Raking

[Marvin]

Simple, is raking good or bad, or does it not matter.

I only ask as I've read conflicting opinions in a couple of books.

[bassbloke]

[quote name='Marvin' post='790737' date='Mar 30 2010, 04:04 PM']Simple, is raking good or bad, or does it not matter.

I only ask as I've read conflicting opinions in a couple of books.[/quote]

Doesn't matter, unless it presents a physical barrier to being able to play what you want/need to play. It's like saying "playing with one finger, good or bad?" Very bad if you're in a fusion, prog or otherwise technically challenging band, not a problem at all if you're playing blues, motown, james brown, etc...

[Musicman69]

I went to a tutor last year to brush up on technique etc. and one of the first things he showed me was how to rake.
I had to learn Blackbird in the style of Jaco (basic version for me!)
Listen here [url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6DTRywF7Q"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zd6DTRywF7Q[/url]
Its nice, I still play it as part of my practise routine.

[XB26354]

Raking originated on double bass. It's far easier to rake descending lines on alternate strings than to strictly alternate the index and middle fingers. However, you need to work hard to make sure you're totally in control, or it ends up sounding sloppy. Check out the Jamerson book for several masterclasses in how to make a bass line in a flat key sound more interesting by raking off open strings.

[chris_b]

[quote name='Marvin' post='790737' date='Mar 30 2010, 04:04 PM']....Simple, is raking good or bad, or does it not matter. I only ask as I've read conflicting opinions in a couple of books....[/quote]
Another "rule" you can take with a pinch of salt.

[Wil]

It's an integral part of my technique, certainly. If it works for your style of playing, use it.

[Oscar South]

It can mess you up if it makes you lead a rhythmic figure with alternate fingers, especially at fast tempos. It can also sound messy if you don't mute properly. Just bare that in mind and pick when its right or wrong to use and you're fine.

Edited March 30, 2010 by Oscar South

[Marvin]

I was initially wondering, as like in my OP I've found differing opinions.
I tend to alternate, I think, but have noticed that I do occasionally rake. However, raking from an open string my muting isn't always what it could be.

Thank you for the advice and opinions.

[Doddy]

[quote name='Oscar South' post='790800' date='Mar 30 2010, 04:56 PM']It can mess you up if it makes you lead a rhythmic figure with alternate fingers, especially at fact tempos.[/quote]

That's a good reason to be comfortable leading with all your picking fingers.

I tend to rake if I'm playing a quick descending pattern.I could probably do it be alternating
fingers,but sometimes it is just easier to just rake. If you are comfortable with playing both
ways it gets to the point where you will naturally play it the easiest way,without having to
think about it.

[Oscar South]

[quote name='Doddy' post='791089' date='Mar 30 2010, 08:49 PM']That's a good reason to be comfortable leading with all your picking fingers.[/quote]

Definitely true, but its just common sense to lead a figure with the same finger each time, otherwise you'll lose some degree of consistency and essentially double the phrase length for no real reason. Little detail though.

Personally I always alternate, only use raking to get that kind of 'bubbly' mute note groove such as that one riff in 'come on come over'

[Doddy]

[quote name='Oscar South' post='791344' date='Mar 30 2010, 11:34 PM']Definitely true, but its just common sense to lead a figure with the same finger each time, otherwise you'll lose some degree of consistency and essentially double the phrase length for no real reason. Little detail though.[/quote]

I don't think it matters if you lead with the same finger or not. Most people will always lead with ,say,
the index finger,but if you practice leading with the other fingers aswell,there won't be any
inconsistencies,and it won't make any difference.

[Oscar South]

[quote name='Doddy' post='791396' date='Mar 31 2010, 12:35 AM']I don't think it matters if you lead with the same finger or not. Most people will always lead with ,say,
the index finger,but if you practice leading with the other fingers aswell,there won't be any
inconsistencies,and it won't make any difference.[/quote]

Don't agree, I'm not sure if you get what I meant first time round though.

Imagine a riff which is a 1 bar phrase of strait 8th notes on the A string, fingering would be |imimimim|imimimim|imimimim|imimimim| etc.

Now if you have one note on the D string (6th, say) and rake it onto the next on the A string it'd change the fingering to |imimimmi|mimimiim|imimimmi|mimimiim|

Pointless and counter productive and very easily avoided, of course its important to get comfortable leading with any finger, but there's just no point in this case. I found myself doing this and it was causing my technique massive trouble, fixed it and it boosted my playing exponentially, I've discovered this giving students I've taught and contemporaries trouble as well.

[keving]

um, dumb question if I may. What is raking?

[Marvin]

[quote name='keving' post='791656' date='Mar 31 2010, 10:53 AM']um, dumb question if I may. What is raking?[/quote]

It's not dumb if you've never come across the term before. I only really came to understand what it meant about 6 months ago when I started playing again.

Raking is

[quote]Striking a string with one finger and then striking the next lower string with the same finger.[/quote]

As opposed to alternate fingering. I think that's how you explain it. I'm sure someone will correct me or explain it better if it's not clear.

[JTUK]

In the context of this thread, I'd say avoid it...and put your time in to use alternates...but as a technique is itself..I think it can be great...
For example....a rake over two ocatves ( descending ) on a 5 string in a swing groove is a great way to get around the fretboard very quickly... and even better if you rake with 3 fingers on the right hand. Or something like that.

You can do flamenco type strums in an ascending and descending pattern which I would call a type of rake technique..
but things like that have to executed very cleanly and sparingly otherwise you get into the gtr widdle/tap mode..

Personally I can watch flamenco players do that all day..but with bass, less so...

[mcgraham]

Both raking and strict alternation require work. Raking can initially feel more natural but takes work to get the timing and muting consistent; strict alternation can initially take work to get it feeling natural but the timing can be a lot more consistent off the bat.

Rakes make it easier to descend adjacent strings without work, but it's difficult to rake to non-adjacent strings with good timing, muting and overall sound - I use alternation for skipping to non-adjacent strings to keep the flow. Strict alternation doesn't suffer from this problem, but is initially more difficult to start with.

IMO, both have drawbacks and merits, and both will require work in different areas to get them usable.