Best exercises for finger style?

[astrozombie]

I've decided to give a few local bassists a run for their money and start playing bass much more often than before. My knowledge of scales, modes etc will do great for fills but my right hand is not up to snuff.

What helped you guys develop stronger right hand technique? You know, besides years and years of playing...

 

[Kamanda~SD]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

What style?

I hate to say it but to build right hand strength all you can do is play

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Get so old that your nervous system begins to fail. Then, you can attack the strings as hard as you like and feel no pain.

 

[BlueTalon]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

There are a few things you can do. One is to make a habit of using your right thumb and fingertips to pick things up that you would normally grab with your hand. Another is to tap out rhythms on your desk or table or steering wheel with your first two fingers whenever you are listening to music. You can get a hand exerciser or even a finger exerciser (I have seen them for sale at music stores).

But yeah, the best thing to get your fingers and hands into shape is to play. A lot.

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

For the most part, you should just get a bass, and play every day for as long as you can. There are no shortcuts to learning a certain technique. Repetition is the only way.

A few tips:

- The fine control of sustain is everything. What separates a great right hand from a merely adequate one is muting/sustain control. It is as much (if not more) about stopping the note as it is about starting it. Just remember that plucking the strings is only half of the technique (and it's the relatively easy half). Every note as a beginning and an end, you have to be responsible for and in control of both of them, or else you're playing will come across as ****

- Beyond the basics, don't get too hung up on the "textbook" way to do it. If you have any musical feel, it will instinctively guide your plucking and muting so you develop an effective technique for yourself. Again, this goes back to "just play."

- Flatwound strings. These ought to be viewed as the default bass string, especially for fingers. And up until the '70's, they were. Most of the "standard" electric bass technique that is used to this day was developed on these strings. I don't mean this in a limiting, rule-bound way, but in general, flatwounds and fingers go hand-in-hand, and roundwounds and picks go hand-in-hand. I certainly don't follow those guidelines. I use a pick on flatwounds all the time, and if I am playing somebody else's bass that has rounds on it, I'll use my fingers without pause. But I would say that these are pretty fair guidelines to follow if you are just trying to learn the basics of finger plucking. Once you feel you have some control, then experiment away. Curmudgeonly opinions about strings aside, it really is easier to learn to pluck on flats; they are just better suited for that technique.

- Use the heaviest strings you can find. You want a firm, tense string. Floppy = sloppy. Thin strings are harder to control, especially if you are just learning. Thick strings return to the "home" position more quickly and firmly, so it's easier to instinctively know right where they are and go right to them without fumbling or missing. They will also help you build up strength more quickly.

FWIW, I've never personally heard any bass player call it "fingerstyle" in real life. To me, that seems like the kind of word you'd hear in the bass equivalent of those horrible guitar magazines that have guys like Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, and Joe Bonnamassa on the cover.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Metronome
Practice
A lot
And repeat

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I always thought that fingerstyle was a derogatory description used by orchestral contrabassists to distinguish it from "proper" bow technique.

Glenn. What bass guitar do you have at present? Multiple pickup instruments with active circuitry present sonic variety via the electronics. On a single pickup passive instrument, you have to extract the sonic variation through technique alone.

EDIT - Do not neglect left hand technique. Practice hammering on and pulling off. Aim to achieve equal volume by these methods and by right hand plucking.

Try drop tuning the E string to D. Suddenly, yo' bottom three strings make for one-finger power chording. Then, as my brother would say, "solo over that!"

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I always thought that fingerstyle was a derogatory description used by orchestral contrabassists to distinguish it from "proper" bow technique.

I have never heard it used that way. I played bass in an orchestra for three years. Pizzicato playing is part of the normal (indeed, required) set of techniques for any strings player in an orchestra (not just bassists). I have never heard anyone criticize it in any way. If anything, most orchestral bassists I've ever spent time with wish that their pizzicato was better. I also don't think a snobby orchestral bassist would bother criticizing a specific technique used on electric bass. They'd probably just criticize the entire instrument itself, for not being acoustic/traditional.

I think "fingerstyle" is just a word favored by magazine/book/Internet techie people who think it sounds "pro" to use snappy, sexy jargon – to "name" things, as opposed to simply describing them.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I think "fingerstyle" is just a word favored by magazine/book/Internet techie people who think it sounds "pro" to use snappy, sexy jargon – to "name" things, as opposed to simply describing them.

In short, another way of writing "not plectrum style".

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Another way of writing, "Using your fingers."

