When I was in third grade, there was this one kid who had hardly any friends. He was a grade younger, so I didn’t know him well, but at recess he was generally puttering around by himself.

He seemed sad. And one morning in a frenzy of good-will I struck up a conversation even though he was in a grade lower than me and my pals.

He seemed happy to talk, and soon was telling me about this and that and what he did and stuff he had. I guess he was impressing me because I was older. He said he had a telescope.

“Really?” I asked. He nodded vigorously.

“Yes!” he said, “At night you can see the moon real clear, and during the day it makes things look like they’re right there.”

I had never seen a telescope. I was hooked.

“Could I come see it?” And his face brightened up.

And then his expression grew wistful.

“Well …” he said, “you can … but …”

But what?

THE GOOSE

“We have a goose,” he said.

Now I was really interested. I had never seen a goose.

To shorten the story, what happened was that he seemed oddly reluctant, but agreed I could come by after school to see the telescope.

And so after school, I did. I didn’t walk with him, because he was from a lower grade. But I did dawdle along behind, and so two minutes after he went in his front gate, so did I.

And then I learned about a goose.

A BATTLE LOST

I wasn’t very big when I was in the third grade. The goose seemed almost as tall as me. But, with wings spread wide and flapping, and hissing and darting its beak left and right, as it waddled angrily toward me, it seemed much larger.

I turned and ran.

When I got home, I realized one of the reasons that kid didn’t have many friends.

NO WONDER!

Nobody could visit him. It was just too much. It was a major, terrifying event. It was beyond a hassle. It was too scary. If you were going to go to his house, you’d need to bolster all your courage. You’d have to get ready for the experience.

Now as a grown man, and as a bass player, this childhood hassle may not seem like much.

But I’m struck by how it’s not completely different from the hassle of going to an audition.

WHAT IT MEANS TO AUDITION

You know the score. You’re a bass player, and generally speaking, that means if you want to perform, it will be with a band.

And that means, to find a band, you’ve got to go to auditions.

And … it’s a hassle, right?

You have to gather all your focus. You have to haul the gear. You have to meet some guys who are, half the time, looking at you funny when you come in the door.

Sure, sometimes it can be fun.

HOW OFTEN DOES IT WORK OUT?

But, all too often, it’s a hassle. If not on the front end, then a hassle on the back end. Because a *lot* of those auditions have got to end with … no gig.

And half the time when you do get the gig, you have doubts about the other guys in the band. And all too often your fears were well-founded. One guy can never show up on time. The guitar player just won’t turn down. One of the guys is a jerk, and the leader, well … he’s a Nazi.

Not always. But you’ve seen it right?

You’d agree that the whole process is, generally, a hassle? And that, all too often, it just doesn’t work out?

And yet, if you want to play in public, you need a slot in a band. A good band. A stable band. A band that gets gigs. Hmmm.

END THE HASSLE FOREVER

What if there were a way to end all that hassle … forever?

What if you could just do a simple thing, and turn your back on the hassle, the egos, the jerks, the idiots, the guys who turned you down, and the bands you *wish* had turned you down … what if you could just do a simple thing, and turn your back on all that hassle, from now on?

Well, you’re in luck.

TWO METHODS FOR ENDING THE HASSLE

Because there’s a way. Wait! No, there are TWO ways you can accomplish this. It could transform your life and your music, I think you’ll agree.

Here’s how. (I’m warning you now, it’s awfully simple. But it’s radical. You’ll have to suddenly think completely different. Can you do that?)

Here’s how …

METHOD #1

Using the skills you’ve developed, you can change over to playing basslines on what we’ll call a ‘specialty tapping instrument.’

I mean an instrument that’s specifically designed so you can play the six bass strings just by touching them to the fret.

And on this special instrument, there’s another set of six strings, tuned higher. And here’s something wonderful …

If you place your left hand on bass strings around fret two … and you place your right hand on the ‘melody’ strings around fret twelve … then the notes beneath each of your hands is exactly identical across all six strings.

And you know what this means, right?

It means that *you already know how to play those high melody strings*!

YOU ALREADY KNOW HOW TO PLAY IT

You play those high melody strings exactly the same as you play those low bass strings.

Now the two hands are playing two octaves apart, but the notes are exactly the same. If you can play “Louie, Louie” with your left hand, you can play “Louie, Louie” in unison with your right hand.

It’s startlingly easy to do.

And in fact, right at first when you’re learning how to transfer over to this radical new way of playing, when you’re learning to transfer, you can even train your two hands at the same time.

Now once you can simply play your two hands identically, and at the same time, then you simply do a little … less.

For example say you were arpeggiating a chord with both hands. Now try just playing the low root left-hand, and play the other notes right hand.

Suddenly you can do rhythmic things in an astounding way … and it’s simply using what you already know.

AUDITION? WHAT AUDITION?

