Geddy Lee - Great Bassist - Bad Technique

[Basshammer]

When Geddy plays it sounds amazing, and that's all that matters.

 

[grendle]

I have been a Rush fan since 2112 came out and have always had great respect for all three of those guys. When I hear what they produced over the years and listen to the creativity even as young men their music had the quality of musicians much older than they were.

Neil Peart gets so much attention (why are non musicians always so excited by drums? I've never seen the appeal) that sometimes he seems to overshadow the other two.

I saw Rush on the Time Machine tour and was struck by Geddy's playing. Heavy handed right hand and the fingers on his left hand looked like they were welded together. This is generally not considered good technique.

To me this just shows that you can have the greatest technique but if you have no talent creatively the music produced can be bland and uninspring. Kind of the opposite of Geddy.

That's called developing your own style.

 

[Lesfunk]

I concern myself with my technique. I let Geddy worry about his.

 

[Ayliffe]

It's called style.

 

[lfmn16]

Technique is only bad if it is hurting you physically.

I would add "or restricts your playing." You could finger all of your notes with your index finger and pluck with your thumb. It wouldn't hurt, but I wouldn't call it good technique.

Good technique for technique's sake is stupid, good technique to make you sound better is smart. I'm not sure why anyone wants to work harder to play well.

Traditional technique was not thought up by some pin-heads in an ivory tower with the purpose of forcing it on students. It was developed by observing what worked for the majority of players. There will always be someone like Geddy who can play well with an unorthodox technique, but they are the exception, not the rule.

If anyone doesn't understand that technique serves you, you don't serve technique, doesn't understand technique.

 

[Korladis]

The only bad technique is playing in a way that results in injury, either immediate or chronic.

Being heavy-handed is not bad technique. It is just one technique among may others.