I just had a sad realization about technique on bass

[Tupac]

There is no such thing as a "skeleton key" technique. I've always kind of searched for that one technique that fit every type of song I played, but I just can't do it. To play Rush best, I have to do moveable anchor and rake. To play RHCP best, I have to mount my thumb on the pickup, strictly alternate, and use thumb over grip so I can pluck hard enough without hurting. To slap RHCP songs, I have to use vertical thumb. To slap Jamiroquia, I have to use horizontal thumb. All these different techniques... gah! It's kind of frustrating. It's not like guitar when you really only have to learn 4 different styles for 95% of songs: alternate picking, down stroke only, tapping, and sweeping. I can never find one thing that works in all the songs I play.

 

[jarrhead]

Standard slap
open hammer / open hammer pluck slap
anchored thumb
floating thumb
pick

Seems like five techniques to me for 95% of songs. Only one more than the "easy" number you put.



And to be honest, it's quite rare that you'll ever have to use open hammer slap as opposed to standard. Replace that with tapping, and we're still only at 5 for 95% of songs.

 

[MegaSwing]

One size never fits all, but your heart can lay over anything. If it sounds great but 'not like the original', does that make it bad? Just listen and play something true. The money for the original performance has already been made...by the original performer.

 

[J Posega]

Play it however it sounds best and don't worry about how you're doing it, as long as you aren't hurting yourself.

 

[PhatRon]

+++1 Edward. Just be yourself and your fingers will do all the talkin'. let it flow, let it flow.
no need to put a label on it.

 

[PhatRon]

skeleton key would be casio//drum machine

 

[Tupac]

Standard slap
open hammer / open hammer pluck slap
anchored thumb
floating thumb
pick

Seems like five techniques to me for 95% of songs. Only one more than the "easy" number you put.



And to be honest, it's quite rare that you'll ever have to use open hammer slap as opposed to standard. Replace that with tapping, and we're still only at 5 for 95% of songs.

Standard slap simply doesn't work when playing this or any other lightning fast Flea riff. Also, you can't play YYZ without raking, and you're not going to be able to play Invalid Link Removed without strictly alternating.

I'll try and think of all the techniques you'd need to be able to play almost everything under the sun in your upper tier (in terms of difficulty) rock.

-Pickup anchor
-Moveable anchor
-One finger per fret
-Thumb over (for songs that require string smashing)
-Raking
-Alternating
-Picking
-Downstroke picking
-Tapping
-Traditional slap
-Flea slap
-Follow through slap for double thumbing
-Traditional dead note
-"string pat" kind of dead note

For playing half of everything there is, that's just the bare minimum. And now combine that with the fact that some techniques work better with others (it's difficult to rake fluently with thumb anchored on the pickup), you've got loads of combinations.

 

[iovar]

Sorry, but I think you are drowning in a teaspoon of water here.
Most of what you mention aren't techniques on their own, but parts of the intstrument's overall technique. E.g. raking, alternating, one finger per fret are things you pick up on as you learn the instrument. And the various slapping "modes" ? Different approaches to the same technique. As soon as you get the basic down, choosing the best mode for each song is easy.
And "string pat" as a technique ? Come on, I' d like to see a book on that !

Anyway, having a multitude of stylistic approaches to chose from is a good thing. It helps develop a personal style.

Also, same can be said for almost any instrument that has seen some use. Just take a look on flamenco guitar. Or someone on these forums can tell us about the unending complexities of playing the double bass (french-german bow, pizzicato, raking, double stops, slap, percussive playing , using a pick, fingering system, thumb position etc... to make a list similar to yours )

 

[JimmyM]

Wow, way too much thought going into being exactly like the players of the songs you're doing. Why learn two slap techniques just because Flea and Stuart Zender play differently? Why do you have to rake just because Geddy does it sometimes? Find your own way around the bass and don't think that the magic of these players is in their technique. It's not. It's in the notes they play and their abilities to convey emotion in their music.

