Playing Electric, Thinking Upright

[IamGroot]

After a long hiatus, I am playing jazz gigs regularly and listening to a lot of upright players again. I played upright until 2008.

I normally play OFPF exclusively on Electric Bass . But I play up and down the neck like an upright player and sometimes use a 3 notes per position approach, except I am using 1 2 3 or 2 3 4 instead of 1 2 3+4. Its easier to channel that Ray Brown vibe.

Anybody else do this?

 

[Oneirogenic]

Yup. I play URB and both fretted and fretless BG so I use 124 fingering frequently for comfort and better intonation in the lower register. I switch to 1234 when it is needed.

 

[Nashrakh]

Picking up upright has really impacted the way I approach the four string (doesn't help that my four is a Fender P anyway...). I've come to play four strings mostly like I would upright, which makes for an easier transition of material.

Interestingly enough, my six string playing has seen no modifications, because I usually play it as if it were a short scale, using frets 5 and up exclusively.

 

[dreamadream99]

While they have the same four strings, and are both tuned in fourths, I find very few similarities beyond that. Separate instruments — separate techniques.