technique

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...

So, played an outdoor gig yesterday afternoon (only kind there are round my way nowadays) and by the end temps had dropped into the low 50s. I'm a fingers player 95% of the time (but I've played guitar for years so I know what to do with a pick), but with the chill setting in I started to get...

Hi, I'm a fairly new bass player with a fairly new bass (and by fairly new, i mean about 5 weeks) and I am finding that the E string often buzzes a few moments after letting it ring out. I have tried different positions in the fret and pressing harder/softer on the string but nothing seems to...

Hi all, Damian Erskine here. It just occurred to me that I've been remiss in not letting my TalkBass community know about my relatively newly launched educational site! Bass Education It's only $7/mo or $75/year (just a hair more than my hourly rate for lessons). I've been getting fantastic...

I know I’ve already received lots of advice on staying motivated on bass and how to improve, but I do have one problem that is still present in my playing even more now than ever even after recent practice. It’s the fact that my rhythm and timing have been on a decline especially since learning...

Hi Everyone, I thought I would share a short video I made for a bass student on improving finger movement. Thanks Darren.

I’m making a short 50’s inspired doo wop/rockabilly album, and I don’t have an upright so I’m only using electric bass. Is there a “best way” for emulating the rockabilly slap? Are there any quintessential Rockabilly electric bass recordings? So far I’ve been using my Grote Hofner club bass...

hello bassists I'm a professional double bassist presently completing a degree in osteopathy in Montreal, Canada. I'm doing a research on double bassists right now (musculoskeletal pain vs practice habits) , it's a 3-6 min survey, your support is appreciated! You can subscribe at the end of the...

I have a BB bass and I found it is hard to play freely after 15 frets because of its design. But as a beginner I have no problems right now, but am curious about what people actually play after 15 frets. What do you play with your bass - Solos? Or chords?

Hello everyone, I'm at this point in my playing where I say I'm "intermediate" but I'm struggling with playing anything quick. I loose coordination and mess up. Thinking back I started learning on a right hand bass even though I'm left-handed because the guy in the guitar shop said I would be...

Just learning Slap technique. The most comfortable hand position puts my thumb at about 2 o'clock (just above horizontal) and middle finger the perfect position to pluck without reaching or straining. Plucking/poping with my index feels cramped and awkward. I'm SO early in this, should I...

I've always known I had a bit of a T-Rex thing going on with my plucking hand wrist angle. Curious if others do the same and if I'm putting my wrist at risk for injury. Just started making YouTube videos. Would be cool to get some feedback, and subscribers. Here's my page. A cover. An original.

Before we were all imprisoned thanks to CV, I had been to hear a couple of young bands. Both the bass players felt as though they needed to exhibit their skills to the max.....as a result, some of the music was lost. Perhaps all new/young players should watch Victor Wooten in this video and...

I've made some good basslines in the past but a lot of the time I end up sitting down and thinking ok chord tones got it, now scales got it. But when I try putting them together it sounds either random or very repetitive as if I'm just playing scales or arpeggios. Also, it's hard but I can't...

As an example, I have tons of respect for Jaco and he was a monster of a bassist (far better than I will ever be) but I do not want to sound like him tonewise. It's just not my thing although I enjoy hearing him do it. Is there anyone you admire that you are not trying to emulate? Give it a good...

I've been more aware of my muting recently since I've been playing outside of my band context. I'm trying to be more aware of my note releases, as well as harmonic nodes that ring sympathetically on all strings based on my plucking hand position or my fretting hand position. One technique that...

Hey all! First time poster in this subforum. With some more time on my hands due to the state of the world right now, I'd like to do a deep dive on improving my technique. One particular thing I'd love to do is learn some more classical pieces on the bass guitar. I've already learned some of...

I have a newbie question regarding playing chords on the bass. I saw an online bass tutor touting playing bass chords. I understand from the guitar world about playing chords, but am having a hard time with them bass playing. They sound muddy to me. Probably me still working things out, but...

Hey everyone, was wondering if anyone knew why some p basses have a huge 'mwah' tone on the g string (sometimes d and even a), almost like a fretless tone, and some dont at all. Can't seem to find any reason for it to be on some basses and not others - seems to even differ between basses of the...

Fellow TB'ers, I've been trying to branch out my abilities to more than just fingerstyle playing (and quickly realizing I need more practice than I thought :meh:) which got me to thinking: Do you think it is particularly important that a bassist be a jack of all trades, master of none player...

Some days, I feel like I'm spot-on and my rhythm is right where it should be. Occasionally, for no apparent reason, it feels like my two playing fingers are suffering from Down's syndrome and they can't get out of each other's way. I have no logical explanation for why it fluctuates but I was...

