light touch is bad?

BAd ASs · #1 12-09-2007, 11:15 AM

so last week my teacher told me to pluck harder(alot) to achieve good tone from my bass.I did it,the tone is better.but i still think light touch is better.it helps me to play longer n having dynamic control.so,wats ur opinion?

ChrisBowsman · #2 12-09-2007, 11:22 AM

I say play however it sounds good to you. If everybody bought into "technique X works better", everybody would sound pretty much the same.

I just started playing bass a week ago (lifelong guitarist), and one of the things I'm really taken with his how touch sensitive a bass's big fat strings are. Digging hard will give you a certain tone, but easing up will just give you a different one, not necessarily better.

Bhuti · #3 12-09-2007, 11:24 AM

Well, i also have a light touch. It's good for giving you quickness and having a controlled tone to your playing. But at the same time other musicians need to be able to hear and feel you. It can also be mistaken for a lack of confidence. I got this all the time during school.

To correct it i practice playing louder when i solo, practice at a base volume to just hold a groove and be heard, and practice at a soft volume to keep for when i'd need that. It's all about dynamics and being appropriate for certain instances. My newest bass is also coming with a ramp so that would help out a bit with it too.

Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad. Just be aware of how your dynamics sit in with the mix.

ElDunco · #4 12-09-2007, 11:30 AM

I normally play with a decently light touch with pretty heavy strings and every once in awhile I'll catch crap for it. I have to say playing live though when I dig in it really gets everyone going.

Theres also the different tones that you can get from it. For some stuff that I come up with a light touch is exactly what it needs, with other things it just won't sound right unless you're digging in hard.

If anything, it's the easiest way to really get all of those watts of power from your rig =)

jollygiantchris · #5 12-09-2007, 04:01 PM

thats a bunch of crap i play with a really light touch i just turn my amp up louder to compensate i notice when i strike heavier (fingerstyle) i seem to not have as good a low fundamental at least to my ears. i mean sure i don't have quite as much attack but lets be honest here what notes you're playing in what space in time are far more important then how heavy your attack is. in addition when you're playing really fast is you hit the strings lighter i seem to get a lot more note separation. and if you're hitting the strings light you can always hit the handful of notes you really want to stand out harder or pop them to make them really stand out (saw a john entwistle interview where he said he does that i started to and it sounds rather nice).

OR maybe I'm totally wrong and this is just what my ear tells me =x but still if YOU'RE comfortable with your playing everyone else can go shove it

EADG mx · #6 12-09-2007, 07:44 PM

I think basses sound terrible when struck hard

you don't have to believe or practice everything your teacher tells you. I know I don't.

Chipsonfire · #7 12-09-2007, 07:54 PM

It's all about what tone you want. You get a different sound with different dynamics. Just play as hard as you need to get the sound you want. JMHO

JimmyM · #8 12-09-2007, 07:55 PM

There are times when a heavier touch is appropriate and you should be able to do it. Like on a lot of really funky music, the bass sounds so much better when the bassist is digging in harder than normal. But there's times when you need a light touch as well, so learn both and be able to do them at will.

Valerus · #9 12-09-2007, 08:08 PM

It all depends.
I'm somewhere in the middle.

Blacimbla · #10 12-09-2007, 08:18 PM

I definitely dig in when I play. I like the tone that I get with a harder attack and it feels more solid. I don't pluck so hard that the string pops though unless I'm doing a solo...I think it's distracting when you're playing a bassline

Bo_H · #11 12-09-2007, 08:25 PM

It would depend on what you are trying to communicate with your music. Having said that, I would agree with another poster that being overly aggressive with touch makes a terrible racket.

IMO

Bo

Bassist4Life · #12 12-09-2007, 08:26 PM

Touch is something that I change a lot throughout a song. I can't imagine playing with one kind of attack.

Joe

Mayers · #13 12-09-2007, 08:28 PM

I play light but I like to play fast and do solo. But if I have to do fingerstyle funk I'll dig to get that fat bass that makes girls danse. But it is hard to me because I don't like that type of music ...

phat daddy · #14 12-09-2007, 08:29 PM

I play with a hard plucking attack and I really grip the string when I'm digging in. That said, one of my favorite bassists in town plays very light and eq's his amp to sound like he's playing harder. I'm primarily a funk bassist and he's primarily a jazz bassist-- that may be the proper order of things with dynamics in those styles. His ensemble keeps him very much in the background and he functions very well in that medium. My bands usually keep me forefront and I feel I do a good job there too. It's all about what works for the ensemble and where you want to sit in it.

K2000 · #15 12-09-2007, 08:30 PM

It's hard to say your teacher is right or wrong, without seeing you play.

Chris Breese · #16 12-09-2007, 10:40 PM

Wow, this could go in so many directions. We could actually cram every type of technique known to man into this thread! Cool!

If you action is really low, digging in will get you a great deal of fret noise unless you play really cleanly... I think I read somewhere that Jason Newsted likes his action super low and uses a pick with a jackhammer-like touch. I'm sure he varies his attack for what is called for.

If your action is high, it may be beneficial to dig in some. I don't prefer it, but there are players who like their strings an inch off the fingerboard! I like my action on the medium low side and use a fairly light all the way to fairly heavy touch (fingerstyle mainly). But when I am digging in, my (fairly limited) technique changes so that it's not all fret noise clackity clackity.

I guess it's good to be able to play proficiently in all dynamic ranges relative to the action of your bass, amp setting, etc.

Everyone get to work!!!

grovest · #17 12-09-2007, 10:42 PM

Let the amp do the work.

Brad Johnson · #18 12-10-2007, 02:11 AM

Playing with a light touch doesn't really mean that you must touch the strings lightly. Yes, you most likely will if you're playing legato or pianissimo but IMO the coolest thing about refining the technique is how much dynamic control you have.

What many people don't realize is economy of motion is a very important and overlooked component. Once you've refined the technique you may find like I did that you can pluck extremely hard with very little motion.

I did a gig last night, first set was Jazz standards, last set was party music for a corporate Xmas function. If you watched me I can guarantee it didn't "look" like I was plucking any harder when I was doing the low volume Jazz than when I was pumping grooves later on that night. I can also slap very hard "aurally" with very little hand movement. I've seen videos of myself playing where it looks like I'm not playing but instead just wiping the neck... but all of that sound is jumping out.

IOW this isn't me...

UPTHE1RON5 · #19 12-10-2007, 02:13 AM

depends on want u play. i have a ridiculously hard attack when i play but it gives me the tone i want :P

scary bill · #20 12-10-2007, 02:28 AM

I play with a light touch as long as I have my amp set loud enough. I find that if I don't have my volume high I try to compensate by digging in. This is ok sometimes, but on slower playing the note decays too fast. With lighter touch the notes are more even after you pluck them.

This doesn't mean that a heavy sounding attack is bad. It works very well for faster playing.