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Playing One Handed

#21
A buddy of mine was a one handed bass player. Gaylord Hoggatt lost his right hand in a lineman accident. He played every weekend in a very popular band Timberwolf out of Coos Bay on the southern Oregon Coast. Played almost every weekend and had quite a good following.
He played punching the notes down on the fretboard like an uninjured player would. He was so good at it from playing this way for 20+ years it was just effortless.
First time I saw him playing I thought he was just showing off. After a set I went up to introduce myself and tell him how much I enjoyed his playing. I stuck out my right hand, he stuck out his left came the realization - and a mutual admiration friendship. He passed on a few years ago. May he rest in peace.
So it can be done. ☮️ :bassist:
 
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#26
This caught my attention because waaaaay back in the 70s (when I was in grade school), summer family vacations staying in motels along the way to northern CA from So Cal, I'd always sneak a peek in the bar to see the band (and there were a lot of hotels/motels with bands back then). Anyway, I'm guessing this may have been in Fresno - the old Hacienda Hotel had bands and also the Holiday Inn by the airport - the bass player was tapping out his part with the left hand and blowing trumpet with the right hand - I was so impressed by that - and I was not playing bass yet - I had started out on drums and piano / took up bass at age 14. Anyway, once you nail this technique, I'm sure you will impress everybody too!
 
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#28
My 3-pc often needs some additional accompaniment so I often double-duty on bass and keys, albeit with simple bass lines.
My best example is "Another Brick in the Wall pt2". I find that instead of depressing strings, I`ll slam each note with an occasionally "pull-off". Pretty easy since I`m only playing 3 notes on my left hand. No real technique, but it works well. Don`t know how well this translates to your situation.
 
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#29
I can't remember the name of the band, but there's a guy in Austin that plays electric upright and trumpet at the same time. Like you, only for a section of a song at a time. I think you can do it on a P with flats with a little practice. Sounds fun!
 
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#31
logdrum said:
You are going to get tired playing the trumpet with one hand and not ideal to maintain mouthpiece pressure. I play sax and I've asked the brass players about one handed playing.
Click to expand...

Both the trumpet and bass parts are easy and short. I’m going to try!

Also, to get technical, it’s a cornet and easier to hold with one hand. Half of people don’t know what a cornet is, so I call it a trumpet.
 
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#32
I saw a local bass player do an occasional one hander. He was using a 5 string active Jazz. The preamp in the bass took care of the sustain. He was singing lead on many songs. They would sometimes grab a quick drink of water between lines, while keeping up with the bassline.

My neighbor is their longtime friend, and they came up to play her birthday party. Great party. Great cover band with a 1000 song repertoire.

Karaoke Live Band | This is YOUR band!

Others have given you the necessary tips.
 
#37
Okay, so this is hard.
I used to play piano, so I figured I could use two hands for different things, but it’s not so simple. I have to hold both instruments, mind my breath control and embouchure, and cleanly tap the frets. Respect to anyone who can do it. Realistically, I have not enough time to get good at this before the first show. I will continue to practice it, but need an alternative in the mean time; I’m thinking some kind of synth pedal. To the Effects forum!
 
#38
I'm completely disappointed. He's really only playing two basses at a time, I fully expected him to get his nose playing a line on a third bass, and using his feet for the fourth.

That's just lazy. ;-)
 
#39
hondo4life said:
Both the trumpet and bass parts are easy and short. I'm going to try!

Also, to get technical, it's a cornet and easier to hold with one hand. Half of people don't know what a cornet is, so I call it a trumpet.
Click to expand...
A cornet is a trumpet-ish instrument with a conical flare to its tubing - saxophones are the woodwind equivalent, whereas a clarinet (even is made of metal) and a trumpet keep the tubing more constant in diameter until you get pretty close to the open end of the instrument.

The different shape means it sounds a bit different - the close to identical user interface means if you can play one well, you can play the other pretty well - like a piano and a harpsichord.
 
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