# Mixing fingerpicking techniques?



## SnowfaLL (Jul 23, 2009)

I am new to bass, just started fingerpicking (plucking, whatever) in late May, and Its so foreign to me.

I know for jazz/softer music, standard play is with 2fingers, which is what Ive been practicing mainly lately, just going over jazz standards and walking and some funk songs. But I'd love to be a capable bass player for every genre of music, including metal (altho I enjoy guitar much more for metal) 

Ive been attempting the 3 finger technique, I think Myung/Sheehan style (1 3 2 1) and it works great for triplets and stuff, but I still find 2 fingers would be better served for most standard beats (quarter notes and its non-triplet/swing subdividants) because it gives you a pretty dominant "accent" note, where as doing a 3 finger 1 3 2 1 - 3 2 1 3 - 2 1 3 2 - 1 3 2 1 style means your accent note switchs fingers often and is harder to make it stand out. Im sure with practice it could be alright but is there a better way?

Can 3 finger be used comfortably on slower songs where you do not need the quickened movement? Or is 2 finger usually king for that? 

Im just curious, to all you bassists (particularily ones who are proficient in jazz AND metal, playing many professional gigs) what do you do? 

Not looking for the "do whatever is comfortable" recommendation; I am new to bass so therefor nothing is comfortable, and I want to progress as a session bass player, so I want to know the best absolute way to do things, none of that "whatever works" junk.


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## Variant (Jul 23, 2009)

I'd say yes, but I have a lot of trouble with the 3-finger technique as well, naturally pulling more towards triplets. It's just something you develop over time.


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## Excalibur (Jul 23, 2009)

Play with four fingers


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## distressed_romeo (Jul 23, 2009)

Speaking from a personal POV, I tend to use the Sheehan method for pretty much everything, regardless of tempo, when I'm playing single-note lines (I'll sometimes incorporate classical-guitar-style fingerpicking on top of that, using PIMA technique, tremolo, or alternate IM, but that's only for specific parts). As you say, the real challenge is getting out of playing everything with a triplet feel, which is liklely due to the A finger being weaker than the other two. As boring as it is, your best bet is just to get a drum machine going, and just spend ten minutes each day pumping out straight eighth and sixteenth notes until your fingers get used to accenting notes like that automatically.
If you read interviews with Billy Sheehan, he still does this every day as a core part of his practice regime. It's hard work, but worth it in the end, as even if you still tend to favour IM technique, you'll have it in reserve to help out with anything involving tricky string skipping, or fast tremolo passages.


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## angus (Jul 23, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> I am new to bass, just started fingerpicking (plucking, whatever) in late May, and Its so foreign to me.
> 
> I know for jazz/softer music, standard play is with 2fingers, which is what Ive been practicing mainly lately, just going over jazz standards and walking and some funk songs. But I'd love to be a capable bass player for every genre of music, including metal (altho I enjoy guitar much more for metal)
> 
> ...



Well, whatever wor...just kidding!

My initial response to this is "slow down, don't be thinking about it so much." The reason why 2 vs 3 fingers sounds different is just because you haven't put the time into woodshedding to even out the response across your fingers. I guarantee that even with two fingers, your index and middle sound quite a bit different. This just takes time and practice.

The reason why I say that you are overthinking it is because there is no reason that 2 fingers is better than 3 for certain passages, musical styles, accents, etc. It's just a technique. No different than economy picking versus alternate picking- if properly trained, they don't sound any different, but one might be much more comfortable. Ok, it's not a great analogy because there are times when one or the other is actually the better technique, but you get what I mean I hope.

IMO, the way to go about it is to pick ONE finger pattern and just stick with it. If you choose three, go with it. If you choose two, stick with it. If you chose to go 1-2-3-1-2-3 or 3-2-1-3-2-1 or 1-2-1-2-1-2 or 2-1-2-1-2-1 or whatever, just stick with it. No matter what you pick, it's going to sound awful and uneven and improperly accented and one finger will rush the beat or you'll sound like triplets, etc etc. With lots of practice where make a concerted effort to even out the tone and volume of the notes, you'll eventually get to the point where everything sounds the same and feels comfortable.

