What is your attack like?

[purpletornado]

Lately I've been taking a look at how I pluck the strings when I play. I've always plucked them from the underside of the string, for lack of a better description, if you know what I mean. Recently I could have sworn I read somewhere that some folks pluck more towards the front or closer to the top half of the string so I've been trying that hoping it'll improve my quickness a little bit and make my tone a little smoother. I guess I'm wondering if there's really any difference in my angle of attack. Anyone have any experience either way or am I just goofing around on some foolishness?

[barbarbass]

My first teacher had me practice attack on our first lesson -- just hitting the open G and D back and forth. His advice (which I've always tried to follow):

"Don't pluck the string. Roll your finger over it."

Of course, you don't always use the same attack every time, but that "rolling" attack always produces a nice, round tone.

[irishpride28]

I tend to change my attack with each bass I play. With my P bass with flats, I try to use either a soft, finger pad approach which gets a fat tone. Or, I use a really stiff fingertip short attack that gives that flatwound 'bark'. For my jazz, I try to just roll my fingers over the strings as it's onf of the hottest jazzes Ive played so anything else just gets obnoxious

[slyderhodge]

IMHO I believe that you should learn how to change your attack depending on the mood/feel/tone needed for the song. Think about Entweistle, alot of time he drove the strings straight toward the fretboard getting that nice harsh cutting tone. Then he would "roll off" for deep pocket playing. I believe it was (Mike?) Watts that was interviewed on the "Rising Low" Documentary and he was talking about the 'flipper' where he used multiple fingers on the attack in order to achieve the tone he was looking for.

[purpletornado]

Interesting. It seems like almost every question I see on TB could be answered with "Depends on..." or "Go with what feels best..." I love it. Lately I've been trying the "roll your fingers over the string" idea and on my jazz with the flats I like the sound I'm getting. Plus, like I said, it's helping me stay on beat a little more, too. Keep the info coming folks, I surely appreciate it.

[Muaguana]

If I'm playing during a mellow song I'll usually just use my index finger to "roll over" the string. If it's a more energetic moment I basically just swing my fingers down through the string to give a heavy slap-like attack, kind of like the typewriter technique but not over the neck. During gentler tunes I'll use classical guitar-style picking with my thumb plucking the lower notes, which gives an even rounder attack, and I usually play palm-muted parts in this position as well.

[Eric!]

Too hard, some people say (including my guitarist. HONEST! When we were recording he said "..you're playing it too hard and it's noisy"...jerk). I think of it Entwistle-y. Made it all that much harder when playing for a Sunday service, I would barely brush the string and resist the urge to start clanging!
When I really get going, my right hand sorta takes this form:

The softer it gets, the more parallel my palm gets to the string lengths.

[GregDunn]

Originally Posted by barbarbass

"Don't pluck the string. Roll your finger over it."

Of course, you don't always use the same attack every time, but that "rolling" attack always produces a nice, round tone.

+1

In our class, Jack Casady said essentially the same thing. Use the meaty part of your finger to get a meaty tone. Sure, you want to be able to vary your attack, but control it as much as possible with the strong part of your fingertip so you know what's going to happen when you hit the note. Nothing worse than reaching for that string and just grazing it - or worse, muting it when you're only trying to get a softer tone.

[Breslin dp]

I use different techniques depending on the sound that I want to attain. Mike Watt has been a big inspiration for me. The man uses his fingers like most people use effects to get their sound. Check out anything by Firehose or his solo work.

[AndreyR]

When I pluck, the last joint of my finger bends a little, so my fingers are not sticks, more like flexible sausages. I use all 3 joints of my finger to pluck.
One of my friends who's double jointed plays bass with his fingers straight, so the fingers hit the string like a pick - the sound is consistent, although I always felt like he was never good at making notes round. But its possibly not his technique, but his attitude.
And speaking about attitude - the mood you are in when you play your bass affects the way you sound. Try playing the same groove when you are angry, then when you are sad, then happy. The tone will be different.

[XtheDeadPawn]

I normally play with a pick but, I normally always do it like Johnny Ramone straight downstrokes whenever you use a pick I found that downstrokes almost always sound consistent and it is just hands down easier for me atleast.

I gave up on fingers long ago I'll leave that too you guys I'm just trying to be me.
Besides almost all my bass heros use them.

[Tracyt90]

I normally attack from the front of the strings toward the top a little and I have found that you can get better rhythm control and usually a better tone out of it. But don't close yourself into just one style. I was a guitar player for 5 years and when I started playing the bass again I started with a pick, and now, even though I usually use my fingers, I sometimes use a pick depending on the style I'm playing. Just don't limit yourself.