Is the best technique the one that comes naturally?

[el murdoque]

You can't really answer that.
There are cases where the thing that feels right to you will keep feeling right and makes you progress faster for a bit, but then you hit a brick wall.
If you want to progress past that, you need to unlearn what you know and train the thing that feels wrong in the beginning but starts feeling right after you got better with it.

The question is where that brick wall is. Is it a year in the future?
Is it so far off that you don't need to bother because your genre / personal style does not need that ?

 

[Fernando Costa]

In the 70's I played guitar, it was common to play by ear, no formal learning or classical training. What was said was that this made the musicians have more personality and their own style. Logic dictates that technical training must precede what will follow naturally. Currently I play bass, I try to study the formal techniques along with the ones I develop myself. I play with 1 finger or up to 4 if necessary. It's amazing, but I'm still not sure which is better: formal technique first or what comes naturally first. The masters here at TB are the ones who should guide us in this dilemma.

 

[Jazzdogg]

Play the music, not the instrument.

 

[bassplayer1494]

I remember taking lessons and always being frustrated about my crooked pinkies.
Over time, I adapted and just used 3 fingers on my fretting hand but since I started playing on a fiver, I've grown more comfortable using the pinky and it is getting stronger.

The moral of this reply is this: Do what works for you, and don't be afraid to go out of your comfort zone. It took me 15 years of playing to realize this.

 

[Savage_Dreams]

If you only do what comes naturally, i guess practice time would be greatly reduced.

great things come from outside your comfort zone.

 

[sean_on_bass]

As the title says, what do you think? I mean, looking back, I wish I had learned the "right" technique back then, as it would have made it easier as an intermediate. But now that I consider myself advanced, I'm not so sure anymore. Where do we draw the line?

Say for example when it comes to sustained superfast notes; IF it feels much easier and more natural to do them with two fingers, should you really force yourself to do them with three?
Or is that just overcomplicating it?
I see the benefits of learning to do it both ways ofcourse, improved finger strength, speed across the strings etc etc, but in a scenario where it isnt really needed, should you really force it?

Or for example, using three fingers across the strings on a song, when 2 will do just fine?

I enjoy using all fingers myself, but I've found that for certain songs, especially playing live, I some times "crowd myself" with the plucking hand, and what would have sounded great with 2 fingers, ends up sounding jumbled and less good with three.

So yeah, with that in mind, what do you guys think?
Is it best to improve on what already feels natural, learn it "the right way", a combination of the two, or what?

All the best, HK

Yes, 100%. Generally it can be as simple as if it is painful/damaging to the body in a material way, it falls into the bad technique camp. Good technique can be anything else that get's the music created. And with all that said, i think it's important to experiment with your technique to land on what's right for you. Sort of a don't knock it till you try it mentality.

 

[Killing Floor]

There are baseline techniques your teacher would like you to employ. But even then everyone has different hands and arms. Anyone can use all 10 fingers, for example. But physically some people can't cross the first frets perpendicular. There are definitely skills that can be perfected-ish.

Bottom line is never stop learning and pick up as many techniques as you can. And don't be afraid to learn to read.

 

[brianrost]

Where do we draw the line?

When you start getting injuries is a good time to draw the line

One thing about "proper" technique is it usually involves economy of motion. The less you have to move your fingers, the faster you can play and the less effort you have to use to both pluck and fret.

 

[IamGroot]

Is the best way to rewire your house just to go for it?

Knowledge is fashionable for some musicians for a reason.

 

[2thAche]

I think there are self taught people with wonky technique who are awesome, but generally it probably holds people back.

I remember Geddy took bass lessons around the time he started playing the Steinberger. I listened to albums after that, and missed his old grindy noisy Ric/JB playing. Now I get it.

