Where do you put your thumb?

[TimR]

29 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

The fact that you didn't actually answer my statement but just quoted B****x totally irrelevant to what I said just shows how out of touch you are with the reality the rest of us on here understand.

Case proven

A bunch of people knew exactly what I was quoting. Unfortunately I assumed everyone had heard it before. Hence if you've not heard it before I can understand why you think I might be on some kind of drugs. 

 

My reply wasn't out of touch with the reality most people understand. At least 4 posters got it. Unfortunately I'm not spending hours constructing my posts with hundreds of legal clauses, and cross reference everything in case someone decides to cross examine me, in what is supposed to be an informal discussion forum, in some effort to score some points. 

 

Anyway. As you were. 

[martthebass]

This thread must be close to the record in terms of how off-piste it has travelled....

[dmccombe7]

Depends on the song.

Sometimes the thumb floats across the strings other times i'll rest on the strings above whatever strings i'm playing on and sometimes i rest on a pick up more so with a Jazz style bass. With a P bass i've seen me rest the thumb against the body if i want to play near the bridge or neck.

No fixed rule to be honest, whatever's comfiest at the time.

Dave

[ezbass]

2 hours ago, martthebass said:

This thread must be close to the record in terms of how off-piste it has travelled....

And how piste off some folk were/are/will be*.

 

 

 

 

 

*Covering all my bets there.

[Downunderwonder]

16 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

This is what happens when one is so 'pretty sure'. One gets shown up for an arrogant fool, or mad. 

 

I do believe you just done fell down a TimR hole. There's an escape hatch but you have to leave the computer behind to get through it.

[SteveXFR]

12 hours ago, ezbass said:

And how piste off some folk were/are/will be*.

 

 

 

 

 

*Covering all my bets there.

 

The bit about dogs derrières was pretty much on topic. What is or isn't punk was very off topic. 

[tauzero]

On 24/12/2022 at 12:20, Dad3353 said:

 

These are vacant platitudes, not absolute truths. There's not really much depth to replies of the sort. Still, if posts have to be posted, post away. If some change of folk's opinion is expected, you're mad. 

 

I notice that for some reason, TimR failed to apply himself to the first part of my post, to wit: "Nonono, the definition of insanity is reading TimR's posts and the definition of total insanity is arguing with him."

[tauzero]

23 hours ago, peteb said:

 

Actually, it wasn't! From what I recall, it was Einstein (or whoever) saying that if you keep on doing something that doesn't work, it is ridiculous to think that it will work if you keep doing the same thing again (a point I have often made at work)! To be honest, it is more an example of stupidity than a definition of insanity. 

 

At the risk of repeating myself (because I'm repeating myself, it was actually about drugs: https://professorbuzzkill.com/einstein-insanity-qnq/

[tauzero]

22 hours ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Ah..! Soooooo..! Now it's regular dice, is it..? How stupid of me; I thought you meant six-sided dice. Now, if you had made any mention of regular six-sided dice, with no '7' face, you may have had a point (note the 'may'...). Never mind. Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle. 

 

"The definition of insanity is reading TimR's posts and the definition of total insanity is arguing with him."

[Dad3353]

[dmccombe7]

WOW simply WOW

I decided to read the full thread because of some unusual replies i was seeing before mine above.

Now let me get this straight........the OP asked where you place your thumb on your plucking hand so why did we have 6 or 7 pages of fretting hand thumb position ? I still haven't sourced the change-over point from plucking hand to fretting hand thumb position.

 

I took lessons for a few years at the start. I've already mentioned my plucking hand thumb positions but with regards my fretting hand I generally did have my thumb on centre of the neck but i picked up sloppiness over the years when not gigging and started to suffer left hand cramp and i decided to revert back to what i thought was proper technique and it helped resolve the issue. I do however see my fretting hand thumb hanging over the edge of the neck on occasion probably thru laziness and if my hand gets achy again i revert to back of neck position again.

I started off playing rock music then Prog and jazz-rock. I learned Teentown and Portrait of Tracy back in 80's altho it took me a while to get it right. No expert at playing those kind of songs and i really do need to put the work in mainly for the stamina of playing them. I learned a few Jeff Berlin songs too just for my own satisfaction at the time. 

Not sure i could play them now tho LOL

Last year i started playing witha  punk covers band and realised just how good some of those 70's punk bands were. My fav being Stiff Little Fingers who have a wonderful bass player. Punk proved to be more interesting than difficult than i originally gave punk credit for. Yes i am old enough to be into Glam rock, Prog and Rock and living thru the punk era that i never had the time of day for.

