Is there a "wrong" way??

[bassGtar]

If I'm hitting all the required notes at the required time, with the required attacks/releases, and it sounds good, is there really a "wrong" way to play?

Those aren't trivial "ifs", but if that's the case, I'd say "no". People don't hear technique, they hear notes, timing, articulation, etc. and if it sounds good, it sounds good. Maybe the guy who recorded it played it wrong.

 

[mrcbass]

I visited one of the local guitar centers up in Englewood, and one of the other customers there started playing a rif from a song (Chain of Thorns) on a guitar he was testing out that I happened to know. Having had a bass in my hand at the moment, I decided to play along.
While it was fun, one of the other customers there told me that I was playing it wrong--not that the notes were wrong, but my left hand placement and where I was playing them. Since I'm generally not that good anyway, I took his advice. Later, though, I started to think about it and wondered whether there is, in fact, a wrong way to play something. If I'm hitting all the required notes at the required time, with the required attacks/releases, and it sounds good, is there really a "wrong" way to play?

Depends on what you're trying to accomplish, but if you're getting the job done, you're doing it right.

 

[arbiterusa]

I didn't get to where I am today by listening to randos in a music store opining. About anything.

 

[Groove Doctor]

MY way is the right way,
YOUR way is the wrong way.

Simple.

 

[Benji bassman]

And one wonders why guitar center has a reputation for being full of douches. Like what's it to this person? It sounds like you were having a good time and this person had to be a Debbie Downer. Good for you for turning guitar center into a fun place to connect musically.

 

[kmon]

there are many right ways, a few wrong ways that'll leave you hurting

 

[micguy]

Bass guitar is a musical instrument - it's a tool for making sound with. There are no rules, but there are things you can learn about where and how to produce sounds that will help you be able to make a wider variety of sounds, or more consistent timbre, etc.

A lot of folks work on economy of motion in determining where to play notes for example - playing across the fingerboard, rather than up or down on one string - guitar shredders are famous for this, because they can't play fast if they move around much.

I tend to move around up and down the neck, not because I don't know what I'm doing, but because the same note played at different positions on different strings sounds different, and I want the timbre I get from playing that note HERE at a certain point in the music. A lot of runs sound best if played on the same string, rather than crossing strings. Yes, that is nit picky, but when you get up in the many thousands of hours of practice/decades of experience, you notice these kinds of things, and at some point you start to use them to your advantage where and when you can.

 

[micguy]

If I recall correctly, Jaco was a terrible bassist when he started, but he figured, "If I hang around in music stores long enough, I'll get some good advice to set me straight and clean up my root-note-only 12-bar blues covers."

The best advice Jaco ever got in a Guitar Center was "you're a bass player, you only need 4". The same guy went on to tell Keith he only needs 5, and Django - only 2. Lots of good advice at GC, if you know who to listen to.

 

[jmattbassplaya]

People say fleas slap technique is wrong, yet he has made a very prolific career using that "wrong" thumb down technique. Do what works for you. There are no rules.

The other thing to consider is injury. People have been playing stringed instruments for centuries and as a result, we have a pretty good idea of what works and for not work. In the course of getting those 10,000 hours, bad technique absolutely can shorten the trip to things like tendinitis and so forth.

This.

You can say Flea made a career out of playing the bass “wrong,” but I’ve heard the guy has had several surgeries to help address issues in his hands/arms from years of poor form/technique. I’m certainly not perfect in my approach either, but there is typically a better, if not “correct,” way to do most things.

I recently discussed my buddy who started needing to wear ear plugs any time he was in public due to getting tinnitus at about 26 years of age. These types of injuries are not fun. I don’t 100% agree with a stranger calling out someone’s technique in public and at random, but I can understand it if there was some genuine concern on that individual’s part.

 

[BigJohnAZ]

No wrong way, but, maybe a better way. I try to play lines at the positions the original bassist plays them, but, even they change over time. Sometimes you see the person playing the notes higher up on the A & D strings, and then when they get older or whatever, they play them on the lower D & G strings. Sometimes they play out one way in the studio and then play it an easier way in a video, because they aren't really looking to match the recorded tone because it doesn't matter.

 

[micguy]

So much is a matter of context. Is it wrong to play a classic Pink Floyd number on a jazz bass? Certainly not, unless perhaps if you are playing the part of Roger Waters in a stage presentation of a tribute band.

