Using the thumb fingerstyle....rant content!

[discreet]

36 minutes ago, SteveK said:

...I assume that every mis-plucked and mis-fretted note will be spoken about by every audience member who will immediately call their friends and family, laughing about it as they leave the venue...

A commendable attitude, but the majority of audience members don't know what a bass is, or what it sounds like. Therefore they'll hardly notice a 'mistake' that lasts for a fraction of a second.  You know this, of course.

I play in the hope that there will be at least one person present who appreciates my efforts, but generally audiences are just a bunch of randoms with bad hair who've had too much to drink. They shuffle about uncertainly and bump into things. *Sigh*

[oldbass]

I think I need to have a lay down..ha

I've been to a few shows this year and at everyone the bass was either inaudible against the ever increasing trend for a louder and fuller kick drum or the tone was just turned to mush anyway, and Im talking named musicians playing active J's, to passive P's and just about everything inbetween. In fact at one very large prestigous outdoor festival I was seconds away from making my way to the desk to "making a suggestion" etc....

So, be subtle, play softly and if you think its making any difference to what the audience are getting then best of British etc...

[wateroftyne]

4 minutes ago, oldbass said:

I think I need to have a lay down..ha

I've been to a few shows this year and at everyone the bass was either inaudible against the ever increasing trend for a louder and fuller kick drum or the tone was just turned to mush anyway, and Im talking named musicians playing active J's, to passive P's and just about everything inbetween. In fact at one very large prestigous outdoor festival I was seconds away from making my way to the desk to "making a suggestion" etc....

So, be subtle, play softly and if you think its making any difference to what the audience are getting then best of British etc...

Thankfully not all gigs are like that, but... yep, terrible bass mixes are a scourge of modern life. As a bass player, you just have to do your part, enjoy it, and hope for the best.

Personally, I like to play with dynamics regardless. It reminds me that I've learned something over the last 30 years.

[Dood]

1 hour ago, wateroftyne said:

Personally, I like to play with dynamics regardless. It reminds me that I've learned something over the last 30 years.

Yup! Or to put it another way, just like my mum always says, "If you're going to do something, do it properly."  The lil band I play with locally aren't mega world famous, we probably won't win any awards, but one of the compliments that keeps coming up gig after gig is our attention to detail. Cover songs aren't just hashed out, but dynamics and tempo are really paid attention to. Some times we re-harmonise the melodies or change the groove in a tasteful manner. Not showing off but really trying to make a song interesting to listen to and keep people on the dance floor. 

People do notice this - probably because there are so many boring bands out there who just chuck out poor cover after poor cover? So, for me, using a different playing technique not only keeps me well practiced, but it's fun and, ya know, it might just demonstrate that this band put every effort in to being 'good at what we do'.

Not meaning as a dig, but Oldbass, if you are that jaded that 'it doesn't matter' anymore, maybe it's time to take a break to refocus on why you do this (I am masking an assumption that you do still go out and play? I don't know your back-story). 

[Japhet]

I've been playing for donkey's years and have always used my thumb and 2 fingers. I've never had any problem with the thumb notes being quiet or mushy - no idea what that's about. If anything, I find it helps a lot with the dynamics of playing. Bit surprised that it's caused so much angst for the OP, but if it's OK for Pino it will do for me. As for it being a new 'fad', I've been doing it for more than 35 years. Do I get a prize?

[discreet]

3 minutes ago, Japhet said:

Do I get a prize?

No.

[paul_c2]

It would be interesting to do a blind listening test; one with a passage played with fingers, the other played with thumb + a little bit of an EQ tweak. 

[DJpullchord]

Playing triplets  very quickly on three strings.

[bootleg]

Dare I post? Just been playing fretless with TI flats and I get a much fuller tone with my thumb with more mwah, which I prefer, maybe my fingers are too skinny. Mind you, that's in the bedroom, playing to the cat. Even in rehearsal I need to cut through so mostly use the bony fingers and thumb only when it gets really quiet, or there is just me and guitar or vocals. I don't pluck thumb with fingers; it's either or for me.

[fleabag]

Playing with the thumb is practically membership to the club of Satan.  To this end, and so avoiding tempation, i've had my right thumb amputed

[Geek99]

have you had part of the word "amputated" removed also ? I don't think "amputed" is a word

[discreet]

Didn't think much about it until the other night when I fancied playing bass in the dead of night... using thumb allows full sound more quietly than fingerstyle or pick.

[mart3442]

Used the technique in conjunction with palm muting for years. Theres nothing "indistinct and mushy" about it at all.......

Edited April 17, 2018 by mart3442

[project_c]

I use that technique all the time. In fact I wish I was better at it. It's perfect for jazz trio stuff (if you like that kind of thing). It gives you a nice muted tone without having to shove a sweaty old sock down the back end of your £32K Presentation Grade 15 string Fodera Imperial Elite with Flamed Plutonium top.

[BreadBin]

There's always thumb and fingers combined for disco octaves and double stops. Does that bring out the rant in anyone?

[discreet]

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

There's always thumb and fingers combined for disco octaves and double stops. Does that bring out the rant in anyone?

I'm feeling a bit ranty, but not about that.

[pete.young]

If it's good enough for Colin Hodgkinson, it's good enough for me!

[dlloyd]

Watch Robbie Shakespeare for a masterclass on playing with the thumb.

[Mastodon2]

I'm not a fan of the technique, for the same reason I don't like those string mute things because I like clarity and definition in my sound, not everyone does and that's cool. It has a time and place, like playing early 70s pop tunes on a P bass. Context is everything and using it in a situation where you need clarity and authority in your sound just wouldn't be appropriate, much like slapping Beatles songs wouldn't be right if you were trying to sound authentic to the originals.

I do like Janek Gwizdala's use of the thumb but he uses it like you would playing fingerstyle on a guitar, mixing the thumb and fingers to play more complex parts. It doesn't affect his sound too much since he has an overwhelmingly dark tone anyway.

[Guest]

Any stringed instrument has many different ways to make a sound - standard finger style, use the thumb, tap, slap and pop, pick, strum, bowed, plucked etc. Each one gives a different attack, sustain and overall envelope to the sound. Less common are techniques such as using a volume pedal to cut off the initial attack and create a “swell”, or change the sustain part of the envelope with an eBow or similar. These are all tonal colours to add to your palette. However, new techniques may require a bit (or a lot) of work to become a useable part of your technique, so to the OP - nothing wrong with the thumb, if you find it doesn’t float your boat, woodshed it for a few months - you may be surprised. Regarding live performance - it’s not really relevant to a particular technique if the soundman turns everything to mush, and certainly no reason to not try to play to the best of your ability, and with as much variety, as is appropriate.

[dlloyd]

 

 

[bassist_lewis]

I love this technique, especially if you've got the right amount of top-end, just enough to get the attack. It can be very subtle (ie. the John Mayer video) but you can get super funky with it especially when combined with your 1sy and 2nd fingers, and there's tons (tonnes?) of dynamic range to play with: you can morph to full on Victor Wooten style thumb-as-a-pick type playing. Damian Erskine also uses this technique a lot and has taken it further than most (from what I've seen). He uses a lot of banjo techniques apparently.