Fast steady plucking...tips for a newbie?

[smtp4me]

Regularly practicing with a click or drumbeat, and gradually increasing the tempo until you can play comfortably and steadily at higher speeds, is the only way I know to get good at it.

Three finger plucking is something that depends a lot on the player. you can develop the ability with practice. But for most of the players I’ve known over the years, three and four finger plucking either comes naturally or it doesn’t come at all. I can pluck with three fingers when I need to because I worked at it. But it’s not something I could ever make feel completely comfortable for my hand. Best bet is give it a try after you get your two finger technique up to where you want it. You can never know too many techniques IMO. But it’s best to only focus on developing one technique at a time.

The cure for floppy strings is to either try a different string set that has higher tension -or- play with a lighter touch. As was previously suggested by @Lobster11, the “floating thumb” technique almost forces you to play with a lighter touch. So that may be worth trying before you start switching strings.

Luck!

^^^ This. I use a simple (and free) metronome app on my smart phone. At the beginning of each practice session, I set the tempo to a certain BPM, and play 16th notes at that tempo for a couple minutes on each string - straight through with no resting. Then I bump up the tempo and do it again, and again, and again.

I actually never developed a full floating technique, other than shifting my thumb anchor from the E to A string (and back) to play notes on the first two strings. And I only do this if I'm playing an extended series of notes on the first two strings. But then again, I only play 4 strings and I have big hands, so it's not so hard to play by anchoring.

 

[mexicanyella]

I had trouble playing steady eighths over a fast tempo when I first started playing bass with a guitarist and drummer. It seemed annoying, boring, lame and hard to do; I was short on stamina and plucking consistency. Note-to-note placement and tone was all over the place. But I kept at it and was happy to feel it getting easier. At one point I realized I wasn’t having to concentrate to do it, tongue sticking out like Charlie Brown, any more. That was a good feeling.

I found it initially discouraging, but ultimately helpful, to record my efforts and listen back.

 

[lfmn16]

I can play this material with a pick, but I would like to be able to do this plucking.

Why? This isn't the SATs, there's no cheating.

If you want to play fast, you just have to practice. I'd just use a pick. Why not leverage a lifetime of knowledge?

 

[MrLenny1]

Get a metronome online and start slow then build
up tempo 10 BPM increments. Also if you want to play real fast you need
a lighter touch on your plucking fingers.

 

[dbsfgyd1]

New to bass and looking for tips on songs that require a fast and steady pluck (e.g., "Going down" or "Dean Town"). As a long time guitarist, I can play this material with a pick, but I would like to be able to do this plucking. I'm working with a drum track, but I'm also wondering if there are any techniques that might help. For example, I've noticed that I have the most difficulty on the E string, I guess because it's a little floppy on my short scale. Is there a hand position or something that will help here? Also, should I start working on a 3 finger pluck, or is that just going to complicate things? At 59, I don't pick up on new things like I used to, but I'm always willing to try!

No magic beans here. Practice, building up speed takes time, just like running. With regard to building up speed, endurance is also a critical issue.

 

[lermgalieu]

Practice. On your bass, on your leg, in the car, in the shower, all the time. I am left handed and play right handed and it took me a long time to get speed in my right hand. But it's doable.

 

[BarfanyShart]

You say you are a newbie, I've been playing for 30 years and I just practiced steadying my sixteenth notes with the right hand, for like an hour, yesterday. It's a lifelong journey, as we are fond of saying on TB.

It is hardest on the E string, that is why a lot of bassists traditionally play with a thumbrest or some other anchor. Modern technique would have you do a "floating thumb", and that really helps with muting, but the downside of that you don't have an anchor on the lowest string. The easiest solution is find another anchor on the instrument for your thumb when you are plucking the low string, but it is always going to cause a bit of a problem.

Adding fingers does complicate things. In all the years I played Double Bass, I rarely used two fingers on the right hand - even on the fastest walking bass lines, I used a whole-arm motion striking with the index finger. The early bass guitarists who came from DB, Like Jamerson, used one finger, and you can certainly play pretty darn fast like that with practice. Playing like this can make you feel really locked in to the groove.

That said, now I play mostly bass guitar, and I use three fingers and my thumb like a classical guitarist. It's a new technique for me, it is somewhat unorthodox, and it will take a lot of practice to make it "second nature," but I feel I can play faster with cleaner articulation like that. On the negative, it is hard to get the groove feel with all these fingers flapping around.