Funny how views change over time.

I'd agree with @peteb on this that its best to take lessons and get the basic theory and technique correct and learn and adapt from there to suit what you are doing. I'd also say that some of JPJ's bass lines are pretty impressive and better than a lot of what i've heard from Jaco but then again they are different styles of music.

That's just my tuppence worth.

Dave

[Woodinblack]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

I decided to read the full thread because of some unusual replies i was seeing before mine above.

Now let me get this straight........the OP asked where you place your thumb on your plucking hand so why did we have 6 or 7 pages of fretting hand thumb position ? I still haven't sourced the change-over point from plucking hand to fretting hand thumb position.

 

I got confused on that. I replied about my plucking thumb position and then when I went back people were saying about the thumb position on the neck (which I didn't think was a thing - more a guitar thing) so I assumed I just read it wrong.

[Dad3353]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

... I still haven't sourced the change-over point from plucking hand to fretting hand thumb position...

 

Page 3, here...

 

Things go to pot ...

[dmccombe7]

42 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

 

Page 3, here...

 

Things go to pot ...

It jumped hand when muting was mentioned. Now i get it.

Dave

[la bam]

My plucking thumb rests on the open e string when playing. It moves when I need to hit anything on the e string or an open e.

 

Fretting hand thumb kinda goes inbetween centre of back of neck and visible fret side.

 

Dont know why, they just do.

Edited December 25, 2022 by la bam

[Nail Soup]

7 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

the OP asked where you place your thumb on your plucking hand so why did we have 6 or 7 pages of fretting hand thumb position ? I still haven't sourced the change-over point from

That’s nothing compared to the detour into the definition of sanity.

[dmccombe7]

8 hours ago, Nail Soup said:

That’s nothing compared to the detour into the definition of sanity.

or insanity

[Ralf1e]

On 14/12/2022 at 18:39, SteveXFR said:

I've mostly played with a pick with the odd bit of finger style now and then but I should make efforts to improve my technique. 

I think my biggest issue is I generally leave my thumb on the pickup or maybe rest it on the A string when picking the D or G. 

What's your technique?

So when we re-read SteveXFR's original post again we see he didn't mention muting at all. We all just added that ourselves! Maybe non of us have actually answered his original question (apologies to those that have) .

Happy boxing day Steve I do pretty much the same as you.

As it is the plucking hand I also press the thumb firmly against the forefinger squeezing the quill for a firm grip pulling slightly backward releases the feather from the skin best. It is also better to do this while the bird is still warm for best results. If done correctly you should have a naked bird in your hands in no time. 

Ahh those were the days.

[SteveXFR]

7 minutes ago, Ralf1e said:

So when we re-read SteveXFR's original post again we see he didn't mention muting at all. We all just added that ourselves! Maybe non of us have actually answered his original question (apologies to those that have) .

Happy boxing day Steve I do pretty much the same as you.

As it is the plucking hand I also press the thumb firmly against the forefinger squeezing the quill for a firm grip pulling slightly backward releases the feather from the skin best. It is also better to do this while the bird is still warm for best results. If done correctly you should have a naked bird in your hands in no time. 

Ahh those were the days.

 

I did bring up muting later in the discussion. Both questions have been answered. 

I've got some good tips and have been trying some of the techniques suggested to see what works for me.

[peteb]

19 hours ago, dmccombe7 said:

I'd agree with @peteb on this that its best to take lessons and get the basic theory and technique correct and learn and adapt from there to suit what you are doing. I'd also say that some of JPJ's bass lines are pretty impressive and better than a lot of what i've heard from Jaco but then again they are different styles of music.

 

 

The thing is that isn't quite what I said. I got a cheap bass for my 14th birthday, along with a book with loads of photos of a smiling dude with an afro playing a P bass to illustrate the various exercise. About two years later I had four lessons with a guy who was really a keys player, who taught me a bit of theory and told me I ought to learn to read and go to music college! But how I really learnt was listening to Free & Thin Lizzy records (constantly dropping the needle back to repeat sections over and over), then playing in bands and talking to guys who had more experience than me who would show me things. But most of the technique I learnt (at least initially), was from the dude with the afro and the P bass! In all, I've probably had less than ten lessons in 45 years, but I have learnt from other sources. 

