Anchored thumb or floating?

[MODNY]

floater

 

[bill_banwell]

For me its anchording on the pickup, and now and then on the end of the neck, just feels comfortable that way, and sometimes i will rest my thumb on the E for the A, D and G string.

 

[Krisfield]

anchoring your thumb on the pickup is a bad bad habbit...

how do you mute the strings?

play the G string and you will hear ringing from the A and E string..

I don't agree that thumb anchored to the bass is a bad habit.

There are many ways of muting strings. eg when fingers or not in use on the left hand, they can be used for muting. Also, once techniques have been mastered, you get alot less back ground noise like strings vibrating etc.

Anyway, I anchor the thumb 100% of the time. For me, it allows for more control in terms of dymanics.

 

[g00eY]

i do anchored for B, and sometimes E (or for a 4 string it would be E, and sometimes A). otherwise i usually do floating cuz it's a lot more comfortable for my hand to not have to stretch so far.

 

[Greg Jones]

I ALWAYS anchored in the past. Then I read Todd Johnson's post on the floating technique so I've been working on it. Actually, I've done pretty darn good with it. It feels 'funny' but yet so natural. I think my hand will thank me as well. I used to pluck with my fingers held straight which requires strain as it's not natural.

 

[cassanova]

I use both, it depends on the particular passage that I'm playing at the time as to which i use.

 

[FastEddie]

I had been using the anchoring technique but lately I think it must not be the best way to do things, so I have been practicing the floating technique. I like it better, but old habits are hard to break!

 

[kenlacam]

I play a 5 string, but even when playing 4, I've always anchored the thumb on the low string-I didn't know any other way. I'm going to try the floating thumb and see how that works out

 

[flatwoundfender]

I rest my thumb on the pickguard of my fender pbass, but I play in front of the neck close the pickup. Works great and I don't have any problem muting strings. But I also have giant flatwounds, extremely high action, and my pickups are pretty much level with the bass so to much sustain is never a problem.

 

[Volk]

I anchor it, and if I need to mute my left hand can do it.

 

[klamaz]

I am honestly not really sure which I do more often. My teacher sometimes notices that I'm not floating, and sometimes I do too, but sometimes I'll also look down and see my thumb anchored on the D string. But, I think I do float the majority of the time, and I try to when I focus on it, it helps both my speed and my muting.

 

[fretlessspence]

Float

 

[Eddard]

I use both techniques, depending what I´m playing. The more techniques you know, the more free you´ll be to play

 

[Mr_McBride]

I was taught the floating technique by Adam Nitti. One of the reasons he gives that I did not see mentioned here is that with the movable anchor, no matter which string you are on your right wrist will never have to make a 90 degree bend (this applies to 4, 5, and 6 stringers). If you anchor your thumb in one spot all the time you will create a 90 degree bend when you play on the strings that are farther from your anchor point. For some this can reduce the circulation in your wrist and may eventually lead to problems.

To me, the movable anchor technique is much more natural and allows quicker access to the fretboard as your wrist never bends no matter where you're playing. I can play much faster using this technique. Adam also describes it as "an economy of motion", meaning this there is less movement in your right hand when using this technique. It also makes muting a lot easier. Adam Nitti's web site contains some instruction on this technique for those interested.

http://www.adamnitti.com

Thanks,

 

[adisu]

I use a "floating" thumb technique where my thumb rests always on the string above being plucked, but I notice most players anchor the thumb on the pickup(which I do for E string of course)the whole time. I like the mobility of the float and when I have tried to play with the thumb anchored I seem to have trouble not hitting adjacent strings/making too much noise, etc.

Any thoughts on the subject?

IN my opinion you are on the right way.
I used to play 4 strings till 3 months ago and i used to anchor my thumb on the PU or the E string But since i moved to 6 strings it was a must to float or otherwise let all the strings ring when i play the higher strings (Now whenever i play 4 strings i also float).
I think you have a good preparation if you ever want to move to 5 ,6 or 7 strings, plus it's a seems like a good deed to mute the upper strings even on 4ssrtings bass.

 

[jasper383]

It seems to me that floating, with the thumb above the string being played would be the best at playing without tension, as your hand can maintain the same shape regardless of the string played.

 

[dubblebubble]

anchoring your thumb on the pickup is a bad bad habbit...

how do you mute the strings?

play the G string and you will hear ringing from the A and E string..

i know people like wooten and sheehan and thousands of other bassists plays like that and that's probably because that's the way they learned how to play bass from the beginning and are too lazy learn it a better way...

i would say that floating thumb is the proper to use the thumb and now of course somebody will say that i'm one of those guys who always thinks that my way to play is the only and proper way but in that case i would like somebody to prove me that i'm wrong...

So if you float your thumb to the E string while playing the G, the A and D can still ring, and if you float your thumb to the A string while playing the G, the E and the D can ring no?

I play with a mixture of both; when on 6 string floating and when on 4, fixed to the pickup. I find that string muting is very much a function of left AND right hand

I certainly wouldn't have the balls to call Wooten or Sheehan lazy

 

[Chasarms]

So if you float your thumb to the E string while playing the G, the A and D can still ring, and if you float your thumb to the A string while playing the G, the E and the D can ring no?

I play with a mixture of both; when on 6 string floating and when on 4, fixed to the pickup. I find that string muting is very much a function of left AND right hand

I certainly wouldn't have the balls to call Wooten or Sheehan lazy

As I was taught floating thumb, you don't rest your thumb on any string at all at any time. It's mostly how I play now. The thumb hangs freely and comfortably and can easily rest on the strings to mute the B,E,A and even D at the same time.

 

[seanm]

I used to have thumbrests on all my basses. I anchored my thumb there.

I found the thumbrests sometimes got in the way, so I removed them. I now anchor my thumb on the pickguard. Sometimes anchored on the neck. And sometimes I pluck with the thumb.

I sometimes used what I called a floating technique, but it is not the same as how it is used in this thread. I literally have the thumb floating over the strings. It is not anchored on anything. I guess I will have to call it a "flying" technique.

But 99% of the time I anchor the thumb.

 

[Discgraham]

I do both but I think I mostly just anchor on a pickup or neck. I also play 4 string and this technique will probably change when I switch to 6 string. I learned how to play on Classical Guitar so finger floating isn't a problem for me.