Plucking technique

[thisnameistaken]

I'm told I'm supposed to pluck with the side of my finger rather than the tip, but then how do I pluck faster things with alternate fingers if I'm plucking with the side of my finger? My index finger is going to be on its way back past my middle finger when my middle finger wants to pluck and it will get in the bloody way.

Humans can't do this unless we have index fingers which retract out of the way when the other finger wants to pluck, I have to turn my hand around and pluck it more like a bass guitar - how else can I do it?!?

Can anyone explain how this is supposed to work?

[Bloodaxe]

Sounds to me like you're being told wrong then.

Pluck how you will to get the effect you want/need - no-one's going to call the cops!

IMO there's no "right way" - if it sounds good to your ears, & isn't likely to cause any long-term health issues then crack on, I say.

Ditto for strap height, picks, action, distortion, scooped EQ, Slapping, harmonics, chords etc. etc. etc. ad nauseam.

Pete.

[endorka]

It can be done, but it is difficult to explain in words - but Ray Brown can do so with moving pictures;

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8QazNAZjhM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8QazNAZjhM[/url]

At various points throughout this you can see him do exactly what you ask about. It is well worth watching the whole of this series of videos IMHO.

I find that as the tempos get very fast, the hand gets less side on and more perpendicular to the strings, i.e. it gets more like playing a bass guitar. At slow/medium tempos I use both fingers combined into one megafinger to get a real good tone.

Jennifer

[Cat Burrito]

I find that quite straight forward. All I did was get a beginners DVD & build up from there before I developed too many bad habits. It's the double slap technique that I really struggle with.

[thisnameistaken]

[quote name='endorka' post='859379' date='Jun 6 2010, 10:02 PM']It can be done, but it is difficult to explain in words - but Ray Brown can do so with moving pictures;

[url="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8QazNAZjhM"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8QazNAZjhM[/url][/quote]

Oh these look great, thanks!

[quote name='endorka' post='859379' date='Jun 6 2010, 10:02 PM']I find that as the tempos get very fast, the hand gets less side on and more perpendicular to the strings, i.e. it gets more like playing a bass guitar. At slow/medium tempos I use both fingers combined into one megafinger to get a real good tone.[/quote]

OK well that's along the lines of what I'm doing so I suppose I wasn't too far wrong. I was just trying to stick with the sides of my fingers today while picking some faster stuff and found I was hurting the joints of my index finger I think trying to curl it out of the way when it was my middle finger's turn.

I'll watch all the full series of those Ray Brown clips tomorrow. I love his sound.

[AndyTravis]

that series of videos looks like Ray Brown belittling someone.

So im glad he didn't teach me;

'hey look, you did this wrong, here's me being better than you (hey, i'm the pro) and I embellished upon the third bar, just to make you look a c***...'

no ta.

[jakenewmanbass]

[quote name='AndyTravis' post='859498' date='Jun 7 2010, 03:32 AM']that series of videos looks like Ray Brown belittling someone.

So im glad he didn't teach me;

'hey look, you did this wrong, here's me being better than you (hey, i'm the pro) and I embellished upon the third bar, just to make you look a c***...'

no ta.[/quote]
I fail to see how you can deduce that from what is being said?!?
The inferences to which you refer seem only to exist for you as they are neither overt nor implied, it could be that the problem is yours and that's a sizeable bar to learning Andy.

Edited June 7, 2010 by jakesbass

[fatgoogle]

If it helps, when playion medium tempo's and im alternating between fingers i pull my hand down with the first finger and move my second finger forward, so i get a lot of power and move my finger out of the way. Of course as i get faster my hand turns more perpindicular to the strings and pluck with the tips.

[AndyTravis]

[quote name='jakesbass' post='859540' date='Jun 7 2010, 08:39 AM']it could be that the problem is yours and that's a sizeable bar to learning Andy.[/quote]

There is no 'problem' - it is just how I saw it, and how it made me feel.
I watched all four parts, and that's what i read from it.

Doesn't make you wrong, nor me right; I just probably won't watch many more Ray Brown videos, you'll probably keep on enjoying them.

(Apologies to the OP for the hijack).

[Bilbo]

Since picking up the DB, I have found myself watching old videos and focussing on the r/h plucking techniques. There are a lot of players that only really use one finger on their r/h (Mingus, for instance) but many that use 2 (Dave Holland, Paul Chambers, Scott LaFaro) but some of the one finger players are playing quite rapid passages with ease. In my own experience (such as it is) I am finding that it becomes easier with practice. I started with a very 'electric bass' like technique but, as I have practiced more systematically, I have been able to focus on a more conventional r/h technique with increasing success (still not ripping it up but there is time yet). I do think that, maybe, one of the issues here is in recognising the need for patience and to allow your skills to develop.

I also find that I use about three or four r/h techniques (some good, some bad) when I am gigging, if only to compensate for a lack of stamina. But it is getting better slowly.