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Thumb use for walking bass.
- Thread starter Dr. Cheese
- Start date
Cool. This reminds me of when we performed Robert Ray's "The Gospel Mass" in high school choir. He wrote a lot of octave left hand parts on the piano, and they were pretty fast in spots. I was having trouble playing them (I was just using my index finger) so I figured out that I could play the lower octave with my thumb and upper octave with my index finger.
That's interesting, worth giving a shot. Glad to see Daric's back teaching. His channel dried up for a long time, some personal issues I think. He has lost weight too since last time I saw him, which was a few years ago.
My thumb rests are set up so that, when not playing the B string, my thumb is on top of the thumb rest (my thumb rest are right next to the B string and a bit shorter than most) damping that string. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that all you have to do to pluck the B string is move your thumb a bit - it's already in position. So, my thumb does get into the plucking act, but mostly on my lowest string. The index and middle fingers do stuff on other strings, so I have 3 digits in the mix - at times. On a 5 string, with 3 digits in the mix, you can (and I do sometimes) pluck 3 octaves of the same note at the same time.
The instrument we play is not that old - it's effectively a few years older than me, so the "rules" are still being written. You have ten digits, don't let anyone tell you what ones you can and can't use. If you're not contorting your wrists, you're probably safe ergonomically, and if a technique works, it works.
The instrument we play is not that old - it's effectively a few years older than me, so the "rules" are still being written. You have ten digits, don't let anyone tell you what ones you can and can't use. If you're not contorting your wrists, you're probably safe ergonomically, and if a technique works, it works.
My mental picture has your left hand upside down in order to pull this off (or you have a left handed piano). Am I missing something?
I was talking about plucking with my right hand thumb and index finger. Does that make sense?
I think this technique just gives you a slightly different sound than traditional plucking, plus of course the intended rest for the regular plucking fingers. Personally I am never going to be playing marathon sessions so will stick with traditional style, although thumb plucking is useful if you are doing reggae, so you can mute with palm.
My fretting fingers burn out way in advance of my plucking fingers.
My fretting fingers burn out way in advance of my plucking fingers.
Kinda - your post says you were playing left hand parts, which is what had me confused.
Ah, I see the confusion. The composer wrote the bass parts using the left hand on the piano, which was later written out for electric bass.
We've had a discussion on the internet, staring at different places, and it hasn't become an insult throwing match. I don't believe this is allowed. Have a nice day!
That’s pretty much how I played what I call the ‘disco octave gallup’, as exemplified on the chorus of this lovely little tune…
I encountered the same problem as him. I was playing 3-4 hour gigs within a year of first picking up the instrument. Except, in my case, what I started doing in order to give my fingers a break was essentially slap, just without the pop.
