Hummergeist
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- Jul 21, 2020
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No open strings?
- Thread starter eloyromero70
- Start date
I was taught that too, but now use open strings for position shifts. I was also taught to strictly alternate right hand plucking fingers, but now use rakes as cleanly as possible.
Too damn many RULES!
Rules can be like opinion's with the same theory.
I have no problem using open strings for quick passing tones while I am shifting my hand position or as a low pedal note when the rest of the phrase is played higher up on the neck.
My biggest problem with open strings is that I do a lot of fret-hand muting, and that becomes harder on an open string. There are a couple of songs I play where my hand looks like it is fluttering while I play a fast rhythm on an open string and have to then touch the string to mute it in between notes.
My biggest problem with open strings is that I do a lot of fret-hand muting, and that becomes harder on an open string. There are a couple of songs I play where my hand looks like it is fluttering while I play a fast rhythm on an open string and have to then touch the string to mute it in between notes.
Open strings are useful on fretless instruments as an intonation aid.
Open strings are useful when making large position shifts.
The lowest note on any bass is only found on an open string.
Open strings are useful when making large position shifts.
The lowest note on any bass is only found on an open string.
This is true of all stringed instruments, just sub “stopped” for “fretted”.
CosmicRay
Supporting Member
There ya go!
Always a open E when dropping a Phil bomb on certain tunes....
I heard that little nugget somewhere in my early days of bass playing. I attempted to follow for a bit, but ultimately decided that was crazy talk. Sure, you should be proficient enough to play without using an open string, save the lowest note at your disposal. You can find countless examples of excellent players that leaned on open strings.
Perhaps it is born out of the need to effectively mute the other strings. If so, it isn't a good solution. Take a little time to learn the floating thumb technique or a few other effective mute strategies and enjoy your open strings. At least, that's my opinion...
I saw The Who when I was a teenager. Entwistle played open strings like crazy.
If open string notes were good enough for him, then I figured they are good enough for me.
I practice muting with both hands and all fingers, so it’s just never been a problem for me.
If open string notes were good enough for him, then I figured they are good enough for me.
I practice muting with both hands and all fingers, so it’s just never been a problem for me.
As a guitar player as well as a bassist, whoever said this is nuts! That said, building a technique around using open strings as much as possible is also nuts.
That's why I had to get a 5 string - I kept avoiding the open E !
Then that opened a whole nother can of worms. Where does it stop!
Then that opened a whole nother can of worms. Where does it stop!
Well, a fretted bass guitar has a hard surface defining the upper end of the vibrating length of the string whether it's a fret or the nut. What's the diff? Yes, on unfretted instruments it sounds different between your finger and the nut. I call "poppycock".
If we can't play open notes, then why do brass nuts exist?!? HMMMMM!!!!
Answer me that one... person who hates open notes!
Answer me that one... person who hates open notes!
up until this thread I have never thought about it....now I am gonna go back to that.
The addition of pickups, which listen to specific points on the strings, makes the difference in timbre when changing strings different than what you get on an acoustic instrument. The strings on an acoustic instrument excite the top, which imparts the same mechanical/acoustical filter to every strings' response. On an electric instrument, the pickup position imparts a constant wavelength filter to the string's motions, which, in the frequency domain (what you hear) is different on every string. Given that, if you want a similar timbre out of notes in a run, you have more incentive to stay on the same string if the instrument is electric than if it's acoustic.
True
. IMHO, G# at 1st fret will generally sound more like an open G than G# at 6th fret on the D string. So IMHO it comes down to choosing the timbre and decay characteristics you want.
The tonal differences between open strings and nearby fretted notes are impacted by factors such as bass construction, set up, string type and gauge, where you fret the note, etc. As an example, I have a bass with a brass nut and the open strings really jump out.
I often prefer playing closer to the nut, especially on the lower strings. However, when I first started playing my Yamaha TRB6P, I rarely played the C string below about 7th fret because it was too bright and thin sounding. This was a result of the string type and gauge. Not a problem with the current set of strings.
@eloyromero70 IMHO there are valid reasons to avoid open strings...and also valid reasons to use them.
Reach behind the nut and push on the string - instant vibrato on an open string.
That's why I had to get a 5 string - I kept avoiding the open E !
Then that opened a whole nother can of worms. Where does it stop!