I think every beginner should commit to learning "strict alternating" two finger plucking on the right hand as the fundamental technique. When that doesn't work for certain lines, because of string changes and whatnot, then you work out and write out a right-hand fingering, and practice that specific fingering for that line so that you can take advantage of rakes and stuff. After that, you can just figure out what works for you, bring in your thumb and other fingers, use a pick, you're the boss of how you work it out.

 

[Wasnex]

Regularly practicing with a click or drumbeat, and gradually increasing the tempo until you can play comfortably and steadily at higher speeds, is the only way I know to get good at it.

Three finger plucking is something that depends a lot on the player. you can develop the ability with practice. But for most of the players I’ve known over the years, three and four finger plucking either comes naturally or it doesn’t come at all. I can pluck with three fingers when I need to because I worked at it. But it’s not something I could ever make feel completely comfortable for my hand. Best bet is give it a try after you get your two finger technique up to where you want it. You can never know too many techniques IMO. But it’s best to only focus on developing one technique at a time.

The cure for floppy strings is to either try a different string set that has higher tension -or- play with a lighter touch. As was previously suggested by @Lobster11, the “floating thumb” technique almost forces you to play with a lighter touch. So that may be worth trying before you start switching strings.

Luck!

I use index, middle, and ring finger, but not generally with continuous plucking on one string. I find that I can play fast if I run through the three fingers once, but I can sustain continuous plucking at a faster tempo using only index and middle. If I try to use all three fingers continuously my plucking slows fairly quickly and I feel tension in the palm.

There are linkages between the middle and ring finger that complicate using these finger independently. The strength of these linkages varies from person to person. My feeling is the linkages between my fingers are too string to really ever develop complete independence.

I have tried 1,2,3,1,2,3; 3,2,1,3,2,1; and also 1,2,3,2,1 patterns. None of them work for me for long fast passages, but all are useful. If you keep practicing with the ring finger, eventually you will to use it automatically when it's beneficial.

I might use the ring to play a low note and then jump up to higher strings with index and middle.

I also mess around with double thumb and flamenco style plucking that involves the thumb, index, middle, and ring finger (similar to Victor Wooten). So I might play a low note with my thumb and then sort of rake index, middle, and ring across one or more high notes. Sustained plucking with thumb, index, middle, and ring may be more viable than just using the three fingers.

I guess I would say some of my right hand technique is inspired by Gary Willis as well. Basically I observed some of their techniques and then started integrating the ring finger into my playing. I definitely do things different than both of them.

Here's a Gary Willis lesson the OP may find interesting and useful:
Gary Willis Progressive Bassics - YouTube

 

[B String]

Breath!!!!! The faster you play, the more important it is to breath and relax your hands and shoulders.

 

[Nickweissmusic]

New to bass and looking for tips on songs that require a fast and steady pluck (e.g., "Going down" or "Dean Town"). As a long time guitarist, I can play this material with a pick, but I would like to be able to do this plucking. I'm working with a drum track, but I'm also wondering if there are any techniques that might help. For example, I've noticed that I have the most difficulty on the E string, I guess because it's a little floppy on my short scale. Is there a hand position or something that will help here? Also, should I start working on a 3 finger pluck, or is that just going to complicate things? At 59, I don't pick up on new things like I used to, but I'm always willing to try!

Since you already play guitar you pretty much get what you’re supposed to do, so building endurance shouldn’t be a huge deal, but, fingerstyle bass is unlike anything else in music, so you may have absolutely no conditioning for the muscles needed.

Can you flawlessly get through simple 8th note tunes like With or Without You by U2, Undone by Weezer, or Warning by Green Day? If not, get there. The best advice I can give in a sentence is, keep your right hand and wrist as loose as you can without sounding wimpy, and walk your fingers across the strings.

if those tunes are too easy let me know, I can come up with other ones more level appropriate.

