Hey folks. I enjoy forums, so I figured I’d sign up and say hi, and listen for any tips.
I’ll be starting up this week (fender 4 string jazz bass and an amp is on the way to me through mail). I’ll tell you a little bit about myself below, but the burning question in my mind is RH plucking technique. Mainly, I’m intrigued between anchoring the thumb vs floating thumb. I’ll be new to bass guitar, not to music. I’m confident I can learn either, just unsure whether it’d be more beneficial to learn floating thumb for more consistency in hand shape, or anchor to have that solid anchor.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
37 yrs old. I’m currently a clarinetist and sax player for the US Army, and have been playing clarinet for about 30 years and sax for maybe about 15. I feel very good and confident about my clarinet playing, and so have a good base of music theory, scales, etc., although I can ALWAYS use more practice and conceptual knowledge. When it comes to clarinet and sax, I’m very good at playing the notes on the page (I’m a great sight reader, my scale and pattern work on clarinet is solid), but chord changes and the theory behind harmonies escape me. It’s one of the reasons I’m interested in learning bass guitar, so I can have a chordal instrument that will FORCE me to really learn and integrate theory into playing so I can improve my jazz improv instead of trying to play changes by ear.
Not a stranger to practicing and getting better, so I know it’ll get better over time, and WAAAAAAAY back in the day I played cello (from age 7ish through about age 14). That’s yet ANOTHER reason I wanted to play bass, cause honestly, I miss playing a stringed instrument.
I look forward to learning. I’ve watched a fair amount of YouTube’s, have been checking out the channel talkingbass, and look forward to making some progress!
Alexi
I’ll be starting up this week (fender 4 string jazz bass and an amp is on the way to me through mail). I’ll tell you a little bit about myself below, but the burning question in my mind is RH plucking technique. Mainly, I’m intrigued between anchoring the thumb vs floating thumb. I’ll be new to bass guitar, not to music. I’m confident I can learn either, just unsure whether it’d be more beneficial to learn floating thumb for more consistency in hand shape, or anchor to have that solid anchor.
A LITTLE ABOUT ME:
37 yrs old. I’m currently a clarinetist and sax player for the US Army, and have been playing clarinet for about 30 years and sax for maybe about 15. I feel very good and confident about my clarinet playing, and so have a good base of music theory, scales, etc., although I can ALWAYS use more practice and conceptual knowledge. When it comes to clarinet and sax, I’m very good at playing the notes on the page (I’m a great sight reader, my scale and pattern work on clarinet is solid), but chord changes and the theory behind harmonies escape me. It’s one of the reasons I’m interested in learning bass guitar, so I can have a chordal instrument that will FORCE me to really learn and integrate theory into playing so I can improve my jazz improv instead of trying to play changes by ear.
Not a stranger to practicing and getting better, so I know it’ll get better over time, and WAAAAAAAY back in the day I played cello (from age 7ish through about age 14). That’s yet ANOTHER reason I wanted to play bass, cause honestly, I miss playing a stringed instrument.
I look forward to learning. I’ve watched a fair amount of YouTube’s, have been checking out the channel talkingbass, and look forward to making some progress!
Alexi
Last edited:
I'll get straight to the point regarding plucking technique. Personally, I am not a fan of resting the thumb on the pick up. Why ? Because with this technique the wrist is bent at a fairly severe angle. Over time this can result in injury problems like carpel tunnel syndrome. With this in mind, I would highly recommend the floating thumb technique. Not only is it safe, but you have the added benefit of muting unwanted string noise. The other technique which is often confused with the FT is the "floating anchor". With this, you DO anchor the thumb...but it rests on the string above (or sometimes two above) the one being plucked. As with the FT the wrist is straight using this technique. Ideally both wrists should be as straight and as relaxed as possible. Dont neglect left hand technique either. Search Youtube for..."Adam Neely.. safe right/left hand technique."
