Music Banter - View Single Post - Bass Question: Using your thumb and your fingers for picking.

Daktari · 11-02-2009, 02:58 PM

Hi there,

I have had a Tacoma acoustic/electric bass for a few years now and have evolved a way of playing it that is more like finger picking on a flat top guitar. I use my thumb mainly for the E string and my first, second and third fingers for the other three strings.This is great for African style bass playing I find.

Whether a certain method is correct or not does not really matter. Who is to decide what is correct? Sometimes, a certain technique is needed to achieve certain sounds, especially where speed is involved but apart from that, there need not be rules. It's the end result that counts.

I always think of it as a blank canvas. Whether you splat paint on or use a teeny,tiny paint brush and make really precise marks, there is always something there that didn't exist a few moments ago. Same with music. It's all about creating sounds, whichever route we use to get there.

Gordon.

11-02-2009, 02:58 PM	#19 (permalink)
Daktari Music Addict Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Originally from Lancashire, England, lived near Largs, Scotland and now live in Rocky Face, Georgia Posts: 154	Finger picking on bass. Hi there, I have had a Tacoma acoustic/electric bass for a few years now and have evolved a way of playing it that is more like finger picking on a flat top guitar. I use my thumb mainly for the E string and my first, second and third fingers for the other three strings.This is great for African style bass playing I find. Whether a certain method is correct or not does not really matter. Who is to decide what is correct? Sometimes, a certain technique is needed to achieve certain sounds, especially where speed is involved but apart from that, there need not be rules. It's the end result that counts. I always think of it as a blank canvas. Whether you splat paint on or use a teeny,tiny paint brush and make really precise marks, there is always something there that didn't exist a few moments ago. Same with music. It's all about creating sounds, whichever route we use to get there. Gordon.