I’ve been playing around with bass lately and yeah, the right hand is where I really need work. So if you will, how are you voicing the notes, how did you get there, and what worked for you or helped you play better?
My playing eighth notes with my index and middle fingers is still about as rhythmic as water pipes knocking; stops are about as bad (And please don’t ask me to practice full scales yet; I’m just trying to do one or two string runs!) I guess I could use my thumb, but that gets limited pretty quickly, and slapping is …uh, nasty. Really though, anything that comes to mind is appreciated.
There’s probably a bajillion YouTube videos for beginner bassists.
I do play bass in a band (and guitar in a different band) and from my experience, what you do is look at what other players do and find a technique that works for you. There’s no one way to do things, and it really depends on what you want to achieve. Different techniques work with different musical styles.
I prefer a pick, but that’s because I’m generally going for a very aggressive, percussive sound in my music. Also, I’ve spent several decades working on my picking technique, so I’m much more comfortable with a plectrum than with my fingers. Oh, and my picks are made from cymbals and are several mm thick.
I play bass with a thumb pick most of the time these days. But I did play with my fingers for years, and still occasionally do a mutant bass fingerpicking thing.
First: no excuses, practice your scales, and start the scale on alternating fingers. If nothing else, it’ll get you used to moving between the strings.
Now, for right hand technique. I don’t think there are any secrets, you just have to do it enough. I was taught to concentrate on playing one note evenly and regularly with alternating fingers at first. Just dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum until you can’t stand it any more and want to go back to playing scales or a song. Use a metronome of some sort occasionally, but I would be sure to practice it without one, as well. You’re developing muscles and muscle memory so that motion becomes second nature. It takes a little time and practice, but it should come quickly.
If that fails, you could always learn to play with a pick.
I can’t slap and be worth listening to, so you’ll need to ask someone else about that.
My first set of gigs was as a bassist. I used a bass pick made of thick, stiff felt. It sounded more or less like my thumb, and I kept much better time with it than with my thumb.
Carol Kaye got that famous tone of hers by playing with a guitar pick, and turning down the tone knob to filter out the sound of the pick attack.
I began playing bass at church a couple of years ago after more than 40 years of playing 6-string. None of my right-hand technics from playing 6-string translated to bass. scabpicker’s third paragraph is dead on. The rhythmic two-finger thing is awkward and unnatural at first, but that will change pretty quickly with tedious repetition.
There’s also nothing wrong with using a pick, whether felt or otherwise. I just learned the finger method because I wanted to look like a real bass player.
Seconding the repetition suggestion. You just need to practice more. Use a metronome! Drum tracks are ok, but can cover up faulty technique. A metronome is brutally honest. Record yourself- if it sounds good, then you’re doing fine. Some very good players have some odd looking technique. Geddy Lee, for instance.
Concentrate on either using fingers or a pick. I wouldn’t mix the two until you have a handle on one. Slapping is an advanced technique and can be learned later. I use fingers and slap. I’m still a bit of a klutz with a pick, but I’m working on it. (Not as much as I should, but still…)
Don’t bother with thumb plucking. It’s a limited technique and can slow you down. It’s good for big soft pillowy tone, but is hard to get a nice attack.
Watch videos, videotape yourself, record yourself, look in a mirror; all these will help, but the biggest help will be more practice.
IANAB, but finger-tapping sure looks hella fun. I’m sure if you practiced Flight of the Bumblebee every day (and yes - along with those dreary fucking scales) you’ll have more and more fun with it.
or, the more standard way
funny - I guess I have SHIT EARS, because, honesty, I couldn’t really make out any discernible bumble bee-ish tunage in this second one - it sounded more like he was just randomly soloing.
And these things are kinda neat…hey - if ya got the money, and gearhound leanings…
Not sure how easy they’d be to learn, though… The awesome Chapamn Stick
Saw Tony Levin using this with King Crimson in '84 - seriously blown away.
I play upright, and for techniques such as slapping, all I can say is practice, practice, practice. Also, as a general matter, practice no faster than you can do it correctly.
Not sure how much this applies to bass guitar, but on the upright, the ability to get various sounds depends greatly on how your bass is set up. Might be worth considering.
