I tend to use whatever I need at the moment. Sometimes it is one finger...other times three...and even my fingernail as a pick on occasion. I though this was odd...and even poor playing (even though it got the job done) until I heard Chris Squire describe HIS technique in the same way.
Anyway....it works for me, so I will continue to do so. I will even go on using my thumb once in a while....:)

i know what you are saying, i am sorta the same way.

i like to think of it as Jeet Kun Do Bass Technique. :D

sounds like great technique to me. do whatever works best for the situation. the key is to never limit yourself. go for it frost13!

It's pretty hard to break from something you've always done. I suggest if someday you have a teacher telling you how off from the "PROPER WAY" of fingering you are you kick his teeth out and say "I aint changing..got that?!?"...well maybe don't kick him the face....but if it aint broke don't fix it. I think if you are playing solid then you should continue to do what works.

Im between you and Ed. Im going to say do what is comfortable...but be consistent in how you do it, because even Jeet Kun Do has many consistencies! (Hey, i studied it for a while! Its just theres no consistent stances). Just have each technique you use be consistent, like, the way you pluck with that one finger, so youll be able to switch between techniques quickly, if need be. Otherwise, you could get confused, and mess up! Thats all. But i think its really cool you have multiple ways of playing! Thats great!

i agree that each player has to determine what works best, but i absolutely hate the word "comfort." if you feel comfort with something does NOT mean that its the best way, even for your own style of playing. the act of striving for what you can't do yet is "uncomfortable."

Comfort means that you're ready to do more.

I am not "comfortable" with my level of playing...yet. But I AM comfortable with my "techinque" I use to achieve that level. As long as it works for me.....I'll keep doing it. I've always believed that there is more than one way to get the job done.....:)

Frosty-
As long as you can PLAY what you HEAR in yo head...it's cool. For me, "my" '70s/'80s technique, for lack of a better word, wouldn't cut it for me today. Not for what's in my head...not for what I want to play. Not even close, either!
What's interesting(to me)is that you mention Chris Squire & Ed mentions "playing improvised music" & "not something set that happens everytime". I do believe Squire has some pretty decent technique; that said...the knock on him is he doesn't do so well in a looser environment where one is expected to jam/improvise. So, (I guess)if Squire hasn't worked out something ad nauseum, he may have problems pulling something off when he's out of his element(?).
Is it a technical "problem"? I dunno...

...my poster boy for "No Technique" is Chris "Nirvana" Novalesic(?)

Originally posted by brewer9
i agree that each player has to determine what works best, but i absolutely hate the word "comfort." if you feel comfort with something does NOT mean that its the best way, even for your own style of playing. the act of striving for what you can't do yet is "uncomfortable."

Comfort means that you're ready to do more.

I tend to agree with this. That is, I am always striving to play better and I hear things that need better technique than I have. If I felt I was "just going through the motions" = comfortable; then I would give up playing, I think.

I obviously wouldn't try something "uncomfortable" at a gig, but as others have said, the trick is to push yourself when practicing - there's no point in practising things you already know or are "confortable" with anyway. I then find that the technique ideas filter into your playing gradually and you apply it to your playing at gigs or wherever.

I don't think I will ever stop learning, as there are always so many musicians out there trying new things and attempting stuff that hasn't been done before - and there are just as many you probably haven't heard who have done things in the past which are inspiring.

JimK.....You are right about Chris' playing technique. And thinking about it....I do tend to stick to ONE way of playing when improvising. So perhaps it has something to do with the familiarity of what we are playing that dictates the technique(s) we use.

the biggest problem i have found for my in my "jeet kune do" technique is that i tend to favor playing certain passages that lend themselves to the way i play. this is bad, technique should be transparent, not impacting on note choices. so i work on this.

How much of our "technique" which seems to be determining our choices.....is our own personal style? And if we change it....how much does that affect our musical voice?

