plucking

I've been playing bass for a little bit over a year and I've noticed that my plucking looks off. When I pluck with my middle and index fingers, the last joint kind of bends the other way right right when the finger is about to slip off the string. I don't think it affects my playing, but it just...

and it’s not the good kind either. i hadn’t noticed it until maybe a few weeks ago, but whenever i pluck a string with my middle finger, where the joint goes from up to down against the pressure from the string, i feel an ache in the joint itself. it feels like strain. right where my finger...

Great name for a band, but for a bass player with no feeling at the end of his index finger (plucking hand), no so much. The damage occurred before I even picked up the bass, thanks to a guard on a circular saw that ironically was supposed to keep me from cutting my fingers off. It sliced my...

On Sept 28, I injured my right index finger and accompanying knuckle. This is my plucking hand. I heard something pop down in the knuckle, and soon thereafter the swelling, tenderness, and diminished finger movement followed. I could move it up and down, but when making a grip, the index would...

Does anybody else have a bassist they really appreciate who plucks with their thumb? I don't mean the guys that use their thumb to pluck as one tool in a rich toolbox of techniques, like Damian Erskine. I mean the guys for whom this is just how they play, like Armando Hernández of Los Dos...

Tony has such a fluent right hand. he uses a kind of floating thumb. what's unique is that he doesn't rest the plucking finger on the next lower string but rather plucks "up" and the motion comes more from the middle joint than the base bf the finger. anybody here doing the same and can share...

Is it me but could it be that plucking with the thumb gives the overall playing a more consistent tone and even a tighter tempo than when using the usual suspects (index and middle fingers)? I was recording the same part, the same notes, in separate tracks first with the thumb and then with the...

Hi! I'm hoping someone here can help me with an issue I'm having with plucking: When playing fingerstyle, my middle finger tends to drive the string (particularly the A string into the upper frets making a clicking sound, which I hear over the note I am actually trying to play. It is very...

I've been playing for about 4 1/2 months already (loving it) and I've been using my middle and index fingers since I've started. But I want to get more technical. Especially for songs like YYZ. How should I practice using them?

Hi. I recently started playing electric bass, and the problem is, my plucking fingers are sore after short 1 hr rehearsals with my school's jazz band. My fret hand never gets sore, as I have calluses from years of playing cello and upright bass. I understand that there will be pain and I'll...

Recently, my school started a Jazz Band. Wanting to learn a new instrument I stepped up to play bass guitar. After a few days of practice, my band director told me I needed to learn plucking to play properly. So of course I started practicing, but I have been having a few issues. Firstly, I have...

Hello! I'm in this position where I've been considering my plucking position and the effect it has on tone. Basically, I have this old Greco rickenbacker clone, and it sounds great! However, while the pickup cover looks a lot better than the naked bridge pickup, plucking above the bridge...

Alright, so I started playing bass a just a while ago, after coming from ukulele. I tried to find someone else who asked a similar question to this one, but I couldn't. Basically, I pluck with 3 fingers, my index, middle, and thumb, using the thumb only when I need to jump down to either the A...

I was just wondering what happens electically or magnetically when one plucks too hard and blast the pickup into farting.

with friends like this who needs to practice?

I eventually want to become a very good bass player. So far I've gotten by because I can play acoustic and electric guitar fairly well and used to play bass back in the late 60's when things weren't so advanced or complicated. We'd only use a thumb or a single finger. Becoming a better player...

I have a new (to me) USA Jazz bass. I consider myself an intermediate-plus player. For years I played a slightly high action on a Precision Special and dug in pretty hard. The J has significantly lower action, seems to be set up well, and I have LaBella flats on it. However my A string - ONLY...

So as of recently i have started to move away from Pick technique and into plucking again I have been looking to play more older metallica bass lines (Damage inc, Fight fire with fire, Ride the lightning, The drum half of Anthesia (Pulling teeth) ETC.) My normal pluck and attack strikes with my...

I stumbled across this on the internets. It's a fake finger with an acrylic nail so you can play fingerstyle without having to use your real nails! Does anyone try this on bass guitar? What do you think? You can buy them here: The Ultimate Finger Pick Archives - Crossroads Music Company &...

I'm fairly new to bass (but long time musician on other instruments) and I've been practicing quite a bit and really loving bass. I see some people insist on anchored thumb and others floating thumb - and I found that, for me, the floating thumb was easiest for me to mute and to keep my wrist...

This is how my right hand plays at the moment. Sorry for the slightly rubbish example; I needed to hold the camera with my left hand to get the best angle. This playing style is to date the only comfortable plucking position I've managed to find. If I move my palm closer to the bass, like...