Personally, I play with either 3 or 4 fingers- the fourth being the thumb- in a 3-2-1 pattern. 1-2-3 feels weird and unnatural to me. With 4 fingers, I do either t-1-2-3 or t-3-2-1, as 1-2-3 doesn't feel as odd when I'm holding my hand in that orientation. I rarely use just two, and if I do it's usually because I'm palm muting. 

A few things to watch out for: 
1) Muting. I always catch flak for this, but people have really bad right hand muting habits. The "finger resting on the pickup" almost always leads to strings ringing, especially when playing on the higher strings. I'm really sensitive to this, so I tend to gripe about it. A lot of players don't even notice their strings are ringing until you point it out...it's just that it tends to happen in the studio when the engineer says "hey, your E is ringing, and it sounds bad." Floating thumb technique FTW. It's uncomfortable at first, but a year down the road, your arm, wrist, technique AND engineer will thank you.
2) Watch how hard you are attacking the string. A lot of metal players freaking CRUSH the string with their attack....and it sounds bad. It's usually because of a lack of control. The faster a song is, the harder they attack, and the more uneven each finger will sound relative to each other (and thus the dreaded triplet accent thing happen). Practice being able to play without having to strike the string so hard, as it wastes energy, adds fret noise that sounds like crap, and certainly isn't necessary for volume. It makes the live sound terrible. 

Both Myung and Sheehan are pretty bad examples for technique. They have a very, very refined concept of what works for them, but neither have ideal technique imo. Myung is by far the better of the two, but he's a great example of someone who plucks 10x harder than necessary and just sounds like fret noise live. His left hand thumb rests over the neck sometimes, too, but overall he's definitely the better of the two. Sheehan's one of those guys who's made sloppy technique into an art! I'd be happy to play like either of them or be as accomplished as either, but they aren't the best to emulate technique-wise. 

If you want to see what near perfect technique and absolutely flawless articulation look like, watch Hadrien Feraud- a really young up and coming jazz/fusion player with a crazy resume. His live tone sounds much less flat than it does in video. I can't think of any player who even remotely in his league technically. That guy is the cat's ass. 

Anyway, pick a finger count, pick a finger direction, and STICK WITH IT FOR EVERYTHING YOU EVER DO, paying close attention to evenness of tone, timing, volume, and accent. It just takes time and practice!

Oh! And if you want good songs to work towards, Tower of Power songs are incredible practice for precise control and for ensuring that your 3 fingers translate perfectly into 4/4 feels. Yeah it's 70's music, but it's killer practice because of the syncopation, syncopated accents and ghost notes. Might be a tad too fast for now, though.



distressed_romeo said:


> As you say, the real challenge is getting out of playing everything with a triplet feel, which is liklely due to the A finger being weaker than the other two. As boring as it is, your best bet is just to get a drum machine going, and just spend ten minutes each day pumping out straight eighth and sixteenth notes until your fingers get used to accenting notes like that automatically.



+ this. Do at least 1-2 minutes of slow/medium/medium-high in eighths and 16ths. Nothing too fast, as speed just breeds bad technique if you don't have it down at slow speeds. 

Though I will say, I often find that people strike harder, rather than softer, with their ring finger because they can't curve the last digit as easily, so it tends to be more clumsy, rigid pluck.


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## Nats (Jul 23, 2009)

i agree with the two posters above me. use a metronome or drum machine and practice playing with 3 fingers in one direction (for me i do 1-2-3) for at least 10 mins a day. i will also play along to slower songs with 3 fingers that i'd normally use 2 fingers for just to make sure i can get an even sound out of each finger for each note. i can switch between the two techniques mid song pretty flawlessly without much difference in sound or attack (although i'm just getting back into playing bass so it's a little rusty)


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## Excalibur (Jul 23, 2009)

This'll help.


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## distressed_romeo (Jul 23, 2009)

Willis' approach is fascinating; totally unorthodox, but insanely smooth and efficient. I think the only other bassist who gets such great results with a totally unorthodox technique is Dominique DiPiazza.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 23, 2009)

I have been doing metronome practice with 3 fingers since Monday night, doing chromatic and major/minor scales playing groupings on each note (such as 4 times on C, then on D, etc, different numbers each time) and just overall building the motion.