Not at all Ed. But the notes do come form our minds...through our fingers, so it seems that SHOULD be included in the creative factor.
In MY case...I think it is just a matter of concentrating more on the notes, rather than technique, of a new piece.....and being relaxed when becoming more familiar with it.
I never seem to have these problems when I played trumpet...:)

Originally posted by frost13
How much of our "technique" which seems to be determining our choices.....is our own personal style? And if we change it....how much does that affect our musical voice?

In the ultimate situation, technique should be irrelevant, in that you can play anything in any position, equally as comfortably. So the nearer you get to this ideal state, the **more** you will actually be hearing your own musical voice and what your brain thinks is appropriate to play in that situation - and the **less** you will actually be hearing something that is determined by the limitations of your technique.

This is probably the same as Ed is saying but in a slightly different way....

I think what we are all saying in our own way (style)...:)
is that we should have full command of our "technique" in order to "speak" with a full vocabulary.

Hey, the way i figure it, Technique is however you yourslef plays. if you play with one, two, or three fingers, than that's how you play and that's you technique.

hey wow, "you is what you is" (just funnin' with the bad use of language...if you know what i mean. But I guess i'm too hung up on the word "Improvement" to define technique as a static or solid term. Just cuz you is dont mean you should always be.

I just use whatever is necessary to get the job done. It depends mostly on the style of song I am playing at the time.

Originally posted by frost13
I tend to use whatever I need at the moment. Sometimes it is one finger...other times three...and even my fingernail as a pick on occasion. I though this was odd...and even poor playing (even though it got the job done) until I heard Chris Squire describe HIS technique in the same way.
Anyway....it works for me, so I will continue to do so. I will even go on using my thumb once in a while....:)

I usually alternate pick that is what I was taught, that alternate picking between your index finger and middle finger. try not using your thumb, rest your thumb on the E string if not in use. If it is in use rest your thumb on the pickup. and when picking pick wioth the meaty part of the tip of the finger... if you know what I meant

Why not use your thumb? It's there and it can help with a lot of things. I use mine constantly for muting, playing parts of chords or artificial harmonics. To ignore this, juts seems a waste to me or an inefficient technique.

Originally posted by LowEndBassPLayer
Hey, the way i figure it, Technique is however you yourslef plays. if you play with one, two, or three fingers, than that's how you play and that's you technique.

That's fine, but if you want to grow as a musician, You have to explore different approaches to playing.As a working musician, you have to change your technique to fit the style of the music you are being paid to play. Exploring different avenues gives you choices. I am constantly haunted by my teacher's words after my Senior Recital in College. He said "you are
playing at an Extremely high Level, but if you don't change something in the way you play, you aren't going to get any better." A little analogy to make my point here- I like vegetable soup, but if it was all I ate, I would probably get sick of it. Ed's Language Analogy reminded me of when I was on tour in Russia, the only thing I learned to say in
Russian was "Today is a lovely day!" Boy, I got some strange looks when I asked for directions!

Yes, Ed, the soup is very hot. Unless it's borscht.

As a bassist who is really still learning, I should say that developing a good technique is one of the most important things to me right now. I ignored that when I first picked up my electric, and I'm suffering for it now that I'm playing it in an actual band situation which puts more pressure on me. I've found that sightreading, in particular, suffers from bad technique. Without good technique, it's very easy to slip up and completely lose yourself, even on something so rhythmically simple as a walking line (I've been there, oy... please resist the urge to rub it in. =) )

However, I've also noticed that as I play through a song more often, I'll adapt my technique to fit the song itself. I think that this is actually what frost is talking about when he mentions "no technique". If you're memorising a song and playing it the same way every time, then I suppose there's no problem (and maybe even a little good) in working out some strange technique things that you would never consider using in a more general case.

They key, as with everything, is to acheive that perfect harmony between those ugly patterns you're supposed to memorise and not having any consistency in the way you play at all. Sort of a ying-yang balance between "Technique, No Technique". Musashi talks about alot of similar concepts in his Book of Five Rings. Here's where someone translates that phrase into Japanese so we can sound über-philosophical. =)