Now, about those auditions …

Since you can play with both your right hand and your left hand, you will find it’s just a baby step from there to … playing roots or hooks with your left hand, while you play melody or rhythm with your right hand. I mean it. It’s actually *easy* to do.

It just so happens … that your background as a bass player … has pretty much perfectly prepared you with the skills to play two-handed touchstyle on such a specialty instrument.

And now you can start to play … solo gigs.

Start with a coffee house or restaurant gig, work up to weddings and bigger gigs. Because you’re offering something so different, getting the gigs is not that hard.

Now look. Even though your practice will carry you further along than it used to, you *do* still have to practice. And even though you have a great novelty factor to help you get gigs, you do still have to go ask for the gigs.

But audition for a band? What band?

METHOD #2

Once you can play your specialty touch-style instrument — it won’t take long — here’s what you do …

Place an ad, or put up some posters, or spread the word around, that *you* are interviewing musicians for a band. Now you’re not just the bass player. It’s *your* band.

Now going to an audition isn’t your hassle.

It’s somebody else’s hassle!

HOW TO GET YOUR SPECIALTY TOUCH-STYLE INSTRUMENT

Click here for a display of affordable and great sounding two-handed tapping instruments.

And click here to see all the prices.

You can do this.

What are you waiting for?

Act today, and change your world.

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Experimentation is your friend. Here are some possibilities –

RECEIVING BROADCAST HUM

There is something in the environment which is “broadcasting” RFI in the room where your equipment is located. Common sources of Radio Frequency Interference include motors (vacuum cleaners, refrigerators, and automobile distributors), and transformers (high-intensity lamps, fluorescent lights), and from big magnets like speaker coils or television sets. The sound from autos are likely to vary in frequency. The sound from lamps and lights and refrigerators are likely to be be consistent, and at 60 cycles per second, which is what we normally call ‘hum.’

The RFI can be picked up either by strings (antennas) or by pickups (coils) as the signal is induced into the circuit created by the guitar and its parts, or into the cord (usually not possible if cord is properly shielded on both the guitar and the amp end), or into the amp, and then …

The RFI is then *not* filtered by the humbucking pickups. Normal hum *is* filtered by humbucking pickups. In our shop, when we build the Mobius Megatar Tapping Basses, we do our lab work two feet under a fluorescent light, just to ‘hear’ if there is a problem, and this hum is normally filtered out.

So the best way I know to get an idea that strong RFI in the environment is some part of the culprit is to get the hum going, and then change the orientation of the instrument. If you hear hum while the instrument is flat on the table, but not when it’s upright, or if you hear hum while the instrument is upright facing east but not when it’s facing north, then probably there is a strong RFI source in your environment. Remember that it may be behind a wall or a ceiling or floor. Wood and sheetrock is no barrier to Radio Waves.

If the instrument seems the same in all orientations, then consider the cord and the amp. Try moving them to a different room or part of the room.

TOUCHING METAL

Sometimes you will hear hum, and then you touch the strings with your hand and the hum vanishes. Or you touch the (metal) tone/volume knobs, and the hum goes away. I’ve been told this has something to do with the ‘capacitance’ of the human body, and I think that means that the body soaks up alternating signals. But that’s too vague. It doesn’t get us anywhere. I suspect this is a meaningful clue; I just don’t know what it means.

A GROUND LOOP

Hum can be caused by something called a ‘ground loop.’

We can think of an electrical power plug as have a left and a right prong, or we can think of a signal having a signal and a ground wire. If you’re not using two amps then the question of their having the same side (left or right) as the ‘ground’ should not be an issue, though it is *possible* that an input jack on your mixer *might* be reversed from the others ones *if* repair work was ever done on the mixer.

Likewise, if some of the inputs on the mixer are for ‘line level’ like synths, and others are specifically built for magnetic inputs like guitar, or others are specifically for mikes (and either with or without phantom power) then it is possible that all inputs are not equal. Sometimes there are switches associated with the inputs.

HUM SPECIFIC TO TAPPING GUITARS AND BASSES

On specialty tapping instruments, like the Chapman Stick, Warr Guitar, and Mobius Megatar, usually two outputs are provided. One for the bass pickup(s) and one for the melody pickup(s).

In Mobius Megatar and other instruments that I’ve seen, the bass and the melody have the same ground.

Normally, the ground is common throughout the guitar — The pickups cavity is grounded all around, the pots and pickups and outjack are all grounded to the same place. Even the strings are grounded to the same place. Therefore, the stereo cord goes into two mono cords, and the two mono plugs — one for bass, and the other for melody strings — have the same ground.

On Chapman Stick or a Mobius Megatar tapping bass, these output mono jacks, have signal on the metal tip, and ground on the metal sleeve of the jack, and it’s the same ground all the way back to the pickups and guitar components and the shielded cavity.

