Hi.
It's Geoff Chalmers.
I'm here again with another video bass lesson.
We're going to be having a really good look at right-hand technique.
I'm going to give you an overview of the subject.
Then, we'll go into detail.
I'm going to show you how to really focus in on your right-hand technique
to improve your time and tone.
Finally, I'm going to summarize the main points of the lesson.
So, just before we start, I always say this and I'll say is again in this
lesson, it's really useful to practice in front of a practice mirror.
Get a full-length mirror in front of you, and you
can get feedback right away without having to turn and adjust your field
of view.
Okay.
Let's have a look and explore the concepts behind the right-hand
technique.
The main thing I feel you need to do that a lot of
players don't do is to look at the technique in isolation from the left hand.
When I'm playing, all my focus is in the notes I'm playing with my
left hand.
It's not what I'm doing with my right hand.
So, to make any real improvements, we need to
look in isolation.
What does the right hand do?
The main thing it gives us is our time.
It dictates our rhythm.
It's the timemaker, if you like.
Of course, that's the most important thing for any musician.
More important than note choice.
More important than anything is the way that you place the notes.
When you think about bass players, people like John
Patitucci, people like Ray Brown, in my mind, I think about their amazing
time.
The great feel, forward motion without speeding up.
Just a really fantastic tone and time [inaudible 00:01:51].
But, that does lead me on to the second thing that people think about, as a
bit of slip of the tongue, but tone is the other thing.
If you ask anybody on the street what they think about double
bass, if they know a little bit about it, they'll say, "I love the tone, it's
got this great, woody sound."
A lot of that sound comes from the right hand.
Sure, there's an element of the left hand, as well.
But, largely, your right hand is the tone producer.
You have to think about drawing a big sound from the instrument.
Classical musicians spend a long time learning how to
draw a really big, full sound from the bass.
We have to do the same as jazz musicians, as well.
To help demonstrate these techniques, I'm just going to play some open
strings.
Open A. Whatever.
Just pick an open string.
The main thing that you've got to think about is releasing the
arm weight.
I'm playing back onto the next string, and I'm using the side
of my first finger.
I'm not using my fingertips, like on bass guitar.
Not for now, anyway.
I'm just using one finger, just to start with.
I'm playing back onto the next string.
However, if we come away and you look in more detail at my full arm, you'll
see that the arm is moving.
What I'm trying to do is use my arm weight.
It's a little bit like this motion of just dropping the arm.
Perhaps it's a bit like a sort, when you do it repeatedly
it becomes more like a whipping motion, if you're holding a towel or something
like that.
You're playing back onto the next string and you're releasing
and using the weight of your arm and hand.
That's a really key thing to remember.
Let's look again at the fingers.
I'm using the first finger, here.
But, actually, I like to support it with the second
finger, as well.
Sometimes, I slightly move the finger out of way, and
that helps me.
But, it helps me to add weight to the sound.
With the first finger only, sometimes you can
kind of bend a bit before you actually sound the note.
Loads of notable bass players use just one finger.
Many use two.
So, you've got to find what's right for you.
I think perhaps a combination is what you'll end up
settling on.
I mentioned a moment ago about not using the fingertips.
That's not always the case.
As you speed up and increase tempo, in passages like that for
instance, you're going to want to be using two fingers.
However, when you do so, you use less meat in the fingertip.
That means that you lose tone.
Of course, that's fine.
A quicker tempo, that's a good tradeoff.
But, at the slower tempos, I wouldn't want to be playing
a ballad like this, just plucking from the fingertip.
I want to use my full arm weight.
I want to really draw a big sound from the bass.
The way that you draw the sound is really important.
You're pulling the tone from the instrument.
Again, I know I've mentioned this already, but it's
this relaxed motion of the right hand and the arm weight.
When we're practicing on the open strings, this works great.
Playing back onto the next string until we reach the open
E. You'll see players getting dramatic and coming away from the bass to
make really big sounds.
My action is a little too low to cope with that.
But, if I was drawing the biggest possible sound, I would come away from the
bass.
A lot of people mark their instruments as they do so.
However, it's not really necessary.
Maybe if you're doing it at the end of the piece, sure, or if there's a long gap
in between what you're playing.
But, if you have to subsequently play other notes quickly, you just rest
your thumb on the side of the fingerboard, and you release the pressure.
Much the same way you were before, it's this motion.
Think of scooping ice cream.
I think that's a great way to understand it.
You can see my elbow opening out, and it goes all the way up to
the shoulder.
It's that motion there.
All you're doing is using your thumb as a passive anchor.
Don't worry about the notes you're playing in the left hand.
This is a key thing today.
I'm using open strings.
You can use a scale, or perhaps a piece that you already know.
It really doesn't matter.
Put your focus into your right hand, and don't worry about the
actual pictures that you're playing.
So, I just moved the angle of the camera just to show you what part of the
thumb is actually touching the side of the fingerboard.
For me, if I just put a bit of a mark onto my thumb, it comes
out about in line with the bottom, with the base of the nail, just before
I reach the knuckle.
I have a little callous there from where I've been
resting on the side.
I'm not grabbing the fingerboard, and I'm not pushing
the thumb behind the fingerboard.
Be very careful, because this will reduce the amount that you
can stretch over, as opposed to when it's on the side like so.
So, you can play towards the end of the fingerboard, which I like to do,
because I like a lot of focus in my sound, or you can move up and play with
a softer tone, further up the fingerboard.
It's really a musical choice.
But, I would really explore playing at the end of the fingerboard, because
you really want to have as broad dynamic range as possible.
This will really help you play loud notes, as opposed
to the gentler sound that you might get from lower down on the fingerboard.
It's nice and passive, gently moving up and down.
You find the spot that gives you the tone that you want.
Remember, this right-hand technique, we mentioned earlier about the time that it gives
you and the tone.
I just want to reiterate that, because I can't think
of anything more important to a player than defining your voice on the instrument,
and ultimately, that's what we're all trying to do.
To summarize the main points of the lesson, if you want to achieve a
certain amount of stamina when you're playing those long jam sessions where
you're backing those endless saxophone solos, you're not going to want to
be playing with the individual fingertips.
It's not a bass guitar.
We need to use arm weight.
In fact, it's the opposite of bass guitar, in that sense
that you tend to pluck from the fingers.
You certainly don't use the arm weight when you're playing bass guitar.
Here, it's all about arm weight, keeping momentum, and releasing the pressure.
It's also about using the side of the finger, and supporting that first
finger with the second finger, if that helps you.
Don't forget to play near the end of the fingerboard for a more focused
sound.
Play further up the fingerboard for a softer, gentler sound.
You can draw a bigger sound from the end of the fingerboard.
Make sure that you've got a really broad, dynamic range.
Don't forget to do this in isolation.
Use open strings, or use scales; whatever you feel
comfortable playing with.
Now, as we pick up the tempo, we move onto the
fingertips.
As I said, previously, otherwise we remain on the side of the
finger.
And, finally, remember that the thumb is gently resting on the side
of the fingerboard.
It's roughly in line with the nail, but just to the
side.
I really hope you've enjoyed the lesson today, and you've gotten something
from it.
If there's anything you don't understand, please leave me a
comment or send me an e-mail, and I'll get back to you to try to answer
your questions.
Perhaps you have some ideas for other lessons.
It would be great to hear from you.
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