Bruce Lindfield said:
Cool, I agree obviously since thats how I play hehe. Allthough like I said, the "wrong" way has always felt wrong to me anyhow. Wasnt learned or unlearned, just felt more natural to do it "right"
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Self-taught bassists... what bad habits?
- Thread starter B-NoteCowboy
- Start date
Cool, I agree obviously since thats how I play hehe. Allthough like I said, the "wrong" way has always felt wrong to me anyhow. Wasnt learned or unlearned, just felt more natural to do it "right"
as far as thumb over the neck goes, no teachers have ever told me not too, but im somwhat agressive and do a lot of raking (one of my favorite ways to lead into a note), so i use my thumb to mute the E. but most times i will use it to fret on the E string when slapping so i can do licks on the upper range, but still be able to have that root or whatever else im using for the bass note, to come back to.
i wasnt self taught at all, ive had teachers and studdied piano as a kid, but i guess im a selftaugh slapper, so my biggest issue is slapping like flea does. i wish i could do it right, and get down double thumping, a useless technique but fun none the less.
i wasnt self taught at all, ive had teachers and studdied piano as a kid, but i guess im a selftaugh slapper, so my biggest issue is slapping like flea does. i wish i could do it right, and get down double thumping, a useless technique but fun none the less.
I rarely, if ever, hear bassists speak of poor right-hand technique, but I see it A LOT! It's like nobody realizes how much control of tone comes in the right hand. Really, I can't tell you how many bassists I see/hear with really bad tone, and then I look at their right hand, and realize where a lot of the problem is.
- Jan 11, 2002
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- Artist: JAF Basses, Circle K Strings
Care to elaborate? I'm probably a victim of it, without even knowing it. I don't know if it's a bad habit, but when going down strings (A to E for example) I use the same right hand finger to hit both. Can't really explain it, but on my way up I use one finger a string with my right hand, while on the way down I just use the same finger to pluck each string. It's more convenient to just let my index drop to each lower string. My left hand technique is alright I guess, although I need to work on muting when I slap.jazzbo said:
Anchoring my right hand. I learned to play on a four string p bass with my thumb anchored on the pickup. Now when I play a five or six I have to really think about "not" anchoring it or using the floating thumb technique.
Humblerumble said:
Hmm, I play my 5 while anchoring my thumb on the pickup, never really been a problem. Whats the advantage?
When I ancor my thumb to a string or pickup, I feel I get much more control over what I'm doing unlike if I go floating thumb.Humblerumble said:
jenderfazz said:
Well, in my opinion you can have successful right hand technique with either the anchored thumb technique or floating thumb technique.
Anyway, I see right hand technique as a major problem with many bassists I encounter, and with some of my students that have been playing for longer.
First, follow through with the fingers is an important step. You're going to get a fuller, rounder, more controlled tone by following through with the pluck, until you hit the next string. This is the most common problem I see in people. Their finger will pluck the string but move outside of the bass, out from the body. Instead, the finger should move parallel to the body, into the next string, where it's then stopped. Then, of course, alternate fingers. Always alternate. This sort of follow through, while it seems like a small thing, is key to having a full tone.
Also, where you pluck makes a difference. Plucking closer to the end of the bass, where the strings begin, gives you quicker action and playing, but the tone is also different. Shorter, choppier. You have so much control in your right hand and most people don't know it. Playing further up on the bass, close to the beginning of the neck, is going to give you a much fuller sound.
Well, that's a beginning to my feelings on right hand technique.
The worst Habit I've acquired from ~5 years of teaching myself, is a slight reluctance to let others teach me.
WillPlay4Food said:That's gotta be tough, seeing as you're a Berklee student.
well, I've pretty much gotten over it, largely because of berklee.
Planet Boulder
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- Nov 10, 2001
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If it is any comfort, even bass players who have had formal instruction can develop bad habits or escape having bad habits corrected by their instructors. That's why I feel it is worthwhile to periodically get instruction again, expecially by a different instructor just to review and have a kind of "tune-up" of your playing. This helps insure that you haven't developed some counterproductive habits or unwittingly reverted to some bad habits you thought you had overcome.
I'll just use this example of a bad habit I have fought all my bass playing experience. I have a tendency to really dig in with the right hand fingers when plucking. I guess I became overzealous with the plucking because I thought of plucking as meaning more like what you do when, say, you pluck a chicken. So I tend to dig at the strings, not allowing my fingers to lightly sweep over them. I have to be careful of that all the time. It is a habit I struggle with all the time and ever teacher I have had has pointed it out to me.
I'll just use this example of a bad habit I have fought all my bass playing experience. I have a tendency to really dig in with the right hand fingers when plucking. I guess I became overzealous with the plucking because I thought of plucking as meaning more like what you do when, say, you pluck a chicken. So I tend to dig at the strings, not allowing my fingers to lightly sweep over them. I have to be careful of that all the time. It is a habit I struggle with all the time and ever teacher I have had has pointed it out to me.
I'm guilty of using only 2 or 3 fingers for notes but i've been getting better and using all 4 especially if I gotta do something with scales and walking up and down the neck
The anchored right hand made it almost impossible to play my six string Cirrus. I would miss notes when I was doing a run because my hands weren't big enough to stretch down to the higher strings and pluck with any accuracy or strength.
Jazzbo, I do everything you said there and I have to agree that it's very important. I constantly move from near the bridge to the middle and to the neck depending on the sound I want to achieve, and that's one thing that can really shape your tone.
B-NoteCowboy said:The thumb over the top of the neck.... guilty.
Funny thing is.... Hendrix and SRV did that too.
Amen! Why is it the first thing guitar teachers (at least the ones I know) tell you is to keep your thumb on the back of the neck? Pick up any of the magazines they have laying around and see where the cats keep their thumbs...
Clapton, Hendrix, SRV, Sting, Les Claypool. If all of those guys are playing wrong, where are all the guys who are playing right? Any guitar doublers here? Ever try to play that open D chord with your thumb on the back of the neck? How's that sound? Hang the thumb over and rest it on that low e to mute it (E is the 2nd in the key of d, so it fits in the chord technically, but it sounds like *ss in the bass) now strum! Bet that sounds a good deal better. Do you think those same teachers when playing a song and switching from a bar chord to an open d plant their thumb on the back of the neck? Let em hang boys and girls!
The best technique is to shift your thumb from behind to on top, or even over as the siuation demands. There is no catch-all. Putting your thumb around behind will increase your reach. If you want to bend and not suck at it, you want your thumb over, as it serves as a pivot when bending up towards your face. When you bend the other way, you use the index finger side of your hand as a pivot, but the angles don't work out unless you put your thumb over.
You can mute with it, but I like to mute with my plucking hand (or picking, from a guitar standpoint), because then I can keep my thumb in a more flexible state. Most players with some experience don't keep their thumb in either spot exclusively; they don't worry about it, or even think about it.
You can mute with it, but I like to mute with my plucking hand (or picking, from a guitar standpoint), because then I can keep my thumb in a more flexible state. Most players with some experience don't keep their thumb in either spot exclusively; they don't worry about it, or even think about it.
spc said:
But that's what I was saying - playing bass is not like playing guitar at all!! You are not going to be strumming chords using the bottom string on bass, unless you want the whole band to sound like mud!!
The point about getting your thumb on the back of the neck is to get your fingers in the right position for good left-hand bass playing technique - which is not like guitar technique!
Do people think we are in a guitar forum here....!!??
