This, absolutely.
If you haven't already, get at least a few "live" (as in "not on the internet) lessons with a teacher. Bad habits can be hard to break - a teacher will help you get started on the right track.
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Two fingers on fretting hand
- Thread starter Yannick Yoran
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- finger style fretting
This, absolutely.
If you haven't already, get at least a few "live" (as in "not on the internet) lessons with a teacher. Bad habits can be hard to break - a teacher will help you get started on the right track.
I've been using only 2 for almost 15 years before I started working on the 3rd. Wish I started earlier. Re-learning will always take longer than learning.
Please go to an instructor, at least for a while. You will need all of your fingers, especially when you play octaves. Try to learn to use all four. I know it is difficult and uncomfortable now but you have just started and it takes several months to get your fingers to stretch and build up callouses. Good luck. 
That doesn't make any sense to me.
If I wanted to be a football quarterback I would study video of great quarterbacks. If I wanted to be a rock climber I would study video of great climbers. If I wanted to learn to cook I would watch cooking shows. And if I wanted to learn to paint fluffy little clouds, I would watch Bob Ross.
So why is it bad to watch video of great bassists and copy what they do? (Especially if I am trying to learn that specific song.)
To the OP: Watch video of your favorite bassists and copy their moves. In particular study bassists who have had successful multi-decade careers. No one player has all the answers, but by studying lots of different players, you can gradually develop your own signature style.
I second the index/pinky comment. I’ve noticed, as have begun to practice fretless, that I have begun to rely on those two fingers and shifting whether there are frets or not. It’s very interesting to me.
As others have said, you can get by using just two fingers on a lot of stuff. However, this will limit you significantly down the road. That being said there are a lot of songs that I just use one or two fingers on. There are even times I will fret one note with two fingers, but this should be a choice not the only way you can accomplish something.
Learn/practice proper technique right out of the gate period.
I didn't, and it can cause discomfort/injury after some time...
...i know this guy
Bad habits are a mo fo to break, this guy I know learned the hard way.
Slow is smooth, and smooth is quick. Be quick.
Good luck.
I didn't, and it can cause discomfort/injury after some time...
...i know this guy
Bad habits are a mo fo to break, this guy I know learned the hard way.
Slow is smooth, and smooth is quick. Be quick.
Good luck.
Play it however it feels right. I don't play with any preconceived notions of how I'm supposed to pluck the strings or finger the notes. I finger the notes with whatever finger will do the job. Because of my shorter fingers I tend to use my pinky finger a lot more than other bassists. I might use the first, second or third finger to hit the same note on the same string in identical movements. It just depends on how it feels at that particular second. On faster movements I do tend to repetitively use the same fingers simply because the movement requires more precision and muscle memory comes into play. With my plucking hand all bets are off. On one song I might be using a pick and in the next song I'm plucking the strings with 3 fingers like a banjo player. My right hand looks like a spider that's wrapping up a juicy beetle that it just caught.
That's a nice idea in theory. But in practice, what is "proper technique" really? Who gets to decide? Does John McVie have "proper technique"? What about Flea? Jaco Pastorius? James Jamerson? Paul McCartney? Carol Kaye? Geddy Lee?
This is why finding a good teacher is so incredibly important, in my opinion. There is such an overwhelming amount of information for a beginner to sort through, and your teacher can act as a "filter" to give you the essential information and point you in the right direction.
Two fingers can work for a lot of songs, but sooner or later you will want to play something that will be extremely difficult to play with two fingers. You'll have to do some left hand acrobatics to play a song that really isn't that hard. You are much better off practicing with all four fingers until it becomes natural. Also, if you have your bass hanging at the right heighth relative to your body and have good posture in your left arm, your wrist should not be bent no matter how many fingers you use. Maybe work on that before you do anything else.
I’d been taught the “normal way” (thumb dead center back of neck, wrist arched, all four fingers “fretting”) when I started playing violin way back when as a kid. Because of how you hold a violin, you kind of have to do it that way.
I translated it to bass out of force of habit, but thought it wasn’t really necessary at first, but I was wrong. With good technique, your hand moves a lot less, so you end up being able to play far more complex passages with far less effort. Which is the real reason that violinists have the hand positioning they do. It’s not just because the instrument forces it, although it does. It’s that it lets you play very complex material with minimal effort.
