Do You Know The Right Hand Bass Technique?

The music industry is one of the fastest growing industries offering many people, employment and a great career for growth. As exciting as shining in the spotlight sounds, getting there is equally difficult.

Struggling bass players spend years learning the very basics of professional bass playing and are still unable to educate themselves enough. The first thing you as a bass player wanted to realize is this: you can’t be on the top without hitting the road.

It is all about practicing harder each day in this industry, if you are to grow. You might even find the most talented professionals looking for bass player jobs, and that is because they missed out on the practicalities.

How to be practical with professional bass playing?

First off, you need to understand your equipment better than anybody else. And no user’s manual can help you in that; at the end of the day, it is you and your equipment. Play it as much as you can every day and don’t lose hope.

As you are in the learning phase, things quickly get settled in mind. Soon you will realize that you have done far better than many others that as bass players wanted to. One trick to learn quickly is the famous and very easy-to-learn Right-Hand Bass technique. It involves playing your equipment with the right hand.

Are all the exercises for the Right Hand Bass technique really that easy?

This is a question of how willing you are to learn. Some people find all the exercises quite easy to get by, others require some time to master the advanced-level fretting and plucking techniques. If you are looking for a gig as a bass player, then this technique should be one of the first few things on your must-do list.

The technique involves anchoring your thumb on either

-Any of the pickup strip,

-The body of the bass, or

-The edge of the guitar’s fretboard

As your thumb is firmly in place, your fingers can easily move freely and allow you to play your bass with ease. Many music touring companies that post bass player wanted for tour classifieds greatly value this technique as it adds more style to your live performance.

Is there any specific pattern for plucking the bass with the fingers?

Experts say that there is no such finger pattern that needs to be followed for the Right Hand technique. However, it is advisable that if you as a bass player wanted to play some notes that involve descending pitches; using the same finger can do the trick effectively.

Also, rather than pulling the string away from the fretboard, simply swipe your fingers across the strings. That will be much easier to play and will also sound much even.

How to ace the Slap a Bass and Use a Pick exercises?

These two exercises define the advanced level of the right-hand technique. Although they are not really difficult to get by, getting them buttery smooth on your right hand might take a while. The Slap a Bass trick is simply striking the string with your thumb while rubbing it against the fretboard with the fingers.

This constant rubbing and striking gives a very funky touch to the sound of the bass. Although this is not used for all music genre types, but if you as professional bass players wanted to learn this one, that might add weight to your developing resume.

Using a pick has long been encouraged by the rock guitarists. These add a very nice touch to the voice and make it sound loud and vibrant with a punch to it. If you need to play for a jazz concert or something for the Blues fans, using your thumb for plucking your machine would do the trick!

Are you aware of these simple starter tips for the Right Hand technique?

There are a few points that you as a professional bass player wanted to note down before you start banging your machine with your right hand. First off, do NOT go fast and harsh on your machine. You will tend to make mistakes in the beginning, but slow is the right way to do it.

Next up, if you want to score some bass player jobs based on this trick, then make sure to realize that you always follow this finger pattern for ascending notes:

Index – Middle – Index – Middle – Index…

For descending scales, you can either:

-Pick alternatively (the same as above), or

-Rake the cords with the same finger

It really doesn’t make a difference what method you go with to descend on your machine, be sure to go with the one that puts you at ease. If you are raking the cords, then it is advisable to use not one but two fingers together for a stronger pick.