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My right hand technique: works for me, is it unusual?


highwayman
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I started on the bass last year, plectrum only to begin. Over Christmas I started experimenting with finger style (index and middle) and now it's my preferred method.

My bass is a four string Stingray and I anchor my thumb between the two screw arches on the top side of the single humbucker. Though I have no problems, I started to think about avoiding injuries and also the matter of string muting. I've tried the traveling thumb method, and I don't much like it, though I'd imagine it's essential if you're planning on a five-string (which I'm not).

Here's what I've settled on: my thumb anchored on the humbucker side-on (so the thumbnail's pointed towards the neck) with the base of the palm resting flat against the body contour. I've noticed that my ring finger is lending a hand with muting on the E & A.

It's working for me, just wondering how usual/unusual it is?

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I would think that you would suffer a little in terms of control and dexterity.

I'd always encourage people to use a movable anchor using rest strokes. It really has so much in its favour that I wouldn't consider anything else. I had been playing bass about ten years before I switched to this technique... if I'd started with it earlier it would have been a lot easier to learn.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDzRqeS0ruQ[/media]

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Thank you for the clips. It's entirely possible that my technique may develop to integrate a movable anchor, after all I started out thinking I'd be plectrum-only.
On the second clip he demonstrated a fixed anchor where the the hand moves backwards rather than outwards, thus avoiding such an acute wrist angle, that's where I'm aiming for now anyway.

Edited by highwayman
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