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Advice on developing a lighter right hand technique?

samurai1993

samurai1993

Jun 6, 2010
220
55
Chile
#1
I realized that I was doing some things wrong, and wanted to develop a lighter touch on the strings... that or I'm winning free passages to some Carpal syndrome or at least a tendinitis. Also wanna get rid of some sloppiness, and I'm tired of losing practicing time because of my plucking finger's tip hurting.

So, something I should know, or it's just a thing of starting playing softer and let the amp do the job?
 
#2
I used to play trombone and eventually bass trombone in school. I was a talented player, but I had, to quote one of my instructors, "quite a set of lungs." I would frequently get over enthusiastic and play too loud. The way it was explained to me was that there is only a certain amount of usable volume you'll get out of your instrument. If you're at 100% right out of the gate, where are you gonna go when the crescendo comes?

I would say work on economy of motion. Understand that there are different sounds that come out of your instrument when you play the round off the wounds as opposed to playing very lightly. Use it all to your advantage as a composer of bass lines.

I had the same problem (still deal with it at times), and like many other problems, being aware of it is the first step! Try to play the quiet sections of songs with barely a tickle of the strings. Really get into the different sound you're getting out of your bass. It'll come eventually, just focus on your right hand at all times.
 
#4
I'm not aware of bass players having CPS or similar ailments in their right hand ( assuming your a righty and pluck with your right hand) I'm only aware of problems in the left hand and it's usually from improper hand positioning on the neck and/or using too long of a strap causing irregular wrists bends, but hey, it does look cool with the bass hanging below your knees, Rock-Roll!

As for your right hand, try and relax and don't stiffen up and try to play too hard. Bad habits start out in the beginning and only get harder to break with time. I used to practice in front of mirror to watch my playing form in my hands. This seem to help me at the time. Try it and see if it looks like you are struggling or if your hands move around in a fluid and symmetrical motion.
 
#5
Another good way to get used to play lighten is changing the set of your bass. Just make the strings action lower than before, that lower than when you play as you usually doing all the notes will buzz.
Than try to learn to calibrate your touch and to reach the best result, just a little buzz than at the end just minimum buzz. You can 't imagine all the result that you can achieve in terms of versatility, sound and comfort.
Cheers. Enrico
YouTube
WebSite
 
#6
I have an interesting and practical idea for you. When you practice at home: turn your amp UP! The nuances will come through very well however you will not have a tendency to "over-do" your rt/hand because you won't need to, to achieve volume. And you will be able to adjust to subtleties in technique becasue you'll be able to hear them.

It will work well if you try it. There are not too many reasons to play a Bass like your launching an arrow. Let the amp do it's job.
But in this instance put the level up quite HIGH so that you must concentrate on a gentle and deliberate movement of the hand.
 
#7
The CTS was just a little mental lapsus xD, in short I'm just tired of my hand hurting.
I have already adjusted the bow of the neck... the action it's just the lower I have ever had on this bass.

The strings on the bass are also really old, so maybe I would try buying a different gauge, you mean a lighter one right?

Well, I still have to wait, my fingers still hurt from the last practice with my band, but as soon as they recover I will put all this things in practice.

Thanks!
 
#9
The biggest step toward acheiving your goal is to learn how to alternate your index and middle finger on every note on both ascending and descending lines. Once you learn how to do this, you will be able to play light and will acheive right hand technique that is a real game changer. Go on you tbe and search 'Rocco Prestia Bass'. Look at his on line lessons and pay close attention to his right hand technique. Also, as stated by some above, try to acquire an amp that can get loud enough to force you to play lighter when playing with your band. Usually the type of issues you are having with your right fingers arise from feeling like you have to dig in too hard to put enough volume out thru the amp to compete with the guitars and drums. Watch those videos and learn how to alternate your index and middle fongers on every stroke in a controlled fashion. Best wishes!
 
