Something different - any bassist there?

Playing Technique
#1

I got a new axe today. This is an oddball for me, as I bought a 6-string bass on a whim.

Now I am trying to learn playing using my fingers instead of a pick, since I already know how to use it lol.
I am fine as long as I keep playing one string, but I got 6 of those - how do I smoothly go from one string to another?
Am I supposed to jump to next one with my thumb as well? Like, playing the low B I “anchor” my thumb on the edge of the pickup, jumping to E should I put my thumb on low B then? It kind of does not make sense to keep in on the pickup, since it’s quite a distance to the top strings.

Also, can someone recommend me something fun to play on heavier side of the spectrum so I learn the ropes? I basically only sort-of looked at TOOL - Schism and 46 and 2 bass riffs.

#2

I tried to do fingerstyle, but it wasn’t jiving with me. I ended up adopting a picking style / gear that sounds closer to fingers to my ears.

From what I’ve seen, there’s a tradeoff with how far the jump is and how long you have to stay there, if that makes sense. Going from B to E shouldn’t be too bad, or change your technique too much, but something more might make the stretch uncomfortable to hold for longer.

One of the cooler techniques I’ve seen is a guy that doesn’t use his thumb to anchor at all, just the palm of his hand, so he can do quick string changes.

There’s tons, I just don’t know how difficult you’d want!

1 Like
#3

With pick? Virtually anything, really. As long as it is not crazy complicated and/or fast - e.g. I never could play Animals as Leaders up to tempo. Primus and alike also are not in my league lol.

With fingers, that’s another story. I am practicing the main bass riff from Black no.1, easy enough, but gets boring quickly.

#4

Get a teacher and use fingers! Also, why 6 instead of the usual 4?

#5

Two reasons… sort of.

I play mainly 8 string guitar. One of my fav bands uses 8-string guitars, their bassist plays 6-string.
Also I figure this allows me to play whatever I want, as virtually any tuning is within reach without much fuss.

Before buying it I went to some local store and tested one 6-string they had and I liked it, decided additional strings are not really a problem - after all, even when buying stuff on a whim I’d rather at least try to maintain illusion of rationality.

1 Like
#6
1 Like
#7

That may be… challenging XD

Not quite what I would normally listen to, but that’s alright, will certainly try to learn it, sounds fun.

#8

If I had a bass I’d learn this, got a great bass solo. Not to hard, you can hear it all.

And by not to hard i mean I’d have to listen to it almost a 100 times to get it down, but you can hear the bass, you can follow it.

#9

As a marginally competent bassist -

I only play four string, but thumb-anchor placement is largely a function of muting, since it’s really easy to muddy up bass tone with sympathetic vibration.

If I’m plucking the E string, my thumb is anchored on the pickup. If I’m plucking the A string, usually it is on the E. if I’m plucking the D or G, the thumb is usually on the A.

Plucking the bass you’re typically using rest strokes, so if I’m plucking the G, my plucking finger coming to rest on the D mutes that string, and my thumb and palm mute the A and E. on a six or eight string I would just keep moving like that - so you’re only ever stretching your hand across two strings, and you’re always muting the strings you’re not playing.

(this is an oversimplification obviously; if I’m playing a line that’s mostly on the E with a few strokes on the A I’m not going to shift my thumb up to the E for just those few A strokes, but this is sort of the “default” positioning).

1 Like
#10

That’s what I initially thought, though I get a feeling it is slowing me down tremendously when going up and down the strings. But then again, stretching my hand across all 6 strings is not comfortable at all lol.
Also when practicing I get some minor pain in my right palm, as if it was from tension - is this something I need to plow through or do I need to adjust my technique?

#11

thumb anchoring does definitely give you an initial feeling of “stickiness” when you’re changing strings, or at least it did for me; that went away over time as I got more used to it. On an eight string you’d certainly be changing strings more often and it might be worth trying the “floating thumb” style, where you’re positioning the hand pretty much the same as you would when anchoring, but rather than sticking the tip of the thumb to the string, you’re just resting the thumb on top of it. I don’t use this because my hand position feels a lot less stable, but a lot of people who play five+ strings do it.

As far as pain in the palm, that not something I ever experienced - my hand issues were all fretting related - so anything I could tell you on that score would be a guess. if you were trying to play across all six strings while still anchoring on the pickup I would imagine that would produce some palm strain though, lol.

1 Like
#12

It sounds like you’re wanting to develop finger technique over pick, right?

If that’s the case, lots of older metal would probably be good (Iron Maiden used to be “the” bass lines my metal friends would learn).