I'm a beginner and this has been frustrated me for the past few days. What do I do with the fingers that I'm not playing a note with? For example, I'm playing a C with my index finger, where do I put the other three fingers? Like, do I put them on the string above or something?

So here's an example of a line that uses a lot of root > fifth below. In the video I'm playing it two ways. The first time through I'm using one finger to go between the root and the fifth, second time I'm using two fingers (either 2nd and 3rd, or 3rd and 4th depending on the position). I'm new...

Hi all, I've recently started studying bass full time at a conservatoire here in the UK, and over the last few months I've noticed the skin on my hands really starting to deteriorate - getting really dry, cracking, and dead skin on my fingertips. I've always put a lot of thought and effort...

In my cover band we have been doing more and more Pop and Top 40 music that's very synth-centric. As a result, the keyboard player and myself have been splitting duties as far as covering the most important parts of these songs with me usually taking the bass parts for obvious reasons. I...

Okay. *phew* picking up the bass for the fourth time in over a year and a half has been...humbling to say the least! I have stupid flying fingers (the cramping and fatigue are BRUTAL!), and limited dexterity. I’ve also recently acquired two types of hand tremors due to a neurological disorder...

Hi there, (new here :]) I’ve been playing bass guitar for a few years now and I have a one-on-one teacher. I’ve only recently realised that the way I use my fretting hand might not be correct, but my teacher has never said anything to correct it so I don’t know if it actually even is a problem...

I briefly put on (and intend to keep handy) a set of Fender tapewounds on my P bass with a gauge of 58-110. Granted, tapes are not as stiff as flats, but moving back down to a 40-100 set of Rotos rounds, it feels almost effortless playing fast runs and moving around the frets. Does anyone use a...

Hey everybody, I'm curious to see how many people are theory nuts vs how many people don't do theory and how many people fall somewhere in between. I'm studying music in college, so studying theory is a big part of that. I think pretty technically most of the time so improvisation is rarely a...

I've recently REALLY gotten into playing funky slap/pop lines, but painful, bloody cuticles on my popping index/middle fingers have all but prevented me from continuing. I guess I tend to catch them on the strings below when I'm really going at it. I've tried using band aids, but the...

A few weeks ago, I was watching Gary Willis' video that he did with Scott Devine at Scott's Bass Lessons, and one of the things he showed, when discussing his technique is, when soloing, the importance of shifting hand positions on the neck, horizontally. I think he mentioned something about...

So I play mostly metal/punk style bass, I tap, I tap arpeggios, gallop (2-3 finger and thumb at times), currently added flicking (don't wann go over that again), and try to slap but never confident without doing boring octave stuff But if there is one style any bassist can appreciate, it is a...

Hi guys! Just curious on how people can keep a consistently good sound when switching techniques mid song! Personally when I go from index and ring finger, to thumb and fingers and slap and pop the sounds just seem so inconsistent mid play. I'm wondering if it's just down to technique or would...

Here’s an old lesson I did last year on Minor scales. Well, the first isn’t technically a parent scale as such! (Find out more...). These are all great scales and really cool for developing your melodic and harmonic vocabulary and definitely worth a look at if you want to extend your technical...

So I’ve seen this appear more often, but this video fully cemented me into posting about it. What is this flicking technique that is going about? My favorite bassist Mike Flores (technical death metal) is an avid user of this, but so is Bryan Beller and Geddy Lee Essentially, you use your...

I really like the sound that I get playing on higher frets (especially 7th-12th frets). Is there anyway to get this sound, or one similar to it, without needing to go up the fretboard?

I've noticed that his bass' neck hangs low and almost horizontally.. He may have giant hands, but isn't this really bad for ergonomics and technique? I love the look of it though and I'd love to do this, as well, so does anyone know how he's able to play like this? And he does put his thumb...

I was going to post this in general instruction, but it's sort of beyond that. I saw it the other day in the "bitter and jealous" rant, and now I can't get enough of it. Two and a half minutes of truth from a bassist who really did do it all. "You'll work for the rest of your life."

UPRIGHT PLAYERS (but not limited to) How do you deal with straining your hands and fatigue while walking for an extended period of time? I usually use turmeric but it hasn't been readily available since I've gotten to university. Any preventative measures you take? Treatment etc.?

I've been practicing thrash metal and I've noticed some thrash metal bassists rarely (if ever) use palm muting. My problem is that when I'm picking open 4th string notes at a fast tempo the sustain of all those notes overlapping creates an unwanted muddy background noise. How do they tackle...