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was Jamerson using the back of his finger?
- Thread starter wompwomp
- Start date
The notion of using the back of the finger, or the notion that Jamerson might have done it?
I wouldn’t rule it out but I suspect Jamerson wasn’t using the back of his finger. He was an upright player originally and his right hand technique stemmed directly from that. Even when playing 16ths, I believe he was just pulling with one finger as if playing his upright.
Other players have made good use of that technique. Geddy Lee is known for it in his later playing and Mike Watt has used a similar technique using two fingers together. I use something similar to Geddy’s technique for fast parts - minus his ridiculous talent, unfortunately.
specifically Jamerson, I'm well aware of the technique in general.
i'm also aware of his DB roots but i'm really not sure how much of his technique transliterated to BG. tbh his right hand posture doesn't seem particularly 'upright' so to speak.
I’m working on “For Once In My Life” and can’t even play it up to tempo with two fingers. And Michael Henderson’s version on Stevie’s “Talk Of The Town” is even faster. I believe Michael learned from Jamerson and also only used one finger.
Also, I play upright. Upright players use two fingers too. Not usually on a walking line but for solos I see guys doing it all the time.
All that being said, no clue what he was doing but he was definitely a freak so I’m thinking it was just one.
highly unlikely he used the back of his finger. he was just really good with a single finger. also alot of the more dense stuff he plays is not constant, so i think he was just able to perform little quick bursts of notes with the one finger.
According to James Jamerson's son, he used 2 fingers somewhat often.
I have no idea about this, but if you're referring to an "upstroke/downstroke" I think it would be a possibilty.
Again, see the first part of the first sentence.
Again, see the first part of the first sentence.
Well, I’m trying to find it. Maybe my memory is fooling me here. I could’ve SWORE I heard someone say they for sure saw Jamerson play with 2 fingers. I mean, I can’t imagine how anyone could play Darling Dear or I Was Made To Love Her on one finger.
I use a felt pick up and down for anything fast but it's probably no help lol..actually Micks picks I round the edges off so it sounds closer to fingers or thumb....James definitely a freak of sorts.
Chuck Rainey has told about how he showed Jamerson the technique in question, and Jamerson's comment was, "That's some sissy stuff right there." 
Sorry, I can't cite a source. But I remember reading that story in more than one place. It might have been in the '70s Guitar Player interview with Rainey.
Sorry, I can't cite a source. But I remember reading that story in more than one place. It might have been in the '70s Guitar Player interview with Rainey.
A little off topic here but I made a couple of picks out 2mm sheet that I originally bought to make a pick guard. I had to rough up the surface a bit for better grip. They worked out really well and have less click than commercially available versions. I'm not a fan of clicky bass sounds and for years I've been a fingers only player but our band recently included 'Them Changes' by Buddy Miles in our set and I like the feel I can get with that pick without any click.
It's not uncommon for folks to do Cherokee at 300+ bpm and maintain quarter notes with just one finger ( or doubled up with another finger for just more mass ) on the double bass. You could also do rakes once in a while. So maintaining eight notes for 100 bpm is not crazy with one finger and you should be able to do many motown lines just doing that
That would be punishment on the nail if you use the back of your finger. And I am sure as most DB players can, if requiring a lot of speed for short burst we can al use the second finger. I do use the two fingers like 90% of the time on the DB and worked hard to maintain balance
That would be punishment on the nail if you use the back of your finger. And I am sure as most DB players can, if requiring a lot of speed for short burst we can al use the second finger. I do use the two fingers like 90% of the time on the DB and worked hard to maintain balance
The good live video of James in action:
And just the clips of James' pulled from the above video:
There is a live set with Martha Reeves that had some fleeting moments:
And just the clips of James' pulled from the above video:
There is a live set with Martha Reeves that had some fleeting moments:
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I don't believe Jamerson used the nail side of his finger at all. I say this because:
-His sound does not have any fingernail to it.
-The only video I have seen of him playing shows him using a rapid one finger upstroke.
-Chuck Rainey discussed in a video how Jamerson was a huge influence on him, but JJ did not use the upstroke/downstroke technique like Chuck did. I believe the youtube video is the one of him presenting a clinic at the Musician's Institute (BIT) back in the mid 1980's.
-That up/down tickling of the string thing that Chuck does sounds distinctly different than just downstrokes. Jamerson had a much more even, consistent touch. I don't believe that Chuck could make the same note sound the same way twice no matter how hard he tried.
Swift, one-finger upstrokes on "I Was Made to Love Her" would have been no problem for Jamerson.
Watch him in this video, especially around 0:53.
-His sound does not have any fingernail to it.
-The only video I have seen of him playing shows him using a rapid one finger upstroke.
-Chuck Rainey discussed in a video how Jamerson was a huge influence on him, but JJ did not use the upstroke/downstroke technique like Chuck did. I believe the youtube video is the one of him presenting a clinic at the Musician's Institute (BIT) back in the mid 1980's.
-That up/down tickling of the string thing that Chuck does sounds distinctly different than just downstrokes. Jamerson had a much more even, consistent touch. I don't believe that Chuck could make the same note sound the same way twice no matter how hard he tried.
Swift, one-finger upstrokes on "I Was Made to Love Her" would have been no problem for Jamerson.
Watch him in this video, especially around 0:53.
Yep - I just played along with the video above and with Stevie Wonder For once in you Life - All doable with one finger. I am just a run of the mill TB bass player. If there are melodic riffs that can be done with hammer ons or pul off or rakes, you can economize with less strokes
don't forget the rake. 2,3 or all 4 strings using 5ths, 4ths, octaves, minor 3rds. he was a master of that too. Also , copious open string usage.
His speed came as much from left hand choices as right hand.
For some reason this just popped up in my feed too, I found it hilarious
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well flats on a p-bass with a foam mute and direct-in to a tube pre is a really distinct starting point, it almost turns the BG into a chromatic tom imho.
it's really interesting to watch him strip skip there is a video somewhere of him playing My Girl (he might be miming the part it's sort of unclear whether the video and audio actually relate) but you still see his approach and he might do it on that gaye performance too. that's one of the things that made me wonder in the first place whether the pickier higher freq info wasn't being filtered out of his sound with all of the aformentioned tone damping in his signal chain.
I doubt he used the nail side of his finger frankly, and I agree with the observations that his DB background would favor the open frets etc plus the observation that he is just very tasteful when he uses 16th notes and somewhat sparingly. and also that he's not really playing that fast (i guess?). I also think the one-finger approach really adds a nice wrinkle in his timing and tone and I do agree that if he were using the backside of his finger it would sound different, otoh he does have dynamics that I have no idea how he achieves.
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