From what you say, sounds like you are very much beginning. Just take your time and keep at it. Unfortunately, there is no substitute for simply putting in the hours. A lesson or 2 can go a long way in informing you as to proper technique.
(Not picking on you, scabpicker, this just seemed like a good place to reply. A lot of folks gave similar good advice.)
Agreed. This really isn’t guitar, where three chords and an ego can make people look at you. Messing around on the bass is definitely bringing back what music theory I remember, and I expect that I’ll be dusting off the books as time goes by.
As was also said throughout the thread, proper technique helps. I’ve noticed that even little things like holding better hand and arm position helps a lot.
relevant tangent (perhaps): I think it was drummer Steve Gadd that used to open his seminars by announcing that he was going to do something that most drummers were incapable of doing, and then playing three minutes of straight [sup]4[/sup][sub]4[/sub] without fills.
I’m glad that folks mentioned it; I just dug out ours. One thing I was also forgetting was the value of just screwing off and playing along to songs, along with the scales and fingering exercises.
Um, I’ve played guitar for forty years. I’m trying to make amends. (Just kidding. I used to play in punk bands, and every bass player in those bands used a pick.) It does seem though that the fingers and thumb can have a BIG influence on how the notes are voiced (and yes everyone, I’m using roundwounds. I’m sorry, but not changing.)
Yeah, slapping can probably wait for now (I’m not sure how much I’d use it, but it is a different way to approach the strings.) I am having some fun tapping harmonics while playing (think Billy Gibbons or maybe Stanley Jordan, only down an octave), which may be useful sometime.
Okay MOM, I’ll get a real bass once I master this one.
YES. I always set my guitars action as low as possible, so I did this to my bass. It’s a lot easier to pick up string slaps and harmonics. This is very much a mixed blessing at this time, but it’s definitely something I want to keep.
Roundwounds rule! Flats are for folks who are scared of attack in their tone! But don’t change a string until you break one. Dead strings sound the best. On a bass, a single set of strings can last a lifetime,
Yeah, that advice isn’t for everyone, but it works for me. Plus, it’s cheaper.
The thick strings make harmonic tapping really easy. I used to do a lot of it when I played by myself, but I could never find a good place to use it with a band. Either way, it’s fun.
Why on earth would you apologize for roundwounds? They’re still the standard. I just got a new set to put on my main bass today. That being said, I have flatwounds on my fretless so I don’t chew up the fingerboard. (See, Dinsdale? I can stealth brag, too.;):D)*
Who do you think you are? James Jamerson? (I can’t stand dead strings. Not for everyone indeed.) Cornflakes, I didn’t realize you were a guitarist originally. If you’re used to a pick, just use that. No shame there. Just a word of caution- I can usually tell if a guitarist is playing bass. They’re often way busier when they play. “Too many notes.” Simpler is often better.
As far as extended techniques like tapping, tapping harmonics etc, I’ve been occasionally called upon for slapping, but never tapping. It’s fun to fool with, but unless you’re a soloist or in an original chops heavy band, it’s fairly useless.
*I also play upright; pizz, arco and slap. And tuba. All at a professional level. Okay, I feel better now. It’s hard to hold that in, isn’t it?
I almost wish! Then people would stop asking me if I think I’m him, and would just ask me if I was him. :D*
But yeah, hearing about how his bass was set up, and how he never changed the strings made me stop sweating that stuff. I already liked the sound of dead strings on bass and guitar, and I’ve always played too vigorously to use a bass with a really low set up – to learn that he did things in a similar manner ( though I don’t lie on my back and play bass, I should probably try it on for size ) made me feel like I wasn’t an oddball, and I could stand proudly on my cheapskate hill with my poorly adjusted bass!
In unrelated news: I’ve found the one P-Bass in the world I actually like, but my guitarist won’t sell it to me. He’ll only trade it for a treasured 50’s P-90 that I have. Grrr, maybe if I stabbed him…
*Yes, being dead for decades would complicate things mightily.
Well, I suppose having high action and playing vigorously would make up for dead strings. If it works, it works. If you try the lie on your back routine, just remember that he was drunk, so you have to include that.
