Quick advice on bass fingerpicking technique

[LarsXI]

Howdy all,

teaching myself to play the bass after years of guitar monotony.

Of course, I've been avoiding picks at all costs. Slap comes surprisingly naturally, however I have a question about regular finger-picking technique.

If I'm sounding strings and afterwards my finger follows through to the point where it hits the next lower string and causes it to click against the frets, is this a thing to avoid? I'm not playing with an amp, so I don't know if it comes through. When I try to keep my fingers from following through in that manner I lose a lot of articulation.

How should I feel about all of this?

thanks in advance

 

[baskruit]

Just my 2 cents.
Absolutely no problem letting your picking finger hit the lower string (it helps you to mute that string) but if you hit it so hard that it rattles against the frets, you should work on that.

You know, picking up my bass while I'm typing this, I can't get that lower string to hit the frets, even if I try. And my action isn't that high.
Just take it easy

 

[JaySwear]

as baskruit said, when i played bass my fingers would ALWAYS hit the string above whatever i was playing on (not including the E, of course) and it never made a noise loud enough to hear through an amp. letting your fingers hit and rest on the next string is a great way to prevent extra noise. i don't think i ever picked the string with my finger so hard the next string hit the fretboard, though. sounds like you might be playing just a bit too hard, or maybe picking in too much of a downward motion instead of a vertical motion.

 

[AprioriMark]

Both of these guys give great advice. ^^

I would also suggest STRONGLY that you practice alternating fingers.  Don't make excuses when you're practicing.  Everyone deviates from it in a performance situation, when you should be considering other factors (such as expression) and not thinking about technique.  Get your mind and your hand in total communication so that it's one tool from heart to speakers and there are no speedbumps.

-Mark

 

[tfarny]

I'm doing the same thing - switching from twiddley twiddley to bump bump - and been working on my two-finger technique as well. Sounds like you're plucking a bit hard? I really think you need to practice with an amp - especially slapping, the tone you're looking for is the one that actually comes out of the amp, and a lot of the clicking and clacking won't really come through. The first time I actually tried to slap with an SVT stack behind me I was amazed that it was so much easier than without an amp.

What I'm starting to realize with bass is that really, really solid timing comes first and technique a bit later - I play with a pick at practices and work on fingerstyle by my lonesome, at least for now.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

A bad habit of mine on bass that does come through an amp is hitting the pickup with a fingertip on the follow through.  Since the pickup usually acts as a thumb rest, the finger(s) are already setup to do this annoying act.  After seeing a lot of "old-timers" that have been doing this a while and have great multi-finger technique, their plucking hands and fingers aren't moving as much as you think they would but the tone coming out of the amp is great.  They have the soft touch but big tone. 

 

[AprioriMark]

What I'm starting to realize with bass is that really, really solid timing comes first and technique a bit later - I play with a pick at practices and work on fingerstyle by my lonesome, at least for now.

This is something that all my students struggle with to a degree, and I disagree with you.  Here's why:  Unlearning bad habits takes ten times longer than learning it correctly in the first place.  When you consider how much more difficult it is to learn something new as an adult, bad habits are extra bad.  Technique, sense of pulse, tambre, expressiveness, music reading, sight reading, etc... should all be learned at the same time.  Shortchanging one of those things with any of the myriad of reasonable excuses (and there are many) ultimately hampers the new bassist for years.

I always find songs/exercises that emphasize the aspect that the new bassist is struggling with, and then continue to emphasize other important aspects of playing.  Growth needs to be whole, and reasonably slow.  Every guitarist learns to slap because it's flashy.  The reality is that it's pointless unless played tastefully and incorporated with other techniques.  Bass is not an instrument that can be "half-assed" like electric guitar can be in many modern styles of music.  Bass is part harmonic support, part rhythm, part style, and all SOLID.  The human ear leans toward the low end first, and if that's unsure or out of the "groove," the music sounds horrid.

I don't mean this as an attack or judgment of anyone's ability or progress.  I'm just sharing my experiences as a lifelong bass player and music educator of 15 years with a wife who teaches music, a brother who teaches music and a sister in law who teaches music.  I will leave you with one last set of thoughts, and that is how best to make use of your practice time:

1) Start out with warm ups.  I run scales, two octaves of thirds, chordal arpeggios over more than one position, and often will sightread rhythms out of the book "127 original exercises."
2) Spend 10-15 minutes working on some part of your skill set that you feel needs work.  If you're not getting it, SLOW DOWN and gradually bring it back up to tempo.  Try to find pieces of music that highlight this area to be improved upon.  DO NOT spend more than 30 minutes on what you're working on.
3) Reflect on what you're doing well, what you need to work on, and where you've been (so to speak) as a musician.
4) Play something for a few minutes that reminds you why you wanted to play bass (or whatever instrument) in the first place.  Fall in love with your musicianship all over again.  Don't EVER, EVER end your practice session on a note of frustration or insecurity.

Lastly, 20 minutes of practice every day is VASTLY more effective than 3 hours twice a week.  If you don't listen to anything else I've said, believe this.

-Mark

 

[LarsXI]

Ah, I think I've figured it out.

My fingers are sort of reaching down to the strings. That is, the heel(base?) of my hand is closer to my shoulder than it should be, so that when I sound a string, my fingertips aren't at a 90 angle to the string-plane, but are instead at a rather shallow angle, forcing the lower strings down more than usual.

If you want to test it for yourself, its like resting your thumb on the upper edge of the body and trying to sound strings.


But yeah, in general, I've been working on my timing and alternating fingers (the middle and the ring are my favorite, haha). I've got a sort of music production thing going on, and I work with beats and synths; my whole approach to the bass comes more from a sort of classic hip-hop mentality- that's an inadequate way of describing it.

the great thing about bass is that you can play really simple phrases and its enough. You can basically be working on your timing and still make really excellent music. In a lot of the music I listen to there are very minimalist (in terms of technique) bass phrases, but its in the front of the mix, and the notes are in all the right places. I just think about the intro to Not Great Men by Gang of Four, its a great phrase. Also, a lot of wu tang tracks where its actually sampled, but a similar aesthetic.


Regarding 20 minutes a day, I agree that its easier when its more of a lifestyle thing like that. I'm living in, like ~ 2 square meters of space here at university, so the bass is always within reach. It's good to learn all aspects of the instrument consecutively and slowly, I agree with you. Haha, and I can assure you, when I slap I'm extremely tasteful about how I go about it. Too often slap players focus on craziness over honest music.

Bass is part harmonic support, part rhythm, part style, and all SOLID. 

yes. Long live bass

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I think of it as a fretted (or fretless) bass drum.

 

[Schlieren]

Bass is part harmonic support, part rhythm, part style, and all SOLID.

Huh... my favorite bass work has always been work I'd consider "melodic" first, and rhythmic / harmonic a distant second.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Different styles.

 

[AprioriMark]

Bass is part harmonic support, part rhythm, part style, and all SOLID.

Huh... my favorite bass work has always been work I'd consider "melodic" first, and rhythmic / harmonic a distant second.

Your "Melodic" is my "Harmonic Support."  I'm often accused of being one of the most "melodic" bass players that people know.  I think in both minimalist and macro-phrase mindsets.  You'll notice that your favorite "melodic" bass players are still very rhythmically solid and totally in the pocket.  It's not about hammering out a beat; it's about laying a foundation in a rock-solid way.  Sometimes that means the absence of what would be traditional or expected, but it should always be very intentionally executed.

-Mark

 

[tfarny]

Great thread.