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I was trying to think down to music journalist level. Sorry.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I always thought that fingerstyle was a derogatory description used by orchestral contrabassists to distinguish it from "proper" bow technique.

Glenn. What bass guitar do you have at present? Multiple pickup instruments with active circuitry present sonic variety via the electronics. On a single pickup passive instrument, you have to extract the sonic variation through technique alone.

EDIT - Do not neglect left hand technique. Practice hammering on and pulling off. Aim to achieve equal volume by these methods and by right hand plucking.

Try drop tuning the E string to D. Suddenly, yo' bottom three strings make for one-finger power chording. Then, as my brother would say, "solo over that!"

I'm practicing with a precision bass copy. I like experiences like these; the quality of the bass (or lack thereof) makes this like practicing tennis with a spoon. If you can hit the ball with a spoon, imagine how easy it would be to hit it with a racket. I still don't know what kind of bass I would use myself if I had the budget to get a model I would like. I will say that I've always been attracted to hollow instruments or Gibson "style" instruments.

Make any sense? glued neck joint and big warm sounds vs bolt on alder snap.



edit: I'm the kind of player that believes that the biggest factor to your tone is your technique. I'm much more interested in developing the sound I want with my hands than getting it through electronics.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I'm practicing with a precision bass copy. I like experiences like these; the quality of the bass (or lack thereof) makes this like practicing tennis with a spoon. If you can hit the ball with a spoon, imagine how easy it would be to hit it with a racket.

How bad is the neck relief and string action on that? On the other hand, have you ever seen photographs of what James Jamerson was working with?

I still don't know what kind of bass I would use myself if I had the budget to get a model I would like. I will say that I've always been attracted to hollow instruments or Gibson "style" instruments. Make any sense? glued neck joint and big warm sounds vs bolt on alder snap.

Yes, right up until you crash into the brick outhouse that is the Gibson RD.

I'm the kind of player that believes that the biggest factor to your tone is your technique. I'm much more interested in developing the sound I want with my hands than getting it through electronics.

For a long time, my default suggestions have been the Squier Vintage Modified Jazz Bass (with a few additional mods) and the Yamaha Attitude Plus or Special (again, with a few mods). To this, I would now add the Sterling By Musicman SUB 4. Eminently playable. Just needs an American pickup and, perhaps, a better bridge.

Right now, your short cut to "big, warm sounds" is flatwound strings. On a suspect neck, 40-100 gauge should suffice.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Moving from guitar to bass, I'd say start with the lightest set of bass strings until you get your hands in shape, then move up. Jumping in straight away with "manly-man" strings may cause physical harm to your hands. At the very least, starting on larger strings will mean you'll need to take more frequent breaks, and greatly increase the time you need to practice, while more comfortable strings will allow you more time to practice before experiencing discomfort. More practice is always beneficial. Pain never is.

You'll hear that bass strings need to be really high off the neck and you should never heard them rattle against the frets. Ignore that. Being able to crush cue balls with your left hand is a myth that idiots like to throw out and then laugh when a beginner's life is ruined with carpal tunnel. Lower the strings, shim the neck heel, and get the balance between string height and rattle you're comfortable with. Flatwounds may also help here, as well as tuning down a whole step and transposing (assuming of course you tune EADG and not BEAD).

 

[Chickenwings]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Bassists standard right hand fingerstyle technique is identical to classical and flamenco guitar "apoyando" or rest stroke.
Just do that. Get your alternation nice and solid and rhythmical by doing heaps of work with the metronome, scales/arpeggios and standard chord progressions. Do all this with quarter notes, 8th notes, triplets and 16ths etc. Do legato and staccato work. Do it with dynamic variation. Do it with slurs. When it comes down to it, an electric bass is just a big guitar with a couple of strings missing.
I will just mention the metronome again too...

 

[threechordcharlie]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

I set my string height at the 12th fret using a nickle to gauge the string height. I use GHS light Round wounds (ALWAYS have).
I play a P bass so as for the right hand;
I rest my thumb on the top edge of the pickup or on the top string (when I'm not popping and slapping) and I bounce my picking fingers with the beat inwards towards my palm. The "bounce" helps immensely with stopping your notes.
As for strengthening of the hand, I used a grip trainer when I was young. It looks like 2 small handles with a loop of metal at the top, joining the two handles. Instead of gripping it with my fist I would hold it between my thumb and fingers.

 

[Aceman]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Classical drills

 

[Bass_Medic_05]

Re: Best exercises for finger style?

Yes, all this and age, by the way guitar players aren't bass players lol!