barring on bass

[shughey]

If you come across a phrase on bass that requires you to play alot of notes on the same fret on different strings do you tend to "barre" the noltes or use different fingers. For example

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Would fingers would you use to fret each.

[Pugz]

Personally

I played it :

Middle, Middle, Ring, Ring, Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky

[shughey]

yeah that's how I was playing on playing it. I've just started up bass coming from a guitar background so i'm just adjusting to the differences in fretting techniques. For example do you ever barre strings on bass or it it rarely used?

[iamlowsound]

I would

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lowsound

[shughey]

Originally Posted by iamlowsound

I would

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lowsound

yeah, but what i'm getting at is would you barre your finger across the third fret on the E & A strings or would you jump from the E string 3rd fret to the A string 3rd fret with your middle?

[jenderfazz]

I'd probably do it I-I-M-M-I-M-R-P.

I don't like barring, and I do otherwise whenever possible.

[duo8675309]

On this no. There are very few instances where you would want to. On bass you get the best tone when you press the string down with the tip of your finger, so barring isn't really a good idea.

[slapslappopslap]

only song i have ever barred on is easily by the chilis in the chorus... but its easily (scuse the pun) playable otherways. barring on a bass does however make it much easier to do it on a guitar.

[slapslappopslap]

sorry forgot to say:

for that though, i would go, ring ring, middle middle, index, middle, ring pinky.

[pdusen]

I bar when needs call for it, but in this instance I agree with the above... I'd use middle finger for the G, Ring for the C, and then a four-finger walk for the last few notes.

[lemur821]

I'd barre the first two notes on this one, more or less. I'd actually lift the tip of my middle finger as I fretted with the part of the finger nearer the joint.

[JimmyM]

+1 for Paul. If it's not a speed intensive part, I will always barre. And that didn't look like a speed intensive part.

[2 Fingers McGee]

Originally Posted by lemur821

I'd barre the first two notes on this one, more or less. I'd actually lift the tip of my middle finger as I fretted with the part of the finger nearer the joint.

That's what I would do as well. Sort of a rocking motion.

[K2000]

I bar all the time.

On bass you get the best tone when you press the string down with the tip of your finger, so barring isn't really a good idea.

There may be some cases where that's true (staccato riff, for example) but tons of times it doesn't matter one bit how you fret the string... you could use your thumb, your finger 'pad', the joint/knuckle (second finger segment). The fret is what makes the tone.

To put it another way, a brass nut can help with sustain, but only when you play open strings. When you fret a note, everything behind the fret becomes basically irrelevant. So it doesn't matter if you are fretting with your elbow.

The only time it would matter is if you are not fretting the notes soon enough before striking the strings with your picking hand. If you are trying to fret stacatto by rolling into position with your left hand joints, in other words barring (a legitimate legatto technique) and your timing was off... then it would matter.

Another posssible example where it matters... if you play fretless I suppose.

I play fretted bass and I have A/B'd a fingertip-fretted note and a barred note, and there is absolutely zero difference in tone. It's possible that it can matter in your fretting "attack" if your timing is tight, as I mentioned, but that's about the only time it could matter. In my own playing, that is practically never.

I don't want to shock you but there are some times when I need to play the same note a few times in a row, and I'll just grab the dang neck like a baseball bat, in order to give my hand a rest. There's no way in hell anyone will hear the difference and know that I'm not fretting the note with my figertips.

Sorry if I'm ranting a little but I see this "fingertips-make-a-tonal-difference" thing get repeated like it's a golden rule, and it absolutely isn't.

[bassist 4 life]

II-II-I-M-R-P


I bar the G on the E and C on the A with my index, and then play the others one finger per fret.

[Alec W. Conway]

I'd barre the 3's on the 2 lower string with my middle and then jump to the 2-3-4-5 with all 4 fingers starting with my index on the 2.

[Jeff Moote]

Wow - I didn't think there was more than one way that people would play this, but apparently there is. I tried all of them...

Originally Posted by lowsound

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That's how I would play it, with the tip of my middle finger hopping from the E string to the A to play the C.

Originally Posted by Pugz

Middle, Middle, Ring, Ring, Index, Middle, Ring, Pinky

That's my second choice, though slightly less efficient.

Originally Posted by slapslappopslap

ring ring, middle middle, index, middle, ring pinky

Awkward. I really don't know how you're doing that.


I definitely don't endorse the barre method for passages like this. The only time I use it is for chord shapes where it's absolutely necessary. For individual lines, never. I agree with this:

Originally Posted by duo8675309

On bass you get the best tone when you press the string down with the tip of your finger, so barring isn't really a good idea.

[Enden]

Originally Posted by slapslappopslap

only song i have ever barred on is easily by the chilis in the chorus...

Same here. I was just going to post that.

[Erick Lam]

There are quite a few ways to play it. It all depends on context. I'd probably chose among those options:

22-22-1234
44-44-1234
44-44-2123
44-22-1234
44-44-2124

Edit: added one more.

[Nils]

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And I'd barre the third fret stuff on the E and A strings.