I am concerned slightly about string noise as angus mentioned; Since I didn't know where to begin at all, I instantly gravitated towards thumb anchoring on my pickup ring, and I notice that strings ring out sometimes and theres nothing I can do about it (unless i dampen with my left hand, which is what ive been doing) so hmm any good lessons somewhere specifc on muting/right hand technique? Floating thumb sounds difficult, but I would like to see like exact pictures of where everything fits (where your hand position is, etc)

Striking softer/harder, overall dynamics is not an issue with me, practicing it hard for guitar for years. The only issue arises sometimes in dynamics because my fingers arent strong enough sometimes for bass, but that will come with time, not concerned about that.

And I have actually been playing Jamiroquai songs non-stop pretty much since beginning of July, its good practice. I will get a Tower of power CD to practice, right now I only have one or two songs on my computer (from transcribing full songs of them last year, did Oakland stroke and Squib cakes)


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## distressed_romeo (Jul 23, 2009)

+10000000 for the floating thumb approach.


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## angus (Jul 23, 2009)

Yes! Todd does floating thumb exactly the way I do. He's also a really nice guy with a very unique vision of what a bass player's role is. I can post picture of what my right hand is doing, but it'll look very similar to Todd. 

If you're using Jamiroquai songs, that's a really good starting place. The reason why I happen to like Tower of Power is that there is almost constant motion, stresses, ghosts and accents all over the place, and in between that time, Prestia is very very even. I definitely spent a lot of hours playing along to "What is Hip?" to even out my three fingers and practice string skipping. And I hate that song.



distressed_romeo said:


> Willis' approach is fascinating; totally unorthodox, but insanely smooth and efficient. I think the only other bassist who gets such great results with a totally unorthodox technique is Dominique DiPiazza.



+ Matt Garrison, Hadrien Feraud, etc. Lots of guys are playing like this these days. Willis was hugely important to contributing to bass technique, and formed a big part of my right hand influence. Too bad some of his, er, scientific theories on bass playing are totally flawed. But his efficiency and economy of motion are to die for, and he's a really nice guy.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 23, 2009)

yeh, I hate What is hip also, mainly cause I spent hours transcribing the horn section for a school project. Ughh lol

Im curious, since Angus and DR you guys seem to know your shit. Any good players to watch/dissect in terms of jazz walking ideas? I am alright with the standard lines, following chordtones and chromatic walkup and b5 slides and all that, but im looking to expand more. Players or videos would be ideal.


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## distressed_romeo (Jul 23, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> yeh, I hate What is hip also, mainly cause I spent hours transcribing the horn section for a school project. Ughh lol
> 
> Im curious, since Angus and DR you guys seem to know your shit. Any good players to watch/dissect in terms of jazz walking ideas? I am alright with the standard lines, following chordtones and chromatic walkup and b5 slides and all that, but im looking to expand more. Players or videos would be ideal.



I'm not really an expert on walking, given that most of my experience with it comes from adding fairly simple basslines to chords on guitar, but Ron Carter and Paul Chambers (check out his playing on Coltrane's 'Giant Steps' album) are both awesome to listen to for that style.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 23, 2009)

hmm. Thats a good idea, I should just go find all my jazz stuff that features other players like Coltrane, Ellington, Parker and etc and try to zone in on their bass players. 

I really love Bunny Brunel, hes my absolute favorite bass player, so gonna eventually get to some chick corea stuff / CAB


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## angus (Jul 23, 2009)

distressed_romeo said:


> I'm not really an expert on walking, given that most of my experience with it comes from adding fairly simple basslines to chords on guitar, but Ron Carter and Paul Chambers (check out his playing on Coltrane's 'Giant Steps' album) are both awesome to listen to for that style.



Dang, good call. I came here to say the same two. I could give you a massive list, but there is a lifetime's worth of studying in those two players alone. That's where you can start...and end. 

To be honest, anytime you want to study walking lines, listen to an upright player. The function of an electric is very different, and thus the approach is generally different, so most electric players have a very different style. But for understanding how you approach handling different harmonic functions, changes, etc, you have to study the upright players. Get it, transcribe it, study it. 

There are tons of great players on electric obviously, but I wouldn't study them for their walking. I think the person I enjoy the most in a straight jazz setting on electric is Christian McBride.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 23, 2009)

hmm! while checking out Paul Chambers videos, got me thinking.. is HE "Mr PC"??? lol. the song is pretty much a riff, and its Coltrane, so makes sense.