 

JPJ is indeed a very impressive player, but no one is going to call me for a Weather Report tribute! You need a different level of knowledge of harmony and technique to be able to play Jaco's version of Donna Lee than JPJ's brilliant version of the Lemon Song / Killing Floor. Both are astounding in their own way and I appreciate both, but my interest in jazz is limited and I'm much more of a rock guy and that is what I have learnt as a bass player. 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by peteb

[dmccombe7]

3 minutes ago, peteb said:

 

The thing is that isn't quite what I said. I got a cheap bass for my 14th birthday, along with a book with loads of photos of a smiling dude with an afro playing a P bass to illustrate the various exercise. About two years later I had four lessons with a guy who was really a keys player, who taught me a bit of theory and told me I ought to learn to read and go to music college! But how I really learnt was listening to Free & Thin Lizzy records (constantly dropping the needle back to repeat sections over and over), then playing in bands and talking to guys who had more experience than me who would show me things. But most of the technique I learnt (at least initially), was from the dude with the afro and the P bass! In all, I've probably had less than ten lessons in 45 years, but I have learnt from other sources. 

 

JPJ is indeed a very impressive player, but no one is going to call me for a Weather Report tribute! You need a different level of knowledge of harmony and technique to be able to play Jaco's version of Donna Lee than JPJ's brilliant version of the Lemon Song / Killing Floor. Both are astounding in their own way and I appreciate both, but my interest in jazz is limited and I'm much more of a rock guy and that is what I have learnt as a bass player. 

 

Apologies Pete, I just assumed you had taken lessons at the start of your journey when you recommended learning the basics.

I class myself more as a rock/prog bassist that has dabbled in Jazz rock and learned bits and pieces of certain songs or basslines that i liked over the years mainly for my own benefit. Altho i must admit learning those songs made playing other songs easier. 

I was a huge fan of Jeff Berlin in 80's when i first heard One of a Kind album. When i was younger i did experiment a lot more with bass playing to try new things and play in different ways to see how it sounded. I returned to standard 4 string bass and fingerstyle and i'm just happy doing what i do.

Dave

[grenadillabama]

On 15/12/2022 at 19:53, grenadillabama said:

No thumbrest for me as I move bridge to neck for harder or softer (more bass). Now I try to pick thumb-finger-thumb to get some use out of it. The thumb is louder and more bass than any finger. Also palm-mute for a click-thump. A pick for variety . You meant "left thumb" ? Oh,on the back of the neck .

 

[peteb]

1 hour ago, dmccombe7 said:

Apologies Pete, I just assumed you had taken lessons at the start of your journey when you recommended learning the basics.

 

 

No need to apologise and I would certainly recommend learning the basics. How you do so is another thing and as we have seen from this thread, some of those who set themselves up as teachers are not necessarily the best people to do so. 

 

Obviously, things have changed since we were kids. There was no YouTube, Basschat or Scott's Bass Lessons but there were more gigs and opportunities to play in bands. I don't know about you, but from the age of thirteen to my mid-thirties I used to regularly just hang out in music shops, talking to friends, staff and more experienced musicians. Unfortunately you don't really get that anymore. A lot of the stuff I learnt was from impromptu lessons in music shops, not to mention pretty useful advice from guys who been playing a lot longer than me! 

 

Edited December 26, 2022 by peteb

[dmccombe7]

2 hours ago, peteb said:

 

No need to apologise and I would certainly recommend learning the basics. How you do so is another thing and as we have seen from this thread, some of those who set themselves up as teachers are not necessarily the best people to do so. 

 

Obviously, things have changed since we were kids. There was no YouTube, Basschat or Scott's Bass Lessons but there were more gigs and opportunities to play in bands. I don't know about you, but from the age of thirteen to my mid-thirties I used to regularly just hang out in music shops, talking to friends, staff and more experienced musicians. Unfortunately you don't really get that anymore. A lot of the stuff I learnt was from impromptu lessons in music shops, not to mention pretty useful advice from guys who been playing a lot longer than me! 

 

Yep same here.

I started off in record shops listening to albums i couldn't afford and then when i started playing bass i was never out of our local music shop and on occasions the bigger shops in Glasgow of which there were quite a few great guitar shops. First song i remember playing in a band was Jailbreak by Thin Lizzy.  I used to go into Glasgow to get music sheets for songs i liked and i still have all those music books with the Genesis Seconds Out book autographed by the full band including a few wives and even Tony Smith the manager. Music shops always had guys that were exceptional compared to me and they were usually happy to show you how to play things and talk about gear.

Happy days.

Dave

Dave

[Stub Mandrel]

On 25/12/2022 at 07:13, Downunderwonder said:

I do believe you just done fell down a TimR hole. There's an escape hatch but you have to leave the computer behind to get through it.

 

I won't put my thumb up a dog's fundament, and I won't put my thumb up a Tim R's hole either

Edited December 26, 2022 by Stub Mandrel