Therefore, unless one uses a mutant and miswired stereo cable, the sleeves of the two mono jacks should both be ground. A voltmeter connecting the two sleeves should show zero resistance.

HUM COMING FROM MIXER OR AMP WITH TWO MONO CABLES

But if a hum is coming from any mixer or amp when two common-ground mono cables are plugged into two inputs, it might be suggested that there is either (a) a 60-cycle induced hum that has been induced across the two signal tips; or (b) that the signal/ground is reversed on one of the mixer/amp signal paths relative to each other.

This article is not capable of analyzing or diagnosing the device you are using, but a fast way to find out if that’s the source of trouble is — carry your Megatar or Chapman Stick to Guitar Center. plug it into a bass amp, and plug it into a Guitar amp, and play it. No hum? Then there is nothing wrong with the guitar or the cable.

Get them to stop the kid playing Stairway to Heaven with his amp set to eleven while you do this test.

ELECTRICAL OUTLETS AT YOUR HOUSE OR ON THE GIG

The electrical outlets in the wall are ‘spozed to have proper grounding. However … maybe they don’t. Even if they have three prongs, maybe somebody just stuck those part on the wall and maybe that third, grounding wire isn’t connected up to an actual ground.

If you have more than one amp or effects, best to plug them all into the same outlet. Or carry your own multi-outlet strip.

An easy way to create a ground loop in the power is to have two devices that have two prong plugs. Plug one in rightways and the other one reversed. Just about nearly always you’ll hear hum, and with the right equipment you can shock yourself seriously. Not even a joke.

Plugs these days are ‘spozed to have one fat prong and one thin one, so they cannot be reversed, but it doesn’t always work. And remember … some human may have wired up that plug. Oops.

SINGLE COIL PICKUPS

Single-coil pickups are part of a radio-receiver circuit. Remember the coil of wire you made when you built a crystal radio in cub scouts? Signals can be induced into coils rather easily. They are natural ‘receivers.’ Any source of RFI is likely to sound through single-coil pickups. Darn.

Specialty touchstyle basses like the Chapman Stick, Warr Guitar, and Mobius Megatar, designed for two handed tapping, will usually have the instrument’s gain turned higher than a standard guitar, because we’re just tapping gently on the string instead of strumming like all get out.

Turning the gain up increases the signal, but also boosts the background noise, including hum, as well, so dealing with hum may require a bit more attention, if you want a quiet sound.

SORRY INSTRUMENT DESIGN

Cheap instruments, in some cases imported strat knockoffs, sometimes do things so sloppily that they do not have any shielding around the electronics. The cavity around the electronics and pickups should have a solid conductive material all around these components. It’s called a ‘Faraday Cage’ after Michael Faraday I suppose, and it keeps those nasty vibes from annoying the components.

I have heard, but don’t know whether it is true, that the basic Fender Stratocaster design has ground-loop errors in the basic design. I am dubious. Not Leo! But for certain, a guitar maker could make a blunder, I suppose. If it’s on one guitar but not another, take it to a whiz guy.

SORRY CABLES

The teeny signal is running on a wire across (to the signal) a vast distance to get to the amp. Lots of signals in the air could disturb it, but it is ‘spozed to have a big fat woven wire all around it — again a Faraday Cage — protecting it from bad vibes. And this big fat woven wire would optimally be connected to ground on the tapping guitar, and to ground at the amp.

But is it?

A fancy name and expensive price tag may not be the best cable. However, again, a trip to Guitar Center with the noisy guitar and cable, and if you try some of their cables and the noise goes away … it’s a definite clue.

Hope this information is helpful.

All comments welcomed.

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You can play fast or slow, but learning bass technique initially is learning to play one note at a time. If you experiment with playing chords, you’ve learned that you must spread the notes out, because close-voiced notes sound muddy.

BASS PLAYERS BEGIN TAPPING ON BASS

With modern amplification, more and more bass-players are learning bass tapping – that is, just touching the strings to the frets, in order to sound a note. This touchstyle method allows playing the bass strings with both hands, because plucking is not needed.

And tapping on bass opens the door to chordal bass music, and to playing melodies. With two-handed tapping on bass you can be a better side-man, but you could also begin playing solo gigs, and it’s not all that difficult, with the Easy Touchstyle Method. At the end, I’ll tell you how to get a free bass-tapping method book that reveals how easy it can be.

Obviously, to play spread-out chords, and to play high-pitched melodies, you’re going to need more than a four-string bass, because you’re going to need more range.

So here’s the question –

How many strings make for easy learning to play bass tapping? And how many strings work best for melody playing?

LEARNING BASS TAPPING EASIER WITH MORE STRINGS?

Because you’ve worked darn hard to master the four or five strings you already have, your reaction might be that having more strings would be harder to play.

