Since this appears to shift the bass further to the right, it might also provide relief for someone who feels left shoulder strain when reaching for those low notes.
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Right Hand Habit - Plucking over the neck
- Thread starter viceroyrogers
- Start date
More than likely the case, but Jameson also played over the neck. I should have used him as an example. So did Bill Wyman now that I remember it, if that helps.
No one including the OP is saying that playing over the neck is wrong. The problem the OP wants to solve is that his right hand gravitates to the neck even when he'd rather be playing over the pickup or close to the bridge.
And that's a good goal. Variation in plucking hand placement is a great way to achieve a variety of tones from the instrument.
Pluck the strings into the neck so they quasi slap with the frets. It's a different sound that will probably address your attack problem. I think this is how Geddy Lee does it sometimes. It's also a different timbre if you cut the highs - if you have to be always playing over the neck .
If it's good enough for Geezer Butler…….
If you're getting the sound you're after then who is to judge you.
If you're getting the sound you're after then who is to judge you.
Put your hand where the sound is and play there.
If you're thinking about it you're overthinking it.
If you're thinking about it you're overthinking it.
Well, I guess ya don't have a choice if ya use 3 straps and the Bass is draggin on the floor.
Agreed. What I also said was it takes practice and I gave him the method of verifying his progress by recording his work and reviewing.
Ask yourself what sound you want. If you want a fusion/funk sound with lots of attack play close to the bridge. Want a warm bluesy rock sound play more towards the neck. Want a 'general' all round sound play somewhere in the middle.
For beginner students I always suggest to start in the middle above the neck pickup. When you know more what you want to hear and develop your technique and style you can always change more towards the bridge or neck if you want. If you play really fast notes and busy lines it's better to move more towards the bridge. Playing above the neck tends to sound more muddy and unclear.
For beginner students I always suggest to start in the middle above the neck pickup. When you know more what you want to hear and develop your technique and style you can always change more towards the bridge or neck if you want. If you play really fast notes and busy lines it's better to move more towards the bridge. Playing above the neck tends to sound more muddy and unclear.
Wow, a lot of people defending poor technique when even the OP wants a different sound.
Playing over the neck is going to give you a muddy, undefined sound, as OP even mentioned. That sound might have some applications, but there are also lots of situations where that sound is somewhere between useless and inappropriate.
When your hands are doing stuff you don't want, the first step is to turn your volume up and make a greater effort to make sure you are hearing yourself as you play. It might mean adding some more upper mids or even cutting a little low end. If your natural tone is so muffled that you aren't immediately aware that your technique is sliding into the mud zone then that's a good starting place.
You might also evaluate how you practice and rehearse, to compare that to what happens on stage. Is there a physical reason your hand changes position, like rehearsing seated and then standing at a gig with your bass in a totally new location, which forces your hand to creep up the fretboard?
Making adjustments to EQ and evaluating posture and practice habits should give some pretty strong clues as to what's causing the issue, so at least you will be more aware when it happens and you can make an effort to practice more disciplined right-hand technique to put it where it belongs without letting it wander around.
Playing over the neck is going to give you a muddy, undefined sound, as OP even mentioned. That sound might have some applications, but there are also lots of situations where that sound is somewhere between useless and inappropriate.
When your hands are doing stuff you don't want, the first step is to turn your volume up and make a greater effort to make sure you are hearing yourself as you play. It might mean adding some more upper mids or even cutting a little low end. If your natural tone is so muffled that you aren't immediately aware that your technique is sliding into the mud zone then that's a good starting place.
You might also evaluate how you practice and rehearse, to compare that to what happens on stage. Is there a physical reason your hand changes position, like rehearsing seated and then standing at a gig with your bass in a totally new location, which forces your hand to creep up the fretboard?
Making adjustments to EQ and evaluating posture and practice habits should give some pretty strong clues as to what's causing the issue, so at least you will be more aware when it happens and you can make an effort to practice more disciplined right-hand technique to put it where it belongs without letting it wander around.
Yep, it's not a good place to pluck unless you are doing it for a specific tone. Good for a walking bass pseudo upright sound but terrible for fast stuff, the strings are vibrating too much up there. Most of the guys who played the really technical stuff back in the 70's, like Squire or Rutherford, played in the bridge position. You aren't chasing moving strings, they have more tension and you can pluck much faster and more accurately there.
I am totally unaware of where my right hand is and what it is doing. It does what it needs to do, for what my brain asks of it. I'm anchored, or not anchored, or muting, or not, whatever. Attention is on the fretting hand.
One could say the same about pretty much any other stringed (or percussion for that matter) instrument: "Play at a particular place because the qualities of the notes available in that place fit the needs of the music" OR "Don't play at a particular place because the qualities of the notes available in that place fit don't the needs of the music". Substitute "a particular place" for any place you like and the statements remain true.
Despite what I have posted earlier, I find myself drifting up there more often than I'd like to admit. The sweat left on my fretboard from my plucking hand is telltale evidence of my transgressions!
Breaking bad habits requires repetition. Since you have a recording, this is easy to solve. Play a long with it. When you get to the part of a song where you want better definition, move your hand right hand towards the bridge. Keep doing this over and over again, it will become natural.
I will also add, you may want to revisit your EQ setting as well.
Buy 3 pickup covers and stack them from the pickup up to the lower part of the fretboard. The only place you'll be able to touch the strings will be between the pickup and bridge. That'll work!
