Bad Right Hand Habit - Help!!

[Zegie]

Forgive me if this has been covered before but please indulge me as I am new both to the bass and this forum.

My question is simple, I have been teaching myself bass for the last 3 months (half of which was spent just (trying to) play along to records. Since I got organised and bought some books and watched some videos I see that I have been doing quite a lot wrong, the major thing was playing with one finger (index finger).

Try as I might to use both fingers (walking on the strings) I find that I cannot strum the strings as quickly with two fingers as I can with just one finger. I have to say one finger works better (for me) despite all the recommendations to the contrary. Help!!!

I would be grateful for some expert forum advice.

 

[stflbn]

Start slow walking alternate fingers. Play to a metronome. Speed up over time.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

Not a problem if you do use one finger, but if you feel you want to develop two, when ever you get the time put your hand on a flat surface and scratch alternately with the fingers, towards the palm only, you wish to develop.
Remember to lift the ever so slightly off as they straighten back so no scratching is heard.
Start with short strokes then make them longer.

Also with the hand flat just lift up the fingers alternately off the desk or flat surface. This can be done anywhere you find you have the time.

 

[John Bassist]

I agree with Fergie.

Keep yourself with the idea that, multiple fingers will ever be faster than only one. And sometimes, for some fast variations or lines, you will need both of them, or even the three of them...

Nothing but practice can't fix your little habit

Stay heavy

 

[jchrisk1]

You know that will cause you to go blind...oh, nevermind, that's something else. But really, take your time and practice alternating slowly. You don't need to use a metronome, it won't help you develop muscle strength.

 

[Fergie Fulton]

You know that will cause you to go blind...oh, nevermind, that's something else. But really, take your time and practice alternating slowly. You don't need to use a metronome, it won't help you develop muscle strength.

LOL also remember if you are sitting on a bus and doing it on your leg you might get some strange looks

 

[Zegie]

Thanks guys - some valuable advice. Yeah practice, practice, practice. I guess all will come together - eventually. I'll let you know how things progress. Not sure I'll be doing too many right hand exercises on the bus tho. lol.

I'm interested to know if there are many other one fingered players out there - am I alone? And if I stick with it - how much of a hinderence is it likely to be in the future? To coin a phrase - it just feels good and (more importantly) works (for me).

 

[dave64o]

James Jamerson is known for playing with just his index finger, which became known as "The Hook". I don't think one-fingered playing is all that common, but you're certainly in good company!

Two fingered-playing is a lot more common and there are a lot of players who will use three or more on their right hands. I use two myself but I started that way so it was always kind of "natural" for me. Trying to play with three really messes me up, but then again I never really practiced that technique. I figured I have too far to go with the fundamentals to go "off track" working on a less common technique.

But simply put, the key with everything is simply to practice. There are no shortcuts if you really want to play with two fingers. However, if you're playing everything you want to play, then who's to say you're doing anything wrong? If it works, then it works. If you want to try something new simply to grow as a player, well, go for it!

 

[INTP]

When I first went from one to two plucking fingers, I had trouble getting the fingers to work together because my index finger was much more coordinated than my middle finger (or so it seemed at the time). I practiced for a while using just the middle finger, until that became more natural (not long, maybe a week or so). Then tried again with the two together, and it worked much better after that.

Right now, you say the index finger alone feels better, which is understandable. Just give it a little time, however, and two will feel just as natural as one, plus you'll most likely be able to play faster, more complex parts than if you don't work through it. Just takes a little faith, and a bit more practice, but you'll get there.

 

[kr0n]

I normally play with 2 fingers but when I lock into a simple groove, I tend to use just 1 finger. And I use 3 when I need fast triplets to impress kids. Learning right hand finger independence is a great thing and helps you out a lot, for example in muting with ring finger.

Eventually it will become so that you won't think what your right hand fingers are doing, they just hack away nearly automatically.

Practice your right hand, you can practice strength & stamina while watching TV and accuracy & speed also when practicing with a metronome. Practice string skipping as well while you're at it. You got plenty of technical stuff ahead of you, try to make it sound like music to make it fun. Remember, fast crappy notes sound worse than slow perfect ones.

 

[sound of bass]

Ive been playing bass for a bit over 20 yrs., for the first 15 I played one finger, even knowing I was limiting myself. When I did start using 2 fingers (last 5 yrs or so) it took some practice but I immediately noticed my improvement in speed. Now it seems for moderate speed tunes Im using 2, but for slower tunes I catch myself using 1 most times. AND I get the occasional chuckle when my 3rd finger strikes a string....all on its own it seems, cant do it intentionally, but sometimes it pitches in. So, just take the time to practice, using one finger isnt "wrong" but its definitely restricting.

 

[Zegie]

I’ve got some terrific advice from forum members – thanks a lot.

This is what I have discovered:-

Using one finger to strike a string allows me to draw my one finger both backwards and forwards over the string (sort of scratching the string with the top of my finger). A bit like the way a dog would scratch his… er ..neck.

This ‘scratch’ technique seems to allow more strikes of the string per second (for want of a better description). Using two fingers to ‘walk’ and strike the same string is a lot lot slower (sure it will speed up with practice but hey there is a BIG – like BIG difference) – try it and see!!

I’d be interested to hear what you guys think after giving it a go.

For the moment I’m gonna follow the mid course as suggested by KrOn – practice getting used to using two (the crowd can’t be wrong) but not totally ditch using one - when it works.

 

[bigguitarplayer]

I would say practice basic blues shuffles(playing on the eighth notes)which usually requires playing each note 2 times (1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and) start slow and with a metronome and just make sure you are playing the downbeats (1 2 3 4) with your index finger and the upbeats (the ands) with your middle finger. Slowly build up in speed and it will start to become more natural.

 

[INTP]

If I understand what you're saying about the tip of the finger, it IS faster, but 1) the tone is different on the downstroke vs. upstroke, and 2) the tone is thin either way.

 

[IbanezATK]

It worked for Mr. James Jamerson.

 

[lolaviola]

When using 2 fingers, do you play 1-and with index-middle, or middle-index?
My middle finger, being longer sometimes takes over and I find myself playing m-i over the course of a song, even though I begin i-m.
Is this correct?

 

[Orph]

I would try some of these exercises:

Keep your palm flat on a flat surface, and practice lifting each finger as far as you can, one at a time, one after the other. To begin with, this is hard, but it will get easier. When you can do this fast without straining any of the other fingers except the ones you're lifting, go on to point two:

Keep your hand stretched out, but relaxed, and bend one finger at a time, at the first joint, and do this the same way that you would in pt. 1, until you no longer strain any of the other fingers while bending one. The point here is to build up individual finger movement, which can be quite tricky when it comes to the pinky and ring finger.

Besides that, just move your fingers all the time. I've been playing for nearly a year now, and I do this all the time subconsciously, although it might look a bit weird. I'm at the point where I can play fairly comfortable with three fingers now, but I started using the walking bass technique, and as such I've still got more speed using the first two fingers than I've got using all three. I'll get there, though...

Try it out, see if it fits for you.

I've certainly built up A LOT of strength in my strumming hand from this, and I've noticed that instead of just using my index finger when punching in my ATM code, for example, I now use all four fingers, quite independently. I'm hoping I'll build my way up to using all four fingers playing the bass, but seeing as I've got a big piece of metal attached to my 5th metacarp (the bone the pinky is attached to in the hand), I doubt I'll ever get there...