But it doesn’t work like that. Having more strings permits less interference between your two hands. I’m reminded of the country boy wandering the city street, and seeing a piano in a store window. “Gosh!” he said, “How would you ever mash all them notes at once?”

And that’s the answer. Just because there’s a lot of strings on the instrument doesn’t mean you play them all at once. You still select just a few strings. But having more room for your two hands to operate makes it easier for your two hands to learn tapping bass.

USING TWO STRINGSETS FOR TAPPING ON BASS

For example, if your two hands are to operate independently, like a piano player — easier than it sounds with the right method — then suppose you have a six-string bass. You could use three strings for the ‘bass’ part, and the other three strings for a melody. But you can’t play most melodies very easily on three strings without a lot of moving up and down those three strings.

More strings would be easier, and would give each hand more room. So maybe you get a bass that has eight strings. This is better. You could have four strings for the ‘bass’ part, and that would leave four strings for the melody. This is workable, though you will discover that your two hands will occasionally squabble, because both of them want some note that’s on the same string!

But what if you split the strings into two separate groups of four and four?

And suppose on the ‘bass’ set you added a couple of higher strings. Now you’ve got six ‘bass’ strings. You can still play all the basslines, plus you can play spread-out chords easily all on the low end of the bass strings.

And to the four melody strings, suppose you add two lower strings. Now you can cover the range of pretty much any melody you’ll find on a leadsheet.

And because there’s so much overlap in the two stringsets now, your two hands will never have to fight over a string, because each hand has got six strings to play in.

MAKING IT EASY TO LEARN TO PLAY BASS TAPPING

It is much EASIER to learn full two-handed tapping on bass, when you have two stringsets and each of your hands has all the strings it needs.

It is much EASIER to learn bass tapping when you have two stringsets, and the optimal number for fast learning is six bass and six melody. I’ll explain why …

You’ll like this … it’s a little bit of magic …

OPERATE YOUR TWO HANDS THE SAME WAY? THAT’S EASY!

If you examine one of the Mobius Megatar touch-style basses which our company makes, you’ll find double dots at fret two, and at fret twelve.

With this fact, you can use a powerful learning method. It works like this …

Begin by placing your left hand just above double dots at fret two on the bass strings.

And place your right hand just above double dots at fret twelve on melody strings.

In these two positions, the notes below your two hands across all six strings are *identical*.

So for your initial learning of pure bass tapping play, you only have to learn *one* set of scales, and *one* set of chord shapes, and you can even train both hands at the same time. This clarity, simplicity, and power produce very rapid learning, and also allow you to very rapidly transfer 85%-95% of what you already know as a bass player.

TAPPING ON BASS WITH YOUR RIGHT HAND JUST GOT EASIER

Furthermore, all those years you were training your left hand on the frets … you were actually training your head. And you’re in luck, because your right hand is wired into the very same head! You will soon discover that what your left hand knows … your right hand almost knows already, because you’ve already built the patterns into your head.

What this means is that, in this position, your left-hand skills will transfer very fast to

your right hand, because what each hand does to produce a G-Triad is identical, and on the same strings beneath each hand. Feels the same. Looks the same. Sounds the same.

This is clear in your mind, and fast-learning in your hands.

FASTER LEARNING TO PLAY BASS TAPPING

The point is that it is FASTER-LEARNING when you have two stringsets, and your initial position makes the notes beneath your two hands to be identical across each six strings.

Make no mistake. In the Fret-Two bass-strings position, and the Fret-Twelve melody-strings position, the notes are two octaves apart. Two octaves apart, but the same notes beneath each hand.

This gives you a nice split of bass and melody, and it’s much like playing two-handed piano. But it’s faster-learning than piano, because when you move your two hands the same way, you get the same sequence of notes.

In your initial learning, you can even train your two hands identically and at the same time. Later, separating out two different parts can als be easy … with the right method.

FREE HOW TO PLAY BASS TAPPING METHOD BOOK

And you can get a free copy of the bass tapping method book where this system is completely revealed. The Easy Touchstyle Bassics method book on two-handed tapping on bass comes free with a (free) subscription to the world’s premier Bass Tapping Newsletter, and you can get your free bass tapping lessons here.

Remember: Two string-sets provides faster learning, it’s immediately clearer in the mind, and your two hands will never need to fight over who gets to use a string.

The left hand can play all the range of a 6-string bass, plus easy good-sounding four string chords between frets 1 and 9.

The right hand can play all the range of melodies written on the treble clef. The two hands can easily play unison melodies, which is easy as eating a sandwich with two hands, but it sounds really, really good.

I promise you — playing with two stringsets of six is easier than playing on 6-strings, easier than playing on 8-strings, the mental map is clearer, and learning is fast.

As you learn more about the Easy Touch-Style Method for tapping on bass, more and more you will appreciate how rich the music, and how simple it can be.

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