I’m working on Nutshell by Alice in Chains. I know Mike Inez plays with a pick, but I’m still terrible with a pick so I’m almost exclusively fingerstyle for now.
I’m doing something while playing this song that wasn’t a conscious decision, and I didn’t even notice I was doing it at first because I was so focused on the fretting hand .
There is a particular phrase where you are playing a melodic line that finishes with an open E string:
I’m playing that with alternate plucking but when I get to the open E string I pluck that with my thumb that has been resting on the E string. It sounds good and it feels natural for this phrase.
I just want to make sure I’m not breaking a cardinal sin of bass or if this is considered a habit I should break.
I see a lot of players use thumb, particularly blues bass players. Its to the point that sometimes I think I’m doing it wrong by not using my thumb!! It’s something I’d like to develop in the near future.
There are plenty of reasons to intentionally play with thumbs, in some situations is preferable. Here’s an entire video dedicated to thumbs and palm muting and stuff from some small time creator I’ve never heard of. He even has a sick banana tattoo on his arm!
At the end of the biggest issue is whether or not you’re getting the right tone. There are nitpicks like muting, or practicing alternate plucking, but given that this is finishing the song(?) those things aren’t going to be as big of a deal.
