FYI repeating a finger is fine in the examples you gave. You don’t want to repeat a finger if it’s straight sixteenth notes, but it’s perfectly fine and maybe even advisable to repeat your index in, say, a eighth-sixteenth-sixteenth figure like i im / i im / imim / imim.
1 Like
Already figured that, especially when practicing At the Gates riffs, the problem is going 16th notes between strings, chromatic exercises etc. It’s getting better though. Ever since I got bass I was practicing almost every day, not even touching my guitars.
I don’t know if you ever got an answer to some of your first questions, but I’ve been a bassist for over 20 years, and I think I’m pretty decent, so I figured I’d chime in!
I’m also bored and stuck in a hotel room on a work trip, so apologies for the info dump!
1 - Changing strings with fingerstyle. When ascending (in pitch), you have to switch to another finger. When descending however, you can just drag a single finger across multiple strings, like sweeping. So, if I played a one-note-per-string arpeggio on the G, D, and A, I’d use one finger to play all three notes in one smooth “rake” motion. If I were to go the other direction (ascending in pitch from A to G), I’d have to use alternating fingers.
Here’s a good example of that - watch how often she drags one finger down to play multiple strings on descending runs and arpeggios. It’s more efficient than strictly alternating fingers. The run at around 0:34 is a great example - she plays like 20 notes using only her index finger.
For reference, in your examples, I would play the fill on Bar 25 as i-m-m, i-m-m.
2 - Thumb position. This is highly subjective, and people have different techniques and opinions. Some plant their thumb on the string below the string they’re playing, some plant it on one of the pickups or body or an installed thumb rest, and some float their thumb. Oh, and some change as needed - like planting their thumb on the low E, unless they need to play that string, then they plant it on the pickup. (this is what Mohini Dey does in the above video).
Here’s a good angle of the legendary Jaco Pastorius anchoring on the A, E, and Pickup as needed:
I don’t think it makes much difference, personally. I plant my thumb on the pickups or body, usually, and that’s one of the most common methods. But, I have bigger hands, so the stretch to the high strings isn’t an issue for me.
Lastly, I’m of the belief that some of the really fast fingerstyle players are also incorporating some wrist, forearm, or elbow motion to add power or stamina to their runs.
You can see him doing some kind of “fanning” motions sometimes, and I’m convinced he’s using wrist or forearm rotation to help with that motion.
Anyway, hopefully this wasn’t too much info. Let me know if you have any questions! Good luck, Bass is a blast to learn. And don’t be scared to try harder stuff like Primus - some of their riffs aren’t as bad as they seem!
1 Like
Already figured that out, funny enough I’d do that on the guitar with pick as well when I first started playing, and it stuck with me for certain riffs, especially those I learned at the beginning. I do that entirely subconsciously and sometimes I need to focus deliberately not to do that lol.
Problem with that is it often messes up my pattern, i.e. when I pluck with index on 1s and 3s, after that the whole pattern can often be reversed and it kind of confuses me so look out for the moment I can reverse the pattern again lol.
Yup, that much I know - problem is I must be doing something wrong, because playing more intense stuff my thumb starts to hurt, mainly the base of the thumb. I try to incorporate floating thumb when needed (which is not a lot - most of stuff I play for now tends to stick to the low end). It’s entirely possible I just strain it by pushing my thumb into the side of the pickup too much, takes a lot of conscious effort to keep it light.
Me too lol, at 35’ scale I can basically fret exactly like guitar, only first couple of frets pose some difficulty, but not too much.
Right hand going across six strings of my base is challenging to an extent, but frankly, after a month of bass I am better than I was with guitar - which is kind of to be expected I guess.
Oooh, that seems to be terribely complex, and leagues above and beyond of what I can do now.
I am a bit afraid of using more advanced techniques to boost my speed this early on, kinda feels like taking a shortcut and not building foundation of raw speed. Will look into this though, I guess I will need to compare what other fast fingerstyle bassists do.
Other than that - I’ve been constantly practicing At The Gates - Blinded by Fear, currently 80% of original speed seems manageable, also some Amenra, much slower and easier stuff, but I also need some wins, so there’s that.
Also - kinda remembered about Sunnata, much less known band, leaning into that stoner aesthetic, but not too much, they have AMAZING bass tone, especially on Zorya album:
especially at 8:50 mark.
Actually I was wondering recently how I could make my bass sound like this, but also they tune to A# drop, meaning I would to lower B by half step and all other strings tune UP by half step which I am not certain is a healthy thing to do.
On a side note, it turns out Tosin Abasi’s thumping is much easier to do on bass, which kinda makes sense since originally it was bass technique lol.
I think I worked it out:
https://youtube.com/shorts/0LeXlT2qKOk
By ear, though I noticed they play it with a pick.
Also I could barely play it, so my technique is not exactly consistent, sometimes alternate plucking, sometimes racking, whatever felt easier at the moment.