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## distressed_romeo (Jul 23, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> hmm! while checking out Paul Chambers videos, got me thinking.. is HE "Mr PC"??? lol. the song is pretty much a riff, and its Coltrane, so makes sense.



He is indeed.


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## Ramsay777 (Jul 26, 2009)

While on the topic of the "floating thumb technique" and muting; I dunno if I have shitty ears, but I heard plenty of players that "anchor" their thumb and have no problems with strings ringing out.

I have a similar technique as this dude, only not as fast  I rest on the Low-B most of the time as I hardly use it, when I do, I rest on the bridge pickup.



This guy rests on the pickup on a 5 string and he doesn't seem to have any problems either:



Not arguing with DT or Angus like, I just find floating thumb awkward  It's all about what's good for you m'man.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 27, 2009)

One mod I've come to add to all of my basses came from a former teacher and that's to add a thumb rest around the bridge pickup, as it gives you a great pivot point from which to play your electric bass guitar. Just have to remember to cut my finger nails on my right hand before picking up the bass guitar. 

Have to agree with the previous posters concerning attacking the strings, it doesn't need to be so heavy, and try for straight down vs. flicking or across the strings like a plectrum. If you get into working with a MIDI controller through your bass (remember to play ahead to activate synth sounds) you'll want to really lighten your touch drastically (on both hands) to lessen the number of warbles and mis-tracked notes.

Hope this helps.


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## Nats (Jul 27, 2009)

that Soreption dude has such a great sound


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## angus (Jul 28, 2009)

Ramsay777 said:


> While on the topic of the "floating thumb technique" and muting; I dunno if I have shitty ears, but I heard plenty of players that "anchor" their thumb and have no problems with strings ringing out.
> 
> I have a similar technique as this dude, only not as fast  I rest on the Low-B most of the time as I hardly use it, when I do, I rest on the bridge pickup.
> 
> Not arguing with DT or Angus like, I just find floating thumb awkward  It's all about what's good for you m'man.



The first guy is playing over a metal track- you aren't going to hear it. If I soloed his track in the studio, you would. I have to hear it ALL the time.

And his tone is so, so freaking awful, but that's beside the point. Just awful. That's really some of the worst tone I've ever heard. Wow.

The second guy has strings ringing- I can hear it in headphones.

Floating thumb is definitely awkward at first. Like anything else, it just takes practice, and eventually it will feel much less awkward than anchoring your thumb because you aren't having to change you attack angle every time you change strings. The easy way isn't always the right way! The more complicated the line gets- string skipping, etc- the more you generally hear a ringing. It'll get drowned out in a live metal show (although it definitely doesn't help), but put that guy in a studio or a jazz group and you'll get lots of complaints. It's just that most guys have pretty sloppy technique. Shit is hard, man.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 28, 2009)

Here's a complete mixture of different finger-picking, strumming, and slap styles all at the same go (this was an insanely good concert, too):



Wanted to include this one on an acoustic (though not the best example out there):


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## Ramsay777 (Jul 28, 2009)

angus said:


> The first guy is playing over a metal track- you aren't going to hear it. If I soloed his track in the studio, you would. I have to hear it ALL the time.
> 
> And his tone is so, so freaking awful, but that's beside the point. Just awful. That's really some of the worst tone I've ever heard. Wow.
> 
> ...



Cheers for the reply dude. Not meaning to Hi-Jack Nick's thread here (sorry dude ) but is there any chance of you posting a video of yourself playing a bassline similar to the first video with your technique? I don't mean that to sound cheeky or anything bro - I'd like to be educated in the matter if it makes me a better bass player 

I can't fathom how you could play something that fast with lots of string skipping while moving your thumb about too 

Cheers


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 28, 2009)

know something really funny I found out yesterday? My bass is a Carvin bolt kit, unfinished so far.. but I noticed that the spot where I anchor my thumb, it seems that after constant use, my nail has been digging into the body, now theres like a 1mm "dip" right where my thumb rests.. Haha.

So another reason anchoring is bad! I'll eventually work on non-anchoring. I just gotta find a more detailed "floating thumb" method/writeout.


