EXPRESSIVE NOTE CONTROL
After last month’s look at sustain, let’s take some time to revisit one of the most expressive techniques that we can couple with those long notes—slides! No, not bits of metal or glass pipe on our fingers—those can be great fun too, but probably not within the context of a beginner column. Today we’re going to talk about sliding notes along the neck.
Sliding offers us a number of different ways to alter our musical choices in any given situation. It offers a novel way to get between two notes; a way to change position if we have a line that won’t fit into a four-fret span on our bass; a way to approach any note to give it some movement; and a cool effect. Here, we pluck the note D (referring back to our strategies for maximizing sustain from last month), and then slide up to the F. This is a good one to practise with a drum beat or metronome, because sliding so that the F lands on the beat can be a little tricky to learn. We may be removing the accent from the second note, but that doesn’t mean we don’t want it to land in time!
Gradually slow the line