Hi everybody. I've asked stupid questions here a few times already and now doing it once again. Having struggled so much, watched lots of videos and visited a teacher, I've found a position which feels most comfortable and relaxed to me: I rest the weight of the hand mostly on thumb, the point...

No matter how hard I try I cant avoid playing with one finger (my index) its hurting my ability to feel the funk Anyone have some cool excerices for getting my middle finger rocking as well?

I saw a video of someone plucking their bass with three fingers instead of the typical two. After seeing it I thought to myself, "That seems like a pretty efficient way to play" and then tried it out for myself. I immediately learned a few things. One, my ring finger is pitifully weak. Two...

I have a couple questions about right (plucking) hand technique. The first one is this: when I'm playing an ascending scale or line, I'll pluck it the normal way by alternating between my index and middle finger. But, when I descend the same scale, I'll usually start with my middle finger, then...

My right hand technique is an odd case. I've got a 90 degree hitchhiker's thumb, the last joints in my right hand collapse (I have tried a more "proper" bent fingers approach which does work but no matter how I trim my nails all I can hear is a very bright and sharp sound of my nails and I can't...

The recent thread about the original placement of old P Bass tug bars/thumb rests got me thinking about a couple of things. Most folks were saying "What on earth use could that ever be?" I've never had a bass with a tug bar there but, actually, if I had I would probably be quite useful on quite...

So I've been obsessed with Vulfpeck's "Dean Town" for a couple of weeks now and have been trying to learn to play it, but I can't sustain the sixteenth notes at speed without my plucking hand tensing up causing me to slow down too much. I can play sixteenth notes at 90 BPM pretty evenly for...

So... I'm trying to increase my right hand plucking speed. I've been using a pick more lately, and realize that my left hand is MUCH MUCH faster than my right. People like Hardrien Feraud can play unbelievably fast with just two fingers, but I don't think most normal humans can do that no...

Attempting a big acoustic sound - got a CCB, Spirocore mittels, 8-10 mm action and right hand anchored at the end of the finger board. Got a super callus on my 1st finger joint- trouble is - cannot get my second finger into play for fast walks up and down etc. I can do fast walking lines with my...

So...I've been a guitarist for over 2 decades now, but I recently dove head first heavily into bass. My main focus/love is slap bass (i.e.: Les Claypool, Mark King, Flea, Victor Wooten, etc.). I keep my fingernails very short on my plucking hand, but I seem to still be chipping the beautiful...

I'm pretty comfortable using my index and middle finger, but have begun practicing incorporating my third ring finger into the mix for major scale practice. My pinky is simply too short to be useful, but working this third finger is requiring a good bit of practice to get it proficient. Have...

Not referring to "normal" playing. When I pluck a string from below in slap bass, my hand moves away from the strings as one would expect, but this means I can't then play a second note very quickly (quavers at 110bpm maximum). Is there any trick I'm missing to play these faster as I can't seem...

So, I'm very amateur with the slap and pluck/pop stuff. I've realized that when I pluck/pop the string (say.. open G string, for example), that I'll use my thumb to apply pressure on the string/fretboard so I can have enough force to pop the string up with my index finger. I have a feeling...

I was a very disciplined guitar student and my wonderful teacher had my on a strict regimen of Paul Gilbert style alternate picking. I grew up up, down, up, down.... no mater if I was going up or down strings. To this day almost 30 years later, it's instinctive! Yet... playing the bass with...

Errr, typo in the thread title, think it got autocorrected ;) Hey I've been playing bass for a while and recently started to focus on my right hand technique making sure it's consistent and noticed something odd. I use the raking technique instead of alternating for everything, but it's not...

So I been playing for probably 13 years. And just discovered this. Sounds just like or as close to an upright bass as an electric could sound, also kinda sounds like an octave pedal... I can't tell if I'm hearing sub frequencies, or if I'm ONLY hearing the fundemental without the overtones? What...

I've always had issues plucking the E-string with my fingers because there is no string below it to catch my fingers. It takes longer for my fingers to recover after playing the E-string. It also just doesn't feel as natural/easy to pluck the E-string. Any advice on how to make plucking the...

After practicing a lot, yesterday we entered to record at a pro local studio. Talking to the engineer I shared my experience of plucking with one finger only to achieve a steady, solid pulse when playing 8th notes (Geddy Lee being a good example) He agreed that it´s generally "better" that way...

Hello! I have a 2012 MIA fender jazz bass that has some kind of rattle on the E and A string when I pluck by bridge pick-up. There seems to be no rattling (or less audible) when I pluck by the neck. Moreover, the rattling gets worse as I go towards the bridge. I don't hear the rattle when I...