#13
Bullhorn: Or you could try the "always fret clack-method" for attack. Just get your strings very low so you get a clack on every attack, even with light touch. Example:

YouTube - ‪John Entwistle bass solo‬‏

Anyhow - I am working on a lighter touch too at the moment (though I strive for a clean sound). Headphones and turning up, so it hurts and distorts if I ever dig in too much. Treble and high mids way up, so I can work on avoiding all that fretting noises.
 
#15
One thing that helped me lighten my touch was playing over the bridge pickup. I wasnt plucking terribly hard to begin with, but a lighter touch makes faster passages easier. That and some of my big influences pluck over the bridge pickup, so I figured there must be something to it.
This would only apply if your bass has a bridge pickup, however.
 
#16
Dave LaRue once gave me the best advice for learning how to play lighter. He said, "Lighten up and play closer to the bridge." Done. And yes, turning up the amp a bit and playing lighter is the way to go.
 
#18
Does anyone have any tips to help me reduce the distance of each stroke? I play with a medium-light touch but I find that when my fingers go back to their original position, before I pluck, they seem to be much higher off of the strings than they need to be. I keep focusing on keeping them closer to the strings, but it seems like they have a mind of their own. I can lower them a bit if I concentrate, but as soon as my mind thinks about anything else, they go back to their own ways. I look at them again and in their original position they can be as far as an inch and a half away from the strings. And even when I do focus on it, I still can't lower them as much as I think I should be able to. And also, I have the same problem with my fretting hand, I try to keep the finger tips as close to the strings as possible, but when I use one finger, another one (usually the pinky) will fling out of control away from the strings.
 
#19
Matthew_84 said:
Does anyone have any tips to help me reduce the distance of each stroke? I play with a medium-light touch but I find that when my fingers go back to their original position, before I pluck, they seem to be much higher off of the strings than they need to be. I keep focusing on keeping them closer to the strings, but it seems like they have a mind of their own. I can lower them a bit if I concentrate, but as soon as my mind thinks about anything else, they go back to their own ways. I look at them again and in their original position they can be as far as an inch and a half away from the strings. And even when I do focus on it, I still can't lower them as much as I think I should be able to. And also, I have the same problem with my fretting hand, I try to keep the finger tips as close to the strings as possible, but when I use one finger, another one (usually the pinky) will fling out of control away from the strings.
Click to expand...

Click on the link and see if you have any of the elements talked about and demonstrated in your technique. Learning to use the correct finger joints is a big step forward. It is an out-take but the info is relevent, any questions post them and i'll try and help :)

‪plucking hand.mp4‬‏ - YouTube
 
#20
Fergie Fulton said:
Click on the link and see if you have any of the elements talked about and demonstrated in your technique. Learning to use the correct finger joints is a big step forward. It is an out-take but the info is relevent, any questions post them and i'll try and help :)

‪plucking hand.mp4‬‏ - YouTube
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for that Fergie. I have seen this technique mentioned and I have tried it out once or twice, but I didn't see the importance of not playing with the big knuckle. I'd keep about the same arch described in the video in my other knuckles, but I'd still move the big knuckle just as much as I do when my fingers are relatively straight. Which gave me about the same amount of movement in the fingers and because of that, and the fact that I wasn't used to it, caused me to just play with the big knuckles and my fingers mostly straight, like I've always done.

Well, this morning I decided that I'm going to play with a three-finger technique and that I'm going to spend the next month or two working on nothing else until it becomes natural to me, and I will use it all of the time. But since I'm working at 40BPM again and drastically changing my technique. It is probably a good time to incorporate this in as well.

So far, just from sitting here and trying it out in mid-air, the action of moving only my second knuckle and keeping the big knuckle steady is a really difficult and odd motion for the fingers, but I'm going to go back to my bass now and try it out for the next little while. I grabbed onto the 3-finger technique pretty quickly, hopefully this will be the same.

Thanks again
 

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