Question about bass playing technique (right hand)

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So I'm more of a guitarist, but recently I've got a few people together for a post-punk/mutant disco project I want to work on. I'm playing bass, however my natural technique seems to involve resting all my fingers on the strings in a finger picking style and playing the E with my thumb. However, I realised maybe a little late that this is the wrong way to go about it and really I should employ the floating thumb/two finger technique. I'm trying to do this, but it's tough and I prefer my old way.

What is the problem with doing it my way? Will it lead to technique problems later on?
What do I do with my right hand if I want to play an octave-type line, do I use my ring finger to hit the D string or what?

farieling thosder chout a bagh an i ballme crantuman (dog latin), Monday, 14 March 2011 12:48 (thirteen years ago) link

Doesn't Geddy lee use his thumb like that? seems to work for him, dudes a monster...

SeanWayne, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 01:31 (thirteen years ago) link

Sting too

Blitzkrieg Bop Gun (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 15 March 2011 02:02 (thirteen years ago) link

i'd imagine finding it a little hard to control the ringing out/length of each note that way. using the two-finger technique, it's really easy to get your other finger or thumb to cut off one string's vibration the instant you pluck another one. i'm also playing bass in a band for the first time after playing other instruments -- but coming at it from the side of someone who has recorded a lot of bands and been very involved in record production for a while, i'd at least like to think i'm a little more in tune perhaps with what makes for basslines that sound good on record/work for the song, and precisely controlling the length of each note is a big part of that... and sometimes it's not necessarily easy or best to do that with the left hand; it's easier for me at least to get a rhythm with the right, it just feels automatic.

just one thought on the subject, i feel like i do plenty of unorthodox things when i play too and the only answer is to do what works best for you. i imagine i'd find it harder to be precise in a number of ways with that type of positioning, but might be different for someone who's played a lot of fingerpicked guitar.

sleepingbag, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 02:16 (thirteen years ago) link

You could always go the James Jamerson route and just use your index finger- "The Hook," as he supposedly called it.

Blitzkrieg Bop Gun (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 15 March 2011 02:59 (thirteen years ago) link


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