Guy Pratt probably played most classic Floyd tunes more times in public than Roger, and he used a Jazz a lot of the time. It was OK with David - David gave him a Jazz bass as a wedding present, so I'd say it's completely OK.

 

[satantango]

I'd say that probably over half the people I've seen play this riff play it "wrong" doing the hammer ons at 5-7 instead.

The only time I can imagine anybody having a valid complaint with that is if you were seeing a Yes tribute band and they weren't playing it "authentically." Nobody listening actually cares.

 

[Bikeguy57]

If I were in a band with the cat in I'd probably listen and adjust, particularly if we were making coin and having fun.

Maybe I would pay attention to the groomer at a GC, maybe not. I would probably hang around and listen if he grabbed a bass and started playing.

Groomer?

 

[IamGroot]

If I recall correctly, Jaco was a terrible bassist when he started, but he figured, "If I hang around in music stores long enough, I'll get some good advice to set me straight and clean up my root-note-only 12-bar blues covers."

Yep. Somebody taught him that solo to Havona and never got credited.

Jaco's book and video is a very good source for technique, btw.

 

[IamGroot]

MY way is the right way,
YOUR way is the wrong way.

Simple.

You must be the producer, recording engineer or a guitarist.

There is a wrong way to play something and producers/recording engineers will isolate it and play it back however many times until you play what they what THEY want. { and then get somebody else to finish the job} Too much fret noise, not enough punch in the right places, muted notes, not muted notes, etc. Dont let bad technique get in the way of making the right sound.

Guitarists will do this too, because bass players are just failed guitar players. [sarcasm]

On the other hand, James Brown would fine the bass player if they didnt use down strokes with the pick.

 

[InhumanResource]

This.

You can say Flea made a career out of playing the bass “wrong,” but I’ve heard the guy has had several surgeries to help address issues in his hands/arms from years of poor form/technique. I’m certainly not perfect in my approach either, but there is typically a better, if not “correct,” way to do most things.

I recently discussed my buddy who started needing to wear ear plugs any time he was in public due to getting tinnitus at about 26 years of age. These types of injuries are not fun. I don’t 100% agree with a stranger calling out someone’s technique in public and at random, but I can understand it if there was some genuine concern on that individual’s part.

For sure. Calling it out like that is high jackassery, but there is value in minding ergonomics and technique.

 

[Grinderman]

An artist I have performed with a number of times plays his ukulele with a fork. Is that wrong?

So much is a matter of context. Is it wrong to play a classic Pink Floyd number on a jazz bass? Certainly not, unless perhaps if you are playing the part of Roger Waters in a stage presentation of a tribute band. And in another context it may be wrong to play the correct notes in the correct time on a violin bass - say in heavy metal.

Room for creative interpretations.

Speaking of Waters and Pink Floyd, that reminds of differences in recorded versions of the same song by the same band or how bands may plays a song live versus how they played it to record for an album or single release version.

Examples off the top of my head:

"One of These Days" live at Pompeii; I believe they manipulated the speed of the recording/tape in that case.

Space Invader by The Pretenders is another. Live they played in standard 440 EADG tuning. On the recording they're tuned down half a step, or the recording was manipulated to sound tuned down a half step.

There are tons of other examples.

 

[Grinderman]

 

[DaveParker39]

In theory there are lots of wrong ways, but it doesn't matter as long as it accomplishes the task and sounds "right".

There are certain techniques that might make a phrase SOUND wrong, in which case it's just a question of how wrong it SOUNDS. It doesn't sound like that's the case with what you are doing.

An example of that would be, say, playing a Steve Harris-style gallop with three fingers. It would be a problem if you were covering Iron Maiden songs in a band.

Playing a lick in a different position/fingering, but the right notes, isn't usually a problem. I don't think I have ever seen two bassists play "I Want You Back" by Jackson 5 the same way.

 

[primusfan1989]

If I'm hitting all the required notes at the required time, with the required attacks/releases, and it sounds good, is there really a "wrong" way to play?

Over time as you play you'll begin to notice even though the open G sting, 5th fret on the D sting, 10th fret on the A string, and 15th fret on E sting are all the same "G" below middle C, they will all have different tonal properties, Open G being more twangy and 15th fret on Low E sounding much fatter. So yes even the same notes and rhythms can sound different in different positions.