Bassists have always been using their thumb to pluck the strings of their bass guitar as well. However, thumb plucking is generally slower and gives you a fast and thick sound that may be suitable for slower tempo songs. There’s nothing abnormal about playing your bass with your thumb.
What fingers do you pluck bass with?
Broadly speaking, most bass players use their index and middle fingers to pluck the strings one after the other. James Jamerson used ‘The Hook’ (one index finger all the time), and players like John Myung, Gary Willis, and Billy Sheehan pluck with three.
Do I have to play bass with fingers?
Truthfully, there is no right or wrong way to play a bass guitar. There isn’t even a preferred way. Any method you use to get sound out of the thing—fingers, pick, thumb, those weird stick things Tony Levin uses, telekinesis, whatever—works just fine. It’s purely a matter of personal preference.
Is it easier to play bass with a pick or fingers?
Usually, bass players report having more control when using their fingers, giving them a richer tonal variety, and beefier tone. In Addition, the popular slap technique used by many bassists can be easily implemented, if you don’t hold any pick between your fingers.
What makes a good bassist?
A good bass player has a decent grasp on music theory. A good bass player plays well with others and communicates on stage. A good bass player could compose a simple groove on the spot. A good bass player can play ahead of the beat, on the beat, or behind the beat and knows when each of these is required.
Do bassists use ring finger?
The ring finger is best used with electric bass, You have to think completely different when on Upright bass.
Is bass easier with big hands?
You need proper technique, which isn’t like guitar technique, but your hand size really doesn’t matter much so long as you can reach the lowest string across the fretboard. It doesn’t matter how many frets you can reach at once because you should never be stretching to reach them anyway.
Should you rest thumb on pickup bass?
Rest on Pickup:
A common way for bassists to position their picking hand thumb is to rest it on the pickup. The advantage of this is that you don`t have to think about your thumb at all and can focus on your picking. The disadvantage is that you will have a wide range of motion.
Is picking harder than fingerstyle?
Generally, it’s easier to play faster with a pick than with fingerstyle. However, many guitarists can play extremely fast with their fingers, so it may be a matter of putting in more practice to build up your speed.
How many hours a week should I practice bass?
If you are more serious about playing the bass, 2-3 hours a day would be a good amount of practice time. And, if you want to be really good you might practice as much as 6-8 hours a day.
Is plucking harder than strumming?
Strumming is easier than fingerpicking or using a guitar pick, (at least initially) but both methods have their own difficulties that you have to figure out.
Is playing bass alone fun?
Most bassists find playing Bass alone a fun experience. Playing alone gives you the opportunity to experiment, jam, and evolve on the Bass guitar in ways that would be unfitting in a band setting. A common misconception is that due to the supportive role of the bass in a band it is a boring solo instrument.
Why dont bassists use picks?
They don’t like the sound: Picks produce a treble-heavy, defined sound. Although this sound compliments certain genres, some bassists are traditionalists, believing a pick takes away from an authentic sound.
Why do bassists tape their fingers?
FINGERING TAPE: To assist beginning bassists with correct finger placement, some bass teachers use thin strips of colored tape (e.g. 1/8″ graphic chart tape or pinstripe auto detailing tape) to mark where students should place their fingers on the bass fingerboard.
Did paul mccartney always use a pick?
Paul played with a pick from his earliest days on the instrument, and continued this habit all throughout his career. It’s rare to find a Beatles where he plays with his fingers instead. Using a pick has a number of tonal advantages, particularly with the violin-style basses that Paul liked to use.
Is it harder to play guitar or bass?
So to conclude, as a beginner it is almost universally accepted that the bass is easier than guitar. You will be able to play famous songs much quicker and mistakes should come about less often.
Did Lemmy use a pick?
Lemmy drove that attack with his very own signature Dunlop Nylon picks. We’re proud to have been an integral part of Lemmy’s playing, and proud to offer this same pick to fans and players. This Pick Tin includes six of the same authentic 1.14mm nylon guitar picks Lemmy used, with his signature branding.
Do basses get better with age?
OutToPlayJazz. The wood does mature over time yes, much like any stringed instrument. So resonance and tone can increase over an extended period. Some of it will also be down to playing – Actually passing vibrations through varnish and wood makes the instrument more resonant over time.
Which genre has the best bass?
If you just mean bass sound – Dubstep is probably the answer. Some genres of Rock – classic (Beatles, Hendrix, Zep especially) had some serious bass playing. Some contemporary metal has major bass features, but metal traditionally is not a bass forward genre.
Is being a bassist hard?
It’s not hard to learn to play the bass, as in make music with it. It is in fact easier to learn at the most basic level than other stringed instruments because you aren’t playing chords so you don’t have to learn how to hold down X strings on Y frets while playing only those X strings.
Can there be 2 bassists in a band?
It’s possible to have two bassists in a band. Most bands elect to just have one bass player as this is sufficient to play music in all contemporary genres. Having two bassists generally requires writing two distinct bass parts, which leads to an unconventional sound.