playing clean notes ? need help

[chris griffiths]

I use that all the time the flamenco technique it's great especially for Reggae and ska. if you wanna hear it in action check out "underneath it all" by no doubt or anthony jackson uses it here and there

[giallos]

i did try with my fingers but im actually a lot faster with my thumb for some reason ,lol ,
i have been taking it easy today and playing slow so i can get the notes out as clear as possible , starting to get the hang of it now

been running up and down the fret board with 3 fingers for about an hour , all the way down then back up with out stopping , so i can get used to moving about

[Fishface]

Originally posted by giallos
i did try with my fingers but im actually a lot faster with my thumb for some reason ,lol ,
i have been taking it easy today and playing slow so i can get the notes out as clear as possible , starting to get the hang of it now

been running up and down the fret board with 3 fingers for about an hour , all the way down then back up with out stopping , so i can get used to moving about

Practice up & down the board with all 4 fingers on the fretting hand so that you get used to using all 4. Your pinkie is very important!

You may be faster using your thumb now because that is a natural movement for it. You do that movement all day every day. But, I would advise using your index & middle fingers in a walking fashion, alternating between the two for every note. This may be slower now, but with practice you should get faster than your thumb ever could on its own.

Have you ever lost a race against a 1-legged man?

[bizzaro]

Do you have a metronome? Get one! Start by playing clean clear whole notes followed by a whole rest( four beats). You can tap your foot or count till you get one, but get one. Make sure you mute the string immediatly after the last beat. Go up the fretboard as recomended. Left hand goes one finger per fret. At fret four slide your hand up and so on. Go for even volume and touch. Then do it again with half notes. Be precise in your note durantion and rest (two beats). When you are comfortable with half notes go on to quarter notes and rests one beat each for the note and the rest. The rest will make you mute and play cleanly.
GET SOME LESSONS

[chris griffiths]

buy a lot of pedals,a very big amp and get a custom fretless 6 string. this ought to help matters a lot. also play a lot of slap and don't worry about what notes you play. listen to les claypool and Ryknow exclusively and make sure you have lots of good looking clothes to play in.



now for the real advice. everything people are telling you is good. Don't lose your thumb but develop your fingers 2 is good 3 if you can. use all 4 fingers (if you have them) up and down the fretboard. This is a little hypocritical for me to tell you because i actually play with my 3rd and 4th finger as one but I wish I played the otherway and I'm working on it. It's just an old habit. alternating your fingers will give you a nice smooth sound. also highlight your hair

[giallos]

damm, just when im getting used to my thumb and clean notes you lot chuck another problem my way
lol

so , index and middle , in a walking manner , ok , got that , just have to fit it in practise now ,

and pinky on fret , i have actually been using my little finger but not all the time

the biggest prob so far is getting used to using my fingers to pluck , i was hoping i could get away with using my thumb , he he , gues not

as for lessons , so far i have learnt to play drums keyboards and percussion with out a teacher so im pretty sure with plenty practise i will get the hang of it , im not blowing my own trumpet there by the way , dont mean it to sound like i was
and thanks once again for all this input , invaluable it is

[chris griffiths]

well if you plan to take the instrument seriously a good teacher would help. and maybe a spell check

[l0calh05t]

Personally, I do use my thumb sometimes:
a) When playing chords
b) When I don't want the notes to sustain, I palm mute and play with my thumb, this gives a nice "thump" sound
c) When slapping, but that doesn't count

But normally I play with fingers and that is what you should do too, and if you simply don't want the notes to sustain but don't want this "thump" sound you should play with fingers and do as the other said

[chris griffiths]

yeah well the thumb isn't bad but you shouldn't limit yourself by just knowing how to play with your thumb.

[l0calh05t]

Yeah, as I said use the thumb only occasionally, when it makes sense, otherwse play with fingers

[Demonfish22]

If you're not doing this already, you should rest you thumb on the top of one of your pickups (front one is usually best) when you pluck with your fingers. This anchors your hand and makes it much easier to play.

This'll seem obvious to everyone else, but if you haven't been plucking with your fingers in the past you may not realise this.

And I would also recommend lessons - you may not think you need them, but when you come across something you can't do, it's very useful to have someone who knows what they're doing there to help you, and physically show you what you're doing wrong.

[chris griffiths]

also lessons keep you out of bad habits

[Mathias_TfG]

An alternative to anchoring your thumb on the pick up is the 'floating thumb technique.' In this technique, the thumb rests on all strings lower than the one that you are playing on, thus muting them. When playing on your lowest string, rest your thumb on the pick up. I personally prefer the floating thumb technique over anchoring my thumb on something because it allows me to mute the low strings with my picking hand and allows me to pick in different places to get a different tone. However, I would reccomend trying out both anchoring and floating your thumb to find out what works best for you. Oh yeah, lessons wouldn't hurt, either.