, low action? Does it need fretwork? Are the neck relief and neck angle (in the neck pocket) dialed in? If the guitar needs a set up, this might also contribute to feeling hard to play. Get it set up so that it's easy to fret notes and have them ring out cleanly. You don't want to have to fight the guitar at the same time that you're retraining your brain and your hands.

Hope this helps a little!

[coldbrightsunlight]

^ Oh yes that music theory advice from kosta is all very good stuff. Dunno how much you know about that but it's just as helpful for bass as it is for playing chords on guitar. And when you look at songs you like, using that background theory knowledge, and see where they don't use the notes/chords in the diatonic scale of one key, and understand some other tricks that you can apply anywhere!

[Jwar]

Theory is one thing I never quite got into. I tried. I just didn't quite grasp at that time (in my teens), so maybe now is a good time. Some super useful tips in here. I printed out a massive chord chart that has them all. So cool. There are some that I'm like "wait, how the fuck can I do that again". LOL!


I need to do a set up on guitar for sure too. After reading what Kosta wrote, I sat down and paid more attention. It for sure needs more tension on the neck and the action is actually good. I adjusted that previously but I'll have to do so again after the neck is set up. LOL.


Just so everyone knows. It's not pain I'm feeling so much. It's fatigue because of how are I'm applying pressure. I'm used to pushing heavy ass bass strings or my daughters cello. Yea I bought that for her. Haha. Haha. No for real though, it's fatigue for sure. I have callouses up the wazoo from weight training and playing the bass. Though the very tips are a bit tender sometimes.

[Jwar]

Theory is one thing I never quite got into. I tried. I just didn't quite grasp at that time (in my teens), so maybe now is a good time. Some super useful tips in here. I printed out a massive chord chart that has them all. So cool. There are some that I'm like "wait, how the fuck can I do that again". LOL!


I need to do a set up on guitar for sure too. After reading what Kosta wrote, I sat down and paid more attention. It for sure needs more tension on the neck and the action is actually good. I adjusted that previously but I'll have to do so again after the neck is set up. LOL.


Just so everyone knows. It's not pain I'm feeling so much. It's fatigue because of how are I'm applying pressure. I'm used to pushing heavy ass bass strings or my daughters cello. Yea I bought that for her. Haha. Haha. No for real though, it's fatigue for sure. I have callouses up the wazoo from weight training and playing the bass. Though the very tips are a bit tender sometimes.

[sears]

to save your fretting hand fingers also means hitting the strings more lightly with your picking hand. I did this by forcing myself to play at the same volume after turning up the volume on the amp. Turning way up and trying to play at a normal volume is really hard and will clean up your technique. You can do it with headphones too though it's borderline dangerous.

[kosta]

That's an interesting trick, sears. Nice one.

One other thing that has really opened up the fretboard for me is learning some movable chord shapes with roots on the the A string. Barre chords up and down the E were a revelation, but then a teacher started showing me movable shapes rooted on the A string, and it opened up my rhythm playing, chord voicings, and chord progressions for me in a major way.

That one where you a make a movable C-shape is such a great one.

[coldbrightsunlight]

^^ Yes learning more voicings is super useful. This is what's great about learning some theory aside from just learning chord shapes. If you know what notes are in the chord you want, you can make up a voicing wherever you want! But learning extra voicings and seeing why they work is a very good way to do this that makes your playing a lot more versatile.

to save your fretting hand fingers also means hitting the strings more lightly with your picking hand. I did this by forcing myself to play at the same volume after turning up the volume on the amp. Turning way up and trying to play at a normal volume is really hard and will clean up your technique. You can do it with headphones too though it's borderline dangerous.

Nice trick!! I definitely fall into the trap of playing too hard with my right hand because I mostly practice unplugged.

[Jwar]

I love this! Lots of killer info here! Thank you all so much!

[mathias]

Slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

Try fretting something out of the CAGED shapes, or something that uses all four fingers — the C maj 7 chord at the seventh fret is neat because it spaces out your fingers so that you can see what each one is doing. Relax your fingers on the strings, so they can’t ring. Pluck one string at a time while pressing with just the finger on that string. Only press enough that you’re not buzzing out. Immediately release before moving to the next string, but keep your finger in that spot on the string.

The quote at the top is because you’ll want to do this slow. Don’t even worry about metronomes to start. Just burn in that muscle memory of exactly how much pressure to apply. Put some focus and seriousness into it, and ensure your fingers are in the exact right spot behind the fret, and that you’re picking well. I’d expect with even 5 minutes a day of this, you’ll see a change. I did something similar with barre chords to ensure even pressure and no buzzy notes.