General Picking/Fingering Coordination You can Expect as a Newb?

[ijustwanna]

Hey guys so as you may know by reading one of my other threads, I got to try out my first bass today and I'm pretty excited.

I have sort of a weird question that may be unanswerable, but here I go anyway.

When you're first starting out, is it as hard for everyone to choose the right string and alternate your index finger and middle finger. I kept wanting to hit the string twice in a row with the same finger, you know what I mean and it was hard for me to get it in my mind to alternate to the next finger when going to a new string.

I'm just interested to know where you guys were at with this when you first started. Did it seem just as impossible to you to? I'm sure the answer is practice, but I could barely do it all. Just wouldn't click. Was anyone in this boat?

Should I start out with picking? Because that was a ton easier, but I've read many people would've started with their fingers if they could go back. What's the best route?

Thanks,
Bryan

 

[DudeistMonk]

Finger playing gives you more control over muting and such IMO. I also like the sound better, but if you love metal, or want to sound like Chris Squire then you might want to pick. Its a sound preference thing, or should be, just keep working at it.

Both are pretty challenging at first but just play slow and think about each note it will come with time... You will find with a lot of things bass that you need to fight your muscle memory sometimes. If you have been playing on your E string all day getting a feel for that your fingers will naturally want to stay on the E, even when you want them to play an A...This kind of thing will plague you on bass throughout your musical journey, for instance the other day I was practicing major chords for awhile with an octave on top Ie: C-E-G-C and the next day I was practicing 7 chords Ie: C-E-G-B and my fingers constantly wanted to hit that high C, until I conditioned them to play 7th the same way REPETITION.

 

[ijustwanna]

Finger playing gives you more control over muting and such IMO. I also like the sound better, but if you love metal, or want to sound like Chris Squire then you might want to pick. Its a sound preference thing, or should be, just keep working at it.

Both are pretty challenging at first but just play slow and think about each note it will come with time... You will find with a lot of things bass that you need to fight your muscle memory sometimes. If you have been playing on your E string all day getting a feel for that your fingers will naturally want to stay on the E, even when you want them to play an A...This kind of thing will plague you on bass throughout your musical journey, for instance the other day I was practicing major chords for awhile with an octave on top Ie: C-E-G-C and the next day I was practicing 7 chords Ie: C-E-G-B and my fingers constantly wanted to hit that high C, until I conditioned them to play 7th the same way REPETITION.

Not so much metal, mainly alternative rock and some harder rock like rage against.. I love pretty weird stuff like Primus - fish on, also like Linkin park, crossfade, staind, rhcp, some green day, but would like to player some harder stuff like a couple metallica songs. Actually more than I can name here.

Thanks for the input, man.

Bryan

 

[myhot4]

I did the same when i started to play. Try starting with the index finger first. Start very slow and with a metronome.

 

[DudeistMonk]

Not so much metal, mainly alternative rock and some harder rock like rage against.. I love pretty weird stuff like Primus - fish on, also like Linkin park, crossfade, staind, rhcp, some green day, but would like to player some harder stuff like a couple metallica songs. Actually more than I can name here.

off the top of my head correct me if I'm wrong...

RATM = Fingers (btw there self titled album was the first thing I learned on bass...some of it was really challenging but I loved every minute of it, and Timmy C is an outstanding bassist for his genere IMO. I highly recommend getting this sheet music/tab book if you like RATM)
Primus = fingers, but a lot of slap (thumb playing)
Fish on = dunno never heard them
Lincoln park = I dunno probably a pick
Crossfade = never heard of them
Stained = Their bass player posts here sometimes but I don't have an album to tell you if its finger or pick
RHCP = Fingers also a lot of slap especially on the earlier stuff
Green Day = Pick
Metallica = Pick

Everyone on the forums (and in the world of bass by extension) has their preferred method and neither is right or wrong. You need to try both (I played with both for about 3 months till I made up my mind) When you start to understand tone choice (listen for the difference in sound in the artists I pointed out above) your musical taste will steer you toward one or the other, and its never a bad thing to know how to do both...heck maybe you want to sound completely different for a song or two.

 

[Connor]

off the top of my head correct me if I'm wrong...

