I am an intermediate player and I am on the beginner part of the course and for playing A string Josh talks about resting on the E string. I have played all string by anchoring on the pickup only. Is that bad technique and I should follow Josh’s course or its okay for my preference if I can comfortably play all 4 string from the pickup anchor?
As always it’s whatever works for you. However you will likely find muting the E and A strings a little easier if you move your anchor. that said there are people that stay anchored on the pickups and do just fine. My advice would be to try to move the anchor and later decide if that’s how you want ot move forwards. you can’t really judge until you’ve tried it properly. It might also help you with being a little more dynamic with your plucking position. It’s not just about which string you anchor on but also about varying your plucking position; closer to the neck or closer to the bridge give very different sounds. You want to be flexible.
7 Likes
I second the above.
The additional point I’ll add is that it also gives you more options for plucking position along the length of the string (closer to or further from the bridge) to get different tones. It will also lay a better foundation to be comfortable with a pick or slap.
1 Like
I’ve done both. I started with finger on E from Josh’s recommendation. Then I tried floating thumb, which I really like for easy muting. I also take lessons from an in person teacher and she prefers to keep her thumb on the pickup, which feels fine for the neck pick, but weird to me on the bridge pickup.
She plays a MusicMan StingRay, so she always uses the bridge pickup as that is the only pickup. I tried the StingRay and I need to use the E string or floating thumb technique or it feels super weird to me.
I bought one for my Yamaha BB734A. My thumb was getting sore from resting it on the notch to the side of the screw on the pickup. I positioned it next to it, so I have a larger surface for my thumb.
1 Like