beginnerbass said:
i am brand new to the bass world.
i had heard strumming a bass like it was a guitar is bad for the pickups. any truth to that?
i was also told there was a difference between pinch and artifical harmonics. any truth to that one? and what is a touch harmonic?
No, strumming cannot hurt the pickups, unless you strum through them with a small hatchet.
A Pinch Harmonic is accomplished with a pick and fingers, so unless you've got fingernails of steel. You leave very little of the pick out and you strike the string with the pick and almost immediately with the pad of your finger. That creates the harmonic. You hear it a lot in Billy Gibbons's guitar solos for ZZ Top, if you'd like an example.
A false harmonic is something completely different. Your fret the string somewhere, then you strike it to play like normal, and then you reach to a harmonic (e.g. 12 frets from the fretted note) with your picking hand while keeping the note fretted and lightly touch it so that the harmonic rings.
A natural harmonic is really the same thing, only the nut is the fretted note (open string) so your fretting hand is free to touch the harmonic.
There you go. Now, seriously, the only advice I can give you is that if you don't have someone who can show you these, and you don't have your basic techniques down (interval training, ear training, standard progressions, scales, modes, etc...); I'd stay away from the tricks. That's like trying to do wheelies before learning to pedal a bike, doing backwards jump shots before learning to dribble, or running marathons before learning to walk. It may be done, but not well.
Good luck, and welcome aboard.