You might be able to get through an hour show with crap technique, but you’re not going to get through a two, three or four hour show playing the way you currently are. Since it’s far easier to do it the right way in the first place rather than unlearn bad technique and relearn all the songs you’ve put time in on, you might as well start off properly.
And if you wanted to learn how to walk would you watch Monty Python's Institute of Silly Walks sketch? Because, you know, MP had successful multi-decade careers and by studying lots of different walkers you can gradually develop your own signature walking style.
Joking aside, if you study hundreds of successful bass players in many genres over many years you might find two or three who used only one or two fingers of their fretting hand. And I bet you wouldn’t find a single rock climber who uses only one or two fingers on each hand.
You will wish you learned the proper way later on. Seriously.
I wanted to throw my instruments out of the window when learning to play with a pick after 12 years of fingerstyle only. It sucks going back to the basics, over and over, slowly, but it's worth it in the end.
I wanted to throw my instruments out of the window when learning to play with a pick after 12 years of fingerstyle only. It sucks going back to the basics, over and over, slowly, but it's worth it in the end.
I think it depends on how serious you are about the instrument. It won't be possible for you to play complex passages with only two fingers, so you're limiting yourself out of the gate as to what you'll be able to accomplish later on without changing your technique. Stringed instruments use chord forms, and even though bass is usually a single note instrument, being able to create those forms with your fretting hand gives you access to all the notes you need during any particular moment in any particular song. So you will have dexterity within each chord and you will have interesting note choices within each chord if you are capable of producing those chord forms while you are playing. Most of the professional players use this technique as it creates economy of motion as you are playing.
Now, with that being said, I am self-taught and I don't always do things by the book, but I have learned through the years that the best way is often the way those with good training do it. Just something to think about.
Now, with that being said, I am self-taught and I don't always do things by the book, but I have learned through the years that the best way is often the way those with good training do it. Just something to think about.
You're doing yourself a disservice by not learning to incorporate all of your fretting fingers. Yes your index/middle will get more use than the other fingers, but completely ignoring the others will hinder your progress in the very near future. Don't worry about speed right now, worry about proper technique. You will be able to achieve better speed and accuracy with proper technique.
You will regret any shortcuts you take right now - trust me I know. It's very hard to come back and relearn proper technique after you've mastered poor technique - especially if you're in a situation where you need to be able to perform.
If after couple of years of honest effort to use all 4 fingers doesn't workout for you, then you can make an informed decision on how things work best for you. In the end, there not necessarily one way that works for everybody, but do yourself the favor of learning things the "traditional" way before looking for your own way of doing things. There's a reason the traditional method of playing an instrument work for most people.
You will regret any shortcuts you take right now - trust me I know. It's very hard to come back and relearn proper technique after you've mastered poor technique - especially if you're in a situation where you need to be able to perform.
If after couple of years of honest effort to use all 4 fingers doesn't workout for you, then you can make an informed decision on how things work best for you. In the end, there not necessarily one way that works for everybody, but do yourself the favor of learning things the "traditional" way before looking for your own way of doing things. There's a reason the traditional method of playing an instrument work for most people.
I've already posted a couple of videos featuring iconic 2-finger bass lines from popular songs (Psycho Killer and The Chain). And I could probably find a hundred more. There are a lot more than "two or three" players who use this technique. It is popular, intuitive, non-fatiguing, and can sound great!
I've been playing bass 30 years. I've watched a lot of videos, and I've been to a lot of shows. My observation is that players who use all 4 fingers equally are in the overwhelming minority. Most players have between 1 and 3 "favorite fingers" that they use preferentially, more so than the others. Rocco Prestia prefers fingers 1-2. Geddy Lee prefers 1-2-3. Jaco Pastorius preferred 1-2-4. And so on.
1, 2, or 3 fingers are accepted and popular techniques, used by everybody from absolute beginners to the most accomplished pros. I say this not as a cop-out, that we shouldn't push ourselves to improve, but rather to give encouragement to beginners, to set realistic goals and feel good about their progress.
There are no "great" bassists who only use two fingers on their left hand lol
Iconic, but very simple. Nothing wrong with that, but if the OP aspires to more, he's going to hit a wall with two finger technique.