I played Cello for years with professional instruction, so my left hand technique is relatively sound (except I have a wierd pinky thing 'cause it seems to be connected to my ring finger lol), But when I came back to playing bass a year or so ago, I realized the heavy right hand I'd learned from Geddy, Steve Harris etc wasn't pleasant to my ear anymore. It was alot of work to clean that up, and very un-natural at first, but now it's become comfortable and natural, and I much prefer it. If I want to get dirty, I can, but I believe that struggling through learning better technique only benefits you and what you want out of your playing.

 

[Rib 13]

Im going to go against the grain with a lot of the responses here: Music is an art and, like any other art, there are no rules - there are only paradigms. Now, granted, a lot of these paradigms have come about after trial-n-error from artists before you and this is why you will get all the responses about "proper technique" which is drawn from these collective experiences --- but it doesnt make them any more proper than playing with your elbow if playing with your elbow allows you to achieve the same result or better

 

[coy garcia]

Some of my favorite players are masters of very poor technique....so I have no answers

 

[devnulljp]

Imagine if someone had tried to correct James Jamerson's 1-finger technique? Or told Larry Graham that hitting the strings like that was incorrect? Or now that had been accepted, someone had tried to tell Flea he was doing it wrong.

 

[Liam Wald]

Ever hear some one say, "Wow I have never heard anyone play like that, and he/she makes it look so easy!"

 

[HeadWind]

All I can offer is an anecdote. I started playing in the 70s (fortunately had a few lessons starting out so didn't develop atrocious technique). So I have been playing for a long time, but not always a lot. A year or two ago I signed up for Scott's Bass Lessons technique accelerator course. Even though in it Scott says there are more than one "right way", I definitely had some wrong habits. I didn't realize those habits were holding me back. I took the time to go through the exercises which felt unnatural to me at first. But once I got those under my belt, I found it really did improve my playing, quite a bit. Mostly in my plucking hand. Speed, finger noise, and muting. All much better. These new techniques obviously weren't "natural" as I hadn't been doing them before.

Again, just an anecdote.

 

[Smoove-Groove]

when it comes to sustained superfast notes

What do you mean by this? Super fast notes are usually gonna buzz by with no sustain to them.

 

[dieggsy]

What do you mean by this? Super fast notes are usually gonna buzz by with no sustain to them.

I expect they meant sustained as in "continuous" fast notes, or playing fast for a while, as opposed to sound sustain

 

[Manticore]

I'd say "yes," with qualifications. Some non-traditional techniques may either cause injuries (over time) or impede progress; obviously,these should be corrected. Others are just different, or may be beneficial.

When I started playing bass there were no readily available educational materials specific to bass guitars, and no private teachers. I developed my approach on my own. My left hand, perhaps by coincidence, works in a traditional fashion. My right hand is decidedly untraditional. Coming from piano I saw no reason why I couldn't use all five fingers, so I do (the pinky is very rarely, but occasionally used for chords).

I was blessed to meet an accomplished keyboardist in middle school, and we played together. When he asked to play Heart of the Sunrise I had an issue trying to emulate the fast-picking technique. I experimented and developed a "flamingo" style wherein both up and downstrokes are used with three fingers.

It took practice to get the noted to sound evenly, but it worked. Over time I was able to use this technique seamlessly while also being able to place accents anywhere within the bar with any finger in any direction. Drummers frequently comment on this approach as being highly unusual but really effective. ( Some folks may not realize it, but the drummer is watching your plucking/picking hand for cues about your rhythm.) I don't really think about it; it's just how I learned.

 

[ToddB1963]

This is Harry Brus.

Harry is a veteran bass player on the Australian music scene ( and Jamerson disciple ) who has a very interesting thumb technique. Strokes back and forth with the thumbnail create a very percussive attack, as though he were playing up/down strokes with a pick. Quite unorthodox, but incredibly effective. Check it out.



His index finger technique is equally unorthodox in that he uses it like a pick, i.e. back and forth strokes. A little Jamerson-esque and it certainly gets the job done

 

[MVE]

Personally, I like to learn and practice as many different techniques as possible.
Very few of them have ever felt "natural" when I first start working on them. But after a couple weeks, they do.