My Technique

[Kaiu]

Hey everyone,

I've been playing bass for a while now and have developed a picking technique that felt comfortable for me and worked well live. I was tight and I got a solid sound... or so I thought.

When it came to recording my first full length album, I noticed there was a lot of extraneous noise every time I picked, and the notes didn't seem to have the same solid consistency as when our producer (who is also a bass player) played. I've analysed my technique and realised it was probably because my pick movement was out towards the back of the bass.

Here is a video showing my old technique, and then me trying to play like I think I should be doing, with an extra bit of muting at the end (something I could never do with my old technique).



I'm finding it awkward and hard trying to unlearn my old style, but I just wanted to know if I'm on the right track and if anyone else has discovered a similar problem?

Ed

[Bilbo]

Yeah, I see the problem. Your old technique saw you hitting the strings with your pick at 45 degrees, meaning that you weren't plucking them as much as scraping them: hence the extraneous noise. I guess it depends on your sound. If there is some distortion/grunge in there, it will matter less but, if you like a clean sound, you will need to address the problem. Be patient. These things take time but there is noone screaming for a resolution today. World class jazz trumpter Terence Blanchard had to re-establish his embouchure after winning grammies and it took him two years!! If you have to do something to improve your technique do it now, don't waste any more time doing it wrong. Of course its hard and takes discipline but so does everything else on these planks of wood.

You could, of course, ditch the pick and play with your finger!!!

[ThomBassmonkey]

It's not so much the angle of the pick (if you're using a hard pick, you need to angle it a bit so it's less resistance) bu that you're moving your hand too much left and right instead of just up and down so you're scraping a little bit and getting inconsistencies.

Try picking more from the elbow and shoulder and less from the wrist. You could try using the pick flatter too but it depends how stiff it is.

Personally I just play fingerstyle, it's a bass, not a guitar.

[Muzz]

There's nothing like going into a studio environment for highlighting any issues, 90% of which are pretty much unnoticable in a live/band situation. I'm studio recording at the moment as well, and I'm in a similar position as you, when you have to be very controlled to get a clean, consistent sound.

Agree about the attack angle of the pick going across the strings, more vertical will help. I've been a pick player for a very long time, and I tend to try to anchor the heel of my right hand on the bridge (the Ray is a good one for that - there's a nice 'valley' between the back of the bridge and the saddles) and put less overall movement into the up-and-down. I use a thinner-than-some Dunlop .88 pick, but that's just what suits me.

Oh, and ignore any pressure from the 'play with your fingers' crowd - it's a bass guitar, play it whichever way suits your music...

[ThomBassmonkey]

[quote name='Muzz' post='750647' date='Feb 19 2010, 10:50 AM']Agree about the attack angle of the pick going across the strings, more vertical will help. I've been a pick player for a very long time, and I tend to try to anchor the heel of my right hand on the bridge (the Ray is a good one for that - there's a nice 'valley' between the back of the bridge and the saddles) and put less overall movement into the up-and-down. I use a thinner-than-some Dunlop .88 pick, but that's just what suits me.[/quote]

I'd discourage anyone from anchoring the heel of your right hand whilst playing with a pick on bass.

Firstly (and most relevant to this thread) if you anchor your heel it acts as a pivot which means the pick's rotating around a fixed point. It might be ok for the string that your hand's anchored at the end of, but as you move out, you'll be hitting the strings at more and more of an angle so you're more likely to get scraping and because your hand's anchored, it's harder to compensate for the angle of your hand.

Secondly (and more importantly) because the string spacing is quite wide, if you're changing strings a lot the repeated action could contribute to RSI quite easily if all the movement is coming from your wrist. If you feel you need to rest your hand somewhere, try and rest your ring finger and little finger on the body next to the g string.

By using your elbow and shoulder, you can hit every string at exactly the same angle (which at least gives you consistency) and there's no twisting and strumming involved for your wrist. It might take you a bit of time to get used to aiming at the strings properly, but just because you're not holding your wrist to the bass, doesn't mean that you have to be flailing your arm around, just keep the movements relatively small and you should be fine.

[implo]

Aye, it's not easy unlearning. I play with my thumb and forefinger, so am neither a picker nor a proper, erm, ... fingerer. My 'slap' technique too is a homemade variety, tapping the strings up on the fretboard.
It's just something that's always been so and I've never been able to make the two finger approach work. Play with a pick now and again, mostly when I want that Stranglers sound, so each technique has it's application. Certainly, neither are mutually exclusive.

I'm not a very big fan of 'should', mainly as any kind of musical instrument is subject to the idiosyncrasies of the player. In your position, I would focus less on playing the 'right' way, and more on finding a middle ground that sounds ok and still feels good to you.

Just my tuppence.

[JTUK]

I don't use this technique but can understand why the highlighted issue is causing some concern.
The good thing is that you are now aware of the problem and can work through it. The bad thing is that it may take quite a while.
You may or may not have this exposed quite so brutally outside the studio so don't beat yourself up about it if you can't fix it here and now, nobody noticed so much before to tell you about it.
This will take some time and a concerted effort, but it will be a good thing in the end, IMV.

[discreet]

[quote name='Bilbo' post='750179' date='Feb 18 2010, 08:45 PM']You could, of course, ditch the pick and play with your finger!!![/quote]

Whaaa??

[Kaiu]

Thanks for all the advice guys! Recording has highlighted a couple of things for me, given the bass was di'd straight into the desk. My technique was one of them, but also the feeling off my lines.

Does any one have any information on bands with bassists (especially pick players) who bring a lot of 'feeling' to their lines? Not necessarily complicated lines, just simple lines that are really brought to life by the subtleties of some ones playing, whether it's using slides, hammer ons, dynamics or just their own personal technique etc. I'm having trouble giving 'life' as it were to by bass lines. Although musical, they just sometimes sound like one note after another!

Ed

Edited February 24, 2010 by Kaiu

[JTUK]

Anthony Jackson... a complete MONSTER of a player who plays mostly with a pick. AAA Studio player

T-Bone Wolk, Hall and Oats, pretty fluid and makes the style work.

I will have to recall a few others...after I consult my record collection. Memory has gone atm..

[Kaiu]

[quote name='JTUK' post='757653' date='Feb 25 2010, 10:12 PM']Anthony Jackson... a complete MONSTER of a player who plays mostly with a pick. AAA Studio player

T-Bone Wolk, Hall and Oats, pretty fluid and makes the style work.

I will have to recall a few others...after I consult my record collection. Memory has gone atm.. [/quote]

Thanks! Will check him out

Ed