 

[lowfreq33]

Wouldn't fingerstyle be the skeleton key of bass technique? 99.9% of everything I've ever played can be done fingerstyle.

And how exactly does changing the angle of your wrist when slapping constitute a different technique?

I believe you're over thinking things.

 

[Tupac]

Wow, way too much thought going into being exactly like the players of the songs you're doing. Why learn two slap techniques just because Flea and Stuart Zender play differently? Why do you have to rake just because Geddy does it sometimes? Find your own way around the bass and don't think that the magic of these players is in their technique. It's not. It's in the notes they play and their abilities to convey emotion in their music.

I'd like to keep things nice and simple. A fingerstyle technique and a slap technique. Always keep your thumb on the pickup, always alternate fingers, ect. But I want to play songs of bassists with conflicting styles and it's kind of throwing me for a loop. I can't possibly play RHCP without going full Flea, and I can't play Dream Theater without completely switching styles right after it. I dislike the possible notion that you could play for 20 years as a pro and then never even be able to play a single Rush lick without thorough practice. It's like there's 50 hypothetical roads, and you can't progress through all of them at the same time. If you spend your whole time practicing the Flea way and going down one road, you'd be a completely novice at playing Rush because you never spent time going down the other one and the other 48 hypothetical roads!

Am I overthinking this? I'm not crazy I swear

 

[PlungerModerno]

AFAIK it is the case that you need some practice to play fluidly with any major skill group (fingerstyle, pick, slap, tap.....?)

There are a bunch of famous players who have their own take on some of these... but to cover the sound and music, you can get 95% without studying the individual style... just the music, and knowledge of the relevant technique.

Tone, pickup selection, and where one plays on the neck, muting, effects, etc, have as big a part to play as one minor variation of a single style of technique... IMO.

If I was in a tribute act to a band I'd want the exact gear and tricks, or as close as possible.... other than that it seems a waste. That time could be put into practice to develop one's own abilities.

 

[JimmyM]

Yep, what he said. If you heard Flea and Stuart Zender slap out the same song on the same bass without seeing them, you wouldn't be able to tell who was slapping vertical or horizontal. But everyone has easy access to a million videos of everyone, and kids study them way too closely for their own good, and they cage themselves in boxes from which there is no escape simply because their heroes play that way.

And worse, they never develop their own style. Flea and Stuart Zender never worried in the least what the other one did. They developed their own styles and made whatever they played their own. Make it your own when you play those songs and don't try to conjure up the spirits of the original bassists. It's pointless and it never lets you become you.

 

[willbassyeah]

I think you are thinking too much on how it should be done that you forget the most impt thing is to play

 

[lkbass22]

I think your list is a little bit overkill. Most of the things on that list are things that I feel most bassists use without thinking about it (raking for example). Being comfortable with a lot of techniques is important but so is playing with good feel and having good time. I'd spend more time working on that but that's just me.

 

[wishface]

The one thing that disturbs me about people like Flea is how they play high with the bass strapped low, especially as his right hand is arched pretty heavily from anchoring on the pickup. I don't like having my bass strapped high, but I can't play it otherwise!

 

[Portphilia]

Finger style, slap style, thumb plucking, plectrum... Learning different picking techniques and different techniques for approaching different styles and songs can only make you a better player in my opinion.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Stop trying to mimick the sound and style of the original bass player. You aren't yourself when you do that.

I don't play like Flea but I can play RHCP song without any problem with my sound and what I consider proper technic, not Flea technic, nor raking, nor shocking the neck. I pley them staying me and stick to my technic.

Same thing if I try to play Primus song or Dream Theater. Mimick the note not the technic nor their iconic sound.

Even slap technic, I only use horizontal slap position because with it you can play every slap line with enough work and you can learn more advanced slap technic like VW do.

 

[LayDownABoogie]

Standard slap simply doesn't work when playing this or any other lightning fast Flea riff.

LOL !! What a joke

 

[Epitaph04]

Also, you can't play YYZ without raking,

Really?