Learning to play the bass is a lifelong journey with unlimited potential paths you can take. But if you want to be a well-rounded bass player and you’re still new to the game, it helps to know these fundamental bass guitar techniques. If you can master these playing techniques or at least do them at a proficient level, you’ll be able to play almost any style of music.
Let’s get started!
1. Fingerstyle Playing
Fingerstyle is probably one of the most widely used bass playing techniques across all styles of music. Perhaps because the range of sounds you can achieve with this approach are endless.
Your sound is achieved by plucking the strings with either your index or middle finger. Typically, your index and middle fingers would alternate, and occasionally rake the strings as you move to your lower strings of the bass. It’s the go-to technique for many professional bass players and personally, I feel that it gives you a great amount of control over your sound. So, if your new to learning bass, I recommend you start here.
Here are a few examples of bassists that exclusively use this technique:
- Jaco Pastorius’ (Weather Report) signature sound was a 16th-note staccato mid-range percussive sound that came from exclusively using this technique.
- Rich Brown (Steve Coleman & 5 Elements) predominantly uses fingerstyle and is able to achieve a smooth legato, almost fretless sound even though his main axe is a fretted bass.
- James Jamerson (Basically any Motown hits from the 60’s and 70’s) also used his fingers for his plucking technique.
The list of bass players that exclusively play fingerstyle is endless. And from hearing just a few bass players that use this technique, it becomes apparent how versatile this technique is for your tone, making it an essential bass technique for anyone learning how to play.
Quick Tips For Plucking Technique
Fingerstyle playing is the foundation of bass guitar technique. Here are a few tips that’ll get you on your way.
- Alternate plucking: As you develop your plucking technique, you’ll start to care less about being so strict about your fingers alternating. But, when you’re starting out, learning to develop this coordination will become super-useful later on as you progress to playing more complex things on the bass.
- Raking: String raking is nuanced and often done when switching from a higher string to a lower string. To do this, allow your finger to rest on the next string