1 Like
#13

Pretty much - I do not see the point of learning new instrument if I’m going to transfer whole technique from another one. I might just as well play guitar an octave down…

Yeah, that’s what I figure - especially if I want to confine myself to E standard for the time being, alternatively B standard. Problem is, I have a bit of distaste towards some of older heavy metal - not that I really hate it, it just doesn’t speak to me.
Nevertheless, I picked up:

  • Hallowed be Thy Name by Iron Maiden - a touch too fast with some fills requiring some quick string changes, but I’ll get there eventually.
  • I am the Black Wizards by Emperor (I DO like black metal, just… not necessarily the old stuff)
  • Transilvanian Hunger by Darkthrone does not seem too difficult if I skip the 32s and play it as 16s, same as Emperor.
  • tried Links 234 by Rammstein - easy enough, not engaging though. The constant repetition makes it boring.
  • Roots by Sepultura - a total banger, turbo easy, but an absolute fun to play. Shame I already did guitar cover of it in the past.
  • Diaken and Solitary Reign by Amenra - very simple and slow for the most part, but not all that boring.

Each of these brings something to the table (weeeeell, maybe except for Rammstein) - Iron Maiden stuff asks for speed, accuracy and quick string changes linked with fretting hand proficiency, Emperor and Darkthrone are mainly speed and consistency, Sepultura just… grooves, Amenra brings atmosphere and does not always follow the guitars slavishly.

I am still open to suggestions of course - some of the above is too difficult for me to play comfortably, like the Iron Maiden stuff, I don’t really see why it is recommended to the beginners, unless just for practice at 50% speed.

#14

That’s fair.

I can’t remember if this song is originally picked, but this dude destroys it with fingers. The fretting is very easy, the difficulty will be endurance (and speed). Will use low B as well:

2 Likes
#15

I am probably way off topic here. But every time someone says bass I feel an urge to link the isolated tracks from Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones. Relatively simple parts, sure. But doesn’t he play them effing perfectly???

1 Like
#16

Ooooh, I can’t play that up to speed even on guitar lol, but yeah, playing it on bass with fingers is a feat on it’s own.

1 Like
#17

Meshuggah is just about my all-time favorite band. The bass uses a pick, mostly for tonal considerations.

2 Likes
#18

I do like to sometimes put them on, especially while working out in the gym.

OK, some progress report is in order.

I’ve had some trouble moving acrross strings (more on that in next vid) so employed some basic exercise:

https://youtube.com/shorts/OUeTOkLZt-4

some takeaways:

  • I seem to have issues following strict alternative pattern - sometimes I will loose track of which finger was last and do double stroke with same finger (mostly index)
  • notice how I struggle with position of my fingers, especially on upper strings - I’ve heard people repeteadly say to pluck through the string, going up my hand gets such an angle it is more like fingerstyle in guitar plucking up and away from the guitar
  • in this pattern it’s annoyingly difficult for me to reach that last one last note right before you move to the next string completely:
    obraz
    I am supposed to hit it with middle finger.

I started doing these exercises because I became painfully aware of certain, slightly different issue:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/FwOJgxALeLo

It is still a matter of going accross the strings:

obraz
obraz770×102 6.77 KB

I finally figured that this last fill I need to do IMI-MIM so that I can start the next bar with index again, but it is painfully difficult for me to coordinate the fingers to do what I need them to do. Notice how in the second repetition here I did slide from 5th to 4th fret instead of plucking everything.
And yeah, that probably is a habit from guitar - it’s much easier to pluck with the pick, but I’d also do a little slide for economy of movement, it would not be noticeable because I’d also pluck it, but on bass it’s much harder to do it on time and in correct order lol.

Anyway, I still see a decent improvement since Monday when I got the bass - if not for above gimmicks I’d be able to keep up with the tempo of the song without much drama.

Oh, hold on, there’s another thing:

obraz
obraz789×260 12.7 KB

Bar 36 - apart from the usual “string skipping” - the fingers get messed up again, bar 40 - same fingering, mind you - is much easier. Why? Because every note is double stroked (yeah I am NOT playing the 32nds, no way) meaning each note on each string starts the same - with index, unless I get them mixed up again lol.

#19

I got into them through friends, back in the “Nothing” era; wiith each album I think I appreciate them more. One of the most consistently good bands I can think of!

When I got into bass, they were one of the first bands I gravitated towards, and I’m not entirely sure why; I think it’s because their riffs are mostly unison single note lines?

1 Like
#20

Got a bit of an update:

I came to realisation that it doesn’t really matter if I like the song or not, this is for practice only. I should be developing skill, speed and accuracy.

So picked up Paranoid by Black Sabbath - I can play the main riff at around 90ish % of the tempo in the tab, which is not bad for now.

https://youtube.com/shorts/fvF7A2qgLOU

I also picked Pale Explosions by Moth Gatherer - kind of forgot about that one, the tempo is manageable, it has some syncopations (?) and the ending riff is fun and nice to practice on, even though there are no string changes.

https://youtube.com/shorts/26-DPDDRR9Q

Watching these I see how my technique is not really all that even though.

I got some Rotting Christ tabs as well, but it kinda feels I need to pick up some chops before attempting those.