• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

Tips for increasing fingerstyle speed

R

rainbownorth

Aug 14, 2006
373
0
42
Auckland, Aotearoa
#1
Hey guys,

I'm looking for ways to increase my speed with my non fretting hand. I've started jamming with other musicians over thelast few months, for the first time in a LONG time. And while I'm fairly confident with everything else, my speed is probably not up to scratch.

Everything else wise I'm happy for now, slowly working my way through a bass fitness book for my fretting hand and its paying dividends, but my picking hand is feeling left out.

So any tips for increasing speed? I'm also looking at ways I can increase my speed with string skipping, I'm a little sloppy when things get faster.

Thanks in advance
RN
 
#3
Different things work for different basslines.

Sweeping/string skipping can help.

Lots more hammer-ons and pull-offs can help. You need to have your gear sorted - not just your technique - so that your tone and volume will be fairly consistent when using hammerons etc.

Playing lighter, and/or closer to the bridge can help (again, depending on the problem and the bass line these won't always apply).

And finally, practising 2-finger and 3-finger alternation will help. Keep your wrist fairly straight and practice both 'sprints' (to increase your top speed even though you might only be able to go for 15 seconds before you have to slow down) and 'distance' where you're only about a third of your sprint speed but can play that fast for 3 to 10 minutes.

With 3-finger alternation, make sure the order doesn't repeat e.g. 123123123 is good and 1232123212321 is bad since the 2nd finger works twice as hard as the others. Most people have trouble getting the volume even, but you can hide the problem by putting a deliberate accent on the first of every 4 notes which will obscure the weakness of the third finger. e.g. 1231231231231231 etc
 
#5
rainbownorth said:
Not entirely sure what you mean by that....I mean the songs were playing arent that super quick but its taking me a while to get really up to speed on some of them. The string skipping is getting to me on songs like of cult of personality by Living colour, I find i just tie my hand in a knot and get stuck.
Click to expand...

Do this experiment: Take something you're having trouble with and see how fast you can articulate it cleanly in your head. For this to work you need to be brutally honest with yourself. Can you play it faster than you can hear it? Most people can move their fingers a lot faster than they can hear and when the speed of the fingers exceeds the speed of the ability to hear then the fingers train wreck or produce unmusical shyte.

By all means do string skipping exercises but do them (and everything else you practice) within your ability to hear what you're doing and always pay close attention to hearing cleanly EVERYTHING you play. This will increase your general ability including the ability to play faster. Does this make sense?
 
#6
Yeah it does. So like an example of not being able to hear fast enough would be when you hear someone like, oh I dunno Jaco or Victor wooten doing some ridiculous paradiddle jumble that just sounds like noise to me....when the person playing it can hear it fast enough to play it. Is that kind of the right idea?
 
#9
+1 to the advice above from Jeff. Often overlooked or not understood.

Being relaxed (both your mind and your hands) is also key. Play things only as fast as you can play them cleanly and comfortably and bring the tempo up slowly like you are doing for your left hand. It also helps with Jeff's advice, small increments are easier to overcome than large ones and playing a tempo that you can pull off cleanly will ease the stress factor in your mind and hands.
 
#10
I second Geo and jeff. The biggest thing to me when I was learning to play quicker was making sure I didn't over stress my speed. Every time I would I would jack the rhythm up. Just take it from a mellow point of view and try not to think about where your fingers are going but where the music is going and lock in. At least that works for me. It's probably going to be a little different for every player.
 
#11
What Jeff said - period - should be a sticky imho.

Regarding touch - I also waste energy AND speed by playing harder than necessary. Especially hard when the set is loud and going full tilt - get all excited and end up digging in. The Gary Willis light touch/heavy amp culture really helps fingerstyle speed when I can remember to do it.
 
#12
trying to get faster never makes you faster...lol
try to get more even, let me explain
getting a fast picking hand (for lack of a better term)
is about using your fingers equally
i use my index finger and my middle finger
i try to use them exactly equally, never doubing up on either finger
as well as making sure i am hitting the string with the finger alone
and not with any movement of the hand involved

cheers
 
#14
Marton said:
Practice it with a metronome, starting slow and getting faster and faster.
Click to expand...

This, with pretty much any exercise - not necessarily with the book.

As Jeff's posts point out, speed is a by-product of accuracy and good technique. Accuracy and good technique are achieved by practicing slowly with a metronome and gradually increasing the tempo once you comfortably nail the tempo you're at

String skipping, raking, hammer-ons, pull-offs, 3 or 4 finger techniques etc are all tricks that may gain you a little speed, but to be used with real control and confidence they still require accuracy and good technique, so the same approach applies.


It takes time and practice. Slow down before you speed up.
 
#18
If you use your index and middle finger, then you should start with your middle finger. (Instead of playing 1212, play 2121.) Since the middle finger is longer, it is slightly louder and stronger. This is especially true when you are playing at top speed.
 
#20
Nalte said:
If you use your index and middle finger, then you should start with your middle finger. (Instead of playing 1212, play 2121.) Since the middle finger is longer, it is slightly louder and stronger. This is especially true when you are playing at top speed.
Click to expand...

For some reason starting with my middle finger is very unnatural. I guess if I buckled down and practiced I could program my brain.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back