• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

A simple fingering question

#21
I think your way is correct if you came to bass as a guitar player, as this is probably the way most guitar players would handle this pattern. However, the other way set the bass player up for some very interesting walking bass lines after this pattern. Ask yourself, where are you going to after you resolve this pattern. If you are moving up the neck you are perfect position to free up your pinky or index fingers.
 
#22
First finger on F# then second finger to play 5th fret E and A string the first finger again for 4th fret D string and 4th finger for A on the D string. To me this is more fluid than staying in one position but hey ... as time pass on I play less and less like a Bass PLayer so who knows
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whousedtoplay
#23
The point of the Willis exercises is to learn specific chordal patterns from specified positions, and then to later learn to link the patterns all over the fretboard. Mainly, the fingering you use is determined by where on the fretboard you want to end up, so any and all of those previously mentioned fingerings could be valid. Personally, I'd use what ever fingering kept me closest to a "finger per fret" positioning.

I think the fingering Clef De Fa illustrated could be applied in a later part of the book, but I can't remember that well. What I do remember is the book was pretty challenging and I should dust it off.

As an aside, I think with books like that (and theory books in general) is you don't try to completely master each part. Just kinda get it down and keep moving. Once you get through the book, start the whole thing all over again. It will go much faster and make more sense the second time around.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Groove Doctor
#26
Whousedtoplay said:
I agree that generally in that register is better to use 1 2 and 4 (even fortified with the 3rd) fingers, but in this particular example, I feel more comfortable fretting the third note with 3rd finger.
How would you play/finger the following three notes on the E string: F(1st fret), G (3rd fret), and Ab(4th fret)?
To me it's - 1, 3, and 4, even in that register.
Click to expand...

Well, those are the first three notes of an F minor scale, which I play 1 (shift) 2 4.
 
#30
Whousedtoplay said:
If so, where and when do you use your 3rd finger?
Click to expand...

On electric bass, generally not until the 12th position or so.

Spin Doctor said:
Just from my own perspective, I don't see how or why you would play F, G Ab this way. 1,3,4 is way more efficient and logical to me. I can't see a good reason to crowd the 3rd finger this way.
Click to expand...

It's a double bass fingering that works well on electric bass in the lower registers and prevents awkward stretches and wrist positions. It doesn't crowd the 3rd finger at all. The 3rd and 4th fingers operate together as a single unit.
 
#31
Mushroo said:
Good reason or not, 1-2-4 fingering is a very popular and commonly-taught method. I am guessing that Febs doubles on upright. :)
Click to expand...
We posted at the same time, but yes, I learned upright and electric bass simultaneously. :)

I played guitar for 4 years before starting bass, and I did plenty of one finger per fret exercises on guitar, so I certainly can play that way on bass as well, but I have found the 124 fingering to be the most comfortable and effective on electric bass in almost all situations.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: johnf, Imaginary Pony, Whousedtoplay and 1 other person
#32
I would play it differently in different basses.

Tobias 5 string - loves to be play one finger per fret, and fingers flat across the fretboard. So #1.


Upright Bass - 1, 2, & 3/4(together) fingering. Barre or lift when changing strings. So 1-3/4-(barre)3/4-2-1-2-3/4-(lift)3/4-1.


Fretless EB - for me it depends.... when playing regular fretless stuff it's #1. Lower action helps.

But... when trying to mimic the URB sound/feel I'll do URB fingering (esp down low). But as I play up the neck (or on 30" fretless) my fingers get bunched up, so I have to switch back to #1 fingering.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Whousedtoplay
#33
Febs said:
...I have found the 124 fingering to be the most comfortable and effective on electric bass in almost all situations.
Click to expand...

It just shows how much the electric bass differs from the Double bass.
What's more, I would not teach any new beginner bass-players to use 1 2 and 4 fingers while playing the following three notes on the E string: F(1st fret), G (3rd fret), and Ab(4th fret)?
By the way, I meant V, VI, and VIIb in Bb7.
In short, when playing the Double bass play the Double bass, while playing the bass guitar - play the bass guitar.
Respect both similar but different instruments.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Spin Doctor
#34
Whousedtoplay said:
It just shows how much the electric bass differs from the Double bass.
What's more, I would not teach any new beginner bass-players to use 1 2 and 4 fingers while playing the following three notes on the E string: F(1st fret), G (3rd fret), and Ab(4th fret)?
By the way, I meant V, VI, and VIIb in Bb7.
In short, when playing the Double bass play the Double bass, while playing the bass guitar - play the bass guitar.
Respect both similar but different instruments.
Click to expand...

Yes they are different instruments, but the anatomy of the human hand is identical in both cases. There are valid physiological arguments why certain players might choose to use the 3rd and 4th fingers as a coordinated unit, on any instrument where such a technique is a viable option.

I personally would never teach a new beginner to use 1-2-3-4 fingering in 1st position, I think that is an area we will agree to disagree. :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Imaginary Pony
#35
Febs said:
It's a double bass fingering that works well on electric bass in the lower registers and prevents awkward stretches and wrist positions. It doesn't crowd the 3rd finger at all. The 3rd and 4th fingers operate together as a single unit.
Click to expand...

Ahh, I see. I don't play upright, so I would not have thought to apply that fingering in this case. I suppose if you DO double on both, you would want to keep a consistent fingering. I've never found finger per fret to be awkward, but if you have small hands or something, the DB technique might be helpful.
 
#36
Whousedtoplay said:
In short, when playing the Double bass play the Double bass, while playing the bass guitar - play the bass guitar.
Respect both similar but different instruments.
Click to expand...

So playing 124 somehow shows a lack of "respect" for the electric bass?! Come on. That's just silly. As I said in my prior post, I can play either way, but I've found that the 124 fingering works best for me in most instances.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Imaginary Pony
#38
Whousedtoplay said:
"Treat the patient, not the disease = Care more particularly for the individual patient than for the especial features of the disease."



Jeff Berlin TRULY DISAGREES WITH ME ABOUT THE USE OF METRONOME.
And?
Once again, I would play those three notes on the E string: F(1st fret), G (3rd fret), and Ab(4th fret) as 1, 3, and 4.
What's more.
Even if Jeff Berlin, Ed Friedland, or Victor Wooten tells me, "YOU ARE WRONG!", I would still play it as 1 3 4.
"Treat the patient, not the disease"
Click to expand...

You should play whichever way you feel comfortable with; I was taking issue with you refusing to show a beginner a perfectly valid technique which could advance their playing simply because you don't like it.

My craft teachers (music, cookery, pottery and knitting for example) were all perfectly happy to show techniques which they themselves didn't use. The student is more important than the teacher's ego.



If your "patient" needs "treating" with 124, then that's the way to treat them. Insisting in OFPF at all times, all over the fretboard is simple obtuseness.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Febs
#40
To get back to the original question, here's a question for everyone who has suggested a particular fingering: How many of you would give a different answer if the pattern were moved up the fretboard so that the stretches aren't such an issue? That is, how would you finger the same pattern starting on, say, the 7th fret instead of the 2nd -- i.e., the first inversion of a G major triad, starting on B of the E string?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Clef_de_fa and Whousedtoplay

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back