RATM = Fingers (btw there self titled album was the first thing I learned on bass...some of it was really challenging but I loved every minute of it, and Timmy C is an outstanding bassist for his genere IMO. I highly recommend getting this sheet music/tab book if you like RATM)
Primus = fingers, but a lot of slap (thumb playing)
Fish on = dunno never heard them
Lincoln park = I dunno probably a pick
Crossfade = never heard of them
Stained = Their bass player posts here sometimes but I don't have an album to tell you if its finger or pick
RHCP = Fingers also a lot of slap especially on the earlier stuff
Green Day = Pick
Metallica = Pick

fish on is a reference to primus and not a band...

 

[ijustwanna]

fish on is a reference to primus and not a band...

Yea sorry about that, he probably got confused because i threw a song in there then proceeded to list bands. Fish on is a song by Primus, just happens to be one of my favorites so it instantly came to my brain.


But Dudeistmonk, thanks that was really a lot of help.. Killer man.

any other input?

 

[Martin Bormann]

Hey guys so as you may know by reading one of my other threads, I got to try out my first bass today and I'm pretty excited.

I have sort of a weird question that may be unanswerable, but here I go anyway.

When you're first starting out, is it as hard for everyone to choose the right string and alternate your index finger and middle finger. I kept wanting to hit the string twice in a row with the same finger, you know what I mean and it was hard for me to get it in my mind to alternate to the next finger when going to a new string.

I'm just interested to know where you guys were at with this when you first started. Did it seem just as impossible to you to? I'm sure the answer is practice, but I could barely do it all. Just wouldn't click. Was anyone in this boat?

Should I start out with picking? Because that was a ton easier, but I've read many people would've started with their fingers if they could go back. What's the best route?

Thanks,
Bryan

Alright, as far as finger picking goes, it takes a while to learn coordination. Now here is a trick, go so slow that you don't make a mistake. If you screw up, go slower.

Also make sure your rhythm is right. Count this pattern for right now.

1 2 3 4

When you get this down, go to 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

USE A METRONOME!!! This is the most important part
the 1 2 3 4 go on the metronome clicks the &'s go between them

As far as picking goes. My advice is to spend 90% of your time working on finger picking and 10% with a pick.

As far as learning finger picking, learn scales over 2 to 3 octaves.

And finger pick them like this:

(I = index, M = middle, R = ring)

first pattern to memorize is

I M I M etc.

Second pattern is to memorize

M R M R etc.

Third Pattern is

I R I R

And finally put them all together and you will do

I M R I M R

I tell you to memorize the various two finger patterns because they occur in the three finger pattern, and so you will develop more control if you master them in addition to the three finger pattern.

It is important you do it exactly how I told you to.

With the pick work the same exercise with these picking patterns

(D = Down) (U= Up)

D D D D

U U U U

D U D U

U D U D


Don't worry about doing tapping, slapping or popping right now. Just focus on mastering basic picking.

 

[ijustwanna]

Alright, as far as finger picking goes, it takes a while to learn coordination. Now here is a trick, go so slow that you don't make a mistake. If you screw up, go slower.

Also make sure your rhythm is right. Count this pattern for right now.

1 2 3 4

When you get this down, go to 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

USE A METRONOME!!! This is the most important part
the 1 2 3 4 go on the metronome clicks the &'s go between them

As far as picking goes. My advice is to spend 90% of your time working on finger picking and 10% with a pick.

As far as learning finger picking, learn scales over 2 to 3 octaves.

And finger pick them like this:

(I = index, M = middle, R = ring)

first pattern to memorize is

I M I M etc.

Second pattern is to memorize

M R M R etc.

Third Pattern is

I R I R

And finally put them all together and you will do

I M R I M R

I tell you to memorize the various two finger patterns because they occur in the three finger pattern, and so you will develop more control if you master them in addition to the three finger pattern.

It is important you do it exactly how I told you to.

With the pick work the same exercise with these picking patterns

(D = Down) (U= Up)

D D D D

U U U U

D U D U

U D U D


Don't worry about doing tapping, slapping or popping right now. Just focus on mastering basic picking.

Martin, I can't think you enough for this post. This is going to help me immensely. There's a couple of stuff I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm the embarassed newbie type and would rather do the research myself (dont like looking dumb).. I'll get back to if/when I absolutely can't figure it out, or whatever.