 

[BassAndCigars]

I'm a beginner too of only three weeks time (used to play guitar) and I am also working on this. I'm making genuine progress. Like others have said, play slowly until you can play faster. It will come. That Scott guy on youtube had some good advice. Play the scale or passage slowly three times and speed up *slightly* every fourth time and then go back to slow. Build up muscle memory. Also, when descending to a lower string I've noticed it's sometimes natural and advantageous to, for instance, fall down to the first note on the lower string by using the middle finger twice. Upper string down to the first note of the lower one and then resume the index, middle, index pattern. Kind of a "sweep" kind of thing downwards. In addition to this I sometimes revert to index only for a couple notes down on the lower strings for the end of the passage. I don't know if that's makes sense but it seems to be working for me. Listen to a lot of Francis Rocco Prestia with Tower of Power for inspiration as well as Jaco on "The Chicken". Good luck and have fun!

 

[dkelley]

practice very very slowly and record yourself and listen back each time

record yourself playing along to a metronome or click track. It's not for your tempo, it's to hear your attack relative to the tick tick tick of the perfect digital counter, because you'll hear immediately your errors. as you do this, again, very slowly and as accurately as possible, every day for a while, then every couple of days you'll notice you sound much better in the recordings as you do them every day and listen. and you can start speeding up. and the stamina will come like magic after a couple weeks.

at least, that's how I used to teach that.

If you're in a rush then do those things but 2 or 3 times a day instead of every day and you'll progress faster, as long as you don't wear out your muscles in the process (have to watch repetitive use injuries, specially if you're trying to play hard and constantly at that).

 

[Ryan in PDX]

Another vote for "Start slow with a metronome." When you feel solid at 60, bump it up by 2-5 BPM. When you get comfortable at 75, bump it back down to 40 and see if it's still clean. However fast I can to play something, I always bump it way back down to "uncomfortably slow," and find something is sloppy. Remember the end of the note is just as important as the beginning!

The metronome is always giving me the off beats (ands, or beats 2 and 4). Forcing my brain to find the downbeat works wonders for my time and rhythmic consistency. The "Metronomics" app will drop beats randomly (you tell it how often), which is great.

Practicing unplugged, playing close to the bridge, getting every note loud and clear with a good sound acoustically, while staying relaxed, really developed my dynamic range and stamina.

Practicing with an amp cranked up to an uncomfortable level, and playing near the neck, getting every note as clean and defined as possible, while staying quiet (a loud note would hurt my ears), improved my dynamic control.

Playing as often as possible with one finger, but practicing both one and two finger techniques, took my consistency to the next level.

Scales in octaves (play A, then the A an octave up, then B, then B an octave up) are great for working your funk fingerstyle. Play four sixteenths per tone, and gradually change the fingerings from single to alternating (1111 1111 for the whole scale, to 1111 2222 to 1122 1122 to 1212 1212). Then try again but with three 8th note triplets per tone, then with two sixteenths per tone, then with one sixteenth per tone. Go crazy with other subdivisions for a challenge or to improve your awareness of the beat. The chromatic scale is also great practice for this, but I have rarely found a long chromatic run to be musically appropriate. I have probably used parts of octave scales in every band I've been in.

 

[StatesideRambler]

Practice slow to play fast. The reason for s-l-o-w practice is to teach your body (hands, fingers, shoulders, et al.) to play correctly, accurately, consistently and with the minimum necessary expenditure of energy. If you don’t nail those playing characteristics at slow tempo then speed will surely come in partnership with sloppiness.

 

[micguy]

I have an app called Anytune. I use it mostly to transpose things (I end up playing in every key at one point or another), but it will also do tempo changes. Load in a song, play it at normal speed. Or a bit faster. or a lot faster. Like a metronome, but a lot less boring.

Just so you know, speed doesn't come overnight. Like many things, it takes time to improve.

 

[pbassjbass]

Time... a few weeks of four a night gigs helped me, eons ago. I do think the working with a metronome, starting slower and making sure it sounds good is the way to go, pickup speed as you get comfortable.

 

[devnulljp]

Practice?

 

[Topkat13]

Keep practicing.

 

[Gormsgade]

Try raising the volume of your amp just a little bit. What it does is supporting you
with a lighter right hand plugging of the strings, which I`ve experienced allows
me to play faster as I don`t have to use the same “force” to obtain the volume.

 

[M0ses]

The secret to playing fast is practicing slow. Really. Not joking. 30bpm is where you start. If you skip this then no matter how fast you think you can play, you will be sloppy and bad. Playing fast and sloppy is worse than not playing at all.