How does Steve Harris do it?

[allighatt0r]

How the hell does he play those brilliant triplets, with just two fingers, at a blistering pace... and through a whole gig!

does he have some super android fingers that Eddie gave to him?

could he lift 500 pounds with his first two fingers on his right hand?

Maybe we'll never know....

[clauster]

I think he's secretly female and a compulsive masturbator

[xilddx]

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='232762' date='Jul 4 2008, 03:51 PM']

How the hell does he play those brilliant triplets, with just two fingers, at a blistering pace... and through a whole gig!

does he have some super android fingers that Eddie gave to him?

could he lift 500 pounds with his first two fingers on his right hand?

Maybe we'll never know....[/quote]

Donkey's years of playing and building up strength, and using three fingers ..

[alexclaber]

He turns his amp up really really loud!

Alex

[allighatt0r]

I swear I read he only ever uses two fingers....

[quote name='"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Harris_%28musician%29"']He is most known for his "galloping" bass lines - usually an eighth note followed by two sixteenth notes at fast tempo (e.g., "The Trooper") or eighth note triplets – which he plays with two fingers. Before playing, Harris often chalks his fingers, to make these fast patterns easier to play,[/quote]

So.... he uses chalk.... :ph34r:

[E_MaN]

his technique in fact is very sloppy. An old bass tutor an I discussed and analysed his playing, and what he's doing is controlling his index and middle finger to hit the string and letting his ring finger follow through. If you asked him to play any other rythm with the three fingers I would not know if he could.

[Clarky]

[quote name='E_MaN' post='232776' date='Jul 4 2008, 04:10 PM']his technique in fact is very sloppy. An old bass tutor an I discussed and analysed his playing, and what he's doing is controlling his index and middle finger to hit the string and letting his ring finger follow through. If you asked him to play any other rythm with the three fingers I would not know if he could.[/quote]
I wish I could attain that level of sloppiness

[bnt]

Don't forget that Steve uses flatwound strings (Rotosound 77), which must be easier on the skin. His signature set is 50-110, fairly heavy, so yeah, I imagine he has some serious finger muscles there.

[xilddx]

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='232774' date='Jul 4 2008, 04:07 PM']I swear I read he only ever uses two fingers....



So.... he uses chalk.... :ph34r:[/quote]

That's weird, I've never heard of a bass player using chalk, but I had a dream last night about using french chalk in this way for playing bass. Spooky.

[Machines]

It's very easy to over analyse 'poor technique' when in reality what matters is what you hear.

[Bilbo]

When I was into metal and seeing them live (Paul Di'annio was still the singer - it was 1981), I though Harris was the DBs and, like you, was astonished by his fingerstyle playing. But, after plugging away for a couple of years, it became apparent that this was nothing special and all it took was a bit of practice, proper set up of amp and bass and the development of stamina. There's no secret, just keep at it.

[xilddx]

Yip, two fingers, I swore he uses three .. [url="http://www.bassplayer.com/article/command-performance/sep-06/23348"]http://www.bassplayer.com/article/command-...ce/sep-06/23348[/url]

[alexclaber]

[quote name='Machines' post='232788' date='Jul 4 2008, 04:19 PM']It's very easy to over analyse 'poor technique' when in reality what matters is what you hear.[/quote]

No names mentioned, the late great James Jamerson...

Good technique is anything that gets the sound you want without causing unnecessary physical strain. That's it!

However it's usually best for beginners to learn with a much more blinkered view of technique just to avoid truly bad habits.

Alex

[E_MaN]

Better techniques lets you be more felxible I feel though, but like aid above, horses for courses!

[chris_b]

Easy, lots of practice and some of the white marching powder!!

[johnnylager]

[quote name='E_MaN' post='232776' date='Jul 4 2008, 04:10 PM']his technique in fact is very sloppy[/quote]
Aye sloppy as f***. NOT

[3V17C]

definitely two fingers - the man himself says so in this clip:

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajD1duxKSuE"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajD1duxKSuE[/url]

but yeah, pretty much just a stamina thing, and thats just what he's always done so must be uber natural for him.



peace

c

[SJA]

he has a very low action, and uses compression on his signal, so he can play lightly.

there's a story that some hapless roadie once tried his bass, plucked the strings with normal force and blew the speakers.

