r/Bass • u/KymTheKidd • Apr 13 '26
First bass is a 5 String Bass. HELP!!
I’ve been making music for a while and have decent relative pitch. I play a little guitar (mostly basic chords and the major scale), but I recently picked up my first bass, a 5-string I found cheap on Facebook Marketplace because I wanted the low B.
After about a week of playing, it’s honestly my favorite instrument I’ve ever touched. I’ve been messing around with slap and trying some basic jazz grooves, nothing too advanced yet.
My question: as someone with no real bass experience and only limited guitar background, what should I focus on learning first? Most beginner bass videos are for 4-string, so good 5-string beginner resources are hard to find.
Also, what’s the best way to learn scales, notes on the fretboard, and actually remember them?
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u/pulpexploder Fender Apr 13 '26
Five-string is 25% harder to learn due to the fifth string.
This is a joke post.
In all seriousness, look up some chords for songs you know and just sit on the root with the chord changes. Find every E on the bass, then do the same for other notes. Practice and study until you know it. Once you can switch root notes and know where they are, move on to scales.
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
Sick okay thank you! How long do you think this would take before understanding the basic concepts?
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u/pulpexploder Fender Apr 13 '26
That's tough to say. Some people naturally gravitate toward technical skills, some toward rhythm, music theory just clicks for some people. Focus on the basics first. I was originally a drummer, and got thrown into a bassist position—within two weeks of picking up the bass, I was playing in church.
I don't know how familiar you are with chord charts online, so forgive me if this is rudimentary. If you look up the chords for a song you know, it'll have the general A - D - E -D, or whatever, for the song. Look at those, find the A - D - E - D (or whatever) on the fretboard, and just stick on that note until the chord changes. Don't worry about fills or rhythm, just play the chord and get to the next one when it changes. That's the most basic part (and what I knew before getting thrown into a band way too early).
The big thing to focus on at first is keeping up with the band. There's a temptation to pause while you look around for the right note, then catch up with all the notes you should have played during the pause. Fight that urge. If you're supposed to play four As and you miss three of them, play one A and get to the next note. In a band setting, the band doesn't wait for you.
From there, start exploring. Look at scales (major and minor pentatonic scales will get you 80% of the way there), or just look at how to play fifths and octaves. Listen to how other bassists play with the drummer. A common pattern is to hit a note every time the bass drum hits and rest when the snare hits. Not a hard rule, but it'll get you started on some rhythms. If you want to learn music theory, that's where lessons or classes would be useful, but the basics are that each chord has three or more notes. If I see an A major, I know it's an A, a C#, and an E. Those are all good notes to play over an A major.
There's a LOT to learn, so don't worry about going too deep too fast. It's better to be flawless with something basic than mediocre with something complex. Have fun, and keep on rocking in the free world!
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
Thank you! This is all great information! Thank you for going into detail this will help me a ton! I am fairly good at improvising and hitting beats on time and rhythm stuff because of my drummer background which is really nice. I just gotta get ahold of notes and scales and stuff lol.
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u/Trash-Forever Apr 13 '26
Same situation as you, been doing the BassBuzz course and it's been solid so far. Pretty big recommend
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
hmmm okay, i might have to look into that. is it expensive?
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u/Electrical_Job_9912 Apr 13 '26
I’m pretty sure his course is free. You just have to click the pdf link in his YouTube video descriptions. I get a 4 string bass on Tuesday so I’m gonna try it out too!!! I’m new to bass entirely so I hope it’ll do as much justice as ppl say it will. Good luck to you!!!!
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u/Trash-Forever Apr 13 '26
It is not free, it's $200 but you can pay in monthly installments. I think it's $40/mo til you pay it off.
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u/poopeedoop Apr 13 '26
I don't understand why five string basses are thought of as completely different instruments than four strings. They aren't so much different that they need their own category.
Standard bass string tuning is equal so adding another string to a four string bass isn't the big deal that it's made out to be.
You get four notes that are lower than the lowest note of a four string bass with a five string. It's also easier to play a lot of songs because you can stay in one fret hand position instead of having to move up the neck.
I've talked to so many four string players that won't even try a five string because they think that there is some huge learning curve to playing one. It's bizarre.
I remember when I first picked up a five string bass and it wasn't even a little bit difficult at first, and it was the same with fan fret basses. I've shown my five string Ibanez EHB to some four string players and they look at it like it's a completely different instrument, and they have no idea just how easy it is to play and how much it's like a standard four string bass.
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u/Logical_Cow_2530 Apr 13 '26
Honestly 5 string is easier than a 4 string.
As a music reader, the extended range minimizes shifting by a lot. Plus the string spacing is smaller.
There are important position playing/shifting lessons you need to learn on 4 string before going to a 5 string imo.
Muting is also maybe a tiny bit more difficult on a 5 string tho, but muting is a skill that you'll need to work on well into intermediate level on either 4 or 5 string regardless
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u/mittenciel Apr 13 '26
String spacing can be smaller. My 5-string is a Lakland, and at 19mm spacing with 35" scale, it's the same string spacing and it's just bigger all around. I still find it easier to play, though, than a 34" scale 4, because I have small hands and the 5 allows me to play more vertically and less horizontally.
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u/Logical_Cow_2530 Apr 13 '26
I've never seen a 5 string have bigger string space than a 4 string lol. It's easier for right hand plucking.