I’ve heard some folks say that the tone isn’t worth the extra noise for what they’re doing. Personally, I used to change my guitar strings weekly when I was playing more… so um, roundwounds.
Right. I keep wanting to say something along the lines of that people don’t get up and dance to a solo.
True, it was more of an observation, done while listening to some moderately orchestrated pop stuff (Let’s Active’s Big Plans for Everybody, for example.) It would really just be a cool little thing to have in the toolbox, not something to drag out at every Monday night blues jam.
Another question, for middle and index finger playing - keep alternating when moving down a string, or rake off with the same finger? It does seem best to do one or the other. It seems like a little discipline here would go a long way, but I can see how both ways kind of make sense.
WRT picking, it just seems kind of limiting. Using the fingers and thumb seems a lot more …organic? personal? hands on? I could also see myself digging in too much with a pick. I could probably use a compressor to offset that, but why not just use a lighter touch to begin with?
Also, thanks to everyone for all of the help. I’m really feeling pretty stoked about it.
Ok, we must have a common definition of “down” when talking about this. Does down mean a lower pitch, or is down closer to the center of the earth?
If you mean down as in toward the center of the earth: My bass teacher told me to practice both. He advised (and it’s true) that it’s better to be able to do either at the drop of a hat than to have to plan your fingering pattern around when the beat switches strings. Otherwise getting back on beat after a mistake is made that much harder.
However, I just went and picked up the bass and paid attention to which finger I led with when moving down a string. If I’m playing quickly, I use the alternate finger when moving to the next string. If I’m playing slow enough that I could easily play the whole thing with one relaxed finger: I’ll always use my middle finger for the next string, no matter who was next.
If you mean down as in pitch: The finger that just played is usually already resting on the lower-pitched string after playing the first string. If you don’t play the string with it, I’d like to know why you’d do such a thing.
Well, on the one hand you have compressors, and on the other hand you have big, pillowy distortion. Myself, I prefer distortion to complete excess. Once you have built up the finger strength to play for 45-60 minutes straight, slapping the strings off the fretboard with your fingers like Entwistle will be a breeze. Digging in with your fingers is actually easier in my opinion, because you can’t drop your fingers.
There is a different hands-on feel to playing with fingers vs. a pick, though. And covering up clams with a quick finger is much faster than playing with a pick.
But I’m a faster player with a pick. I can play Dick Dale quick on a bass when I’m using a pick. I can do it for a bar or so with my fingers, but I never worked up the strength to keep it up longer than that.
In terms of sound, you generally just have to work the EQ differently. Geezer Butler apparently used a pick or his fingers, depending on the song. He still sounds like Geezer on all of them. Or, if you’re Geddy Lee, you play with your nails, which might as well be a pick.
Hey, this one pushes me onto pedal steel so he can play that bass sometimes. He’s a really good guitarist, but it’s an awesome bass.* The rarity of getting another guitarist that appreciates that is what keeps him alive.
Plus, I’d end up like Gollum; A murderer who tells everyone the ring of power was a birthday present. How you get the things you treasure changes you.
*And it’s nothing crazy special. It’s a MIJ Pacific Blue affair from the 80’s.
Sorry, wasn’t intending to brag - more of a weak joke. Believe me, my upright skills are nothing to brag about. I picked it up a few years ago, to play bluegrass/fiddle tunes with my fiddler-wife. After playing bass guitar 25 years earlier in college. (Rotosound Bass Boomers were my preference then, IIRC…) My daughter the bassoonist has my last remaining bass guitar.
You really hit it on “guitarist playing bass” phenomena. Sometimes during a jam I’ll intentionally play as little as possible - and those are generally the best jams. A majority of the time, when I’m doing something “fancy” on bass, it is for my personal enjoyment, rather than out of a belief that it improves the music.
I envy you the tuba. Lately I’ve been listening to Mexican banda music in the car. Love the tuba - and the bass-forward mix. But again, I (and the guys I play with) don’t need THAT to clutter up my bluegrass thump.
Messing around on the bass is definitely bringing back what music theory I remember, and I expect that I’ll be dusting off the books as time goes by.
