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floating thumb techniqe

#186
hello everybody here...its my first post in the forums,got some questions and i need some help.i used to play drums for about 5 years,doing serious metronome workout,but decided to reroll to bass:P

so i got my new bass and started doing some basic exercises....

well lots of problems occured...

1.i use the moving thumb method,will i be able to built up speed with this way and play metal-death metal stuff?seems like ideal for slow lines but is it good enough for faster speeds?

2.should i start picking the strings with my index or middle finger?


i dont want to learn things the wrong way...its like when your father gives you the car,you learn how to drive and when u want to get the license your driving teacher tells you that most of the things you learned by yourself are wrong....:P


sorry for poor english and poor use of bass-terms...

cheers:P
 
#187
I'm a fan of the floating thumb technique. A teacher told me a good way to practice funk 16th notes is to basically sit back rest your left hand if need be on the horn of the bass watch some t.v. (like jaco when he practiced) and use the floating tumb technique to execute 16th notes with the right hand. It's all about being relaxed. BTW this is the guy who plays examples on the james brown rhythm section book by Dr. Licks.
 
#189
holy crap guys! started working on my floating thumb tech. yesterday and late last night and today my damn right shoulder is killing me!

i made the mistake of not using my inner wrist/forearm to rest slightly on the back of the bass and today i am paying the price! i have really long arms so sometimes this technique and keeping my shoulders relaxed is touch to begin with .. but i think i'm getting it now!

i gotta go buy some icy hot for my shoulder!
 
#191
A while ago I began using the movable anchor technique, as I found I needed it for my six-string. Anyways, I've noticed over the past couple days that without noticing my movable anchor has slowly morphed into a floating-thumb.

I love this technique now, along with the Garrison approach, I can't imagine ever going back to a regular right hand technique.
 
#192
Understanding I come from 30 years of guitar... I started playing bass a few months ago. I've been bouncing between anchor and floating....mostly anchor untill we tried Cake's version of I will Survive. I insantly changed to floating but I'm now having issues with fret buzz. When I concentrate on pulling across I have no issues. As the songs get faster, I'm pulling up (or out) not across and getting mild slap. For Zep's Good Times Bad Times I've regressed back to guitar claw picking just to keep up. I take back everything I've ever said about bass being easy.
 
#193
Stopped by for a visit and saw these last three posts so I thought I would chime in a little. First I urge you to review most of the posts in the sticky as there is quite a bit of info throughout. Also consider visiting Todd Johnson's forum as he is an excellent source of info on FT.

YouTube has a series of Gary Willis video instructionals that Gary encourages folks to use as he never saw a dime (or so he says) of the proceeds. He covers a lot of ground particularly in how the large muscles in the upper arm do most of the work and if you use FT properly any pain you experience at first is probably this muscle group reacting to the new method. It should go away eventually but if not you should take note of how you are holding your instrument and ensure that you are not pinching a nerve or something (I had similar problems way back when but they went away as I adjusted to the use of muscles that hadn't been well cultivated before).

As for the buzz some of you experienced I imagine this is not related to FT per se but more likely that you are concentrating on one hand and perhaps just losing a bit of control over the other. I am sure that with time this will correct itself.

I can't stress enough the value of these two resources (Todd and Gary) as they have between them the most documented and helpful info on the subject. Todd has some wonderful instructionals that he produces on a variety of techniques including FT so a very least I would check out his "Technique Builders" stuff.

As I have pointed out previous posts here I have never personally used his stuff but have been exposed to enough that I have a high confidence in their value to folks wanting to improve their bass playing.

Spin
 
#194
I've been "wrongly" playing for many years and want to start cleaning myself up. I have just one question for now. When doing stuff like Rocco Prestia and such there are a ton of octaves. It seems a little strange to be floating up and down so fast ( not to mention seems really hard ). Is there a "preferred" technique for doing that motion?
 
#195
Well I, after about twenty or more years of using this technigue, don't have difficulty with octives in the traditional two finger FT approach. I do use the thumb ala Garrison and Willis to play with as well as mute and over the years cultivating my thumb as a plectrum (so to speak) allows me to use it to play octives by striking the root with my thumb and the octive with another digit (I have three to choose from this way) so, again over time, by incorporating the now liberated digit to play with even playing octives has more options. I need to point out though that this is not "slapping" or "thumping" in slap and pop sense but rather more like one would find in classical guitar technique.

Spin
 
#196
At some point you can't just walk index and middle finger. Most chords need the thumb as well....back to the "classical guitar" technique you mention. I do have to wonder why when the bass turned on it's side, guitar fingering methods didn't become the standard. I understand the stand up bass players being very comfortable with FT but is there something inherently wrong with the classical guitar method for bass? Tone? Speed?
 
#198
spindizzy said:
Stopped by for a visit and saw these last three posts so I thought I would chime in a little. First I urge you to review most of the posts in the sticky as there is quite a bit of info throughout. Also consider visiting Todd Johnson's forum as he is an excellent source of info on FT.

YouTube has a series of Gary Willis video instructionals that Gary encourages folks to use as he never saw a dime (or so he says) of the proceeds. He covers a lot of ground particularly in how the large muscles in the upper arm do most of the work and if you use FT properly any pain you experience at first is probably this muscle group reacting to the new method. It should go away eventually but if not you should take note of how you are holding your instrument and ensure that you are not pinching a nerve or something (I had similar problems way back when but they went away as I adjusted to the use of muscles that hadn't been well cultivated before).

As for the buzz some of you experienced I imagine this is not related to FT per se but more likely that you are concentrating on one hand and perhaps just losing a bit of control over the other. I am sure that with time this will correct itself.

I can't stress enough the value of these two resources (Todd and Gary) as they have between them the most documented and helpful info on the subject. Todd has some wonderful instructionals that he produces on a variety of techniques including FT so a very least I would check out his "Technique Builders" stuff.

As I have pointed out previous posts here I have never personally used his stuff but have been exposed to enough that I have a high confidence in their value to folks wanting to improve their bass playing.

Spin
Click to expand...

I have Todd's "Technique Builders" DVD and can't say enough good things about it.

I have several other instructional videos & DVDs, but Todd's is my meat-and-potatoes one for all things "technique", incl. floating thumb...

Best $$$ I ever spent on "learning materials"!

:)

JMHO
 

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