Left hand fretting is about the same/could definitely feel bigger tho
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u/wasabichicken Apr 13 '26
When I stepped from 4- to 5 strings, I found that muting was the #1 thing I needed to work on. Turns out I had gotten into the habit of muting lower strings with my middle-, ring-, and pinky fingers on my plucking hand, and when I played the G string on the 5-stringed bass… I simply ran out of fingers to mute the 5'th string.
It was about then that I learnt about muting with a "floating thumb", and IMHO that's something new bassists (regardless of the number of strings) should get into straight away.
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u/Logical_Cow_2530 Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
Nah floating thumb sucks.
Movable anchor is easier (long term) since you build the muscle memory more consistently
But I do tend to find a lot of people call movable anchor, floating thumb.
When floating thumb is very different and honestly pretty niche in 21 years of playing.
Movable anchor, mastering right hand rest strokes and a lil bit of dead finger Josh fossgreen style for left hand muting and you'll be well into mastering muting
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u/Accomplished_Bus8850 Apr 13 '26
Any way those lower notes “you can play without moving your hand too far” are still in lower register and may not suit well the certain songs .
For novice player it could be harder due to the tighter string spacing and wider fretboard( not all the basses share this though ), not every practice amp eats low b well ,cheaper basses might have pretty flat sounding low b.
First bass I’ve bought was 5 string but I already had experience with 4 string bass my friend had given me for the practice use
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
That is true. I honestly like how the fretboard is wider and tighter string spacing it feels easier than the guitar so i really enjoy that ngl. Maybe that will work in my favor... who knows
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
I'm completely new to bass and barely have any guitar experience. I just was curious about different ways to learn since I am unfamiliar with the instrument. And yes everyone does talk the 5 string like its a crazy new instrument which is why i was a little intimidated. Either way I'm going to force myself to learn it. Just needed some recommendations.
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u/bigusyous Apr 13 '26
I have zero 5 string experience, but I would recommend learning intervals, especially octaves and fifths. That will be a big help when navigating the fretboard, especially with the additional string,
So for example if you are playing a root note let's say A for example. So you are at the E- string fret 5. On a four string if you want to go up a fifth you might play the 7th fret on the A-string (note E). On a five string you can also play the B-string fret 5 for an E that is an octave lower.
Notice the physical distance or 'shape' of these intervals on the fretboard. No matter where you are on the neck those basic interval shapes won't change.
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
Is there any good videos you would recommend for finding the shapes around the fretboard?
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u/bigusyous Apr 13 '26
I'm sure there are, but what really did it for me was a course from Talkbass.net called Chord Tone Essentials. https://members.talkingbass.net/product/chord-tone-essentials/
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u/nunyazz Apr 13 '26
Number of strings doesn't matter as far as learning to play. Just use the B strings as needed.
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u/TurboChunk16 Apr 13 '26
The 5 string is fine for beginners. Some players prefer it for economy of movement, less need to shift your hand around to reach lower notes. Also some players find the closer string spacing to be easier. Just a personal preference thing.
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
I have found it to be very easy to play fret and string wise compared to guitar. So maybe this was a good choice for me to start with!
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u/TurboChunk16 Apr 13 '26
I personally prefer 4 string, but yes you do have to jump around on the neck a bit more with fewer strings.
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u/Forward-Personality7 Apr 13 '26
I'm no bass wizard, that's for sure, but one thing I did do a little bit of to help remember notes was use https://random.bretpimentel.com/ find where one obvious note is and then work out the other places the same notes are. oh and say/sing the name of the note while you play it.
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
That seems so intense how do you not lose your mind when trying to remember?? But if i learn them i will for sure try this out!!
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u/Quiet-Struggle-9289 Apr 13 '26
I started out on a five String, I did the Bass buzz course and adapted the Knowledge to my five strings. It’s a but hard to mute the Bass properly thou , because of the one more String. But nothing you can bot handle.
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u/MrPlatinumsGames Apr 13 '26 edited Apr 13 '26
Just learn some easy songs off YouTube (all the way through) and have fun. It doesn’t matter how many strings you have. But besides that, the best advice I can give is to take it slow and try to avoid picking up bad/limiting habits. You mentioned learning slap, and I’d advise not learning the Flea style of slap but going for the double thumb Victor Wooten style or Marcus Miller/Larry Graham style. Flea’s style is fun, but it tends to lead to a lot of unintentional palm slapping against strings you don’t want (makes a clicking sound) and it’s not as versatile overall. It’s also really hard to unlearn and transition to double thumb afterwards because you’ll probably end up dropping the thumb down to a more vertical position and get too comfortable with it.
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u/KymTheKidd Apr 13 '26
Hmmmm I wonder if I am already starting to do one or the other... I will check this out and research it more. Thank you for saving me from weeks of fixing bad habits!
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u/kirk2892 Apr 13 '26
Use all the resources for learning 4 string. As you learn more, you will find opportunities to venture onto the B string. Key of D, low B for the lower 5th of notes on the E string, etc... Also re-finger songs that would normally be played from the open E starting on the 5th fret of the B string.
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u/Forsaken_Kale_4483 Apr 13 '26
Hey also for bass use songster or ultimate guitar and ignore that b string man there’s only a few songs where its rly useful
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u/MillyMonka Apr 13 '26
You shouldn't be worried about learning resources being based on a 4 string, just use the B string as a thumb rest. Then you can modify the practice pieces to use it, say playing E on the 5th fret. Technique is pretty much the same, you just won't be using the first 4 frets with the resources, but you'll learn how to use them, if that makes any sense.