Bad Habits for Fingers?

dank14u52 · #1 09-28-2006, 09:28 PM

I'm a basically new self taught bassist, I play with my fingers most of the time and i was wonder what are some bad habits that might come with this style so i can avoid them.

Jazzin' · #2 09-28-2006, 09:37 PM

Try to use only one finger to press down a string at a specific fret. If you get in the habbit of using 2 fingers or even 3, you are limiting yourself drastically. Also, keep your plucking fingers alternating. Index, middle, index, middle, index, etc...

JimmyM · #3 09-28-2006, 09:41 PM

Good habit: hitting the right notes.
Bad habit: hitting the wrong notes.

OK, I'm oversimplifying here, but basically that's the name of the game.

Poop-Loops · #4 09-28-2006, 09:57 PM

How you do it is just as important. Try to keep your wrists as straight as possible, on both hands.

dank14u52 · #5 09-30-2006, 10:23 AM

Should i be trying the floating finger thing? I mean when i rest my thumb on the pickup i can reach all 4 strings fine.

iamlowsound · #6 09-30-2006, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dank14u52

Should i be trying the floating finger thing? I mean when i rest my thumb on the pickup i can reach all 4 strings fine.

You can on a four string, but if you switched to a six string could you? I doubt it. It is a good habbit to get into. I also can stress enough about keeping your plucking wrist as straight as possable. I learned this one the hard way and now my wrist cramps up sometimes when I play a pbass (because of where the pickup is).

lowsound

Poop-Loops · #7 09-30-2006, 05:03 PM

Not to mention, the floating thumb really helps with muting. On a 4 string you may be fine, but on a 6 string you will see the difference.

iamlowsound · #8 09-30-2006, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Poop-Loops

Not to mention, the floating thumb really helps with muting. On a 4 string you may be fine, but on a 6 string you will see the difference.

I sure did when I switched to a six string.

lowsound

dank14u52 · #9 09-30-2006, 09:16 PM

On the plucking hand being as straight as possible to do mean no even moving your wrist art all and moving your elbow up and down?

And are there any habits that might develope over time for just general playing. Like things that a bass teacher might hlep you with cause ATM I have no time to see a teacher.

tradition_2kill · #10 10-01-2006, 03:33 PM

one of the most common bad habits is not achieving a even tone/ volume from different fingers.

Corona_Clyde · #11 10-02-2006, 09:24 AM

Signs of "Fweebage":

-Hitting the wrong notes
-Pluck-muting when you aren't suppossed to
-Having your fretting fingers too far away from the string
-Practicing at a fast tempo

Earthday · #12 10-02-2006, 12:21 PM

It'd be a good idea to get into the habit of not regularly raking notes. Raking is when you hit a note on one string followed by another on a lower string and just use one right handed finger motion to hit both notes. It's arguable whether or not its bad for your playing, but its not an easy habit to break if you get into it and decide you dont want to. Until you get really comfortable playing I'd suggest nothing but strictly alternating your fingers (L-R-L-R-L-R etc.)

johnvice · #13 10-02-2006, 12:38 PM

Bad habit: plucking the strings to hard

Solution: turn up the volume too loud which will force you to play softer. You'll get a more even level, better tone, and have less physical wear on your finger tips.

Bad Habit: plucking in the same position.

Solution: adjust where you anchore your plucking hand. Try anchoring your thumb on the end of the neck and note how the, er note, sounds and how it feels to play there

Now try plucking close to the bridge. It's a very different feel here as the strings are taughter here. The sound is also very different: a lot like Jaco or Ross Vallory (of Journey)

tZer · #14 10-02-2006, 12:39 PM

Right hand (plucking/picking hand)

Alternate fingers (index, middle, index, middle) as much as possible
Don't "klank" (bring your picking fingers down really hard on the string like you are striking at them and causing that 'klank' with each note) as a general rule unless you are playing Iron Maiden.
Develop some sort of right-hand muting to keep your other strings that are not being played from making extra noise. Floating thumb, palm, floating anchor - something.

Left hand (fretting/fingerboard hand)

Use the one-finger-per-fret technique. You have four fingers available to you, use them all!
Don't "choke" your neck - don't grip it like a baseball bat. Thumb nicely poisioned in the center of the neck, good wrist angle - not hyper-extended and try to have a light touch - one where you are not seeing your fingertips go white each time you fret or finger a note

Finally - play like Jaco.

Chili · #15 10-03-2006, 05:23 PM

about the keeping your right hand wrist straight, i used to have it straight (think Flea) but now i have it bent and have went through other ways aswell, victor wooten has his wrist bent and so does stanley clark, but i cant seem to get as much speed as i used to havin my wrist bent....i'm really stuck for the best position for my wirst and my arm

Kael · #16 10-03-2006, 05:59 PM

Also, keep them out of your nose. Chicks don't like that for some reason....

Sandwich Man · #17 10-03-2006, 10:46 PM

Curl your fingers when you fret, even if you're fretting only one note. It's a good habit to get into. If you want good practice at this, play a classical guitar and the neck will be so wide that you'll be forced to curl properly to get a decent tone.

will33 · #18 10-03-2006, 11:43 PM

When playing index,middle,index,middle, practice cutting off the note you just plucked a split second before plucking the next note instead of letting them ring out. Don't have to play this way all the time but it will give you a little more control and put some groove in your playing when you need it. Kind of makes each note a statement instead of a continuing ring. For further practice, alternate between letting the note ring it's full length, putting slight separation between notes (kind of a pulsing sound) and playing staccato and back again, then mix it all up over the course of 4 or 8 beats. Also, pull across the string and not down towards the fretboard, prevents clacking. As mentioned above, note the wide variety in sound just by plucking closer to the neck or closer to the bridge, you can get quite a good variety of tone without turning any knobs.

tr68gt · #19 10-04-2006, 12:02 PM

Hey All, I'm kinda in the same boat as Dank here, and I'm trying to learn this floating thumb method. I can see where it will help my overall playing in the end, but Man, what a pain! Does anyone have any tips on how to make the learning curve a little straighter on this?

AGCurry · #20 10-04-2006, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tr68gt

Hey All, I'm kinda in the same boat as Dank here, and I'm trying to learn this floating thumb method. I can see where it will help my overall playing in the end, but Man, what a pain! Does anyone have any tips on how to make the learning curve a little straighter on this?

I wouldn't worry about it a whole bunch. The main thing when you're coming up is to become REALLY familiar with your instrument, so it's like an extension of yourself. Once you reach that point, you will be able to play with a floating thumb, thumb only, one finger, two fingers, pick, etc..