“The Hook”

[Bigtex76]

I’m new at bass playing and one of the first people I heard about was James Jamerson, whom reportedly played with his index finger.

Every piece of video I’ve seen looks as if he plays with two.

Am I wrong?

 

[ComesATime]

I’m new at bass playing and one of the first people I heard about was James Jamerson, whom reportedly played with his index finger.

Every piece of video I’ve seen looks as if he plays with two.

Am I wrong?

Here, he's definitely using the one.

He keeps his fingers straight, so it can sometimes look like he's using more than one finger in some grainy videos.

 

[Bigtex76]

Here, he's definitely using the one.

He keeps his fingers straight, so it can sometimes look like he's using more than one finger in some grainy videos.

Thank you.

 

[Bigtex76]

Thank you!

 

[luciens]

Amazing how he does all that stuff he did to perfection with just one finger... blows me away every time...

L

 

[Parzival]

Amazing how he does all that stuff he did to perfection with just one finger... blows me away every time...

L

Geddy Lee uses one finger a lot of the time. I tend to do it more than I used to.

 

[Bigtex76]

Thank you.

 

[winston]

I've never seen footage of Jamerson playing before. I was surprised by the way he anchored his right-hand pinky/ring finger on the P-Bass pickup cover, and used floating thumb for muting.

BTW this thread would probably make more sense in "Bassists" or "Technique" forum...

 

[JRA]

Am I wrong?

--- do you think jamerson is 'cheating'?

 

[jerry]

I've never seen footage of Jamerson playing before. I was surprised by the way he anchored his right-hand pinky/ring finger on the P-Bass pickup cover, and used floating thumb for muting.

BTW this thread would probably make more sense in "Bassists" or "Technique" forum...

Alphonso Johnson would hang his right thumb over the strings too, it might come from training on upright when you're young.