I don't even know what an octave is yet. But from watching other intructional vids, I know what you're talking about, 1 2 3 4. I've seen one about the 24 combinations of that, that I think I'll undertake as well - but not right now of course.

I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks, bro.

Bryan

 

[DudeistMonk]

fish on is a reference to primus and not a band...

I should know that :scowl:

USE A METRONOME!!! This is the most important part
the 1 2 3 4 go on the metronome clicks the &'s go between them

If you haven't bought a metronome yet spend the extra 5$ and get one that you can set to click differently on the first beat of a measure (you can thank me later).

I don't even know what an octave is yet. But from watching other intructional vids, I know what you're talking about, 1 2 3 4. I've seen one about the 24 combinations of that, that I think I'll undertake as well - but not right now of course.

An octave is a note that has the same name as another note, but sounds higher or lower in pitch (think of musical notes like a big circle when you get to back to the beginning it just starts over). For instance if I where to play the major scale it would look like this C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C notice the C at the beginning and end, the second one is an octave higher than the first.

To hear one play your thickest string E open and then play your third thickest string (D string) on the second fret, the song higher ground by Stevie Wonder (which RHCP covers) is mostly octaves, so is the the beginning of the song in the sewer level (1-2) in mario1.

YOU SHOULD REALLY GO TO http://studybass.com

it'll clear up your uderstanding of octaves and 1234 (which is the way you count in 4/4 time) and a lot of other questions I'm sure you have and it will teach you a bunch of basic note patterns you can use to start making your own lines right off the bat.

 

[ijustwanna]

If you haven't bought a metronome yet spend the extra 5$ and get one that you can set to click differently on the first beat of a measure (you can thank me later).

Studybass.com has a good online one as well. I don't even have my bass yet, just studying up. But I'll be sure to grab one.

An octave is a note that has the same name as another note, but sounds higher or lower in pitch (think of musical notes like a big circle when you get to back to the beginning it just starts over). For instance if I where to play the major scale it would look like this C-D-E-F-G-A-B-C notice the C at the beginning and end, the second one is an octave higher than the first.

To hear one play your thickest string E open and then play your third thickest string (D string) on the second fret, the song higher ground by Stevie Wonder (which RHCP covers) is mostly octaves, so is the the beginning of the song in the sewer level (1-2) in mario1.

Ahh, it's all completely clear now with your explanation and a bit more research. So playing the E string open is basically like play E on the 0 fret, and an octave is two strings down (or up) and two frets to the right (or left), right? And that's true for all octaves on the bass, up and down the fretboard, right?

Sorry, I don't have all the correct terminology so this might all sound foreign.


Thanks for all your help man..

Cheers,
Bryan

 

[Martin Bormann]

Martin, I can't think you enough for this post. This is going to help me immensely. There's a couple of stuff I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm the embarassed newbie type and would rather do the research myself (dont like looking dumb).. I'll get back to if/when I absolutely can't figure it out, or whatever.

I don't even know what an octave is yet. But from watching other intructional vids, I know what you're talking about, 1 2 3 4. I've seen one about the 24 combinations of that, that I think I'll undertake as well - but not right now of course.

I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks, bro.

Bryan

The rhythmic counting (as we'll call it for now) is the MOST IMPORTANT thing you can do, so don't put it off to later. I taught you quarter notes and eighth notes there. You'll have to look up how they look on paper. But whenever you practice always maintain rhythm. Clap the rhythms out with your hands before you learn them on the bass. I cannot stress it enough. You're a beginner and trust me on this learning to do something wrong will only screw you up and make learning it the right way later on more difficult.

 

[Erick Lam]

So playing the E string open is basically like play E on the 0 fret, and an octave is two strings down (or up) and two frets to the right (or left), right? And that's true for all octaves on the bass, up and down the fretboard, right?

Right. The beauty of the bass is the geometry. Patterns repeat themselves all over the neck. It can become a crutch but still useful to find things.

A little tip: when speaking of up and down, ALWAYS speak about the sound. So although the E string is higher physically, it's "lower" than the other strings.

 

[Eublet]

I suggest you go to Link Removed and sign up for their "Mastering Right and Left Hand Technique" class. It started this past monday, so you'll be a couple of days behind, but you can catch up. Enrollment is only open for a couple more days. The classes there are awesome, and it will deal with a lot of basics about getting your two hands working together.