Hello.. I'm a beginner at bass.. about 5-6 months.. I was wondering what kind of fingering should the right hand do.. I do the thing where I put my thumb on the Pickup when playing E, putting my thumb on E when playing A, putting my thumb on A while playing D etc.. etc.. but when I wanna do some quick movements, its hard to play it correctly since it sounds like im jumping.. I want it to sound smooth and stuff. What should i do? Can someone gimme some advice? I don't take any lessons hehe

One word...Practice!!! You pretty much described how I and I'm sure a bunch of others play. Practing will get you better used to having to move your hand from string to string.

Another possibility is that you could just keep your thumb on the pickup and learn to reach to the other strings, but I think what you are doing is the right idea. Good luck.
Eric

Ah ic.. Thanks a bunch. Its really easy to go upwards.. as in from G to D to A to E. but its harder to go down like from E to A to D to G. But I'll work on it. Thanks http://www.talkbass.com/ubb/smile.gif I just learned some CHili Peppers (Suck My Kiss, Otherside, Parallel Universe) http://www.talkbass.com/ubb/smile.gif I've learned parts of Around the World also. I got the Intro correct but the verse is hard hehe

you could try just floating your thumb out in no man's land, that's what i do, i'm pretty new as well but i can play really fast changes and things fingerstyle, sometimes my thumb comes down to rest on something, i.e. a string, a p-up, a bridge or a fingerboard, or sometime's its in the air but i just don't think about it, i only let my 2 fingers do all the thinking and the thumb can be where it may. just try not to think about the thumb at all and you may do nicely. or you may not. just my experience!


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My thumb changes position depending on the situation. I never really paid attention to it, but another thread here made me look at what I do. I will anchor when playing on 1 or 2 consecutive strings. When moving across the strings (i.e. arpegios) I lay my thumb sideways on the lower strings and use it as a mute, moving it behind the plucking fingers on the way down and then use the left hand to mute strings on the way back.

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Paul

My thumb very rarely leaves the pickup. It stays there if I'm plucking the E string or the the G. The only time it moves is if I'm plucking with my thumb or using it to mute the E string.

rushfan....i started out using my thumb as an unmovable anchor like yourself and was quite pleased with the results... until i started recording in studios were the emphasis is on a "precise ,clean as you can sound"...then i had to go away and look at how i would achieve this..my left hand muting was good but the problems occured when playing the g str for any given time as the other strings set off in sympathy.try it and tell how do you achieve this ? http://www.talkbass.com/ubb/confused.gif
mazda, keep using the moving technique i wish i had started that way..but it doesnt take much to relearn..one point i will make is try the thumb when playing the e string against the front of the back pick-up instead of on top..i found this imitates the same position as for the other strings and also feels smoother when moving to the a string...
as jaco put it "the hardest thing is making the instrument not make noise"
cheers markj http://www.talkbass.com/ubb/smile.gif...dont forget they say "cleanliness is next to godliness"

You're on the right track. Don't rest your thumb on any string, just apply enough pressure to keep the string from ringing.

Side note: when you say going up or down, think soundwise.

Have fun!

just keep practising

this is very simple to answer.just do what feels good! thats it, there is many different things to do with your thumb.I personally ALWAYS keep it on the pickup,cause thats comfortable for me,but everyone is diff,just find your style,don't try to copy people like Flea cause you'll just screw yourself up.