im playing upright bass in concert and jazz band and my fretting hand is fine (ive been playing guitar for a while, not that hard of a transition) but my teacher says i play too quietly... is there any techniques to plucking the strings?
(ive heard talk of bows around here but i figure finger picking would be quicker am i right in this assumption?)
Dont just use the finger to pluck. Transmit the weight of your arm through your finger when you need extra volume. Also don't hold the side of the instrument flat against your body. That will kill a lot of your sound. Turn the bass out a bit so that the edge where the back meets the side is what is against your body. If you can get your hands on Rufus Reid's DVD and book, he talks about and demonstrates some of these things.
In addition to what TheSuzie said, think about using the entire side of your index finger when plucking, pointing it down toward the bridge. Just using the tip will yield minimal volume.
And somebody is going to say it sooner or later...referring to your left hand as "fretting" is kind of a no-no around here, since the bass has no frets.
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thanks, that helps alot... and i had no other term for what to call said hand...
