How hard do you play?

[maturanesa]

contest*

context

 

[gotly]

In my early bass days i played really strong, because of poor rehearsal gear, i couldn't hear my bass any other way.

Nailed it! I just got a new bass (Spector Euro 4LX) and the action is really low. I have the wattage now so I'm retraining myself to have a lighter touch. I already notice that I'm playing more accurately and a bit faster.

 

[Unrepresented]

I like a pronounced attack most of the time. I angle my fingers accordingly for the different tone I'm looking for. Pads of fingers parallel with the body of the guitar for softer work, and perpendicular for snappier passages.

 

[rymiraflores]

I play really light with low action. I barely have any calous and I never get blisters. I think it sounds better and gives you more room for dynamics. It also keeps your hands alive playing two 4 hour nights back to back.

I couldn´t agree more..dynamics..dynamics...on a scale of 1(feather.like) to 10 (hammer.like) I probably play around 4....plenty of room for dynamics and have never broken a string or blister in 25 years of playing......low low action..1.5 mm B...1mmG. TI flats...light touch = no fretwear, no blisters...and the full range of dynamics, mood, tone...under full control of my right hand......Bass is an instrument...not a wrestling match.

 

[Lambic]

Start stretching your fingers. I've found out, in the past couple years, just how much body pain can be relieved by simply stretching.(...)

Alas, no emoticon for expressing total agreeing on a very important topic!
But... I've noticed another way to express that over here, and I'll overuse that a bit:
+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1

 

[Lambic]

I see the same thing in the drummers at my church. One guy gets on our kit and beats the tar out of it and it sounds like crap, another guy gets on the same kit and hits half as hard and it just sings.

When I was playing drums in a big band, some day at a concert, part of the programme was played by the blues band of our guitar player. Their drummer used my set-up, and afterwards told me that he was surprised about my light swing playing. He showed me his drum sticks: they appeared to be what I use to call "knitting needles", 7A's for those who have drumming experience. I used (and use) Vic Firth "Buddy Rich" signatures sticks (again, for the drummers here), which are heavy, thick, but smoothly swinging sticks... if your technique is right. That drummer told me he used those very light and thin sticks because he was always hitting to hard. I try to teach my percussion students to use at least 5A or 5B sticks, and to practice their technique: in percussion, you can play softly with a full bodied sound when using heavy sticks and a good technique, but your sound will be poor when hitting hard with light sticks.

Okay, a bit out of the regular bass territory, but I believe in a medium touch, with the possibility of going louder, or softer, when needed. When I first touched my first bass, I was surprised by that instruments' response to the slightest touch or the slightest change of angle of my plucking hand.

 

[Muzoid]

I consider myself Semi-Aggressive ...just hard enough to get the bass to fart a bit

 

[brotherbassj]

What a topic! Well I thought my dynamics were really good........I just spent 3 days in the studio and guess what? My playing is definitely studio quality SLOPPY. You never realize how bad your technique or attack is until you go into a PROFESSIONAL studio. I dont mean someone's home studio. I mean a big professional "I support my family as a recording engineer" studio! (trying to be funny).

Long story short, apparently I have a pretty strong attack..........no finger pain. Practice with a metronome and practice dynamics.

And +1 to what Jimmy said..........

 

[Billnc]

I couldn´t agree more..dynamics..dynamics...on a scale of 1(feather.like) to 10 (hammer.like) I probably play around 4....plenty of room for dynamics and have never broken a string or blister in 25 years of playing......low low action..1.5 mm B...1mmG. TI flats...light touch = no fretwear, no blisters...and the full range of dynamics, mood, tone...under full control of my right hand......Bass is an instrument...not a wrestling match.

Yep. Got this concept from Mick Goodrick and have applied it to bass. Very good advice.

 

[SurferJoe46]

I did a Cheese & Wine gig yesterday for a couple of hours and a good - even older than I - friend went along.

He was watching me play and during a short wine break, he said: "I never see your strings move. Howcome?"

I feel I have an amplifier to make me/the bass louder and I can concentrate on style and speed and clarity without worrying about slopping blood from finger blisters on the front row of the patrons.

Never let 'em see ya sweat either.

 

[Muzoid]

I did a Cheese & Wine gig yesterday for a couple of hours and a good - even older than I - friend went along.

He was watching me play and during a short wine break, he said: "I never see your strings move. Howcome?"

I feel I have an amplifier to make me/the bass louder and I can concentrate on style and speed and clarity without worrying about slopping blood from finger blisters on the front row of the patrons.

Never let 'em see ya sweat either.

Chicks dig sweaty guys...'nuff said

 

[dogofgod]

its all in the mind. lower the action.

 

[makkE]

I used to dig in really hard, partly due to practicing unplugged, and rehearsing on a weak 35w combo.

Now that I have a proper amp and practice with headphones, I have significantly lightened my touch, and it's great. Also lowered my action a bit, wich had to be quite high before to avoid rattling. I probably still have a medium action and touch still, but I can definately see the benefits. More controled relaxed playing now. I can focus much more on my technique, especially avoiding noises and getting a full, defined tone.

I used to feel a bit like "low action - light touch - loud amp" was weird, but I can see now why so many are advocating it. I have also found that the style and tone I seem to be going for doesn't mix with too agressive attack.

 

[kaimon]

I prefer a light touch and jacked up amp; all I need to do is brush over the strings. It's a lot less tiring, allows me to play faster, and I like the tone of it more personally.

 

[GrapeApe]

Everyone has a different style, John Entwistle played so hard that his attack was compared to "spanking" the strings. Lee Rocker play super aggresively, and plays upright rather than electric because otherwise, in his words, he gets too "note-y", or in other words, it keeps him from overplaying, and he plays only what the song requires.

 

[RedLeg]

I was a punk rocker garage kid that learned to read and some theory, but never gave up the aggressive diggin in. Aggressive right hand usually means death grip left hand. After 20 years of using bad technique I am trying to loosen the death grip and soften the right. As kaimon stated perviously; light touch, jacked up amp. I will add barley any fretting pressure. I practice slow to gain smoothness thus allowing speed. Accuracy is Slow. Slow is Smooth. Smooth is Fast. Fast is Far.