Different instrument. Same sentiment.
lol
Sometime this year I want to learn how to slap. I can’t get a good tone out of it but I think I might take a few in person lessons to get started for the feel for it. I’ve been inspired because of this song.
Not struggling with, just learning and finding it a tad challenging: dotted quarter note rests…
If it helps, you can also think of it as a quarter note rest followed by an eighth note rest.
Just learing an old triphop song, and it sounds meeehhhh! Like an undefined tone soup.
Most notes need to be played mellow, but others are more accented. There is quite some subtle dynamics going on.
I play everything too mellow, so it sounds whiny. I pity the sound coming out of my bass and I want to tell it to stop wailing
Standing for 3hrs
I’ve been using a standing desk for years.
Eight hours at a whack is a breeze. 10+ hours duration is a bit more of a chore, but totally doable.
Haha nice.
Plucking or guitar setup?
I’m struggling with a plucking issue which causes a “clunk” sound and wondering if I need to change my fingering or the action on the guitar (or both).
It happens often when I will rake a finger across two strings, when I land on the last, the string “clunks” against a fret. On further examining… it seems the clunk is coming from the string my thumb is resting on (e.g. the E string when a rake my plucking finger from D to A). Since the string is muted well, it is just a short sharp noise. I don’t get the same when I am just chugging for playing.
I’m not sure if I need to change the angle of my pluck or if I have the action set too low. Seems like I might we right on the edge of too low when I adjusted as I need to be very clean on fretting to avoid buzz, but it makes fretting easier (not as much pressure needed).
Wondering if others have experienced this clunk on raking a note and ideas to remedy.
If it’s coming from your anchoring string then it may be you are pressing too hard on that string with your thumb. I do this sometimes and can get similar effects, along with a slightly painful thumb! You shouldn’t need to press too hard with the thumb.
Thank you HB,
I will try playing with my thumb pressure.
Appreciate your sharing.
Hi Guys,
Just started playing bass and working my way through the course. I have a question about plucking and where to rest your thumb when playing certain strings. Is it best practice to always be resting your thumb on the string above the one you are playing eg. thumb on A string when playing D? I find that doing this makes me get a better sound and prevents noise from coming from the string my finger will end up resting on. Should I practice plucking strings A,D and G without moving my thumb to the next string each time I change?
Apologies in advance if I haven’t explained this well
My thumb is either not on a string (playing E string), on E (playing A string, maybe D) or on A string (playing D or G strings) as your plucking finger should mute D when you pluck through from G. As you learn, you’ll decide which works best for you but you generally don’t need to rest a finger on D. As you get better with left hand or palm muting you may just keep your thumb resting on pickup altogether. No right way - if it sounds good and works for you, do it. Muting is the silent (pun intended) harder part of playing bass actually.
There is no hard and fast rule of what is “correct”. Different techniques have advantages and disadvantages.
Best advice is to practice multiple different techniques so that you can use whichever one works best in the moment.
Personally - I do a very similar thing to John_E above. I anchor where is going to be most efficient. Usually that’s just below the string I’m playing. However I frequently cover a two string span without changing my anchor. (If a line goes between D and G strings, I’ll just stay on the E.) If a line descends strings, I’ll often start anchor at the bottom of the descent. If I’m grabbing a quick octave, I’ll just reach without changing my anchor.
Yep, I don’t anchor at all; I float.
I use the side of my plucking thumb to mute unused E and A strings. As I slide my thumb to mute strings, this technique keeps my index and middle fingers in the same position relative to the strings I need to play. As a fingerpicking guitar player, this works most naturally for me. Mileage will vary.
Thanks guys, I think I’ve ended up doing something similar to @John_E in that I’ll rest my thumb below the string I’m playing except when playing G as my plucking finger doesn’t get any unwanted sound out of the D string. Hopefully as I get better with muting, I can try moving my thumb less.
hi. could i ask if anyone knows of a decent tutorial on playing with a pick please? i see theres a module at the end of B2B course, but i cant unlock it until ive finished it (currently module 6). im doing the course as per instruction with 2 finger plucking, but i know i want to end up using the pick as my main playing style and so id like to practice it at the same time as doing the course.
thanks
I watched a lot of videos but it came down to practicing finding what’s comfortable and just paying attention to the sound. I don’t like thin picks so there is a combination of angle and hold pressure to get it to move the way I want.
It’s still something in progress but I went from hating the pick to loving the sound and feel.
I can’t seem to get my nails short enough or pluck at the right angle to avoid clacks on the strings so unless I want to get hands on or more thick I’ve been sticking with the pick