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## Excalibur (Jul 28, 2009)

Stanley Clarke isn't a good example of immaculate technique.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 28, 2009)

wow I spent the last hour practicing "floating thumb" and its insane how much more clear and precise my notes are. thanks alot guys, thats exactly what I was looking for (in terms of muting anyways)

My only issue now, is doing it with 3 finger picking, thats difficult.. but my two-finger is much cleaner now..

I have afew more questions about some things ill post soon, but gonna go watch tv and practice for nother hour.

PS: My Carvin BX500 amp just came in, its unreal. Very light, Very good sounding. Cheap. I wont need another bass amp in my life =]

Ok, How about this.. This song has been giving me trouble hardcore. Jamiroquai's "Dont give hate a chance"..

Best youtube video I could find unfortunately, Most are very sloppy, but whatever, you get the idea.



So my issue, When doing these octave jumps, what fingering is best to utilize that? From what I gather from youtube videos, its the index on the root, then ring/middle (two hits) on the octave note.. but is it ring or middle first? Its just so awkward feeling, esp after playing a set 3-finger pattern such as I-R-M-I , because this pattern is more like a guitar kinda thing, where you assign a finger to a string.


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## angus (Jul 29, 2009)

Ramsay777 said:


> Cheers for the reply dude. Not meaning to Hi-Jack Nick's thread here (sorry dude ) but is there any chance of you posting a video of yourself playing a bassline similar to the first video with your technique? I don't mean that to sound cheeky or anything bro - I'd like to be educated in the matter if it makes me a better bass player
> 
> I can't fathom how you could play something that fast with lots of string skipping while moving your thumb about too
> 
> Cheers



Why can't you fathom it? Classical guitar players do it all the time, and most guitar players don't anchor their hand, either!

Haha, I'm happy to have a discussion on proper technique anytime. It's like anything else- it's really hard to it "right" and really easy to do it "wrong"...but a couple years down the road when it suddenly becomes important, you'll wish you'd practiced it the more difficult but but more "proper" way. Ask me how I learned, haha. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any means to make a video, but I took some quick pictures if that helps. They're bad quality (laptop webcam at night), but at least you get an idea of how my arm sits. I don't do it quite as rigidly straight armed as Todd Johnson...though I probably should. But I've been doing it this way for 10 years, so habits are hard to break. Nowhere in here am I saying my technique is perfect- I've been playing for 17 or so years now and I have a long, longgggg way to go. 

Don't mind the bandaid on my thumb- my freaking cat tore the shit out of it. 







Playing on high strings, index having just plucked; ring about to strike. Note relaxed elbow position- Todd Johnson would hold his straight out. Note that thumb is flat against the strings.






Playing middle strings. Note thumb position again. Elbow probably too relaxed.






Paying low strings- elbow definitely too relaxed. Here, thumb is entirely floating, with no anchor. Hey, if classical guitarists can do it all day, why can't bass players?






Striking octaves with index and ring finger. For octave playing like that, if you use three fingers, do index and ring, essentially giving one finger per string (much like you give one finger per fret for your left hand). If you use two fingers, then use index and middle, but that requires more rotation of the wrist and uses up more energy.

To be honest, though, when doing octaves like that, I usually use my thumb and one finger, or if the octaves are moving strings, thumb/middle pair and index/ring pair. The coordination takes a while. I almost always play with thumb-index-middle-ring (PIMA classical style). 






I don't remember what I was doing here, but at least it gives you an idea of hand position in action.






More angled view. (Elbow too relaxed/wrist too bent, but that was because I was holding the bass in place with that arm while I clicked on the "take photograph" button.)

I hope that helps!




NickCormier said:


> wow I spent the last hour practicing "floating thumb" and its insane how much more clear and precise my notes are. thanks alot guys, thats exactly what I was looking for (in terms of muting anyways)
> 
> My only issue now, is doing it with 3 finger picking, thats difficult.. but my two-finger is much cleaner now..



That's just practice! Figure out what you'd ideally LIKE to use, and the comfort will come. We're all in the same boat, so I'm glad that anything was of use to you!


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## angus (Jul 29, 2009)

(Can only do 5 attachments at once.)


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## Excalibur (Jul 29, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> wow I spent the last hour practicing "floating thumb" and its insane how much more clear and precise my notes are. thanks alot guys, thats exactly what I was looking for (in terms of muting anyways)
> 
> My only issue now, is doing it with 3 finger picking, thats difficult.. but my two-finger is much cleaner now..
> 
> ...



