How to play the same fret on a different string?

[monsterthompson]

Lots of good suggestions here. Everyone in going to have a slightly different sense of what’s best for them, but there’s obviously a few common methods. So many factors will have an influence: hand size and strength, string tension, scale length, string spacing, notes before and after the targets, embellishments, alternative positions for unisons, etc.

It’s probably good to try a few “common” fingerings, then experiment with variations to see if something else works.

 

[HolmeBass]

A lot of us barre sequential notes on the same fret/next string a lot more often than we care to admit. It may not meet union standards, but it's effective if you learn to do it cleanly. And if you spell it "barre" instead of "bar," it makes it seem more academic and smart.

That’s interesting. It’s always been, perhaps my mistaken, impression that using a barre was the “correct” way to do it.

I do both, but use sequential fingers by far most of the time. Especially for fast, precise alternation. I have muting issues with a barre sometimes.

 

[Bass]

Ditto to the above. I didn't realize that a barre may be frowned upon until now.

I was taught to barre from the very beginning. Only recently I was working through some exercises, and found for some reason the barre didn't work very well. Instead moving the finger quickly from one string to the other seemed to work better.

So in addition to the barre, and sequential fingers, a person can shift the same finger from one string to another.

 

[monsterthompson]

I started off as a guitarist so the barre mentality is baked in the depths of my muscle memory and instincts. Over the years I’ve shifted away from it. Often it depends on how much sustain each note gets and if you want a crisp transition or a held/sustained arpeggio effect. When I play using headphones (particularly when I try to record) I become much more sensitive to this issue.

 

[JeezyMcNuggles]

I'm pretty new to bass and trying to learn Enter Sandman by Metallica and there's a part where you need to play the 4th note on the D string then play the same fret on the G string and it feels very awkward to do, especially doing it fast. How do I play this?

Roll your fretting finger from the D string to the G string. Tip hits the first note, first knuckle hits the second.

Some people may like to push down on both. Me, I prefer to mute strings I'm not playing.

 

[KellyC]

That’s interesting. It’s always been, perhaps my mistaken, impression that using a barre was the “correct” way to do it.

I do both, but use sequential fingers by far most of the time. Especially for fast, precise alternation. I have muting issues with a barre sometimes.

Someone far more schooled than I shamed me for it when I was young and impressionable, "amateurish technique" he told me. I never bothered to fact check him, it was in the dark ages before the internet. But given this "coaching" I absolutely took notice after that there seemed to be quite a few world class bassists with "amateurish technique", and it never stopped me from barring on bass when I can do it clean. But I have lived my entire bass life believing that there was a certain school of bassist who found my barring brutish and offensive. To learn 40-something years later that I may have been hoodwinked...it's going to take some time for me to process this news.

 

[Les Fret]

As with all fingering challenges it will depend on what preceeds and what follows. But your options are barre or adjacent fingers:
View attachment 5229162 View attachment 5229163 View attachment 5229164 View attachment 5229165

yes this sums it all up. For power chords like in Enter Sandman there are only two options. 134 or 144.

 

[SteveCS]

I hadn't thought of playing a fretless to take away any worries about what frets to play

It is a different type of concern - within the boundaries of the fingerboard you have an infinite number of options, the vast majority of which are wrong!!

 

[PiquetBass]

There are many online lessons available - try Mark Smith at Talking Bass. His beginner lessons cover all sorts of aspects of bass playing, including this very thing (there's not a specific lesson on it, it's just included in the first few starter tutorials).
He has a really easy teaching style, arranged in nicely bite-sized chunks. and a decent flow to improving technique too.

TalkingBass - Online Bass Lessons - YouTube

I find him easier to learn from compared with most other youtube / online free lessons.

 

[el murdoque]

For a new player, both methods hold their own challenges.
If you take either ring or pinky to fret both notes, the finger movement can be tricky if you want to stop the note on one string at the moment you go for the next. It is a rolling movement where you decrease force on the tip area of your finger while increasing force on the joint area at the same time, with the right momentum that gets the frets pressed and released without creating buzz.
Going for three fingers, the challenge is that you will have to do the same thing, but actively control one digit more. Ultimately, one should be able to play the song with both techniques and opt for the one that feels better in the heat of the moment.
I personally would play it with my ring finger on a four string bass and with two fingers on a bass with a high C string.

 

[MtManiac]

I'm pretty new to bass and trying to learn Enter Sandman by Metallica and there's a part where you need to play the 4th note on the D string then play the same fret on the G string and it feels very awkward to do, especially doing it fast. How do I play this?

I believe that’s the part where the vocals are “sleep with one eye open…” play the B (second fret A string) with your index finger, and then the F# (4th fret D string) and the high B (4th fret G string) with your ring finger.

The tip of your ring finger gets the D string, and then you flatten that finger down on the G string, keeping the tip on the D string - fretting both strings at the same time, with one finger.

This is a common chord shape, as you’re playing the root plus octave of the root (both B notes) and the 5th (F#). It’s basically the shape of a barre chord on guitar. Very useful to learn and applicable to a lot of things.

 

[InhumanResource]

Someone far more schooled than I shamed me for it when I was young and impressionable, "amateurish technique" he told me. I never bothered to fact check him, it was in the dark ages before the internet. But given this "coaching" I absolutely took notice after that there seemed to be quite a few world class bassists with "amateurish technique", and it never stopped me from barring on bass when I can do it clean. But I have lived my entire bass life believing that there was a certain school of bassist who found my barring brutish and offensive. To learn 40-something years later that I may have been hoodwinked...it's going to take some time for me to process this news.

Brutish and offensive it may be, but I also was taught to barre in a formal setting by someone much more learned than myself. Brutish I shall be.

 

[themickster]

It is a different type of concern - within the boundaries of the fingerboard you have an infinite number of options, the vast majority of which are wrong!!

Can it help make up for a slightly-out-of-tune string?

 

[Zooberwerx]

I'd use fingers 1,3,4 for that. Pointer, ring, pinky.

That's what I was taught years ago as an exercise component. God saw it fit to equip us with pinkies which are substantially shorter than the adjacent ring finger...use it to your advantage and not as an afterthought.

Riis

 

[MtManiac]

God saw it fit

Uh, sure, ok