Quick question on plucking hand + string skipping while condescending.

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DjNawo

Jan 24, 2013
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#1
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 consistent when I skip strings while decending back to E. When I go from The E string to the D, and then back down to E string for instance, if I start with my index finger on E, I'll go Index E > Middle D > Index E. If I start with my middle finger however, It'll turn out to be Middle E > Index D > Index E.

I'm pretty sure that jump with my index finger while decending is slowing down some of my quicker runs when I start on a different finger. Which of those two techniques would be considered faster or more 'correct' in your experience? Right now, it feels REALLY weird to try to go Middle E > Index D > Middle E, but I figure through practice I can fix that with some time.
 
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#3
RoadRanger said:
I don't understand why you don't want to do Index E > Middle D > Index E ?
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I do that now, and I prefer doing it, I just don't do it when I start with my middle finger is all. I'm assuming even when using the raking technique while descending, I should be alternating when string skipping right?

To clarify, just trying to confirm which of those two things I do is optimal for speed.
 
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#7
RoadRanger said:
Why start with your middle finger?
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Well when I'm doing quicker runs I don't really have an option to choose which finger starts ascending. If I start on A for instance, with my Middle finger, go down to E with my middle finger (rake) I can't exactly choose to go up to D with my middle finger, as I just performed a rake with my middle and ended up raking to E, meaning the next finger to use while ascending would be my index.
 
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#12
RoadRanger said:
Sure you do.Don't do that - play the "A" with the middle and the "E" with the index.
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I feel like raking is a legitimate technique, and I've used it for many years now, so probably not going to do this. When you're playing faster lines and raking, you can't simply end up using the finger you want to start with every time, sometimes you'll end up needing to start with another finger so I don't always have the choice of which finger to start on.

Anyway, checked out Scott Devine's lesson on alternate vs raking. He rakes himself, and I had to slow it down to see, but when he's descending and skipping a string, he alternates fingers, so that'll likely be quicker in the end than raking and skipping.
 
#14
jallenbass said:
Every time I analyze a line that I'm fumbling with I see that I'm raking. Once I work on it strictly alternating it cleans right up. It works with my students as well.
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I did read an old thread Jimmy posted in where someone recommended to practice SA always, but when playing play however. I think if I work on SA I'll be able to play more fluidly. Thanks for everyone's input, Jimmy you've convinced me to at least practice SA heavily
 
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#15
I think the most important thing is that, whether you maintain strict alternation or rake, you are always in control of which you are doing. Where problems arise is when you sometimes do one and sometimes the other, just letting your fingers "decide" at any given moment. A few years ago I discovered this problem in my own playing: Most of the time it worked fine, but occasionally I'd come across a line that caused my plucking fingers to get tied up in knots. When I sat down to figure out what the problem was, it turned out that my fingers couldn't "decide": One wanted to rake and the other wanted to maintain strict alternation.
 
#16
DjNawo said:
I did read an old thread Jimmy posted in where someone recommended to practice SA always, but when playing play however. I think if I work on SA I'll be able to play more fluidly. Thanks for everyone's input, Jimmy you've convinced me to at least practice SA heavily
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Thank Dave LaRue for that one, actually. On my first day of taking lessons from him, he made clear that there was to be no raking.
 
#19
I naturally rake whenever feasible (economy of motion), but I've always played using the first 3 fingers. Then I can use whatever finger ends up being the most convenient at the time, and always having 2 other fingers available keeps me from getting tied up. For octave jumps I'll commonly use 1 and 3. When I started I wanted to use the pinky for plucking (in addition to the other 3) but ended up using it more for muting and making staccato notes and the occasional pop. I also read something long ago about the importance of being able to let the right hand be independent and not completely be locked to the notes of the left hand.

But the pros definitely know their stuff. I'll have to make it a point to try it sometime.
 
#20
tlc1976 said:
I naturally rake whenever feasible (economy of motion)
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I don't buy into the economy of motion thing when it comes to raking. I find that it takes me out of my alternating rhythm to stick in a rake unless it's completely isolated from any other notes, and I find that those who feel it's better economy of motion to rake really haven't made an effort to master strict alternation. It takes a good couple months with it to get it down. At first you think it sucks because it will make you sloppier, but with all new techniques, there's a learning curve, and once you get past it, it becomes a lot easier and you will start to see the improvements.
 
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