Do not copy his technique WHATEVER you do, that curved wrist is just calling for injury.

For Octaves, I tend to use the 1st finger for the closest string, and the 2nd (Since it's the longest) for the furthest away string.

Hope that helps


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 29, 2009)

dont worry, That guy is pretty sloppy in the video, but I just meant the song specifically, I want to learn. 

Hmm.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 29, 2009)

Excalibur, mainly posted the Stanley Clarke acoustic bit to show him anchoring his thumb on the fingerboard (this is more common than not while he's a bit lower on the fingerboard than what I'm used to, as I'd be more toward the end of the fingerboard rather than closer to the middle). 
On the electric end, what I posted was really just a look at a few different ways of doing the same thing in a live setting. Was trying to find a live picture/video of John Glasscock playing with Jethro Tull for a walking bass line or two, he was "clean" in his playing and a bit closer to what was origionally asked in this thread.

Angus, that's interesting, you're using the outside of your thumb in order to mute the lower strings or am I incorrect on this? 
Great pictures, by the by, thank you! It's also of note that you're arching your fingers quite a bit, which helps to keep total movement down relative to a classical guitar technique. If you were a lutanist, you'd go for keeping your fingers nearly parallel with the strings in order to accomplish the same thing (granted, this would also be due to you holding/cradling the instrument with your right arm, too).

For octaves if they aren't activated at the same time, I've always used my first and second fingers (got yelled at too many times to count for using my thumb). If they were activated at the same time, I'd use my first finger and third finger (again, the thumb thing). If there was more colour to the chord then I might use my forth finger on a higher note, or second on a lower one than the octave from root. Apparently, this is particularly bad form (though it worked wonders on keeping warbles at bay).

Later on, I was told to keep to just using my first and second fingers only and avoid using the third and forth fingers by my teacher, using the thumb to anchor and hold the bass upright, while my left hand is used to fret notes and not using the thumb on my left hand to anchor the left hand or to hold up the instrument. My last teacher was adamant about the right thumb being used to anchor the right hand near/on the bridge pickup and to hold up the instrument, and using more left-hand muting.


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## Excalibur (Jul 29, 2009)

NickCormier said:


> dont worry, That guy is pretty sloppy in the video, but I just meant the song specifically, I want to learn.
> 
> Hmm.


Oh, fair enough, I certainly feel your pain regarding finding good covers of songs on YT


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## angus (Jul 29, 2009)

phaeded0ut said:


> Excalibur, mainly posted the Stanley Clarke acoustic bit to show him anchoring his thumb on the fingerboard (this is more common than not while he's a bit lower on the fingerboard than what I'm used to, as I'd be more toward the end of the fingerboard rather than closer to the middle).



Unfortunately, this is a completely unrelated example- it's a bit like posting a video of a trumpet to discuss flute techniques. Different animals entirely, that grew out of different instrument families altogether. Different approach, different situation. 

When I play upright, sometimes my thumb is anchored (though not exactly like Stanley), sometimes it isn't, depending on what's going on. But anchoring is perfectly ok on an upright (and necessary when playing hard) because of the way the damping works. It would take a long time to explain why (and this thread probably doesn't need a discussion on vibrational dynamics), but more or less, because of the way it's set up, less energy is trasmitted into the unplayed strings. Not only that, but the energy that is transmitted there isn't high enough to audibly drive the piezos or ring in the microphone, so "ringing strings" is much less of an issue on uprights, especially given how quickly each note decays. So it's a totally different animal.

That said, Stanley's technique on upright is FAR from normal. It works for him, but it's definitely not the norm.

And he's definitely worth hearing live on upright. Not a fan of him on electric, but he's stunning to hear on upright. Very unconventional, which is really nice to hear on upright.

I do get tired of hearing him quote "School Days", though. Move on, dude. Move on. "FREEEEEBIRDDD"

Then again, I guess nobody goes to Lynard Skynard to hear the new cuts.



> Angus, that's interesting, you're using the outside of your thumb in order to mute the lower strings or am I incorrect on this?



Yes, I do. Well, if you are staring at your finger nail, I use the left side (90 degrees from the face of the fingernail) to mute. I think that's how everybody does it, but I could be wrong!



