I'm slowly teaching myself to play the bass guitar, and I wonder- how exactly did you decide whether to play right or left-handed? -The context being that I'm 90% certain I'd have a slightly easier time playing if I can get ahold of a left-handed one, despite generally being right-handed. My sister has a similar situation going on- she's left-handed but plays right-handed, and does a fairly good job at it.
The other part of this is trying not to play upside-down; I don't enjoy re-mapping patterns I've already learned. Playing upside-down also seems like it would be really inconvenient in real-world conditions. (As opposed to lying flat on my back, sideways on a bed with my lower legs hanging off the side, which is an equally awkward position, but is what I do when trying to figure things out by playing notes while listening to something. Otherwise I try to remain upright but the results are not always successful). I'm familiar with the idea of stringing things backwards, but am not quite ready to try that. Any advice?
JF: well, one of the nice things about this world is everyone is different. Lots of lefties have been where you are, and there is no wrong way, but a little bit of experimentation should reveal what scenario makes you most comfortable.
As a youngster trying to figure out how to play I had teachers, players and friends all tell me it didn't matter so learn to play righty. Of course it didn't matter to them because they WERE righty. But it really mattered to me, and I didn't get anywhere until I flipped the strings. But that was me (although I now know I had a lot of company)
As for setting it up for lefty, if it's a Fender or a Squire, popping the nut out and flipping it should be a $50 move at a mom and pop music shop-but call ahead to find out if they are cool about it. Some repair guys are very surley. ("Best practices" would be for the repair fellow to adjust the bridge to intonate it, but you can explain you just want to experiment and you are a beginner, so being in perfect tune isn't super-critical at the moment. Some folks might scoff at this, but they would also scoff at the idea of anyone being a beginner or having limited funds)
The truth is with a lot of the fundamental stuff it is just about basic finger strenthening through arpeggios and scales, so you will not be looking a piece of paper for very long, and while you might feel invested in playing righty, flipping parts in your mind could get much easier pretty quickly. (A lot of lefties can make their way around a righty guitar pretty well) Also, you actually have a pretty basic advantage over righties which is when you are looking at a righty player's fret board patterns, your fret board exactly MIRRORS theirs, so you can kind of bring it straight across to echo those moves. If you are practicing with someone one on one it's handier than you might imagine!
As for your sitting up or lying down--get a strap, put it on as adjust it so you have the bass sitting on your body in a comfortable consistent place (either sitting in a chair or standing) You want your fingers, wrist and arms addressing the instrument in a consistent way.
Good luck with all of it. And remember you can quietly practicing the bass with a metronome AND watch tv or listen to a podcast at the same time. Why work harder?
(semi pro tip regarding working with a metronome--try playing between the clicks rather than on the clicks. This is a way to train your timing in a more musical way.)