[Adrenochrome]

[quote name='bnt' post='232784' date='Jul 4 2008, 04:15 PM']Don't forget that Steve uses flatwound strings (Rotosound 77), which must be easier on the skin. His signature set is 50-110, fairly heavy, so yeah, I imagine he has some serious finger muscles there. [/quote]

No, they're not, they're actually very inflexible and don't work well with much of sweat [they suddenly grip you fingers in a weird way]. As previously pointed out he has a very low action so he doesn't [and doesn't need to] pluck particularly hard. At the end of about 2.5 hours of playing we often play stuff like Run To The Hills as an encore pretty fast. It's no great feat with plenty of practice [or when playing plenty of gigs], staying loose and relaxed is more effective than digging in as those speeds.

[Clarky]

[quote name='Adrenochrome' post='232873' date='Jul 4 2008, 07:03 PM']No, they're not, they're actually very inflexible and don't work well with much of sweat [they suddenly grip you fingers in a weird way]. As previously pointed out he has a very low action so he doesn't [and doesn't need to] pluck particularly hard. At the end of about 2.5 hours of playing we often play stuff like Run To The Hills as an encore pretty fast. It's no great feat with plenty of practice [or when playing plenty of gigs], staying loose and relaxed is more effective than digging in as those speeds.[/quote]
I had his signature strings on a P bass once - hated them. They're thick and inflexible and feel like transatlantic power cables. Dunno how he plays them, even if he doesn't pluck hard >>>

[SMART]

[quote name='allighatt0r' post='232762' date='Jul 4 2008, 03:51 PM']

How the hell does he play those brilliant triplets, with just two fingers, at a blistering pace... and through a whole gig!

does he have some super android fingers that Eddie gave to him?

could he lift 500 pounds with his first two fingers on his right hand?

Maybe we'll never know....[/quote]

He was on the same Virgin Atlantic flight as my good self from Orlando to London Gatwick last Thursday...should have asked him!

I have a theory...could be to do with his long hair just like old Samson of ancient Israel times...

Ciao

Ian

[SJA]

you can get an idea of how low he's got his action from the string-fret contact noise in quiet sections of 'Maiden songs- ie. when he's obviously playing softer (and usually near the bridge), but still getting a bit of that clanking sound.

I used those 50-110 Rotosound Jazz flats for a bit (by mistake- I was after an old-school sound, but discovered they were almost as bright as rounds, and then read an interview with Harris where he said he uses them). they're quite bright, but don't have the zing and fretbuzz of rounds. also that brightness dies very quickly in a gig-
Steve Harris says he often changes basses in a set because the strings die.

also he says he started using them because he doesn't like the noise rounds make when you shift hand position.

[dabootsy]

i think he watches loads of Spinal Tap

[Jean-Luc Pickguard]

[quote name='silddx' post='232787' date='Jul 4 2008, 04:17 PM']That's weird, I've never heard of a bass player using chalk, but I had a dream last night about using french chalk in this way for playing bass. Spooky.[/quote]
French Chalk or unscented talc is recommended to stop the grabbiness of rubber Ashbory bass strings. I recently did a gig swapping between my Ashbory and a Fender with flats and the french chalk I put on my fingers before playing the Ashbory certainly made the other bass's strings feel faster as well.

[Chris2112]

[quote name='Clarky' post='232884' date='Jul 4 2008, 07:49 PM']I had his signature strings on a P bass once - hated them. They're thick and inflexible and feel like transatlantic power cables. Dunno how he plays them, even if he doesn't pluck hard >>>[/quote]

+1

I tried some on a fretless I had. Duff tone (but I'm not one for flatwounds much anyway), not pleasant on the left hand (they just feel...weird, and take some force to press down) and stiff on the right hand too. Not unplayable, but not great strings imo.