> Great pictures, by the by, thank you! It's also of note that you're arching your fingers quite a bit, which helps to keep total movement down relative to a classical guitar technique. If you were a lutanist, you'd go for keeping your fingers nearly parallel with the strings in order to accomplish the same thing (granted, this would also be due to you holding/cradling the instrument with your right arm, too).



No problem! Sorry they're dark- it was late. 

My fingers do arch, but it's because I play with a very light touch. They stay straighter than they look there through the strike, then arch slightly more post-strike. The harder I strike (and to a lesser extend, the faster I strike), the straighter my fingers stay. But it depends on the situation.



> For octaves if they aren't activated at the same time, I've always used my first and second fingers (got yelled at too many times to count for using my thumb). If they were activated at the same time, I'd use my first finger and third finger (again, the thumb thing). If there was more colour to the chord then I might use my forth finger on a higher note, or second on a lower one than the octave from root. Apparently, this is particularly bad form (though it worked wonders on keeping warbles at bay).



Honestly, however it works best. I don't know why you'd get yelled at for using your thumb, but as long as you stay consistent so you build up comfort, then it's fine. I definitely use my pinky on occasion for chording, too, so I don't think it's going to hurt anyone. It wouldn't be great for plucking 8th notes, though!



> Later on, I was told to keep to just using my first and second fingers only and avoid using the third and forth fingers by my teacher, using the thumb to anchor and hold the bass upright, while my left hand is used to fret notes and not using the thumb on my left hand to anchor the left hand or to hold up the instrument. My last teacher was adamant about the right thumb being used to anchor the right hand near/on the bridge pickup and to hold up the instrument, and using more left-hand muting.





No offense man, but run back and tell your teacher he/she is an idiot (or was, I guess). You right thumb should NOT be involved in anchoring your whole bass- it's ridiculous. If the bass doesn't balance by itself- many do just fine- then between your strap, forearm, and left hand, it should be balanced enough that you don't ever notice what part is "carrying" the weight. I don't ever notice anymore...which is a good thing.

Holding up the weight of the bass neck with your right thumb is like trying to open a door by pushing next to the hinge.  It'll work, but takes way too much effort! In this case, you'll just end up destroying your thumb.

Left-hand muting is totally necessary, no argument there. But how does your left hand mute the E, A, and D strings when you are playing on the G? It can't. Your right hand thumb is used to mute all the strings _below_ the played string, and your left hand should mute all the strings _above_ it. 

Ie, if you are playing on the D string, your right thumb should mute the E and A and your left hand should mute the G.

He seriously told you not to use your left thumb to anchor your left hand?

Seriously, some people have no business being in the teaching profession. That's just insane. I would disregard most things he's taught you. I'm sorry that you had such a poor teacher.


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## SnowfaLL (Jul 29, 2009)

Teachers are lame most of the time, I've had afew who just didnt know anything and tried teaching improper techniques/etc.. I even had one teacher try to tell me I need to anchor my pinky on the pickup ring to do sweeps (guitar) lol -_- Thankfully, my last two have been really good, so it helps, but I am still VERY weary going into new lessons, not knowing what Im gonna get.

Angus, If you dont mind commenting abit on that jamiroquai song I posted abit. So, Using floating thumb technique now, It works but my fingers seem to curl abit more rather than be stretched out like normal finger technique.. Is this ok? Having my fingers "curled" plucking is the only way I can reach both the root with index and the octave with middle/ring all at the same time, since when you use the straight-finger style, you cant reach both strings without anchoring.. Should this be ok though anyways?

And another thing I noticed, when playing that song, which has one note on the root, then two quick notes on the octave, it goes; Index finger (root), Ring (octave) THEN middle (octave).. does that sound proper, or should it be middle then ring for the octave hits? Any reasoning for one or the other?

Thanks.


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## phaeded0ut (Jul 29, 2009)

Seriously, he told me to use the right thumb as an anchor for the whole of the instrument, and once I built up strength/precision with my left hand to try and keep from using the left thumb as an anchor and to play without it. I don't disagree there were a few bits and pieces from this (you're quite correct, "former" is very much the operative word) teacher that had me scratching my head on more than one occasion. No offense taken at all.

Pardon, Nick, didn't mean to hijack this thread.


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