Where/when to move anchored thumb when moving up/down strings?

[oomo]

I've not been able to find much guidance on this (though maybe I'm using the wrong search terms), and only learned the basics from TalkingBass and StudyBass so far, but they didn't go into so much detail on this.

I was wondering:

a) when anchoring the thumb of the plucking hand on a string, should I always anchor on the string below or two strings below, or change depending on music/string?

b) when doing this, should I be thinking about minimising movement of my thumb anchor, or just sticking to one of the rules above and not worry about it?

To give a concrete example, say I'm playing all the open strings EADG on a 4-string up and down.

I can either do the following:
anchor on pickup, play E
anchor on E, play A
anchor on A, play D
anchor on D, play G

Or, I can leave a bigger gap between anchor and string I'm playing, relying on plucking fingers to mute the string below:
anchor on pickup, play E
anchor on pickup, play A
anchor on A, play D
anchor on A, play G

The first option keeps my plucking hand in a more consistent position, but involves more thumb anchor movement. The second minimises anchor movement, but involves changing plucking depending on whether I'm hitting the next string or two strings up.

Similarly, if playing root then octave (say for E), should I:
anchor on pickup, play E on E string
anchor on A, play E on D string
or
anchor on pickup, play E on E string
anchor on pickup, play E on D string (and try to mute A somehow)
or
anchor on pickup, play E on E string
anchor on E, play E on D string

Is there any preference/guidance or best practice on this sort of thing? Or is there any resource that goes into a bit more detail?

 

[MCS4]

My guess is that you are going to see a lot of recommendations to try it out and see what works best for you, with some folks advocating for extremes on either side, rather than there being any real consensus.

I will say that sticking to a strict rule of always anchoring one string above and shifting any time you need to pluck another string sounds very inefficient to me.

 

[byacey]

Probably the best thing to do is not think about it, and you'll subconsciously figure out what works for you.

 

[Lobster11]

See if this helps:

 

[JKos]

You may get some recommendations to go with floating thumb.

 

[oomo]

See if this helps:

That was a super useful interesting video, thanks a lot for the link, gives me some things to think about.

 

[dreamadream99]

Contrarian opinion:

there are still many of us who anchor the thumb on the pickup and leave it there. For me it makes it easier to know which string I am on based upon the gap between fingers and thumb..

 

[fearceol]

Contrarian opinion:

there are still many of us who anchor the thumb on the pickup and leave it there. For me it makes it easier to know which string I am on based upon the gap between fingers and thumb..

Yes, lots of people anchor the thumb on the pick up. The main drawback with this technique is that it can contribute to injury problems over time due to the wrist being bent. Granted, some will get away without any issues while others won't.

 

[Lobster11]

Yes, lots of people anchor the thumb on the pick up. The main drawback with this technique is that it can contribute to injury problems over time due to the wrist being bent. Granted, some will get away without any issues while others won't.

Arguably, perhaps, two other disadvantages are (1) the problem of muting lower strings -- especially on basses with 5 or more strings -- and (2) constantly changing the angle of the wrist fingers when moving across strings and thus potentially causing inconsistency in how notes are plucked.

Personally, after spending a month or so experimenting with both the "moveable anchor" and the "floating thumb," I decided that the latter worked better for me: I found that just gliding the side of my thumb across the strings was easier than having it jump from one string to another. I also discovered another advantage (again, for me -- YMMV): It made it easier for me to pluck softly and let the amp do the work. When my thumb is firmly anchored somewhere I find it more difficult to avoid "digging in" when not necessary.

If you're interested in experimenting with the "floating thumb," here's an oft-posted video:



I'm sure there are others but this is where I learned it.

 

[Bass]

...there are still many of us who anchor the thumb on the pickup and leave it there...

I was taught to anchor the thumb on the pickup and played this way for many years. The last few years, I shifted to a moving anchor to aid muting:

anchor on pickup, play E
anchor on pickup, play A
anchor on E, play D
anchor on A, play G

Moving anchor is a little cumbersome rotating between D and G. So as someone said above, sometimes it's best not to think about it.

 

[darren1970]

I had to consciously think what I do, but I tend to anchor on the string below the one I'm playing ( or the pickup on E ).
I do occasionally anchor and play on the next 2 strings, if I find that particular run easier.
Don't do it consciously, just happens when I need it