I plan to buy a short scale bas and teach myself to play it. Is that nutty? As such I have 2 questions:
1. What are the relative merits and demerits of using round, flat, or tape strings?
2. I am mystified by what I should do with my picking fingers. Having wTched many videos, it seems the pinkie is rarely if ever used. But is there a rules based system for which finger should strike which string? And does that change when striking from high to low strings vs low to high? Should double fingers be used sometimes as a rule or are there no rules? Is there some video based instruction that solves this mystery?
Thank you for your help.
Welcome to bass! I am myself a newbie of about 3 years, self-taught but coming from guitar (where I had teachers for almost 5 years).
I won't comment on strings because I only ever used roundwounds, but I can comment on the rest.
I recommend not buying your first bass online at random but go to a music shop and try out 3-4 basses of different type in your price range, new or second hand. Don't worry too much about the sound of your first bass (unless it's clearly bad). Try the basses standing up, and don't buy one with neck dive. Buy the one that feels most comfortable for your left hand especially! Doing so should make it easier for you to start.
Being self-taught requires a certain level of awareness. There is an immense amount of free material and instructions available to learn everything in music, the difficulty is to (a) sort out what it's beneficial for you in the present and avoid dispersing on too many things, (b) be self-critical and self-aware enough to understand when you are doing something wrong and when you can move on vs when you need to still focus on something. That's possible but if it doesn't work then a good teacher will make a huge difference.
On the topic of which fingers to use, there are no rules: there are professionals who used 1 finger and others who used 5. I guess most bassists use 2 (index and middle) to be able to comfortably play at moderate-high speeds. As a newbie, you don't have to play at high speeds yet though, so you can stick to one finger until you encounter songs that clearly require two. My guess however is that it will be only a matter of weeks until you want to
You will also soon learn the difference between alternate picking and rake. The latter is when you use the same finger on consecutive notes moving from higher to lower strings (normally not done viceversa unless you want to use the thumb). Generally, the first is a safe method to play consistently, while the second is limited but may feel more natural when applicable. But get your bass first before diving into technique options
