single finger 16th notes

phreddy · #1 05-13-2006, 03:02 PM

ive taught myself how to play 16th notes fingerstyle with one finger. i get a verry efficent and even 16th note using my index finger like a pick, up and down. i taught myself to play a year ago(4yrs exp. on trombone) and i only used my index to play. none of the stuff i played back then used 16th's and i diddent have anyone to teach me proper technique. recently i began to see the need for 16th's but now i have a callas on my index but not the middle and trying to 16th's that way sounds bad because of the difference in tone caused by the hardness of the two fingers. i know i could build a callas on the middle but i tryed this single finger method and found it works pritty well. i was just wondering if anyone has ever used this method or has heard of it.

KuMBye YamALaWd · #2 05-13-2006, 03:08 PM

Chuck Rainey says he's used it

I don't know WHAT he used it on, and he certainly doesn't use that technique often

..

tZer · #3 05-13-2006, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KuMBye YamALaWd

Chuck Rainey says he's used it

I don't know WHAT he used it on, and he certainly doesn't use that technique often
..

I just saw Chuck up close and personal at Fazio's in St. Louis - and yes, he does use that technique - along with what he calls 'Fanning' where he waves his thumb and fingers like he is fanning his bass on a hot summer day - and he gets the nicest 'slap and pop' outta that as well as a sort of bluegrass-ish bassline + chord thing.

And he seems to use all these techniques all the time - at least where the song seems to call for it - and it seems that songs call for all sorts of techniques all the time. Each piece he played for use saw him fan, single-finger, slap n pop, bluegrass-style it, and so on, as the part called for it. Chuck is the man!

slip · #4 05-13-2006, 03:44 PM

correct me if I am wrong but I think James Jamerson used a one finger technique.

tZer · #5 05-13-2006, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slip

correct me if I am wrong but I think James Jamerson used a one finger technique.

You are not wrong. Jamerson did play using one finger.

Grueber · #6 05-13-2006, 04:18 PM

Geddy Lee uses that technique on the first song off of his solo CD

thewanderer24 · #7 05-13-2006, 10:32 PM

there's nothing wrong with the one finger technique. BUT, it seems silly to limit yourself by not learning to play with 2 or more fingers. How are your 16ths when you have to play em while jumping across a couple strings?? Can you really get an even sound out of both sides of your finger?

Add as many tools to your toolbox as you can. The more technique options you have at your disposal the better you can play whatever comes up.

phreddy · #8 05-14-2006, 12:40 AM

i guess i am a little lazy but it came much Easer than two fingers did and I did try the two finger thing for about a week but I couldn’t seem to get it even . When using only one finger I can get really even , both rhythmically and tonally because I barely graze the string w/ the tip of the finger so the string hit’s the same part of the finger weather going forward or back. The only thing is I have to keep my index nail very short so I don’t hit my nail on the string. And it doesn’t work to well when changing strings fast but I think I can work on that I’ve only been doing is for under two weeks. It does ok on punk-ish bass lines witch only uses e and a strings for an entire song.

Jethro · #9 05-18-2006, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tZer

I just saw Chuck up close and personal at Fazio's in St. Louis - and yes, he does use that technique - along with what he calls 'Fanning' where he waves his thumb and fingers like he is fanning his bass on a hot summer day - and he gets the nicest 'slap and pop' outta that as well as a sort of bluegrass-ish bassline + chord thing.

Jack Bruce from Creme also does that.

pocketmonster · #10 05-18-2006, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grueber

Geddy Lee uses that technique on the first song off of his solo CD

I just watched part of the Rush 30th Anniversary Tour on INHD, and it is the best footage I've seen of the guys playing. I did not realize before seeing this that Geddy plays perhaps 90% (?) of his notes with his index finger. Far be it from me to critique one of the greatest players in rock history, but I can objectively say that his technique involves a lot of motion and energy. His forearm does a lot of work getting that finger where it needs to be. I am not saying this is implicitly good or bad, but it is different from many players I've seen.

Grueber · #11 05-18-2006, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pocketmonster

I just watched part of the Rush 30th Anniversary Tour on INHD, and it is the best footage I've seen of the guys playing. I did not realize before seeing this that Geddy plays perhaps 90% (?) of his notes with his index finger. Far be it from me to critique one of the greatest players in rock history, but I can objectively say that his technique involves a lot of motion and energy. His forearm does a lot of work getting that finger where it needs to be. I am not saying this is implicitly good or bad, but it is different from many players I've seen.

whatever works for him. It's hard to believe that he can play those YYZ riffs with just the index, maybe he incorporates some raking. Does anyone know if he uses the back and forth index technique with Rush at all?

pocketmonster · #12 05-18-2006, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Grueber

whatever works for him. It's hard to believe that he can play those YYZ riffs with just the index, maybe he incorporates some raking. Does anyone know if he uses the back and forth index technique with Rush at all?

Assuming YYZ is on the setlist (haven't seen the whole show yet), I'll watch that and report back in a day or two. I am 90% sure I saw some raking in his technique on a couple songs. This time I'll focus on his hands and try not to just enjoy the show...

Another thought I had is that with his technique his left hand is doing a whole lot of muting. His right hand rarely touches the strings aside from the index finger.

Winterpegbass · #13 05-19-2006, 01:47 PM

Geddy used one finger for most of the med-slow stuff he does and two fingers for the fast stuff. Alot of players feel that they can put more feeling/groove with the index finger as well as having better tone and volume control.

Chuck Rainey has a quote in the SITSOM book where he showed James Jamerson his back and forth index finger technique and James told him that it was for "sissies".

pocketmonster · #14 05-20-2006, 01:40 AM

Watched a bit more of the concert on INHD tonight. I would summarize that Geddy plays with one finger whenever possible. Just about the entire song Dreamline was one finger (all that I could see of him playing anyway), and the whole song is relentless eighth notes at a fairly quick tempo. Another thing that caught my eye... looked like the double stops in Earthshine are all played with one finger raked quickly across the G and D strings. (I wonder if he plays Turn the Page the same way since it is a bit more complex.)

A few spots I noticed a second finger included intro to Red Barchetta and end of 2112... basically whenever the sixteenths require it. The camera shots move so fast in the video, it was a bit challenging to really watch his technique. I think I saw him picking sixteenths with the index bidirectionally just once but cannot be certain. I scanned the recording and did not find YYZ in this show.

Final comment - it is worth seeing. The sound is superior to Rush in Rio IMO. Very clean, easy to discern the parts, much less crowd noise.